Restaurants

A Night at Mickey's Diner

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at September 3, 2008 5:00 AM | Comments (1)

 

No Reservations

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I called a bunch of restaurants last week and found that some will be booked through the convention, others just open limited hours. My favorite response to the question, "Will you be open during the convention?" came from the guy who answered the phone at Town Talk.

“We’re not here for politicians. We’re here for the masses. We’re here for folks like you. But we were just on food TV so we’ve been bomb diggidy busy.”

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at September 1, 2008 5:51 AM | Comments (0)

 

Barrio opens tonight

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The guys behind La Belle Vie, Solera, and Smalley's Caribbean BBQ have partnered with local real-estate developers Tim Rooney and Ryan Burnet to open a new eatery on Nicollet Mall.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at August 26, 2008 5:57 AM | Comments (12)

 

In Appreciation of Cecil's

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What follows is probably old news for a lot of readers: Cecil's Delicatessen in St. Paul has received plenty of accolades from MPLS-St. Paul Magazine, among others.

However, discovering the deli was a moving experience for me, and it may be for others as well.

My mom grew up on Long Island, not far from New York City. And while I was raised in Wisconsin, there were touches of her upbringing — homemade chocolate egg creams, egg bread (not challah, but an egg bread / white bread hybrid available at Kohl's foods stores), Hydrox cookies, Dr. Brown's Cherry soda, etc. — that helped define my childhood diet.

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Posted by James Norton at August 14, 2008 1:49 AM | Comments (1)

 

Interview: Scott Siegel of Fat Lorenzo's

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Fat Lorenzo's, open since 1987 and owned by Scott and Laura Siegel since 1995, is a Nokomis neighborhood institution. Scott Siegel sat down with City Pages to talk about how to make good pizza, the staggering cost of getting a gelato machine up and running, and giving back to the neighborhood.

CITY PAGES: What's the origin of the name?

SCOTT SIEGEL: Larry (Neck) was Lorenzo. In '85, he took over 5-8 Club. The business was nothing. My wife's brother was working there—they were partners. About nine months later, my wife (Laura) became their only employee. She lost her job in the textile business. My brother in law quit, he wasn't making any money, so he said: "To heck with it."

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Posted by James Norton at August 5, 2008 3:28 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Best Blueberry Cobbler Ever...

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...although, if you want to get down to brass tacks, it's probably actually a grunt, a treat arguably differentiated by chunks of biscuit floating atop a sea of fruity goodness plus a pie-like crust on the bottom.

(There's more than a little disagreement on the cobbler versus slump versus grunt versus crisp definitions front.)

Semantics aside, a rhubarb-blueberry grunt made and served at the Fireroast Mountain Cafe illustrated how damned good a slightly more rustic alternative to pie can be.

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Posted by James Norton at July 15, 2008 1:25 AM | Comments (0)

 

10 Killer Patios

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10 great patios, no particular order

10. Jax
There's a reason this old school Nordeast supper club has been going for 75 years strong: The leafy patio with its kitchy trout pond. They give you a net, and you literally scoop out your supper. Then the staff snaps a souvenier photo of you and your prize, cooks it up, and removes the bones tableside.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at July 1, 2008 11:56 AM | Comments (4)

 

First Look: Kindee Thai

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Sticking with this week's theme of writing mixed reviews of new restaurants that may or may not enrage the readers of this blog, a few brief words about the Mill District's Kindee Thai restaurant: If you're going to the Guthrie, and you generally view Thai food as a little too challenging, this is exactly the right place for you to eat dinner. This newly opened eatery serves a handful of Thai favorites with all the complicated musky / earthy / vexing notes helpfully edited out, resulting in a sweet + spicy duality that is both easy to comprehend and consume. The decor is pleasant (chic, even — it feels like Brooklyn, in the new, hip sense of the word) and the staff is kind and attentive.

If, however, you are not visiting the Guthrie and/or you like your Thai food with a depth and power that can sometimes be overwhelming, three alternative ideas to consider: Ruam Mit Thai. Amazing Thailand. True Thai.

Posted by James Norton at June 26, 2008 12:39 AM | Comments (2)

 

First Look: Cafe Agri

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A recent dinner at Kingfield's Cafe Agri revealed an ambitious new place that still has yet to work a few kinks out of the system. In lieu of review -- frankly, I emerged from the meal profoundly confused, and unable to compose anything as organized as a 500-word column -- a few general thoughts about one of the most interesting and frustrating new restaurants to open in quite some time.

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Posted by James Norton at June 22, 2008 11:34 PM | Comments (9)

 

St. Paul Salut: The Preview

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If the average night at the new St. Paul Salut Bar Americain is anything like the preview they ran this past Friday, we're all in for a glorious run. The Grand Avenue incarnation of the French-themed eatery offers a battery of entertaining house drinks, a sprawling 100+ person patio area, and — if the preview service was representative — the usual Parasole mix of reliable veteran servers.

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Posted by James Norton at June 17, 2008 1:40 AM | Comments (3)

 

Make It a Date: Sauced

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1. Get Arty
Across the street from Sauced, the Warren is a gallery/performance space that exhibits the work of neighborhood photographers, painters, and sculptors, and more. Workhouse Theater, a community theater group based in Camden often performs at the Warren. They just finished a run of ‘Night Mother by Marsha Norman and have performed everything from No Exit by Jean Paul Satre to Scenes from a Christmas Carol by Valerie Borey and Charles Dickens. Tickets are usually priced around $10. Check their website for upcoming shows.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at June 3, 2008 6:00 PM | Comments (1)

 

Straight Talk About Chicken Wings

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While driving around St. Paul yesterday, a restaurant awning caught my eye: "Cora's Best Chicken Wings." "Best" was underlined. Normally this kind of gastronomic smacktalk would be merely intriguing, but coming hard on the heels of a column wherein I'd proclaimed Chelly's chicken wings the best in the Twin Cities, it was seriously disconcerting. What if Cora's wings were better?

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Posted by James Norton at June 3, 2008 10:33 AM | Comments (4)

 

First Look: Gandhi Mahal

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Anyone bemoaning the lack of good solid northern Indian cuisine — former Bostonians and Chicagoans are probably prime candidates — will want to get over to the newly opened Gandhi Mahal, next door to Midori's on 27th Ave. and East Lake.

On a recent visit, nicely spiced chicken tikka masala and a rich — but not overly sweet — lamb korma were both worth the asking price ($12.95 a pop). A delightful selection of lassis (including banana, strawberry and mango) made the beverage section of the menu a joy to peruse, and the naan was soft, warm and lip-smackingly buttery.

I'll have a full review in City Pages on June 18, but until then, consider yourself covered if you have a sudden craving for Mughal cuisine.

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Posted by James Norton at May 28, 2008 8:24 PM | Comments (7)

 

Taste-Testing the McLatte

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As trouble continues to brew at Starbucks, McDonald's is making its move into specialty coffee drinks and Twin Cities stores will be introducing the new iced and hot mochas, lattes, and cappuccinos later this week. I stopped by the Uptown McDonald's (does anyone still refer to it as "McPunks"?) and found that the machine was installed (it looked like the Franke super-automatics I've seen at Caribou), but the staff hadn't been trained on them, nor had the drinks been added to the cash register system. When my barista friend and I inquired about the new beverages, the manager nicely offered to make us a couple of samples.

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at May 20, 2008 5:11 PM | Comments (10)

 

Galactic Pizza on CNN

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First, they get their own photo gallery , then their own video. Does CNN have a thing for Galactic Pizza? And who knew there was such a thing as pizzatube?

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Posted by Rachel Hutton at May 12, 2008 7:14 PM | Comments (0)