Weekends are the new Wednesdays. What used to be called ‘hump day’ is now just another time-snippet of the 24/7/365 world we live in and weekends seem like a tedious fulcrum between workweeks that we all are desperate just to “get through.” Or is that just me?

Friday night I squeezed in a family dinner with my wife at the new Fuji-Ya in downtown St Paul. The best night in town to eat sashimi is Friday nights, after the local Japanese restaurants get their largest fresh seafood orders of the week. The quirky and unusual fish all come in that day, and if you know the counterman behind the sushi bar, all the better. The himachi kama (broiled yellowtail collar) is outstanding at Fuji-Ya, and anyone who isn’t already addicted to the ginger-carrot salad dressing probably hasn’t had it yet. You should. The fish we tried was superb: madae (Pacific snapper), three types of toro (fatty tuna), mirugai (giant clam), himachi (yellowtail). But the folks at Fuji Ya source the best uni (sea urchin) in the Cities and the best batch we had all year was last week. Head down there and check it out.

Speaking of sushi, I hung out this weekend with Hiroko Shimbo, author of The Japanese Kitchen, one of the best cookbooks on Japanese food you will ever read, and she told me her next book due out in the fall will be all about sushi, an over worn subject to be sure, but I am positive that her tome will be definitive. Suvir Saran, the chef-owner of Devi, NYC’s hottest Indian restaurant, was also with us. His book Indian Home Cooking should be on everyone’s must-have lists for cookbooks. Look for Suvir to be back in town in April for some demos and book signings. He is a great teacher and a better human being and wears pink paisley pants—so the guy also knows how to have fun.

Sunday I did an Iron Chef competition in St. Louis Park against Michelle Gayer, the 2003 Bon Appetit magazine pastry chef of the year, and Charlie Trotter’s old pastry chef. She kicked my ass, but the judges in a rare showing of magnanimity declared the contest a tie. We were asked by a mutual friend to face off at the birthday party for his son, a huge reality show and Food Network fan. The six eight-year-old assistant cooks were spared the emotional injury of having to be judged a winner or a loser, but Battle Egg will forever be etched in my memory as one of my great failings. I made a chiliquile tortilla pie, a frittata, and a poached quail egg and bacon sandwich. Nice stuff, but Michelle’s chocolate bread pudding with cajeta was the best dish of the seven we made between the two of us. The event was a blast and I called for a rematch for next year. I will not be defeated! I will crush whoever stands in my way. (Consider yourself warned, Gayer!)
Domo origato!

I would’ve crawled across a desert of broken glass to have spent one night this last weekend chowing on some great Thai food at Krua Thai, Ruam Mit, or Taste of Thailand (my favorite Thai restaurants) and then sit in a movie theater and watch some great junk for a few hours. I think I haven’t seen a movie in a year. But the Thai-food itch can be scratched easily—I’ll make these dishes Wednesday night for dinner, and so can you. Both are dishes I learned to make in Thailand two years ago, and adapted them for my kitchen.

Anyone who has eaten at Town Talk Diner should drop me a line and let me know what you think! They just opened and I am eager to hear how the jungle drums are beating.

Sweet and Sour Bangkok-Style Shrimp with Red Chilies
Serves 6 as a small entrée
2 lbs. U-15 sized wild caught shrimp, deveined with shell left on
2 t. salt
1T. turmeric
2 t. cinnamon
10 dried whole California or Mexican chilies, arbols, or other long, red thin chilies
5 fresh red Thai chilies or 1 scotch bonnet/habanera chili
8 minced shallots
8 garlic cloves, minced
4 stalks lemongrass, cleaned and minced
3 T. peanut oil
3/4 c. ketchup
1/2 c. white vinegar
1T. salt
5 T. sugar
1 c. diced carrots, blanched
1 c. cooked peas
40 fresh mint leaves

Toss shrimp with salt, turmeric, and cinnamon. Cut off and discard dried chili stems. Place dried chilies into a cup of boiling water and refresh for 10 minutes. Drain and puree dried chilies with fresh chilies, shallot, garlic, and lemongrass in food processor. Reserve.

Heat peanut oil in large wok over highest heat. Fry chili paste 4 minutes until fragrant and mahogany-colored. Add shrimp and cook, tossing until they are almost cooked through. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, salt, and sugar.

Cook for several minutes after mixture boils, to heat and consolidate the flavors, then add vegetables and mint.

Toss and serve.

Grilled Lamb with Green Curry

1 boneless leg of lamb, seasoned with peanut oil, sea salt, minced ginger, and garlic
3 sprigs fresh basil
1 c. fresh cilantro leaves
3 garlic cloves
2 stalks lemongrass
1 hot green chili (I like to use Serrano chilies—use 2 if you like it hot)
4 scallions
2 T. Madras-style curry powder
3 T. brown sugar
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. (each) diced carrot, celery, and onion
8 oz. fresh oyster mushrooms
1 c. rice wine or sake
14 oz. coconut milk
3 T. fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime

Place lamb on a slow grill and cook for 25-30 minutes until just past medium rare, roughly 145 degrees on a meat thermometer. Let rest.

When you start the lamb, start the sauce. Puree basil, cilantro, garlic, lemongrass, hot chili, scallions, curry powder, sugar, and lime leaves in food processor.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté herb paste for 3-4 minutes. Add vegetables and rice wine and cook 6-8 minutes until rice wine is 2/3 evaporated. Add coconut milk and simmer until sauce is thick, seasoning with fish sauce and lime juice to taste.

Slice lamb, arrange on a platter, and serve with sauce.

What could be better than a hot party on a cold night? Last night’s Best of the Best Party, hosted by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, continues to grow into one of the best events of the year and is quickly becoming the food event of the year. Of course I’m biased, but 1,500 other folks who were there last night will tell you the same thing. The event ostensibly is a kickoff for our March restaurant issue, celebrating the readers poll for best restaurants, our editors’ pick for Restaurateur of the Year (Isaac and Nancy from 112 Eatery) and is a fundraising event for Second Harvest Heartland—but the growth of the tasting side of the party, and the addition of some killer musical talent and high-end HGTV pinup eye candy was a nice touch. . . .

Some highlights:

The great VIP pre-party was wall-to-wall. It seems trite, but I never get to see my colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere except at these events, so I enjoyed myself more than most. Schmoozing the time away catching up with Da’ Blaze, Funkmaster Jayne, MC MW, and everyone else is a blast. Last year Miss Richfield hit on me, and this year it was our very own Steve Marsh who couldn’t keep from incessantly staring at me from across the crowded floor. Can you blame him? (Hey Marsh, I’m married!)

Hometown homegirl Genevieve Gorder can be on the cover of our magazine every month as far as I’m concerned, especially if she promises to wear the outfit she wore last night. I liked the “Best Of” T-shirt we had her in for the December issue cover, but c’mon folks, that V-neck dress she had on last night was ridiculous. Who was the guy she was with, and is it serious? They seemed a little too much like friends. . . or am I wrong?

Brian Turner and Alix Kendall helped out by MC-ing the short program along with our fearless leader, Brian Anderson. John Schumacher has traded in his innkeeper’s key for an auctioneer’s microphone—he did a great job and told several of us that he’s turning his New Prague landmark into forty condos this year. The rich just keep getting richer.

The food I tried was killer—great scallops from Cosmos, risotto from D’Amico Cucina, tuna roulade from Fugaise, apple salad from Lurcat, sliced beef from Murray’s, and cheese-potato croquettes from Solera, and those are just the booths I made it to. But the best thing I have eaten in weeks was the rabbit loin, sliced and served with a little truffle emulsion, courtesy of La Belle Vie. Wow! Not only were the best chefs in town manning their booths, but dozens of other local culinary wizards showed up to take in the event as a civilian. Scott Pampuch from Corner Table, Clark Knutson from Pop!, and many others were there. (Thanks, Clark, for making the winning bid on the dinner with yours truly during the live auction.)

The program ended on time at 7:15, and then The Hopefuls took the stage. They were great. Cranking it up a notch by getting some topflight local musical guests was a monumental coup. Now we need a bigger venue, cuz it seems we’ve outgrown the Metropolitan in two short years. If you miss this party next year, you only have yourself to blame—consider yourself reminded!

I’ve been a bachelor this last holiday weekend, with my wife and son visiting grandparents and eating stone crab in hot and sunny southern Florida. Ensconced in a beachfront condo at The Colony, they’ve kept busy by dining at some of our favorite Sarasota restaurants—Pattigeorge’s and Michael’s On East—shelling on the beach, and swimming in the pool. My life has been less glamorous since they’ve been gone, but I’ve managed to cram in plenty of new experiences over the last few days.

Copper Bleu in Lakeville and Nicollet Island Inn are two restaurants that I checked out this last week, both worth the trip for differing reasons. Copper Bleu is a decent Kincaid’s-style chophouse (if you can get past the awful name), with a stunning interior. For anyone in the southeast metro out near Apple Valley it’s a great alternative to the Chili’s/Applebee’s syndrome plaguing our developing ’burbs. The menu is filled with hokey gimmicks, but the food is tasty for the most part and everyone but me loves the strolling mashed potato cart that hums around the restaurant.

Nicollet Island Inn has a new chef, Eric Harcie, who is trying to do some serious food but seems to be lacking the firepower in the kitchen to execute so many ambitious plates with so many disparate elements on each one. Everything we ate had one or two superfluous ingredients, and the end result was food that was lukewarm, and while it looked pretty, the overall effect was less impressive than the sum of its parts. The views from the dining room are gorgeous, and if NII’s new owner, Larry Abdo, would redecorate the first floor, and Harcie can dial back the food a notch and make a menu that his staff is capable of executing instead of one that reads like a Beard House tasting menu, they’ll really have a hit on their hands. In fairness, if you are looking for a romantic meal with some interesting food that should get better with each passing week, go check it out.

Last week I forgot to voice my annoyance with Neal Karlen’s New York Times piece about visiting Minneapolis. This guy has clearly lost it if the only two restaurants worth recommending to NYT readers are Masa and Mission American Kitchen. These types of nonsensical recommendations are shocking to me. Masa is brand new, and I love its high-style take on classic Mexican regional foods. Mission is a great lunch spot, with an addictive fried chicken salad. BUT. . . there are a dozen other great restaurants in downtown Minneapolis and singling out those two while excluding so many other great joints just doesn’t make sense to me at all. Mission isn’t new or all that noteworthy. Masa is, but belongs on a list of best bets, alongside 20.21, La Belle Vie, 112 Eatery, Cosmos, D’Amico Cucina, Oceanaire, etc. . . and any visitor to Minneapolis should take a cab to Alma and Levain as well—two of the best meals to be found anywhere in the upper Midwest.

Tell me Valentine’s Day is over, please. If I see one more heart-shaped Lindsay Lohan candy bowl I swear I’ll end it all by my own hand. Our Valentine’s Day celebration was rather tame by some standards, but thrilling nonetheless.

Noah (our year-old son) and I gave Rishia (my wife) a few cards and a Limoges pacifier shaped pillbox in the morning, and then in the evening they reciprocated with cards and an avocado green Hermes tie—heaven. Dinner that night was at Culver’s, our four-year-old Valentine’s tradition that keeps getting sweeter with each passing year. Noah broke his ice cream cherry there, and the look on his face was a perfect mixture of joy and rage. The happiness of tasting vanilla custard for the first time was outdone only by the anger he brewed up as he realized we had clearly been holding out on him. Life’s a bitch.

I had a great breakfast at the Downtowner the other day (yes, I had the Cajun breakfast, replete with the world’s most ersatz Hollandaise sauce, but hey, it’s a guilty pleasure and proves once and for all that I’m no food snob!) and I have to say sitting in the room, perched in front of the fireplace, is as nice a vibe as you can find in the River City. Speaking of east metro dining, I am doing a Teppanyaki dinner at Saji-Ya on Thursday evening, one of the best family fun dinners you can imagine participating in. Kids love it, and adults can actually eat some tasty grub as long as they don’t injure themselves ducking the flying shrimp that whizzes past their heads. The real trick is pulling together eight to ten people so that no strangers are sitting at your table—it really makes for a fun night.

Have you noticed all the restaurants converting existing wasted space or breaking down walls that were their neighbors’ houses to create wine bars? From Zander to Lucia’s to Heartland, even Kafe 421 in Dinkytown has opened one. Last I checked, kids at the U were too busy binge drinking to care about malalactic fermentation, and many students (shockingly!) drink despite being under the legal age limit. Horrors! Who knew they were into vertical tastings of Oregon pinot noir? Pass the Grey Poupon!

It’s a sign of the times—move over barley pop, make way for the vineyard-designated chardonnay—and it’s one more piece of human truth that proves my theory that if wine didn’t get you buzzed, no one would drink it.

Happy Valentines Day, Twin Cities. . . and welcome to day one, entry number one, volume number one of my new blog. Like any opening night, this one is hopefully going off without a hitch in our giddy up, but you never know. . . .

Being a New York ex-pat in the Land of 10,000 Lutherans means telling you what things aren’t before I can tell you what they are. You won’t find tips on storing iceberg lettuce or lengthy diatribes on streamlining marinara sauce for microwave cookery. Instead you’ll find a real-life look at my food-focused life, for real.

Friday evening my wife and I attended Project Turnabout’s annual fundraiser, Appetite for Life. Larry D’Amico and I cohosted the event, and after only two years running this giant-sized cooking class, it’s turning into the best food event of the season. We had Seth Daugherty from Cosmos doing a seared dayboat scallop on heart of palm; Tim McKee of Solera/La Belle Vie doing a beef carpaccio with artichokes, black truffles, and horseradish; John Occhiato of D’Amico Cucina made a stunning risotto Milanese with braised veal cheeks and gremolata; and Steven Brown did a lamb loin sous vide with sweet potato purèe and black olives. Randee Zarth wrapped things up with a chocolate filo dessert that was killer. As each course came out from the kitchen, the chef performed a ten-minute cooking class showing all 350 people how to cook the specific recipe. All the dough we raised benefited the state’s only residential recovery program for gambling addiction, Project Turnabout, in Granite Falls.

D’Amico Cucina has been one of the best restaurants in town for almost twenty years, but it has never been better than it is now. That’s saying something since Tim Anderson, Seth Daugherty, JP Samuelson, and Tim McKee all used to run the kitchen at one time or another. Occhiato’s cooking is more classically aligned Italian cuisine, and the honesty and authenticity that he shares with his customers is inspiring—and the food is great. If Steven Brown doesn’t get a Food and Wine Best New Chef Award this year, something is wrong (Daugherty won one last year, McKee in ’97, and frankly both Brown, Alex Roberts of Alma, and Doug Flicker of Auriga are overdue for recognition at that level). It’s a crime that restaurants without massive PR machines have to struggle to get their names out there, despite the massive amounts of local kudos they receive. F and W, IACP, and the Beard awards folks need to do a better job of sourcing the best of the best when it comes to nominations. It’s criminal that last year Lucia Watson—a great cook, to be sure—was nominated for a Beard Award, and Brown, Roberts, and Flicker were not.

Remember, if it looks good, eat it!