|
« December 2008 |
Main
| February 2009 »
 Yesterday was my birthday (and Oprah's and Tom Selleck's). Because I like my birthday (unlike some women who fear every second whilst slouching toward forty), I told everyone. Invariably, they all asked me the same question: Where are you going for your birthday dinner?
Read more.
 While doing a taste test of local breweries for my next beer dinner at The Dining Studio, I decided to contact the folks at Flat Earth Brewery. Flat Earth is a little-known St. Paul brewing company that makes killer beer. While perusing its website, I discovered that it sells growlers (growlers are sixty-four-ounce refillable jugs) right from the brewery every Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Talk about fresh beer!
Read more.
 OK, I know what you’re thinking . . . aren’t the holidays the most wonderful time of the year? Well, for some maybe, but for most chefs, we work virtually nonstop from Labor Day until the end of December. If we are lucky, maybe there is a vacation or just a few days off to refresh, and then it's back to the daily grind. I am back to that grind, feeling the bite of this sub-zero weather and needing some sun, when suddenly, on the coldest day of the year, summer sunshine floods my mailbox . . . seed catalogs!
Read more.
 As if we didn't have enough to gab about this weekend.
Read more.
 This Fresh Forkin' Friday is full of portent. Things seem to be moving and shifting on the landscape of '09, and I'm not even talking politics. I think this year will see a lot of upheaval in the industry, some of it good, some of it tragic.
Read more.
 I thought that, with the collective doom and the frigid cold, I could come up with a rightly gripey post that would drive a heated discussion. But alas, it looks like my membership in the Lollipop Guild is solid for this week.
Read more.
 I’ve had it with huge chain restaurants trying to sell the people of
this great land a bill of goods that is worthless! While watching
football on Sunday I could not help but be bombarded by Pizza Hut
commercials touting their all-natural pizza. What the hell does all
natural mean anyway? Isn’t Carbon monoxide all natural? How about
tobacco? Isn’t corn syrup technically natural? Has anyone seen the high fructose corn syrup commercial? Yikes!
Read more.
There’s been a lot of media hype that our new President is a “foodie.” He’s a regular at sophisticated Chicago restaurants such as Topolobampo and Spiaggia, and has a taste for greasy junk and soul food as well. There are photos of him chowing down in legendary Honolulu burger joints. He clearly knows good food.
Read more.
Just because you are frugal, and local beaneries and watering
holes are slashing prices to get your business, doesn’t mean you can steal from
them. Times are tough, but there is a line where frugality
becomes downright obnoxious, and a lot of Minnesotans seem to be willfully
ignorant of it. It’s the restaurant equivalent of moping in the passing lane,
something that’s veritably inbred in these parts. Two recent examples:
Read more.
 Upon our return from Spain, we ate vegetables for four days (it's hard to find veggies on restaurant menus). On the fifth day, it was time for some good ol' Midwestern food. While trying to put a finger on my craving, I got a great idea: beer cheese soup.
Read more.
 This Fresh Forkin' Friday is frosty and frigid to be sure. The bars were full of writers last night, but instead of waxing rhapsodic, they were measuring the odd days afoot. These turbulent and strange times were clearly evident at Bank, where a bow tie-wearing prepster began a round of fisticuffs. I say, let's put the week behind us and look to better days. If you need to grease your wheels to find the yellow brick road, here's a drink I gift to you . . .
Read more.
 To close the chapter on our Barcelona Gastronomic Adventure, we decided to have a marathon eating binge. There was a place directly across the street from our flat called El Tropezón. This is the type of restaurant that caters to the locals and seems to be open all the time, even when virtually every other restaurant in Barcelona is closed.
Read more.
 I was psyched to learn that the venerable Tea House had opened a skyway outpost in the Towle building, a veritable hop, skip, and jump from the downtown Minneapolis MSP offices. But see, I'm an optimist.
Read more.
 The cutting edge of Catalan cuisine is surprisingly approachable, most definitely interesting, and ultimately flavorful. Our last two planned meals into that realm were at Alkimia and Comerç24.
Read more.
Here's a little story for your Fresh Forkin' Friday.  The other night, I held a little salsa party at my house. I wish it were of the dancing variety, but, alas, I am German, and we're stoic. Anywho, I have one friend who is the hot-stuff blowhard, the Heat Miser. You know the guy, the one who's always asking for more hot sauce at restaurants, complaining that there are no five-chili rated dishes on the menu, that kind of nonsense. After he saw me kicking habanero butt at Chino, he was all over me: Yeah, but you haven't had MY habanero salsa, yada, yada. So I arranged a little get-together of some spicy pals, and we decided to do a blind tasting.
Read more.
 I'm feeling green.
I just got a sneak peek at the new Seward Co-op opening tomorrow, and I gotta tell you, it's green. The new digs at Franklin and Riverside are covered in these beautiful lime colored panels, but that's not really what I mean.
Read more.
 Franco got his revenge on me! We dined at a little restaurant near our flat that was very well appointed, perfectly designed, and empty, always empty. Generally, we find that when we enter a place, be it a shop or restaurant, it seems to fill up . . . so why should this place be any different?
Read more.
 Really, I'm not one for gazing backward. I'm much more of a forward-looking girl. As this Fresh Forkin' Friday breaks into a new year, a lucky number nine, I'm calling it: Year of the Burger. Maybe some of you are saying "Come on, how boring . . . haven't we had enough of the burger?" But really, during times of uncertainty and change, isn't it nice to run home to something you know, something you love, something so ultimately satisfying?
Read more.
« December 2008 |
Main
| February 2009 »
|
© 2008 MSP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved