Temp: 20.0F
More »

November 30, 2009

Last Chance for Book Party Tickets!

Hey everybody, it looks like we have to close the window for buying tickets to my book party tomorrow at noon, to give the Solera chefs time to prep for the event. I know we had some problems with the ticketing site early on, so if you tried to buy a ticket and couldn’t, many apologies; we seem to have finally worked everything out. (However, if you still have any problems with the online ticketing, e-mail me directly at dmgrumdahl@mnmo.com, and I will personally figure out how to make this work!)

To recap, this Wednesday's event is going to be the party of the year, or at least the party of my year, and for your $80 Read more »

Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 30, 2009

Superstar Pastry Chef Lured by Minneapolis Schools?

The rich get richer, right? Well, sometime in 2010 the richest neighborhood for baked goods in the metro, South Minneapolis—home to Turtle Bread, Rustica, French Meadow, Butter Bakery, and more—will get even richer with the addition of Patisserie 46, a bakery and café slated to go into the corner of 46th and Grand. (Kitty-corner from Café Ena, across from King’s Wine Bar.)

This new bakery and café is being brought to us by John Kraus, a remarkably accomplished pastry chef who seems to have won every pastry-chef-of-the-year award there is, and also won a Food Network Chocolate Challenge. Kraus has been recently teaching at Read more »

Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (8)

November 24, 2009

You Be the Ethicist: Is Kieran Driving Canadian Cod to Extinction?

I have a review coming out on Cooper, Kieran Folliard’s new St. Louis Park pub, in our January issue. One question I didn’t address in the review, however, was this: Is The Local, The Liffey, Cooper, and Kieran’s part of the problem in driving north Atlantic Cod to extinction?

I ask this because about two out of three people at one of Folliard’s incredibly popular pubs seem to order the fish & chips; if you specify traditional cod for your fish (instead of walleye or shrimp), you get north Atlantic cod fished from Canada. This is purely an educated guess, but I’d presume that Kieran’s various pubs combined have to be one of the biggest cod markets in the Twin Cities.

So,... Read more »

Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (10)

November 23, 2009

My Book Party! My Book! My Dreams!

It’s been a long, strange journey, and it all comes together starting now: My book is out! It was legally for sale as of midnight last night. I can’t believe it.

If you don’t know what I’m babbling about, here’s the skinny: I wrote a book! It’s about wine. It’s called Drink This: Wine Made Simple. Essentially, it’s what I wish I had had ten years ago, when I started writing about wine, in that it provides just enough information and just the right sort of edited information to explain the basics of wine to a smart person who... Read more »

Posted on Monday, November 23, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (6)

November 18, 2009

Legitimately Excited About Il Gatto!

The last big restaurant opening of the year will be Il Gatto, the restaurant Parasole is going to put into their old Figlio space in Uptown. I haven’t been too excited about Il Gatto; all the advance press makes it sound like an Italian Salut—that is, Italian, with burgers (and ahi tuna appetizers?).

In retrospect, I feel like Parasole’s Burger Jones was so disappointing because it delivered so little true hospitality and love and ambition to its customers. Am I insane to expect that from a restaurant? No doubt, but I have felt that other Parasole restaurants really do deliver more than mere French fries. (Muffaletta, for instance, I feel delivers... Read more »

Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (4)

November 16, 2009

Sushi & Bananas Foster for Thanksgiving?

Thinking of heading to a restaurant for Thanksgiving this year? If you’re planning on the St. Paul Grill and didn’t get your reservation yet, you’re out of luck—I called yesterday and they were down to a few scant tables at 11 a.m.; I bet by now they’re gone. So what else is there? Here are some of my top picks:
 

Locovore’s Delight

Chef Paul Lynch of Firelake Grill House is one of the undersung heroes of local food in Minneapolis, and always puts on a fantastic Thanksgiving spread. This year, $29.95 for adults ($12.95 for kids) gets you Wild Acres Turkey from right up the road in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, as well as all the fixings from local wild rice stuffing to deep-dish pumpkin... Read more »

Posted on Monday, November 16, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (5)

November 12, 2009

Feature: Season to Taste

When is a new restaurant not a new restaurant? When fresh talent makes over the menu.

A restaurant’s chef can typically be compared to a nation’s president: The direction for everything flows from the top, from the biggest details (steak house or Indian?) to the littlest (will the salad greens be microscopic, medium, or large?). Of course, there are restaurants where that top slot is filled by an owner or a corporation, but at chef-driven restaurants, the chefs drive everything. So what happens when a chef-driven restaurant gets a new chef? Sometimes miracles. The following is your guide to the brand-new Twin Cities restaurants hiding inside the old favorites.

SOLERA

Who’s New? Chef J. P. Samuelson
Inside... Read more »

November 10, 2009

Feature: Fresh Entrées

The world of local restaurants has changed significantly since the Great Recession began. If you’ve been hunkered down in your bunker, here’s the best of what you missed.

➻ Barrio Tequila Bar

Fantastically good tequila drinks and $3 tacos from the previously fine-dining-oriented La Belle Vie crew. 925 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-333-9953; 235 E. Sixth St., St. Paul, 651-222-3250, barriotequila.com

➻ Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza

Local restaurant veteran Jordan Smith bought Minnesota’s first real coal-fired oven and started serving some of the area’s best no-frills New York–style pies, alongside cheap, good house wine and... Read more »

Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 4, 2009

Don't Forget the Reviews!

Dear Dara readers, you know I also write full restaurant reviews for the magazine, right?! If you’re not a Minnesota Monthly subscriber, then maybe not, so I’m going to help you out and start dropping short posts here, with links to the reviews or my dining-related features, whenever they get published online.

Here’s our latest cover story: "The New Restaurant Scene."

To catch up on reviews past, check out the "Dara's Latest Reviews" box to the right of this post.

Much more to come!

Posted on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 3, 2009

Rachel’s Mystery Resolved—Will Open in January?

One of the great mysteries of the Twin Cities food scene has been: What the devil is up with the old Bobino space? Of course, we’re talking about the legendarily pretty spot, once a funeral home, at 222 E. Hennepin across from Kramarcuk in Northeast Minneapolis. The former home of once-legendary Bobino (which J.P. Samuelson put on the map, and Marianne Miller briefly, though brilliantly, helmed). Bobino flamed out in 2005, but it stayed in the news for a good time after that as various lawsuits and accusations flew hither and yon. Sometime after that (in 2006?) black signs went up on the building announcing Rachel’s. (If I remember correctly, it was going to be the restaurant of a local chef named Rachel, but I can’t remember the last name.) I have a call into... Read more »

Posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 in Dara & Co | Permalink | Comments (5)