December 2009
December 18, 2009Best Dish of the Year?
First, let me get some shameless self-promotion out of the way: I’ll be at St. Paul’s Micawbers Books (www.micawbers.com) tonight at 7 p.m. for a talk and signing of my book. Last one before Christmas! Come on down and I’ll inscribe one for your Aunt Judy. Assuming you have one. If you haven’t got one, I can either lend you mine (wonderful woman, who makes the greatest peanut butter balls on earth) or lend a shoulder to cry on: Why were no Judy’s hitherto provided unto you? Savvy planners will want to make a reservation at nearby Muffaletta for after... Read more » Posted on Friday, December 18, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (7) |
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December 17, 2009Twin Cities Taste: Cold Comforts
Did you know that some of the most memorable restaurant experiences in Minnesota can only be had once the snow starts to fly? Icy Happy HoursIn the colder months, the snazzy Chambers Hotel turns its sexy, sculpture-filled courtyard into a bar made of 12,000 pounds of crystal-clear ice into which lights have been frozen. Women in miniskirts and parkas flit from fire pit to frozen ice table clutching signature cocktails that never warm. Last year’s visitors will notice some changes, including Italian food from the new D’Amico Kitchen, available in the adjacent restaurant. Also, the ice bar is now less weather dependent, thanks to built-in, on-site freezing technology. Barring July in January, it should be open now through mid-March. During the St. Paul... Read more » Posted on Thursday, December 17, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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December 14, 2009Subo Now Open!
It has been a sleepy year for anything really new in Minnesota dining, but I think that may have changed with the opening of Subo, a new Filipino small-plates restaurant in the old Hell’s Kitchen space in downtown Minneapolis. To be perfectly frank, this restaurant opening caught me by surprise; I had heard about Subo a few times earlier this year, but since it was a new restaurant with all-new, non-Minnesotan players coming into an old building, I put it into my ‘believe it when I see it’ file, expecting it to be subject to licensing and construction delays—but it opened last week, so goes to show what lengthy experience as a restaurant reviewer sometimes produces: Complete surprise. Anyhoo, I... Read more » Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (7) |
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December 14, 2009Review: Bar La Grassa
Before taping a local television show a few weeks ago, I was in the green room with Melissa Gilbert, former television Little House on the Prairie star and recent musical Little House on the Prairie star. I was busy wishing I had worn different sunglasses and eyeing her mink-y iPhone case and wondering if such a thing was useful when the conversation turned to restaurants. “Have you been to Bar La Grassa yet?” she asked. “No,” I lied. I often lie about visiting restaurants when I’m in the middle of reviewing them. You never know who’s going to talk to whom—or about what! Or when.… “You have to go!” she cried out, theatrically. (Incidentally, most people in green rooms are doing one of three things:... Read more » Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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December 10, 2009My New Favorite Vegetarian Blog!
I don’t write much about my other magazine, Real Food. Most of you will know the magazine as the Lunds & Byerly’s magazine, but actually it’s national; it goes to different markets in different regions of the country, so other people know it as the Sendik’s magazine, the Metropolitan Market magazine, or the McCaffrey’s magazine. And it’s huge in California. Anyway, one of the great joys of working on Real Food is getting the chance to work with some of America’s best recipe-writers, including Marie Simmons. One of my secret initiatives at Real Food has been to create one recipe feature every issue that’s made exclusively with recipes that are abundantly healthy, crammed full of nutrient-dense... Read more » Posted on Thursday, December 10, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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December 8, 2009Takeout for the Christmas Overwhelmed!
Do you like to cook a big feast for Christmas Eve? Growing up in New York, my family always did a big Italian-inspired seafood feast on Christmas Eve, with live lobsters and all sorts of make-ahead chilled seafood dishes like mussel salad. However, I’m not spending Christmas in New York this year, and I’ve found cooking with a one- and three-year-old at my side quite like walking a tightrope over an emergency room visit. So I think I might just do the whole kit and kaboodle Christmas takeout offered by the St. Paul Brasa this year. Here’s how it works. You decide whether you’d like to serve five or ten people this Christmas, and then you call Brasa at 612–245-1740 and place your order. On Christmas Eve, sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., you zip... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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December 4, 2009A Night with Heavy Table's Jim Norton—And Me!
Hey everybody. Come to my Magers & Quinn reading tonight! It will be a Q&A led by the charming and able Jim Norton, founder and leader of Heavy Table (who will also be on hand to sign his astonishing new book, Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin—I say astonishing because it's like a New Yorker magazine filled end to end with news about Wisconsin cheese. Just great.) There will also be free wine, and, since I suspect a bit of Dara-book-tour-fatigue, the chance for me to walk across the street with you and pick out presents for your mom at the giant new Kitchen Window?... Read more » Posted on Friday, December 4, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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December 2, 2009Blown Away by the Savvy of Bubble Me
There’s a new coffee, banh-mi, and bubble-tea shop called Bubble Me in Uptown on Lake Street, a few doors down from Davanni’s, and you know what? The food is pretty good. Strangely, I find the concept for this place the most interesting. It's killer. Here's why: 1) They only serve three things: A six-item Thai/Vietnamese menu, Thai Bubble Tea drinks, and Lavazza espresso drinks and coffee. Posted on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (3) |
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