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​Happy National Cheesecake Day! Sure, you can rush out to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate in, um, style, or you could wait until next week to take a Cheesecake 101 class at Byerly's St. Louis Park with Joan Donatelle, Culinary Shop Manager.

We talked with Donatelle about her tips for crack-free cheesecake and how being a Gemini affects her cheesecake tastes.

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Photo by Nikki Miller

Foxy Falafel's bike-powered smoothies at the Uptown Market

​If you've been to the Kingfield, Uptown, and Northeast farmers markets this summer, you've
probably seen Foxy Falafel owner Erica Strait peddling (and pedaling) her bike-powered smoothies and amazing falafel, along with kombucha, pita chips, and hummus.

Strait's falafel are a labor of love. Strait sprouts her own chickpeas, ensures most ingredients are organic
and as local as possible, and offers three great sauces: Tunisian harissa (smoky, garlicy, spicy goodness), cucumber yogurt sauce
(bright and cooling) and green tahini (herbaceous and lemony). But what
we like most about Strait is her enthusiasm not only for healthy food
but for food you can eat on the streets.

We caught up with her recently to talk about her falafel philosophy and other hot topics.

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​Taste of Minnesota kicks off Friday (we leave it up to you to decide whether the music is worth the price of admission), so we asked Andy Faris, one of the managing partners of Taste, what red, white, and blue foods would be for sale and what exactly "Manfood 101" will teach attendees.More >>

​When it comes to making truffles, Kevin Lindee isn't afraid of much. Rather, the Columbia Heights-based proprietor of Ganache: Truffles for Every Occasion thrives on infusing his truffles with flavors that might not sound as natural as, say, chocolate and nougat, but somehow work. Lindee's innovative creations will be available for a second consecutive year at Taste of Chocolate, a dessert competition raising money for the Bloomington Fine Arts Council. He spoke with The Hot Dish about how he decides what ingredients to use, and how everyday food items can provide inspirations for truffles.

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Photo courtesy Luke Kyle

​Not only is Luke Kyle the brains behind the menu at Anchor Fish & Chips, he also provided much of the brawn -- literally -- to convert the former art gallery space into the newest new restaurant near the now bustling intersection of University and 13th Ave. NE in Northeast Minneapolis. Kyle, who has his own construction business, also served as contractor and carpenter for the build-out of the space.

Drawn to its seafaring, distinctly Irish feel, he and co-owners Kathryn Hayes and Jenny Crouser even appropriated the name of Kyle's construction business -- Anchor Construction -- for the name of the authentic Irish chippery.

The influence of his native country -- Kyle is from Belfast (Hayes hails from Tipperary) -- pervades Anchor's menu, which is populated with dishes like black pudding, rashers, pasties, and shepherd's pie along with the restaurant's signature fish and chips. Pasties -- round, battered and fried patties, usually of meat and potatoes -- are unavailable even in the south of the country. They are a unique, distinctly Northern Ireland dish, similar to but distinct from the baked pasty you would find in England or Scotland.

The restaurant has been open almost two months now and by all accounts things are going extremely well. On a recent night, waiting diners were told it would be 50 minutes for a table, and most chose to stay, grabbing a Black and Tan or a Guinness from the bar. Kyle, whose older brother is Ben Kyle, lead singer for the local band Romantica, is soft-spoken, with a slightly detectable Irish drawl, peppered with the occasional swear word, sat down for a few minutes with Hot Dish recently:

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Photo courtesy Erik Anderson

​Sea Change, the Guthrie's newest restaurant addition, has been hard at work winning diners over since it opened its doors over a month ago. In case you haven't heard, the Tim McKee operation (in partnership with the Dallas-based Culinaire) specializes in sustainable seafood, serving lunch, dinner, and late-night fare and featuring a raw bar.

Head Chef Erik Anderson brings experience to the kitchen that should knock anyone's socks off, with stints at Napa Valley's French Laundry and gigs locally at Levain, Auriga, Mission American Kitchen & Bar, and, most recently, Porter & Frye. Anderson has also taught at the local Cordon Bleu. Dude's been in the biz basically since birth. Anderson chatted with Hot Dish for a few minutes recently.

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puroticorico/Flickr

The Guthrie Theater, home of the Level Five Cafe

After many years away from Minnesota (the last nine in Arizona, Michigan before that) the Guthrie's Level Five Cafe Chef Matt Holmes, an Edina native, says, "It was time to come home." Since then, Holmes has been making his mark on the local culinary scene. He spent about a year as executive chef at the Hotel Minneapolis's Restaurant Max before coming on as head chef at Level Five in May. According to a recent Strib blurb, Holmes has "instantly perked the place up," featuring Creole and Italian dishes to complement the plays currently performing at the Guthrie. He says that while most of his background is in French cuisine, he likes experimenting with North African spices and has lately been starting to get into more Asian-inspired dishes. Holmes spent a few minutes with Hot Dish recently:

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Adam Vickerman drinks his orange juice.

So far so good. Trattoria Tosca Chef Adam Vickerman says since the Linden Hills restaurant expanded service to include dinner last month things have been "going really well, really busy." Hot Dish has heard nothing but good things about the magic Vickerman seems to be working, including from the Strib's Rick Nelson, who recently declared a meal there "an unabashed pleasure," and "skillfully handled," alongside other compliments.

Vickerman, who is from the Apple Valley/Rosemount area, attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights, from which he went on to work at the former Restaurant Levain under local culinary rockstar Steven Brown (formerly of Porter & Frye). Vickerman eventually found himself heading up Cafe Levain (Restaurant Levain's reincarnation), which is what he was doing before being scooped up by Tosca owner Harvey McLain. Hot Dish caught up with Vickerman recently for a quick Q&A:

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Quote of the night: "There is no "i" in team, but there are three in indigestion."

Think you could finish this? Jenny from Uptown shares her experience defeating the 28-inch Monstrosity at Jimmy's Pizza in Albertville (with help, of course).

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He's come a long way since Chili's, that's for sure. Local culinary superstar David Vlach, fresh from an eight month stint in Barcelona at several restaurants (including Comerc 24, which earned a prized Michelin star in 2008) has come on board with Chef Stewart Woodman as Heidi's new sous chef.

Vlach, who is from Plymouth, got his first restaurant job at age 16 at Chili's, but says it really wasn't until college that he started thinking of cooking as a potential career. When he dropped out of college to pursue the profession, he first went to work at Broder's. Since then, it has been up, up and away for Vlach, who has also worked locally at Cafe Levain and 20.21 . In early 2006 he opened the Town Talk Diner.

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