After 22 years, and untold droves of ecstatic diners, D'Amico Cucina served its last meal on Saturday evening. This morning, less than 48 hours later, it was announced that the Fratelli D’Amico are taking over the food service at the Chambers Hotel. Jean-George Vongerichten is out, and D’Amico and Partners takes over later this summer. Plans and a name for the new eatery will be forthcoming around July 20th, according to Richard D’Amico.

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Yes, just to set the record straight—since I have gotten a flood of e-mails about it throughout the last few days—my father-in-law, Bill Haas, is indeed the same Bill Haas running for governor of our great state. He announced two weeks ago. There is a bumper sticker on my car now that reads, “left wing Lindsay liberal Jews for Haas.” I believe it’s one-of-a-kind

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Tonight is the final episode of Bizarre Foods. I am a mess.

The episode is my Survivor Show, shot on location in the Mexican jungle, where I was left to fend for my myself for 48 hours after two days of training with Myke Hawke, one of the world’s great survivalists and Special Forces guru. I lived to tell the tale. Don’t miss tonight’s show.

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Last month I let you know about a taco truck I love in LA and asked the question, why not here? Check out this video from CNN about the taco truck being a Twitter hit. I maintain the position that here in Mpls./St Paul, we are a perfect market for mobile food vendors of all species, especially in this fragile economy. If the local city governments would make it easier for entrepreneurs to open businesses such as these, it would be a huge boon to our downtown areas and extended metro neighborhoods. Check out this link to a NRN article on the mobile food truck craze.

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After 22 years, D'Amico Cucina is shutting its doors serving its final meal on June 27th. This is very sad news—but not unexpected. Rumors persist that the Fratelli D'Amico are still bullish on the local food scene and might be opening a new restaurant before summer's end.

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Last week I got back from a long trip to Botswana and South Africa, and boy was I hungry for a burger. Molly sent me a text from Burger Jones that there was a near two-hour wait and that she and her pals had gone on to a Thai joint rather than endure the wait. Oddly, Burger Jones was only seating half the room to keep the pressure off the kitchen and the night before had been handing out gift cards to encourage people to come back another time.

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