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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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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Well, let’s be honest. I owe everyone an apology. I was shooting for the last 3 weeks in the far reaches of Indonesia, had no web access and couldn’t update the blog. I hate when that happens on the sites I follow regularly, so mea culpa. 

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My buddies at Parasole tell me that when Figlio re-opens in the late fall the new menu will have a memories section with stories and remembrances supplied by local notables. So prepare yourself for hearing all about some arcane menu item served in 1985 that Don Shelby, Sue Zellickson, Tom Kelly, and Sharon Sayles Belton wish could make a return to the new and improved Figlio. Anyone care to share their favorite off-color Figlio moment here with me now? Ever get lucky in the bathroom? See an out of town or home-grown celeb do anything embarrassing? Lets’ hear it.

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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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A couple of quick points I need to make:

Although the taco truck at the Mill City Farmers Market is superb, it's not enough for me, I’m greedy. The economic model for success in this economy is “smaller is better,” and mobile is best of all. I hope to see many local entrepreneurs take to the streets with mobile food offerings. Think of it: outside the Metrodome, outside the Target Center, downtown after bar closing, in the Theater Zone at the dinner hour, Loring Park, Grand Avenue . . . a food van allows you to drive to the customers instead of waiting for them to come to you.

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I was in LA last week taping a segment for The Soup. K. P. Anderson, brother of KFAN’s Bumper to Bumper with Dan Barreiro's Joe Anderson, is one of the show’s producers. He and host Joel McHale both say "hi" to everyone here, especially all the folks they saw earlier this winter in Minneapolis. A few months ago, they played the State Theater and are sure to return later this year. I will keep you posted.

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Mike wrote me a note . . .

“I have a question about the local oriental markets. I live in Uptown and recently stopped by the Shuang Hur market this weekend. Are the lobster’s and other seafood in the live tank good year-round? Is there any way to tell by looking at them if they are good or not? Or, would you just not recommend getting seafood or meat from these markets?”

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