Q Which restaurants in the Twin Cities have won the James Beard Award?
A Three Minneapolis restaurants have won the Best Chef: Midwest award from the James Beard Foundation: Tim McKee of La Belle Vie (510 Groveland Av., Mpls., www.labellevie.us) in 2009, Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma (528 University Av. SE., Mpls., www.restaurantalma.com) in 2010 and Isaac Becker of 112 Eatery (112 N. 3rd St., Mpls., www.112eatery.com) in 2011.
The Twin Cities have also had several Best Chef: Midwest nominees: Lenny Russo of Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market (289 E. 5th St., St. Paul, www.heartlandrestaurant.com) is a 2010, 2011 and 2012 nominee. Lucia Watson of Lucia's Restaurant (1432 W. 31st St., Mpls., 612-825-1572, www.lucias.com) was also a three-time nominee, and Roger Johnsson of the former Aquavit was a nominee, as well. In addition, Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart (920 E. Lake St., Mpls., www.saltytart.com) has been a two-time nominee in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category.
Q How often do you sense that you are recognized when you are out reviewing?
A I recently visited Olson Middle School in Bloomington, and each one of the three classes that I spoke with asked me that same question. I hope I'm not kidding myself when I say that it's about a third of the time. For example, I think I slipped into the Oceanaire Seafood Room (50 S. 6th St., Mpls., www.theoceanaire.com) several times before I was made. But at the same time, I think I set off some kind of alarm the moment I get within 50 feet of the Butcher & the Boar (1121 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., www.butcherandtheboar.com). I was eating on Central Avenue in northeast Minneapolis last week, and I'm confident that I was Joe Shmoe to everyone.
Q Have you ever purchased a CSA share? Would you recommend it?
A I have. It was several years ago, from Burning River Farm (www.burningriverfarm.com). I have mixed feelings about it. The quality and variety of each weekly delivery was fantastic; there's a reason that I love to shop at the farm's stand at the Mill City Farmers Market (www.millcityfarmersmarket.org; the market opens for the season on Saturday).
But the CSA [community-supported agriculture, or crop share] format isn't always the way that I personally like to think about meal planning. There were some weeks when I just wasn't interested in coming up with something to do with cabbage, or green beans -- although the flip side of that is that I was forced to come up with a way to deal with them -- but the good news is that I was also forced to get outside my vegetable-eating comfort zone.
In the end, I discovered that I'm more of a farmers market shopper than a CSA shopper, but that's just me. I like browsing, and I like buying lots of what I love, and a little of what I don't necessarily love.
In the end, I think you end up saving money with a CSA. It's also convenient: The box showed up at my office every week (I paid a premium for door-to-door delivery). And, as I mentioned, I was always bowled over by the quality.
CSAs can also be fairly flexible. I might consider sharing a share with a friend or neighbor, and I'm definitely interested in other kinds of CSA arrangements: eggs, cheese, meat.
Q Which Twin Cities chef would you most like to see write a cookbook?
A Wow, that's a tough one. Part of me says Michelle Gayer at the Salty Tart or Steve Horton at Rustica (3220 W. Lake St., Mpls., www.rusticabakery.com), or Solveig Tofte at Sun Street Breads (4600 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., www.sunstreetbreads.com) or John Kraus at Patisserie 46 (4552 Grand Av. S., Mpls., www.patisserie46.com) because I love to bake. And another part of me would totally buy a book from the guys at Al's Breakfast (413 14th Av. SE., Mpls.), because I would love to be able to make those pancakes and waffles at home.
Q What should be done with Block E?
A That question reminds me of the advice a famous conductor once gave when asked about how to improve the acoustics at Northrop Auditorium. "Dynamite," he said. Just as long as Bradstreet Craftshouse (601 1st Av. N., Mpls., www.bradstreetcraftshouse. com) and Cosmos (601 1st Av. N., Mpls., www.cosmosrestaurant.com) go untouched. But why not fill it with some fantastic local food and drink purveyors? How about an amazing beer hall? Or a market, a la Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia?
