The downtown Minneapolis street food scene continues to blossom.First tip: Get your appetite to 10th Street and Nicollet Mall on weekday lunch hours, when Joe Radaich and Russell Ericson are manning Untamed Cart.
Radaich is one of the few bricks-and-mortar restaurant owners -- he's the guy behind Sporty's Pub & Grill (2124 Como Av. SE., Mpls., www.sportyspub.com) -- to jump into the food cart/food truck scene, and he's doing it well.
Given the cart's space constraints, the menu sticks to just a few sandwiches. One features hunks of juicy pork butt ($7.50), slow-roasted with fennel and topped with arugula, pickled onions and a horseradish-Dijon mayonnaise, a much more animated play on the porketta that is a part of Radaich's Iron Range family's tradition. The other is a mouth-melting pot roast ($7) braised in tomatoes, ancho chiles, cumin and bay leaf until it has a gently spicy kick; it's spooned into a golden brioche bun and garnished with radishes, cilantro and an avocado aioli. Both are fantastic.
Next up: Scratch Food Truck (www.scratchfoodtruck.com), where former Subo chef Geoff King and spouse Aimee King are pulling together superb Asian-accented sandwiches -- tender, wonderfully charred beef flavored with sesame, coconut-braised chicken topped with pickled mangoes and papaya -- that run $7 to $8, along with crispy pork egg rolls and tofu-stuffed lettuce wraps ($4 to $6). Don't miss it.
Off the fairgrounds
For the next 12 days, Modern Cafe (337 13th Av. NE., Mpls., www.moderncafeminneapolis.com) owners Jim and Patty Grell are injecting a touch of the Minnesota State Fair into their landmark northeast Minneapolis restaurant. Not Pronto Pups or cheese curds, but art. Specifically, a best-of display of "Farley at the Fair," the dyspeptic cartoon creation of former Star Tribune graphic artist L.K. Hanson, a longtime Modern customer.
"Farley" ran in this newpaper's pages from 1989 to 2006, and the series captures the weirdness and splendor of the Great Minnesota Get-Together like nothing else. The show remains up now through Sept. 5 (be sure to ask for a souvenir "Farley" place mat), and the Grells and Hanson are hosting an opening reception next Thursday from 9 to 11 p.m., which will include a few food and wine deals, including some fair-inspired fare.
"We did find a bunch of sticks that we want to get rid of, so we're going to confit some pork belly, deep-fry it and put it on a stick," said Jim Grell. "Doesn't that sound good?" It does indeed.
Other Modern news: After 17 years, the restaurant is finally getting a full liquor license, starting Sept. 9.
Closings and openings
Sorry to see that the Purple Sandpiper in Bloomington and the M&S Grill in downtown Minneapolis have closed. But just up 6th Street from the former M&S (which will become the new Oceanaire Seafood Room when the restaurant moves from its current Hyatt Recency Hotel address sometime early next year), it's great to watch Rosa Mexicano (www.rosamexicano.com) nearing completion. Even better: The upscale, New York City-based chain is improving Hennepin Avenue's looks by kicking a hole in the blank wall of City Center's facade, resulting in big windows and major sidewalk presence. Expect a late September opening.
