February 8, 2010Quick Bite: Il Gatto
New York City has been swept up in porchetta madness the last few years, as one chef after another has tried to best their rivals with their version of the boneless, well-seasoned, Italian pork roast that originated in Rome and is said to have been eaten there since the days of Emperor Nero. I’ve watched this one-upsmanship with distant envy—and one lovely tasting trip—as the only good porchettas I’ve ever found in Minnesota are the ones you cook yourself. (Try Buon Giorno in Lilydale or Ready Meats in northeast Minneapolis for good uncooked versions.) Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 2, 2010Best Restaurant in the Far-Northern Suburbs?
Sara wrote in: “It is our six-month wedding anniversary—celebrating makes us as giddy as Jr. High kids! We want to go out and have a nice dinner. Both of us work in the city, but call Forest Lake home. While we enjoy the lake and our cozy little apartment, the area seems to offer nothing in the realm of culinary excitement. The best we've found so far is a little Mexican place called Dun Julio's, which is cheap and fast, but that's not quite what we have in mind. People around here rave about Za! and Norman Quacks, but they just don't do it for me. Have I missed some great gem in all of my fussing that there isn't any good food in a 30-mile radius? Am I just too spoiled having lived in NE and South Minneapolis with the 112 Eatery, Azia, Red Stag, and Al's Breakfast... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 in Dear Dara What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (7) |
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January 29, 2010Explore the New Frugality with Cheap Steaks—or Live with Chris Farrell and Me on February 17
Do you spend money differently than you did in 2005? For me, the answer is a resounding yes—but that’s largely because I now have two preschoolers and I can enjoy, literally, watching my disposable income get disposed of as I sweep the kitchen and fill dust-pans with organic raisins. In terms of my professional life, however, the world of Twin Cities restaurants is utterly different than it was in 2005. A few trends: • Most diners seem to have abandoned wholesale the idea of the $30 entrée. Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 in Dear Dara What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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January 25, 2010Big Changes at Victory 44: No Servers! New Chef! Home-Made Tofu! Wait, No Servers?
I got a reader tip that there were big changes afoot at the best restaurant in North Minneapolis, Victory 44. I finally put my big Cheap Eats package to bed this afternoon and was able to follow up the tip, and there’s so much news I barely know where to begin. Well, first things first: There’s a whole new crew of chefs running this little gastro-pub now. Their leader is James Winberg, a 32-year-old Grand Rapids, Minnesota native who recently was cooking at a Washington-state restaurant named Nimbus. Second in command is Mike Brown, both assisted by Jeff Houseman and, on weekends, owner Erick Harcey (who also owns The Kitchen in Stillwater).... Read more » Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 in Dear Dara What's New Blogs | Permalink | Comments (10) |
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January 21, 2010One-On-One with Andrew Zimmern
Having local food celebrities in town like Andrew Zimmern is a blessing to ambitious food people like me. How so? Because for one thing, Zimmern was kind enough to provide a blurb for my wine book Drink This: Wine Made Simple when he doesn’t even drink! Blurbs like that are critical when it comes to getting the book picked up in bookstores where they’ve never heard of regional names such as mine. To add gilded sprinkles to the icing on this cake, Zimmern has posted a very long interview with me on his website. Thanks Andrew! Thanks, everyone at Bizarre Foods! Here it is: "5 Qs with Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl." Read more »Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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January 20, 2010Best Secret, Cheap Restaurant: Nick and Eddie
I’ve been hard at work on my "Cheap Eats" cover story for the March Minnesota Monthly, and it’s been terrifically fun, as I’ve mostly been revisiting a lot of inexpensive ethnic restaurants and getting reaquainted with how fab they are. (Like: Evergreen, La Loma, and Mai Village.) However, it’s always in my mind that the Holy Grail of Minnesota restaurants is one so comfy, sexy, and well-lit that you can take a first date there—and order a craveable entrée under $10. At the risk of stealing from my March story, I can tell you: I have found that Holy... Read more » Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (4) |
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January 19, 2010On the Menu: Bison
 Photo by Todd Buchanan Carnivores have been soul-searching lately: Must a hunger for meat destroy the planet? Not if you eat bison. Not only does this giant native herbivore require no petrochemical-fueled corn for food, no electricity for warmth, and no lagoons for waste, bison are actually a critical part of the Great Plains’ environment; they distribute native plants’ seeds by burr, by manure, and by planting seeds as they break the prairie’s top crust with their hooves. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that the most environmentally helpful thing a... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (4) |
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January 13, 2010Two New Minneapolis Restaurants, All By Newbie Jim Ringo
Never heard of Jim Ringo? Neither had I, but I just spent an hour on the phone with this brand-new restaurateur. He's bringing two new restaurants to Minneapolis and St. Louis Park—one of them to Minneapolis’ most historically significant space, the old Forum Cafeteria, most recently famous as the space for Goodfellow’s, Minneapolis one-time white-tablecloth standard-bearer. Not wanting to beat around the bush, I asked Ringo the most obvious question: Who are you? Answer: Ringo, a Korean adoptee, grew up in Washington State and got a job with Cargill 20 years ago. They eventually transferred him to Minnesota, and he and his wife Stefanie, who also works for Cargill, have lived in Wayzata for 14 years. Now the two are opening the restaurants together. Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (12) |
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January 11, 2010Reading at The Bookcase in Wayzata Tonight!
Looking for something to do tonight? Why not come down to my "Drink This" reading and Q&A at The Bookcase, the lovely Wayzata bookstore. I’ll be answering all your questions big and small, on wine, food, and whatever else you’ve got. Come on down! Only one person so far has asked me to dedicate the book with a complex Latin inscription. That could have been a script in which I dedicated my soul to Loki for all I know; I just copied it from the piece of paper that was presented to me. So, will you be the first to ask for an inscription in ancient Greek? Come on, make my night! The... Read more » Posted on Monday, January 11, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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January 8, 2010Best Cheap Fancy Restaurant in Town
Did you know Jasmine 26, the elegant loft-like dark sister to everyone’s favorite Vietnamese cheap restaurant, Jasmine Deli, serves lunch all day long? It’s true, they’ve been doing it for a few months and I think it might be the best cheap fancy meal in town. Between 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., they offer a super-cheap menu of treats, like lacy patties of filligreed tempura yams for $4.50. But that’s not all! There are another dozen $4.50 options, like: A big bowl of their signature pho, vegetarian yam curry, and a deconstructed banh mi in which a bowl of chicken meatballs swim in tomato sauce topped with cilantro and scallions. For $4.50! $6.95 moves you into full entrée territory, with dishes like a silver-thread noodle salad with lime-juice-dressed... Read more » Posted on Friday, January 8, 2010 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (3) |
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