Let’s talk food, from restaurants and recipes to farmers markets and food issues. Rick Nelson and Lee Svitak Dean will start the conversation. Rick is the restaurant critic and food writer at the Star Tribune. Lee is editor of the Taste section and author of "Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining with Seasonal Menus," a compilation of Taste recipes.
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Zagat rings in on the Twin Cities
The dining room at La Belle Vie in Minneapolis.
By RICK NELSON
Who got the top rankings in the annual Zagat "America's Top Restaurants" guide ($15.95) in the Twin Cities?
The top 10 food rankings (in order, from highest to lowest) are:
The Twin Cities are one of 45 U.S. dining markets covered in the guide, which is a compilation of 145,000 surveyed diners.
Other data released today:
Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they were dining out less, 22 percent are skipping appetizers and/or desserts and 19 percent are cutting back on alcohol purchases. But it's not all gloom and doom; Zagat reports more restaurant openings than closings and 54 percent of those surveyed said they were finding better deals at restaurants.
Twenty percent of respondents said they were making reservations online, versus just 8 percent five years ago. Italian ranked as the favorite cuisine (27 percent), with American coming in second (16 percent), following by Japanese and French (both at 11 percent), Mexican (10 percent) and Thai (8 percent).
The guide also spotlighted 10 additional "other top places" in the Twin Cities, including three newcomers:
What's missing? What's overrated? Chime in.
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