TOO EARLY TO CALL
Red Stag Supperclub, Otho Restaurant and Street Lounge, Meritage and Sanctuary all opened too late in the year for review. Look for reviews in upcoming editions of Taste (and in our 2008 roundup).
NOW OPEN
The dining scene had plenty of notable openings, including Blackbird, Cafe Ena, Cafe Maude, Crave, Fogo de Chao, Harry's Food & Cocktails, Jasmine 26, Landmarc Grill, Manhattans Restaurant & Bar, Mysore Cafe, Ngon Vietnamese Bistro, Obento-Ya Japanese Bistro, Pagoda, Pittsburgh Blue, Spill the Wine, Via Cafe & Bar and Wayzata Eatery and Wine Bar.
DEARLY DEPARTED
An especially challenging year led to the loss of A Rebours, Auriga, Levain, Five Restaurant & Street Lounge, Fhima's, Margaux, Copper Bleu, Emma's Restaurant & Lounge, Cafe Limon, Carousel, Chang Bang, 700 Express, Sobas, Cafe 44, Pane Vino Dolce, and Willie's Wine Bar. KEEPING UP 128 Cafe closed after an 11-year run, then reopened -- hurrah -- under new management. Totino's Italian Kitchen said goodbye to Minneapolis' Central Avenue after 56 years, but should materialize in 2008 in Mounds View. Big Buck Roadhouse became Prima. Ruam Mit Thai Cafe reopened its doors, with the original ownership back at the helm. West Bank late-nighter Hard Times Cafe turned the lights back on after a four-month shutdown. Cafe di Napoli returned, in different skyway-level digs and with a quick-service format. Nosh Restaurant & Bar moved north, from Wabasha, Minn., to a swell new riverside location in Lake City, Minn.


CHEF COMINGS AND GOINGS
David Vlach left the Town Talk Diner, and sous chef Tor Westgard took his place. At La Belle Vie and Solera, pastry whiz Michelle Gayer took over for Adrienne Odom, who left to work for her old boss Marcus Samuelsson at Aquavit in New York City. Andrew Smith left the French Meadow Bakery & Cafe for duplex. Gary Stenberg opened Sanctuary in September, but Patrick Atanalian (formerly of Loring Cafe, the Vintage) took over in November. Marianne Miller (Red, Bobino) opened Saga Hill Cooking School in Wayzata; Philip Dorwart (Table of Contents, Tryg's) opened the Dining Studio, a private catering center. David Parson Cappicolli replaced Stewart Woodman at Five Restaurant & Street Lounge shortly before it closed, then reappeared to open the Landmarc Grill, then left that Normandy Inn newbie, then returned. Doug Flicker closed Auriga and moved into the kitchen at Mission American Kitchen. Stephen Trojahn replaced Seth Bixby Daugherty at Cosmos; pastry chef Khan Tran (Levain, Auriga), joined him. Shelagh Connelly (Mildred Pierce Cafe), stepped in for Joan Ida at Tria when the latter took a year's sabbatical to cook in Asia. Tuan Nguyen (California Cafe) opened and then left Temple Restaurant & Bar. Landon Schoenefeld made an impact at the Bulldog N.E. before moving on to Cafe Barbette. Steven Brown followed up his stint at Levain by launching and then departing Harry's Food & Cocktails; his Porter & Frye opens in early 2008. Todd Stein arrived from Chicago's MK to open Bank, then made his exit, replaced by sous chef Scott Hurlbut.
NOT HIS YEAR
Azia, Temple Restaurant & Bar and Thanh Do chef/owner Thom Pham dumped plans for two E. Lake Street restaurants and was beaten by a half-dozen assailants in a still-unsolved assault. The good news? All that judo training paid off when he caught a pair of diners trying to run out -- literally -- on two large unpaid bills. HOT... Barramundi, comfort foods, white Burgundy, late-night menus, charcuterie.


...NOT
Truffle oil, ear-splitting acoustics, "Are you still working on that?"
LEGISLATIVE WISH, 2008 EDITIOn
Finally, now that a statewide restaurant-and-bar smoking ban passed in 2007 -- and yes, the Earth continued to spin on its axis -- could the State Capitol's brain trust make it legal for supermarkets to sell wine?
BUMMER
Is the 1920s Jazz Age glory that was the former Goodfellow's destined to become the Shubert Theatre of the restaurant world, sitting sad and empty? The breathtaking landmark has been dark for nearly 18 months, a stain on the downtown Minneapolis streetscape.
IN PRINT
Former pastry chef (the Local, Backstage at Bravo) Zoë François -- along with co-author Jeff Hertzberg -- introduced easy breadmaking to the masses with the readable and practical "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day."
CASH ONLY
Is there a Twin Cities restaurant that still accepts personal checks?
GOING GREEN
Red Stag Supperclub became the region's first LEED-certified restaurant, a designation that trumpets its sustainable building and maintenance practices. JAMES NAMES Tim McKee of La Belle Vie and Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma were nominated in the Best Chef: Midwest category at the 2007 James Beard Awards. Celina Tio of the American Restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., was awarded the medallion.


A BIG THANK-YOU
Eternal gratitude is due first-time restaurateur Danny Schwartzman for opening Common Roots Cafe and delivering a bagel worth eating to a hungry, bagel-starved public.
MOST DILUTED MEMBER OF THE FOOD LEXICON
When Quiznos slaps "artisan" on its products, you know it's time to rein in the word's use.

CHAIN GANG
While St. Paulites tut-tutted over the possibility of a Noodles & Co. tainting the Grand Av. retail landscape (the proposal failed), Punch Neapolitan Pizza slipped in under the radar and grabbed a berth at 769 Grand; look for a mid-2008 opening.
ICY HOT
The Chambers Hotel's chilly Ice Chamber, an outdoor nightspot centered on a 12,000-pound bar built of crystal-clear ice, injected some much-needed heat into downtown Minneapolis' wintry nightlife.

HE'S BACK
After his Fhima's closed this year, chef David Fhima got back in the game with Zahtar (755 Prairie Center Dr., Eden Prairie), but the restaurant is open to Life Time Fitness members only. AT THE MARKET Spoonriver colleagues Carrie Summer and Lisa Carlson made their Mill City Farmers Market stand a requisite Saturday morning stop, with Summer frying up organic, cardamom-scented mini-doughnuts, and Carlson preparing a seasonally inspired taste treat, from tomato-watermelon gazpacho to grilled-cheese sandwiches. Now the duo has purchased a vending trailer, which means they'll soon be putting their chili fries, Minnesota-made brats, creme brulee and those fantastic mini-doughnuts on the road. Happy anniversary It was a year of celebrations, as D'Amico Cucina feted 20 years at the top of the Twin Cities food chain, Broders' Cucina Italiana marked a quarter-century at 50th and Penn, the Oak Grill blew out 60 candles on its birthday cake and Manning's Cafe looked back at 75 big ones.


NAME GAME
Not so long ago, the trend was numbers (20.21, Five Restaurant & Street Lounge, Level Five Cafe, 112 Eatery, Cafe Twenty Eight), but with Harry's Food & Cocktails, Cafe Ena, Heidi's Minneapolis and Cafe Maude, 2007 just might go down as the Year of the First Name.
COMING SOON
Blue Skies (24 University Av. SE., Minneapolis) is promising more than 100 wines by the glass when it opens in the spring. Some members of the team behind Bellanotte are getting set to launch r. Norman's, serving steak and sushi next door to the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis; the restaurant debuts New Year's Eve. Hemisphere Restaurant Partners (Mission American Kitchen, Via Cafe & Bar) are turning their attention to Rosedale with Flame, a wood-burning rotisserie and grill aiming at a spring opening. Steven Brown's Porter & Frye will land soon in the swank Hotel Ivy + Residence. The owners of the Wine Shop in Minnetonka are using their expertise to launch Spasso, which will feature retail-priced wines and an Italian-flavored menu by chef Damian Tittle. When a few Town Talk Diner-ites open Strip Club Meat & Fish on Jan. 8, they'll have former Muffuletta chef J.D. Fratzke running the kitchen. Busy restaurateur Kim Bartmann (Bryant-Lake Bowl, Cafe Barbette, Red Stag Supperclub) is turning her attention to 109 E. 26th St. in Minneapolis, where she's planning a Mediterranean-focused gastropub. And word on the street has it that Macy's is looking to convert the soon-to-be-available J.B. Hudson space at 8th and Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis into a restaurant; will one of the store's Culinary Council star chefs be brought on board?


THANKS
For the exceptional 2007 meals that I paid for with my own plastic -- and not the Strib's -- truly a ringing endorsement -- at Al's Breakfast, Craftsman, Modern Cafe, Fugaise, La Sirena Gorda, Masa, Restaurant Alma, Sapor Cafe & Bar, Sea Salt, Solera, 20.21 and Vincent.