stpaulbreadman's Profile
smoked country ham
Fisher farms has fabulous fabulous smoked ham. Great for dinner, sandwhiches, and I used mine for split pea soup also. You can buy a whole one directly from the farm or from golden fig in St Paul on Grand.
Which is better French: La Belle Vie or Vincent's? Please weigh in...
While I agree with most of the posters that La Belle Vie is top quality it depends what you are looking for. If you want more casual but very french fare I think Vincents can really meet the bill. My wife and I love sitting in the bar and have a croque madame there not to mention other bistro food. Might be a thought to do Vincent for Lunch and Belle Vie for dinner?
I personally didn't like Pierre's the one time I ate there - French Bistro with food service grade bread? Yuck !
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La Belle Vie
510 Groveland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55405
New in town from Chile: Pisco? Chilean/Peruvian/Argentinean food?
There is a market inside the midtown global market in the south east corner (I forget the name of the store) that carries products from those countries. I go there to buy Argentinian frozen empanada wrappers to make at home and they also have imported frozen/canned/boxed things from that part of the world.
Ostrich eggs
I got some last summer at the Minneapolis famer's market in between the guthrie and spoon river. Don't remember the vendor's name but they had them and duck eggs all the time.
Is Barrio Tequila Bar pretty loud? Or not really?
We were there with someone hard of hearing and found the noise unacceptable. We asked for them to turn it down but they would not.
Where can I buy baby octopus in MSP?
Not only does coastal ALWAYS have it in stock frozen. It is super cheap and very good. Just purchase in time to thaw it in the fridge - I've grilled it and broiled it for pasta toppings.
MSP-Paella rice
I use bomba rice (from Surdyks) - this is the best. other short grain rices work too but the rice (in contrast to an earlier poster) is in fact the critical ingredient in this.
Technique is everything here. brown your ingredients well. use a good stock (or f you want water) - let a good crust form on the bottom as the water evaporates. Taste for salt . It's always such a treat to make and eat paella. Enjoy.
Ceviche? (MSP)
For really inexpensive and tasty try La Sirena Gorda in the midtown global market.
I really like the ceviche at Masa.
Done with Kopplin's and ISO replacement mocha - MSP
Thank you. Andrew's focus on quality is what has made Kopplin's undeniably the best place for coffee in the twin cities. I hope he continues to use his judgment to keep the quality high.
Solera - Worth it please? [MSP]
I always enjoy solera. It is probably my favorite restaurant in town; partly because I love tapas and they have a nice mix of traditional and non-traditional, partly because I think the kitchen is very consistently good, and partly because they have a great not too expensive spanish wine list.
With a few people you can eat reasonably cheaply by sharing a tasting menu.
MSP- Best Croissant?
I agree with those voting for Turtle for best croissants.
I think Rustica is the best bakery with the best bread in town and I love their pastry. But.... for my money they overbake the croissants leaving them too dry. (I still eat them and enjoy them though).
MSP-Porcini Mushrooms
Years ago I got frozen porcini from Buon Giorno - don't know if they still carry them.
Fresh they are amazing - rich, meaty, definitely worth eating.
Memories of a wild mushroom pizza in the south of spain with a huge fresh porcini on top covering almost the whole diameter of the pizza - MMM.
Best Burger -- StL
Yes Blueberry Hill (although I prefer Oconnell's but agree about the smoke being unacceptable). When is St Louis going to get a restaraunt/bar smoking ban like we do in more civilized cities!!
MSP - Grand Avenue
Grand has a few decent lungh places. Punch pizza is one of my all time favorites- neapolitan style wood burning oven, etc (But it won't compare to your best - pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. it's more conventional than Bianco). There is an Algerian restaraunt called Barbary Fig, Farther west is a Nepali-himalayan place called Everest (lunch is a buffet though but not a bad one). Even farther east near Macalester college is Shish for excellent humus.
You could also go a mile or less north to University for lots of vietnamese options.
MSP: Best of the Best
I know it's out of favor on this list and I've been dissed for mentioning it before, but Solera is still my favorite place in town and it's cheap. You can eat quick and casual or a full long meal and it's excellent food.
My other favorites concord with others on the list including yes Punch pizza, quanq vietnamese, fasika ethiopian....
I don't agree with 112 though - it's fun but I don't get what the fuss is about.
MSP - Masa
I love the ceviche there. very fresh and refreshing. I don't know if they're on the menu now but the calamari was very well done. I also agree with everyone else about the crepes being amazing and the churros excellent.
Lucias [MPLS]
Always a nice dining experience. Menu is small with only a few choices always with in season local ingredients very well prepared. Not too fancy. Not too adventurous. but always good.
Best steak in Buenos Aires?
What makes the best steak? Obviously the quality and flavor of the beef has to be excellent. I think that at most of the well known places the beef is probably very comparable. The other elements of how well cooked and salted the food is may be just as important. I haven't been to all the places mentioned on the list but will mention another small old unfancy parrilla that just serves up perfectly cook bife de chorizo and other cuts. Parilla Iguazu - corner of sucre and figeroa alcorta two restarants away from Sucre. (which is excellent in a very different way). I look forward to trying some of the others on the thread. Also a comment. It's interesting to me that the beef here is very full flavored but not at all gamey in the way a lot of grass fed meat in the states is. What do you supose makes the difference? (or are we getting grain finished meat in all these parellas).
[MSP] Mill City Farmers Market
One of the really nice aspects of the Mill City market is that I never have to ask the farmers if they use chemical pesticides or herbicides. You know for sure that every stand that is not organic is at least practicing sustainable farming. That is a huge advantage over my usual St Paul markets.(which I still go to and enjoy at times). Also -I disagree with the previous poster questioning the quality. I've gotten top notch produce since I started going here a few months ago.
The prepared foods really really are wonderful and I spend a lot more money since I always get either breakfast or lunch there. (favorites of mine are the grilled veggies or gazpacho at chefshack and the momo's).
Best Hamburger in Midwest
I lived in Columbia MO and hated booches - small greasy and with too much bun for meat.
O'connells is number one and Blueberry HIll in St Louis very good also .
I live in St Paul MN now and think the best here is vincents (fancy burger with braised short ribs in the middle. Different concept but great burger.
msp Source for fresh tortillas
La Perla also has a tortilleria on the east side of St Paul on Payne Ave if thats closer than Mercado centra. It is also in a neighborhood with lots of mexican stores/rests.
end of the year survey: What were your best 5 meals in MSP in 2007?
Thinking about my reply this is not neccasarily the best food or the best dish but that combination of food, location, company and time of day. The best meals have been at home with friends and lots of wine but in terms of meals out I enjoyed the following.
1- almost any meal at Sea Salt in Minnehaha on a nice day - calamari, fish tacos, etc
2- lunch at Vincents for a croque madame, omelet or other comfort food
3- many lunches at La Sirena Gorda in midtown global market
4- many pizza dinners at Punch always with Buffalo Mozarella
5- a grilled calamari dish at Masa for dinner
6- Can I cheat and say a cappucino at Kopplin's with a danish from Rustica (not a real meal but definitely one of the best things in town).
Next dish to try at Little Szechuan
I had the eggplant there and found it very very greasy. May have been an off day but I won't order that there again. (Love it at shuang cheng in dinkytown though).
German and Austrian specialties in Minneapolis/St. Paul?
I tend to buy ham at Surdyks cheese shop. There used to be a german store that had all kinds of imports in St Paul but it closed down a few years ago and I don't think anyone's stepped into that niche. Now I order specialties like gelbwurst or weisswurst by internet. (Shaller and Weber is one of our favorites). Whole foods just started carrying some german cold cut products from a Chicago butcher but they're not to my taste.
Minneapolis - Truly sour dough
So, what does stpaulbreadman think of French Meadow breads,
supposedly made in the authentic manner?
Been many years since I had it (so it may be much better now than it was) but I think their marketing exceeds flavor. I prefer Rustica.
Sour dough bread
I think the bread at Tartine is the best sourdough in the country. It is clearly worth the trip off the beaten tourist path. Some of the "real" sourdough that people like to think about is just mediocre bread with acetic acid added. Don't be fooled by how sour the bread is. Focus on artisan ingredients and handling and complexity of flavor.
Chantrelles (MSP)
Costco in St.Louis Park for $8.99/pound. It's something like 1/8 the price it was at the co-op. They are also quite tasty.
Does anyone know if they've started cultivating them or is this just a fluke peak season somewhere excess that's brought the price within reach of us ordinary folks.
Does this exist? A scale that reads in Baker's Percentages...
Also - for the original poster. For home baking (like I do) baker's percent is critically important for flour and water proportions and you can be looser with others. For example my usual home bread uses 500 g flour. I weigh the water depending on what I want and if I have some added ingredients I'll weigh them. I've found that 1 tsp salt is just right for my taste and 1/4 tsp yeast gives me a long - all day 1st fermentation (rise). no need to get fancier. I will generally use 360-370 gms H2O for most white breads.
