November 18, 2009

Legitimately Excited About Il Gatto!

The last big restaurant opening of the year will be Il Gatto, the restaurant Parasole is going to put into their old Figlio space in Uptown. I haven’t been too excited about Il Gatto; all the advance press makes it sound like an Italian Salut—that is, Italian, with burgers (and ahi tuna appetizers?).

In retrospect, I feel like Parasole’s Burger Jones was so disappointing because it delivered so little true hospitality and love and ambition to its customers. Am I insane to expect that from a restaurant? No doubt, but I have felt that other Parasole restaurants really do deliver more than mere French fries. (Muffaletta, for instance, I feel delivers... Read more »

Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 16, 2009

Sushi & Bananas Foster for Thanksgiving?

Thinking of heading to a restaurant for Thanksgiving this year? If you’re planning on the St. Paul Grill and didn’t get your reservation yet, you’re out of luck—I called yesterday and they were down to a few scant tables at 11 a.m.; I bet by now they’re gone. So what else is there? Here are some of my top picks:
 

Locovore’s Delight

Chef Paul Lynch of Firelake Grill House is one of the undersung heroes of local food in Minneapolis, and always puts on a fantastic Thanksgiving spread. This year, $29.95 for adults ($12.95 for kids) gets you Wild Acres Turkey from right up the road in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, as well as all the fixings from local wild rice stuffing to deep-dish pumpkin... Read more »

Posted on Monday, November 16, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (5)

November 12, 2009

Feature: Season to Taste

When is a new restaurant not a new restaurant? When fresh talent makes over the menu.

A restaurant’s chef can typically be compared to a nation’s president: The direction for everything flows from the top, from the biggest details (steak house or Indian?) to the littlest (will the salad greens be microscopic, medium, or large?). Of course, there are restaurants where that top slot is filled by an owner or a corporation, but at chef-driven restaurants, the chefs drive everything. So what happens when a chef-driven restaurant gets a new chef? Sometimes miracles. The following is your guide to the brand-new Twin Cities restaurants hiding inside the old favorites.

SOLERA

Who’s New? Chef J. P. Samuelson
Inside... Read more »

November 10, 2009

Feature: Fresh Entrées

The world of local restaurants has changed significantly since the Great Recession began. If you’ve been hunkered down in your bunker, here’s the best of what you missed.

➻ Barrio Tequila Bar

Fantastically good tequila drinks and $3 tacos from the previously fine-dining-oriented La Belle Vie crew. 925 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-333-9953; 235 E. Sixth St., St. Paul, 651-222-3250, barriotequila.com

➻ Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza

Local restaurant veteran Jordan Smith bought Minnesota’s first real coal-fired oven and started serving some of the area’s best no-frills New York–style pies, alongside cheap, good house wine and... Read more »

Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 4, 2009

Don't Forget the Reviews!

Dear Dara readers, you know I also write full restaurant reviews for the magazine, right?! If you’re not a Minnesota Monthly subscriber, then maybe not, so I’m going to help you out and start dropping short posts here, with links to the reviews or my dining-related features, whenever they get published online.

Here’s our latest cover story: "The New Restaurant Scene."

To catch up on reviews past, check out the "Dara's Latest Reviews" box to the right of this post.

Much more to come!

Posted on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 3, 2009

Rachel’s Mystery Resolved—Will Open in January?

One of the great mysteries of the Twin Cities food scene has been: What the devil is up with the old Bobino space? Of course, we’re talking about the legendarily pretty spot, once a funeral home, at 222 E. Hennepin across from Kramarcuk in Northeast Minneapolis. The former home of once-legendary Bobino (which J.P. Samuelson put on the map, and Marianne Miller briefly, though brilliantly, helmed). Bobino flamed out in 2005, but it stayed in the news for a good time after that as various lawsuits and accusations flew hither and yon. Sometime after that (in 2006?) black signs went up on the building announcing Rachel’s. (If I remember correctly, it was going to be the restaurant of a local chef named Rachel, but I can’t remember the last name.) I have a call into... Read more »

Posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (3)

October 30, 2009

Foodie Halloween?

Restaurants don’t typically do much for Halloween—it’s a drinking holiday, don’cha know. But that hasn’t stoped chef Patrick Atanalian of Sanctuary from offering a five-course, $45 with wine-and-other-hooch pairings Halloween blow-out meal, both Friday and Saturday night. Eat scaaaary food, like wolves! Or at least pan-seared wolf fish. Check out the amusing “Thrills & Chills” Menu here, if only to enjoy a serious menu written in a dripping-blood font.

Chino Latino is also doing some special Halloween things, like offering Japanese chicken-heart skewers (I’m guessing the preparation is Japanese, not the... Read more »

Posted on Friday, October 30, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2)

October 28, 2009

Spoons-Only Restaurant Discovered!

Shows what I know: There is a spoons-only restaurant in Minneapolis! Well, sort of. Here’s the deal. BANK, the restaurant in the Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, does a lot of private parties for bigger groups. When you book one of their private parties, you can order hors d’oeurves—you know, little snacks. You can order these little snacks in a typical way, say, as a charcuterie platter of salami and such to serve 10 for $35, or hummus and vegetables for 10 for $25. Unless you don’t want typical platters! In which case you can order BANK’s “signature spoon display” (essentially a two-foot by two-foot rack, though they call it a “wall”). This wall will feature 39 hors d’ouerves individually portioned out on 39 spoons.... Read more »

Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 26, 2009

Spoons-Only Restaurant?

I got this e-mail from a reader over the weekend:

“My anniversary is coming up and I would like to do something special for my husband. He has mentioned a restaurant that serves everything on spoons. He has mentioned this place several times (but never by name) and I cannot find it. Have you heard of such a restaurant?”

My first thought was that her husband is trying out material for a spec piece for The Onion. My second was that maybe he had misunderstood the concept behind Spoonriver? My third was that he has lousy diction and really wants food served only on skewers, a la Fogo de Chão. (And, yes, I did wonder if I was... Read more »

Posted on Monday, October 26, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 23, 2009

Doug Flicker Restaurant Replacing Agri!

It’s shocking, delightful, and now official: Doug Flicker, ultra-talented chef of late-lamented Auriga, has signed a lease for the Agri space on the corner of 43rd and Bryant in South Minneapolis.

Hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! I think Flicker is one of the most talented chefs we’ve ever had in Minneapolis, and while I had years of quibbles with the quality of the restaurant experience at Auriga, I never had anything but delight in the food. (For those of you who never got to try Auriga, here's my nutshell review: Exquisite, original food in a drafty, crumbling room.)

Here’s everything I know about the coming restaurant: It will be called Piccolo, and will offer something we’ve never exactly seen before, a large tasting menu, all offered a la carte. So,... Read more »

Posted on Friday, October 23, 2009 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (12)