March 2010
March 30, 2010I’m on the Travel Channel’s Food Wars Tonight!
The Jucy Lucy battle airs on the Travel Channel tonight, 9 Central, 10 Eastern/Pacific! Tune in to see who has the best Ju(i)cy Lucy in the world: Matt’s or the 5-8? In addition to settling and/or throwing fuel on the fire of who has the best Lucy, this show should be quite a who’s-who of local food people: They’ve got Stephanie March from Minneapolis-St.Paul Magazine on the episode, Alix Kendall from Channel 9, and, uh, Ragnar the Vikings mascot? Who will the winner be? I’ve heard from a number of people, but signed a... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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March 30, 2010Caribe Sneak Preview
A few readers have written to ask: What happened to Jay’s Café? Sadly, the little bistro on Raymond (near University and 280 on the St. Paul side of the Minneapolis-St. Paul border) is done. But in its place, Caribe is about to be born! Caribe will be a Caribbean restaurant with an emphasis on Puerto Rican food. (It’s pronounced like the word carry + bay, so car-EE-bay.) The Puerto Rican emphasis reflects owner Tony Panelli’s heritage, Panelli told me in a phone interview this morning. He moved to Minnesota with his family when he was 11, following two brothers who were going to the U of M. Tony told me that his family made the transition from Caribbean life to Minnesotan life fairly easily—his father ended up working at Control Data and his... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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March 26, 2010Café Kem Sneak Peek
I stopped by Café Kem, the new Eat Street restaurant sibling to Jasmine Deli and Jasmine 26, and: Yay! I’ve had my eye on this spot for months, wondering what it would be. Right now it’s a stylish wi-fi hotspot coffee shop that’s open all day and offers under-$4 banh mi and panini, and really good frozen yogurt that’s served with a whole buffet of different toppings to choose from, like healthy fresh blueberries, healthy fresh watermelon, and presumably not-so-healthy, but still very alluring, gummi bears and M&M’s. The frozen yogurt is being offered in off-the-beaten-path flavors like green tea, lychee, mango, and pomegranate, and is pretty delicious. Will this be Minnesota’s entry point for jumping on the cult of Read more » Posted on Friday, March 26, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 22, 2010So Proud! Go Minnesota! So Many Beard Nominations.
The nominations for the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Awards, came out this morning, and the winners are: Lots of us! Like Isaac Becker, Lenny Russo, and Alex Roberts, all of whom are nominated for Best Chef Midwest. I’m so proud of all of them, and especially of Russo and Roberts’ local-ingredient focus; I consider their nominations not just a win for them, but for all the Minnesota farmers they work so closely with. Minnesota has some of the greatest ingredients in the world—best pork, best dairy, so many amazing vegetables—and due to the hard work of talented visionaries like Russo and Roberts, our greatness is becoming visible to the world! And Michelle Gayer Nicholson of the Salty... Read more » Posted on Monday, March 22, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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March 19, 2010Joan Ida: Making Waffles!
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard this one: Joan Ida, lately the chef of high-end Porter & Frye, one-time endlessly awarded pastry chef at (dear departed) Goodfellows, and former top toque at fine dining Tria, has taken over the top position at… the Highland Grill. The Mac-Groveland diner. What the heck is someone known for super-fine dining doing in the land of waffles and fish and chips? I tracked down Ida at the Blue Plate Restaurant Company’s corporate HQ in Maple Grove. Blue Plate is the company that owns the Highland Grill, the Edina Grill, the Longfellow Grill, the Groveland Tap, and Three Squares, and Ida had only been there a few days.“How do you find out these things?” she gasped. But then she clammed up and put... Read more » Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (18) |
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March 18, 2010Springtime Equals a New Meritage Crêpe Stand!
I walked past a patch of purple and white crocuses in bloom this past weekend and my heart leapt with joy: Spring really is coming! Now, to add to my springtime joys, I have learned that chef Russell Klein plans to debut a crêpe stand once farmers' market season gets rolling. Says chef Klein: “We’ll have it out on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the farmers' market, on the plaza next to Great Waters. I do a fair amount of shopping at that market. It’s a great resource. We’ll also have it out on our summer patio when the season gets going. I’m thinking we’ll keep it pretty simple, just two or three sweet crepes and two or three savory ones. We’ll make use of the farmers' market, making our own strawberry preserves, using local ham and... Read more » Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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March 15, 2010Sneak Peek: Great Sun Buffet
Restaurant watchers in Minneapolis know to be skeptical of the new-restaurant-du-jour at the corner of Nicollet Avenue South and 14th street—you know the spot. It most infamously held the unforgettably named “Snoodles” (noodles you sniff?), a few doors down from Market BBQ and Salsa a la Salsa, two restaurants which have proved that this location can work quite well. However: Can it work well for a half-Indian, half-Chinese buffet? Ordinarily I’d say that concept sounds sort of dopey, but when I heard such a restaurant was being opened by the people behind Gangchen (the very good, affordable Tibetan restaurant with the vibrant bar scene a little farther south on Nicollet), I had to try it out. I mean, maybe half-Indian, half-Chinese was just a way of... Read more » Posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 11, 2010Wild Acres Turkey Drumsticks at the Twins Stadium!
Most foodies in the Twin Cities are familiar with Wild Acres, the Pequot Lakes grower of wonderful pheasant, duck, turkey, wild turkey, and other poultry, and they’re familiar with them because the Wild Acres name appears on so many of the Twin Cities’ top restaurant menus. But no one knows this but us: Turns out the smoked turkey drumsticks at the new Twins Stadium about to open will be supplied by Wild Acres. But no one will know this but us because being an official supplier to the Twins is one of those pay-to-play arrangements that have to be worked out by contract, and Wild Acres isn’t big enough to get involved in such a contract. Still, the smoked turkey drumsticks on offer at the Twins Stadium will be Wild Acres drumsticks nonetheless. They’ll... Read more » Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 10, 2010Naviya’s Back! Coming to Midtown Global Market in Late April?
Naviya and Kim La Barge have been a strange force in Twin Cities restaurant culture the last few years. They opened one of the best Thai restaurants the Twin Cities have ever seen in Richfield in 2007, developed a devoted, almost cultish following for their vibrant, herb-bedecked ultra-fresh creations, added a blue-collar Thai sibling called the Kalico Elephant that was equally raved about, and then vanished without a trace, closing Naviya’s last August and selling the Kalico Elephant to one of the restaurants’ cooks, who set about... Read more » Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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March 8, 2010Cheap Eats: Authentic Ethnic
After loads of date-worthy destinations and small perfections, our March "Cheap Eats" cover story continues with what I like to call Authentic Ethnic: Punch Neapolitan Pizza La Loma Posted on Monday, March 8, 2010 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 3, 2010Cover Story: Small Perfections, Under $10!Our intrepid food critic scoured the metro for the best dishes under $10. Turns out, it’s a delicious time to be thrifty. Read more » Posted on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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March 1, 2010Heidi’s & Blackbird Spectacular Spectacular, March 14!Three Special Events on March 14 to Help Heidi’s and Blackbird Restaurants Recover Read more » Posted on Monday, March 1, 2010 in What's New Blogs Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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