Over the last six months, I've felt that the food at Little Szechuan has slipped a full notch or two. I may now know why. Dan Luo, the owner of the new Grand Szechuan restaurant in Bloomington, has hired Little Szechuan head chef Luo Guanghe (who was also the head chef of the Teahouse in Plymouth) to run his new eatery. Grand Szechuan holds amazing promise given the guy running the kitchen. You can find the new restaurant at 10602 France Avenue South in Bloomington (at the intersection of France Avenue and W. Old Shakopee Road in the strip mall next to Cub Foods), and the number is 952-888-6507. See you over there tonight for a chili oil pig out! Anyway, let me know what you think. And yes e-mailers, I like Tian Jin in Chanhassen very much, just ate there once though.

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So I ate a slow-roasted goat the other night at Brasa, a Boer-Spanish cross. No, the restaurant is not changing its menu, it is simply offering special meals for larger parties at the kitchen-side lazy Susan table. Order a fancy goat or rare species of swine, and Alex and his crew cook it up. I was blown away. The goat was so moist and so perfectly goaty, with just the right gamy notes dancing around a lamby mouthfeel. Add those Brasa sides and I thought I died and went to heaven. Seriously, this is a big deal. Finally a place that can cook on a customers whim in a casual style…it was awesome.

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Both the October issue of Bon Appetit and today’s article by Julia Moskin in The New York Times told you what I have been saying for five years on this website. Portland, Maine, is America’s best small city for food, and Rabelais Books is one of the world’s best culinary bookshops.

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I thought last night's Top Chef Las Vegas might have been the best hour of food television I have ever seen. Michael and Jen have a sexual energy in that kitchen that had me screaming at the TV set for them to lose their serious looks and have at it right on the prep table while their lapin roasted.

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For me, the most poignant moment of the State Fair came late (9 p.m.) on Sunday evening, when my family and I were strolling in the Creative Activities building.

 

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