The Rake Magazine

Tag: temple

  • Fallen Temple, Rising Prices

    Even body sushi couldn’t save Temple. I can’t say I was
    really surprised by today’s news, reported by WCCO,
    that Temple Restaurant and Bar has closed – it’s a tough market these days. I
    only made it to Tom Pham’s Asian Fusion restaurant a couple of times in the
    one-and-a-half years that it was open, but I found it gastronomically
    underwhelming, and overpriced. Visually, the restaurant was stunning, but the cuisine
    wasn’t really the cutting edge fusion that it claimed to be – more gimmicky than
    inventive. My favorites for Asian fusion are Cafe BonXai, and Ngon Vietnamese Bistro, both of which offer imaginative Asian fusion
    cuisine at very reasonable prices.

    Speaking of over-priced, I have been stunned lately by some
    of the prices I have run into for wines by the glass. Recently, at B.A.N.K.,
    in the Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, when I requested the wine list, my waitress tried to steer me towards the Duck
    Pond Pinot Noir – for $18 a glass. I scoured the list for something more
    affordable, and settled on one of the cheapest glasses – a Woop Woop Australian
    Shiraz for $14. It’s a very drinkable Australian wine of no great distinction that usually sells for about $8-$10
    retail, and I’ve seen it on local restaurant lists for about $6-$7 a glass. B.A.N.K. does offer a big pour, but still…

    Also recently at Bellanotte. Carol asked for a glass of Cabernet without
    checking the price, and got a bit of sticker shock when the bill arrived –
    around $14.50 including tax. She didn’t note the label, (I think it must have been Dynamite Vineyards, a bottle that sells for around $15 retail, and Bellanotte marks up to $50). She recalls it as a nice wine, but, still felt a little sticker shock. Maybe a price like that ought to
    come with a warning.

    Gotta run, but check back tomorrow – I’ll have some tips on
    more affordable dining.

     

  • Cat-Man-Do in Saint Paul, Dancing Ganesha in Minneapolis

    I was pleasantly surprised by my lunchtime visit to
    Cat-Man-Do, the new Nepali-Tibetan-Indian café at 1659 Grand (just west of Snelling Ave.) in Saint
    Paul. The menu is pretty limited, compared to most of the local Indian
    restaurants, with their endless variations on the theme of tandoori, masala,
    vindaloo and jalfrazee, but Cat-Man-Do does offer some dishes that aren’t often
    found elsewhere.

    These include chat, a traditional Indian street food made from
    crushed samosas with onions cilantro, garbanzos, tamarind sauce and yogurt
    ($6.95) and lamb or chicken choyla, a traditional Nepalese dish often prepared
    with mustard oil and a dry spice rub, as well as a green jackfruit curry and a
    side dish of potato achaar, a spicy side dish of potatoes pickled with banana blossoms,
    cucumber, jalapenos and cilantro.

    What the $7.95 lunch buffet lacked in variety,it made Cat-Man-Do Plateup
    for in quality. Everything on the small buffet stand seemed fresher and more
    flavorful than the usual Indian steam table offerings – a savory eggplant curry,
    a richly seasoned goat curry, a vegetarian biryani rice, ungreasy deep-fried
    veggie pakora, served with a tamarind dipping sauce, and roasted spiced
    potatoes, plus fresh homemade puri.

    Speaking of Indian cuisine, the former Willie’s Wine Bar on
    Harmon will soon be home to Dancing Ganesha, a new upscale restaurant that will
    combine traditional Indian cuisine with some sophisticated French touches. It’s
    owned by Bombay Vegan, the same company that operates Nala Pak (the former Udupi Café), a South
    Indian vegetarian restaurant in Columbia Heights. Vish Nadig, one of the partners, says they are
    still working out details on the menu, but he promises a "four-star"
    restaurant, with prices set a little lower than the nearby Temple Restaurant and Bar.

  • Extreme Naked Sushi

    I got a press release the other day from Temple, Thom Pham’s
    Asian Fusion restaurant, announcing that on March 8, the restaurant will hold
    a Nyotaimori / Nantaimori event.
    "Nyotaimori and Nantaimori," the press release helpful explains, "are accepted
    traditions in Japan of serving sashimi and sushi off of the body of a woman or
    a man. It has been practiced for centuries, initiated as an art by the
    Geisha Community."

    This struck me as a bit dubious. Given the traditional
    status of women in Japanese society, it wouldn’t surprise if me salarymen out
    for a night on the town might use naked geishas as serving trays. But naked
    men? Maybe it happens, but I doubt it has been practiced for centuries.

    "Temple has been noted for its unique and beautiful
    presentation of Sushi," the press release continues. "Now Temple
    continues in its pursuit of presenting sushi as a true form of ‘Art.’"

    It turns out this is a trend that has come and gone in other
    parts of the world. According to an article on the website, Japan for the
    Uninvited    , body sushi "received a lot of media attention in the West in the
    1990s. This coverage massively exaggerated the popularity of nyotaimori in
    Japan – these restaurants are actually very rare, and generally associated with
    organized crime rather than being mainstream."

    If Tom Pham really wants to be on the cutting edge, he could try serving wakame sake, which, according to Japan for the Uninvited, "is poured down a model’s body and drunk from the cup formed by her closed thighs. The name “wakame“, meaning soft seaweed, refers to the pubic hair floating in the drink. This is not widely-practiced, and wakame sake is even rarer than nyotaimori."

    Well, naked sushi still sounded like a good idea to me. But March 8
    seems like a long time to wait, though, and the cost for nyotaimori night at
    Temple – $75 per person, including sushi, sake and champagne, is a little
    beyond my budget. So I stopped off at the Midtown Global Market, and picked up
    a six-piece sushi sampler from the Sea Port Market: two pieces apiece of
    salmon, tuna and eel.

    I think I probably could have talked the missus into letting
    me eat sushi off of her naked body. It was the part about letting me take a
    picture of her naked with sushi on her body and post it on this blog that was
    the deal-breaker. So I suggested instead that she take a picture of me with the
    sushi artfully displayed on my body. She didn’t think this was a very tasteful
    idea, but I am willing to let the public judge for itself – I am willing to
    take risks for my art.

    This she was willing to do.

    We have two cats, Edgar and Hazel, who are usually
    restricted to a diet of raw kibble, but this definitely aroused their
    curiosity. These guys work as a team. While Carol was arranging the sushi and
    chopsticks, Hazel snuck up behind her and started licking one of the pieces of
    salmon. Then Eddie started licking the tuna on my chest.

    At any rate, Carol dutifully snapped the photo of the tuna –
    a piece that the cats had not touched. And then she tasted it. "Tastes like
    cold sushi," she said.

    Edgar declined comment.