keg's Profile
roasted pig for reception
Processors with scalding tanks are getting hard to find. One in Lake Pepin area is the only one I know of. A local farm that can get you a scalded hog is Hidden Stream. Google them if you're interested, but they have nothing to do with fully cooked beasts as far as I know. They may know of a caterer who does them however.
Se Salt
Interplanetary fish fry. I'm in. No holds barred. Irony is the State fish you're so committed to eating is in almost all instances Canadian. Eh? Game fish are tricky that way.
Se Salt
Yeah. I would not be interested in eating at Sea Salt if it were not in it's distinctive location. I'm happy to go there a few times a summer.
There are lots of great ways to eat local fish here in the heartland. A mess of semolina dredged smelt with some lemon garlic mayonaise (made with a briefly coddled egg). A walleye or crappie fish fry on a pile of cold slaw. Pickled Cisco. Smoked Lake trout or Rainbow. Baked walleye with roasted morels and asparagus. Battered Pike with freshly fried chips and remoulade.
Se Salt
Road salt, the indigenous form in Minnesota. I go there for the ionic energy coming from the falls, the shade of the oak trees, the people watching, and frequently a pitcher of ice cold beer. The food generally is not a factor, but if I'm looking for a hit of fried food it fills the void.
"Burch"
http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=150010995 The link above is incorrect.
Interested to see the "prime" portioning and pricing.
Pat's Tap - Recent Review
Savant fryer abilities according to one critic. Really? No.
How Do MSP restaurants compare to Chicago, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco Rests??
Overblown if it's poorly executed, yes. But an unfair advantage if the execution is tight.
How Do MSP restaurants compare to Chicago, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco Rests??
From the perspective of anyone who values the local foods movement (locavore) MSP is well advanced, partially I believe due to a strong presence of cooperatives and farmer's markets. Considering the population and the climate, I'd say we're small market major league. I'd love to think we could win the pennant.
MSP Airport-Great Meal
The game in airports has shifted. I was stranded in Indianapolis last year and found that instead of McDonalds and Cinnabon there were some "real" food offerings. The shops were not high end in any sense, but did feature healthy, local, simple food. Still doesn't make flying in an aluminum petri dish any more appealing.
Reactions to City Pages "Best of..."???
CP should expand to include:
"Best Placement of 'Best Of' Award Montage"
"Best Disagreement Between a Cartoon and a Chef"
Edina Whole Foods Opening
The hipster/slacker factor is a puzzle at Whole Foods. I'm familiar with their MO in the Bay Area where they had close to 20 stores. I lived behind the Berkeley Whole Foods, and as you would imagine the staff was hipster/slacker-riffic. There are no food coops in the Bay Area, and I felt like the vibe was decidedly "coop-y". Given that coops are more than just a vibe I think it's interesting to see how they've evolved and grown into this market amidst a strong local foods coop movement. They are definitely heating up the marketplace. Lunds/Byerlys must be feeling the pressure. IMO Hipster Slackers have the potential to offer great customer service, as long as the slacker factor is not over emphasized....
A Case for Q Fanatic
Kitchen Window in Calhoun Square is getting ready to unleash a hoard of BBQ weaponry in a couple of demo days later this month. Get yourself some hardware. Get to know a butcher who knows his or her way around a carcass. Therein lies the best Q.
Where's the beef?
I had a burger at Heartland, with provenance, that was delicious for the price. I avoid Lenny Russo for personal reasons, but you should give it a try.
The harissa burger at The Craftsman is credible as well on the level of being well seasoned, cooked to the requested temp, and with a clean back story. They also know how to execute shoestring fries, which you'd think would be relatively easy, but unfortunately it isn't.
I avoid beef that has been grown with hormones and antibiotics. Not so much because I fear human health risks (which I believe are debatable), rather I don't believe they make the beef taste better.
Caribe Closing
As the world turns, this location is so far off the beaten path that the only thing to save it might be a light rail station. The economics of a 40 seat restaurant are such that the owner must live within the four walls during all hours of operation because the gross sales do not support a professional salaried management team. Good restaurants of any size are definitely a lifestyle, but small ones leave owners in a precarious position. Location is always a significant factor. I hope Ngon and other business impacted by the light rail construction have deep pockets and cooperative landlords, because the rail system will bring a new day. That said, I am very hopeful that crossing University for both cars and cyclists will be easier than Hiawatha. The timing of lights and trains along this corridor is tragically unfriendly at times. There's a reason that subways and elevated rails have come to predominate in urban landscapes. Good luck with the kickstart financing. You made a very pretty restaurant out of the plain brown wrapper that preceded it.
Butcher and the Boar
Was it in a casing or skinless?
Poached gently in celophane, cello removed, and then carefully sauteed to caramelize is my favorite execution of this concept. Quenelles are another option, though less fun.
A mousseline is the typical idea (cream, egg, fish protein). Adding wild rice sounds like it might be hard to pull off. I'd submit a tiny wild rice croquette with walleye sausage medallions, lightly picked ramps, garnished with some candied mosquitoes for the Minnesota extreme. Sounds like something a loon would eat...
Looking for a place that sells and roasts green coffee beans
Coffee and Tea does a lot of short runs on single source beans, but as far as custom goes, I would guess you can find a roast there without torturing Jim. He's been roasting since way before the first second third fourth waves came rolling in. They will sell green beans for home roasters as will local coops. Sweet Maria (web based business out of Oakland CA) has a great deal of information about equipment, sells beans, and might be the ticket you're looking for.
MSP james beard semifinalists local rundown
Bachelor Farmer does not belong? In Minneapolis it is an outlier, but nor for negative reasons. Their food is simple, clean, connected to the local stream, tightly executed, and playful. The chef has a well trained palate. The toasts represent a fun hands on involvement with the food. The wine auction chalk list is brilliant.
Cafe Fanny closing tomorrow 3/9
"too small" is correct. Fanny was supplied by a commissary kitchen/granola bakery on 5th Street.
The espresso at Fanny was Mr. Espresso, and the baristas were carefully trained thus the great quality and consistent results.
Kermit and Steve should open up a stand up wine bar called Communion. Nothing more than olives and salumi on the menu. That and the obvious wine and bread. The problem with this idea of course is that there is no seating.
Ceased to be a happy place is code for contentious behavior in the divorce, or no cash, or both.
Fresh/Whole anchovies??
Frozen at Coastal. Fish of this size/quality don't last long or travel well and as a result are most often frozen. Fresh smelt, not the same in any way, are none the less a delicious local alternative. Because they're fished seasonally, you'll most often find them frozen as well. A smelt fry is a great food ritual that should be experienced at least once. Smelt fishing, if you're at all inclined is also a fun time.
Where to find beef from cows that have not been fed ground-up cows? (MSP)
Boneless meats are easier for a grocery store to manage. Instead of managing the whole animal, a grocery store orders precisely what it needs and skips the extra processing complexity.
The next step is the further reduction of store labor cost by purchasing portion cut and prewrapped meats. These are sold in gas flushed overwrapped trays which arrest the appearance of spoilage. The cutting occurs in a high volume processing plant where labor costs are theoretically easier to manage and the butcher at the store increasingly wields a box cutter.
Beef bones from grass-fed cows?
Disclosure: I'm a butcher at Seward.
The beef bones are from Hill and Vale (a whole carcass cutting program). This is a local grass fed animal that is grain finished for 3 months. It's grown without hormones or antibiotics. Dog bones are generally marrow bones, and soup bones are meatier bones or knuckle bones. Both are managed with the same safe food handling practices.
The entirely grass fed line of beef at Seward is is from Grass Run Farm, and arrives in the form of boneless sub primals that we freshly cut into steaks, roasts, stew, stir fry, etc.. Oxtails from Grass Run Farm are frequently available.
Another distinction would be organic certified bones, and I'm fairly certain these would demand a higher price. I'm not aware of any local sources.
Any shop cutting from carcass will offer bones for dogs and stock. Lamb, pork, bison, and occasionally elk bones are available at Seward.
What's with the salt & pepper shakers and Sriracha at every table in MSP?
A last minute adjustment at the table is never going to equal a carefully seasoned dish. Bland food is the work of culinary laziness, as is the over use of butter and cream.
Perhaps Siracha is 2012 Tabasco. If the dish is so flat that it's not worth tasting, why not dose it with some high-test fuel? Boring, but sometimes a good bailout plan.
best hotdog
"Makes all their own dogs" ? Nates promotes dogs from Minnesota farms, but the missing link, pun enjoyed, is the sausage meister role. I believe that they're made in inspected meat processing facilities. Please fill us in if you know who is making them/where they're made/anything unique about how they're cured (the old nitrite/nitrate debate).
The fellow who sells at the farmer's market across from Black Dog Coffee is somehow involved in making his product (either directly or with the recipe development). I was very surprised to know this based upon the fact that he didn't promote his direct role. BTW the product has great taste and texture qualities.
What's missing from MSP's culinary landscape?
Anyone focusing on old world methods for storing, pickling, curing is getting at the center of essential Midwestern practicalities. No mediterranean climate, no proximity to super fresh/affordable/not very transportable fish and a "make hay while the sunshines" seasonal bounty harvest cycle. if you can't store it with good technique and flavor it is wasted.
More root cellars. More knowledge of traditional fermentation methods. More smoke houses and curing coolers.
More cold weather farmers using greenhouse and hoop house designs ala' Elliot Coleman and Will Allen.
Aquavit remarks are interesting. I worked there in the day and Minneapolis would probably "get it" today, but not in the Crystal Court location, which had too little warmth even after they threw $4 million dollars at the build out. Aquavit in the old Vintage location. Yeah maybe.
The Bachelor Farmer - who has been and can comment
12 restaurants in front of this. That's a thought. I don't get out enough to know of 12 I'd put ahead of BF. It's not often that Minneapolis gets an infusion of talent from outside. We do love our hometown heroes, but there is something to be experienced in tasting food that comes from palates that are trained elsewhere.
BF lamb sausage appetizer (months ago now) was the best sausage I've tasted in town.
Making your own toasts is a social and playful process I would say is simply inventive.
The wine auction board, if they're still doing it, is an outstanding way to broaden the wine offering and is brilliant by itself.
BF won't float every boat, but it is a definite sweet spot.
The old Vintage/Il Vesco Vino in St. Paul
It's a soft opening with the indoor ops first, followed by a second round of buzz when the patio opens for the first time this Spring.
Speaking of business plans, remember to patronize Ngon Bistro, and any other restaurant you want to see on the opposite side of the light rail installation. Eat there often.
When pasta bars attack
Good point. However it is still possible to execute this pasta at a credible level, but nothing compared to the subtle and not so subtle advantage of freshly cooked of any type (dried, rolled, extruded).
