Restaurant/food news lately has featured René Redzepi, the innovative chef and founder of the Copenhagen-based restaurant Noma. As has been documented in recent years, the heights achieved in his kitchen were counterbalanced by the lows…
When it comes to experimenting with unfamiliar ingredients, I’ve never been much of an incrementalist. Even if something is good on the first try, I move from there quite broadly to establish the ends of…
I’ve been baking bread. Not a shocker, coming from a guy who works at a bakery—one that specializes in bread—for the last 10 months, and who ran a restaurant magazine for the decade previous to…
Is it really the dream of every line cook to open their own restaurant? That was among the first questions posed by moderator Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl at the Mpls.-St. Paul Magazine Tastemakers event on Wednesday,…
There was he was, sitting there in a fifth floor conference room at the posh Graves Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, attending another food and drink event. He did that a lot for his job—but that…
How often would you describe a ham sandwich as “dreamy”? Um, never. Unless, of course, you try the ham sandwich at The Citizen Café, the restaurant opened by former Sample Room executive chef Michael MacKay.…
Writing about my freezer jam sauce concoction reminded me of a pseudo-annual tradition on my annual pilgrimage up to Lake Huron. So, here ‘tis, because there is nothing quite like Palm’s Krystal Bar. And thinking…
Work last week had me driving out to a casino about 120 miles southwest of the Twin Cities to check out their kitchen operation. First time I’ve been out that far in about 20 years.…