In a season where we are debating the adequacy and authenticity of the new Mort's Deli, I had a bit of a revelation Saturday night while dining at Nick & Eddie on Loring Park: Nick & Eddie is the most Jewish restaurant in Minneapolis. Admittedly, this year-old homage to New York City and its elemental foodstuffs is no deli. And its proprietors are as gentile as the driven snow. But peruse the menu (which has changed surprisingly little in the ensuing year): buckwheat blinis, chicken liver, smoked whitefish salad, potato pancakes, cabbage borscht, braised brisket, and now, bialys.
What's a bialy? It's a sibling of the bagel that is made/sold in American cities with substantial roots to New York and its Jewish
community, but could be found no closer to here than Chicago. Mimi Sheraton wrote
a book tracing the history of the bialy (to Bialystok, Poland, where it no longer
exists).
The preeminent domestic bialy baker is Kossar's in New York City. Doug Anderson and Steve Vranian were importing them for awhile but have taken to baking their own, and they show up on an appetizer plate with smoked whitefish salad, gravlax, and cream cheese and as the bun in Vranian's superb house-ground burger (77 percent lean--perfect).
I Believe N&E is the only place in town baking or serving bialys, which are a savory treat in a land of gigantic, sweet, 500-calorie bagels. (My current best bagel in town is at Common Roots Café on Lyndale, where they are neither gigantic nor sweet.)
I can't endorse all the Jewish fare on the Nick & Eddie's menu, but much of it is very good, and most of it wouldn't be caught dead on a serious restaurant menu in Manhattan. N&E is an eccentric, highly personal operation that seems to be one of those places just serving what the proprietors like to eat. Those are often the best restaurants out there.
I'm not sure how much of the clientele gets it or even cares, but the sudden availability of bialys is another crack in the great wall that often seems to separate us from the most authentic of transplanted ethnic foods. So get over to Nick & Eddie for a bialy--or a bialy burger if you must. And go at dinner or brunch, because lunch service is suspended for the winter.
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Heading to Nick and Eddie's tomorrow after the Walker. This post has me all about it now - as if the addition of JP didn't do it for me. Hoping to cruise their much lauded bar menu.
Posted by: HungryinSW on December 8, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Nick & Eddie has long had an awesome menu. I usually only eat the bar food. Pierogies? Excellent! And the $4 hotdog + fries is/was the best deal in town.
Posted by: jane on December 10, 2008 at 8:38 AM
Nick & Eddie has long had an awesome menu. I usually only eat the bar food. Pierogies? Excellent! And the $4 hotdog + fries is/was the best deal in town.
Posted by: jane on December 10, 2008 at 8:47 AM
I echo Jane's comments. Hit the bar menu at N & E last night. The dog is great, and super cheap - the bun is house-made and fabulous. I love anything with giardiniera on it, though. The smoked chicken tacos were also nice. Also, there butterscotch pudding is insane. I think upscale bar fare is what people will look for if they want to dine out, but can't take to big of a hit. N&E have that down.
Saw JP back in the kitchen. Looked right at home.
Posted by: HungryinSW on December 10, 2008 at 9:33 AM
That's always the danger of posting an assertion like that -- some jerk is always going to prove you wrong.
N&E is NOT the only place in town with bialy. It Takes The Cake out in Minnetonka, the owners of which seem like members of the tribe, make bialy, and they're uber-tasty.
Posted by: Rich Goldsmith on December 10, 2008 at 9:58 AM
The recommendation has already been made, but It Takes The Cake does have FAB bialy's - this coming from a gal who ate "authentic" bialys frequently while living in Chicago and did a happy dance when she happened upon Doll's version at ITTC. Enjoy!
Posted by: nicky on December 23, 2008 at 12:09 PM