FOUR-STAR CHEF Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his amazing culinary team are using local ingredients to create fabulous, flavorful food at the Chambers Kitchen in the new Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Owner Ralph Burnet’s dynamite digs with dramatic art make this a must-dine, must-see, must-stay addition to the city.
When Marshall Field’s made the switch to Macy’s, the new owners were wise to keep the Culinary Council. Iron Chef star Cat Cora, Food Network host Dave Lieberman, and Govind Armstrong, executive chef of Los Angeles’s trendy Table 8, will create more restaurant recipes and do cooking demos in the chain’s 800 stores.
The Edina Grill has moved around the corner to new digs at 5028 France Avenue South. The menu will continue to feature hearty homemade meals: favorite Grill dishes, such as the turkey burger and the breakfast combos remain, joined by new items, including a ground-lamb burger, duck and hash, and Southwest breakfast potato skins.
Cheeses, vinegars, oils, olives, sausages, and baked goods line the shelves and deli cases at Ken and Amy Liss’s European-style Premier Cheese Market on France Avenue at 50th Street. I love the innovative salt bar, with large Bolivian rose salt chunks and pewter salt dishes from Nova Scotia.
Mother Sauces has opened at 7630 Lyndale Avenue South in Richfield. Owner Leo Bogee has combined a cooking school and international spice market for foodies to create their own herb blends and purchase kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, and products—don’t miss the fabulous fudge sauces. Take in a 55-minute gourmet lunch at the school, prepared as you observe on Fridays and Saturdays.
Sue Zelickson is the host of WCCO Radio’s Food for Thought.
