February 2010
February 19, 2010Silence of the Lambs Cake & Big Stakes At the Chef Challenge!
Food & Wine’s kick-off last night was a blast: Tickets sold out. Scott Pampuch from the Corner Table had a bizarre and amazing cake frosted with a bright pink ganache made with beets. Michelle Gayer from the Salty Tart celebrated her inclusion on the Beard Awards’ long list with cookies shaped like mustaches, baked so that stick handles stuck down on one side. She was frosting them with your choice of frosting (Brown? White? Curled 19th century evil-doer style?) and taking Polaroid pictures of anyone who wanted their picture taken with their own mustache cookie—fun. Of course, the big story of the night was everyone’s shock and grief about the loss of Heidi’s, Posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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February 17, 2010Best Food & Wine Experience Ever?!
What are you doing this weekend? I know what I’m going to be doing: As much Food & Wine Experience as possible. Longtime local foodies know this show as the one weekend a year when us Minnesota Monthly types take over the Minneapolis Convention Center, bring in wine makers, wine distributors, and various complementary folks such as cheese makers and beer makers. Then we sell tickets to raise funds for MPR, and people like you and me get to wander the convention center tasting all the great wines, beers, and fancy foods that come complimentary with your entry fee. It’s a great time and we’re raising money for a great cause. However, if you haven’t been in a while, you should know that we’ve been adding lots of fantastic new attractions,... Read more » Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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February 11, 2010Big Daddy’s Is Back!
How happy am I? Happy as a four-year-old with a Sharpie and a museum full of unprotected priceless antiquities. And you will be too if you like barbecue: Big Daddy’s is back! Well, almost. I spoke with Ron Whyte, one of the three brilliant barbecue masters behind Big Daddy’s, and he told me that they have indeed taken over the former West Indies Soul space at 625 University Ave. in St. Paul, just west of the intersection of University and Dale. “We are in the process of getting some equipment installed,” Whyte told me. “Next week we’ll start sprucing up the place and testing the equipment, and we’re hoping to open March 1st.” Happy days are (almost) here... Read more » Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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February 9, 2010Jucy Lucy Death-Match!
Who has the best Jucy Lucy in Minneapolis? Of course, all of us who live here know not to bring up the sensitive issue of cheese-stuffed hamburgers in polite society, lest fisticuffs erupt. This point was brought hotly home to me yesterday as I stood in the 5-8 Club waiting to tape a segment on the history of the Jucy Lucy for a new show on the Travel Channel called Food Wars. A “super-fan” of the 5-8 was telling me that he had scientifically proven that the 5-8 Juicy Lucy was superior to the Matt’s Jucy Lucy by tasting them side by side, and discovering that the 5-8’s cheese was superior to Matt’s cheese, which he described as “discharge.” “You have proven your irrational animus against Matt’s just by using that... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (5) |
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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 Dara & Co | 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 What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (9) |
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