taste

Entrepreneurial all-stars

Wednesday May 23, 2012

All hail this bumper crop of passionate, risk-taking restaurateurs —all newcomers to the business — who have recently infused the Twin Cities dining scene with a much appreciated jolt of originality:  (From left to right) David Weinstein of Rye Deli, Conrad Leifur and Ann Kim of Pizzeria Lola, Craig Bentdahl of Mill Valley Kitchen, Dean Engelmann of Wise Acre Eatery, Andrew Dayton and Eric Dayton of the Bachelor Farmer and the Wise Acre Eatery’s Scott Endres. Collectively, their rookie efforts boast levels of expertise that often elude more well seasoned practitioners.

Market maven

Wednesday May 23, 2012

“I’m a community builder by nature,” said Meg Cowden. So when this Oregon-to-Minneapolis transplant and mother of two found herself missing the camaraderie of her Fulton neighborhood’s annual festival, she got busy. Combining her commitment to locally raised foods with her desire to forge a weekly meet-and-greet with her neighbors, Cowden did her homework, teaming up with the well-established Kingfield Farmers Market and recruiting like-minded volunteers to create the Fulton Farmers Market, which debuted to great enthusiasm in 2011. “Making a farmers market is like planning a wedding,” said Cowden, who is now treasurer of both markets. “It takes a lot of hours, but the beauty of it is that it doesn’t happen once, it happens 25 times a year.” Postscript: Last November, four days after the Fulton Farmers Market had its final outing of the season, the Cowdens moved. To Kingfield.

Beyond brownies

Wednesday May 23, 2012

We can all thank the cupcake craze for the creation of Bars Bakery. “Cupcakes were really big, and I thought, 'I can’t do that, everyone else is doing it,’” said co-owner Sandi Younkin. “And then 'bars’ just popped into my head.” Thank goodness. Eighteen months later, Younkin and Kara Younkin Viswanathan, her daughter and business partner, continue to find new ways to not just utilize but glorify the 9-by-13-inch pan (view the recipe online). “It turns out that bars are such a Midwestern thing,” said Younkin. “We had a customer in from the East Coast, and she had never heard of them. And here I thought they were a part of every church dinner in the country.”

Coming soon

Wednesday May 23, 2012

A constant stream of delays is why Be’wiched Deli co-owners Matthew Bickford and Mike Ryan aren’t speaking in specifics regarding the opening of Icehouse, their soon-to-open Eat Street restaurant and music-focused bar. “Spring,” is all Bickford would reveal, with a laugh. But vague responses are perfectly acceptable when you’re part of the dynamic duo behind such sandwich and soup awesomeness (view the recipe online). Oh, and their weekend brunch is another off-the-charts draw.

Baker's secret

Wednesday May 23, 2012

The butter to buy? It’s the golden glory that Hope Creamery czar Victor Mrotz crafts specifically for Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, a premium product with an 85 percent butterfat content, which is several percentage points higher than the creamery’s widely distributed butter. Mrotz’s finest clocks in at $7 per wax paper-wrapped pound, but as one of the state’s great dairy products — that crucial extra butterfat is culled from pasture-raised southeastern Minnesota cows — it more than commands its premium price.

Chino’s cookie comic

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Tim Alevizos is irritated by fortune cookies that aren’t fortunes, which is why when Chino Latino’s bigwigs decided to create their own, Alevizos jumped at the project. During the intervening 12 years, Alevizos, a partner with Intercom Agency in Minneapolis, has probably penned 500 snarky, borderline-obnoxious fortunes for the popular Uptown restaurant. “I give a lot of thought to them, so they’re not obscene, or vulgar or mean,” he said. “It’s harder than it looks.” His standard-bearer? “It came from David Sedaris, who was asked to come up with one, and it was, 'That wasn’t chicken,’” said Alevizos with a laugh. “That’s what I strive to live up to.”

Wakeup call

Wednesday May 23, 2012

This October will mark 25 years of working the early shift behind the counter at Al’s Breakfast for Mary Rose Ciatti. “It’s hard to believe,” she said. The unfailingly kind, ever-unflappable Ciatti started as a customer and stepped in when co-owner Doug Grina mentioned that he needed help for a few months. “And I’m still there,” she said with a laugh. “But it has become a part of me, and it keeps me young.” Along with having regularly scheduled access to bacon waffles and blueberry-walnut buttermilk pancakes (view the recipe online), one of the most valuable dividends of taking a frequent seat on one of Al’s 14 stools (Tuesday, Ciatti reports, is the easiest day to get in) is catching the Ciatti-Grina sideshow, a flurry of one-liners (Grina’s nickname for her is “the attack waitress”), delivered with an obvious undercurrent of genuine affection; they’re Dinkytown’s Katie Couric and Matt Lauer. “Doug and I do have a really great rapport,” said Ciatti. “Some people think we’re married. Now that’s really funny.”

Sketch artist

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Architect David Shea’s first restaurant client was the late Leeann Chin. It was 1978, and, taking his cues from the Asian collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, he transformed a Minnetonka shopping center into a serene, elegant environment — no gaudy red and gold, no clichéd paper lanterns — that shifted the Asian restaurant design paradigm. Chin’s business took off (“It’s always fun to help clients realize their dreams,” he said), and so did Shea’s. Skip ahead 34 years and more than 300 restaurant projects later, and Shea’s 40-member firm boasts a client roster that includes Rick Bayless, Cat Cora, Paul Kahan and Marcus Samuelsson; locally, Shea’s blueprint is all over Barrio, Brasa and Butcher & the Boar, to name just a few standouts. One secret to his success? A well worn frequent-flier account. “You find inspirations everywhere,” said Shea, who logged 170,000 miles on Delta last year. “Being an observer out in the world gives you the opportunity to taste, and touch, and smell, and feel. You can’t get that looking in a magazine or going online.”

Hometown bestsellers

Wednesday May 23, 2012

First things first: Cookbook sensations Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg are not married to each other. “We get that all the time,” said Francois with a laugh. “Although basically this is a second marriage, because we spend so much time together. Luckily, we get along really well. What’s really scary is that I think we’re starting to look alike.” The two met nine years ago — both had young kids taking classes at MacPhail Center for Music — and a conversation about bread snowballed into a publishing juggernaut. Their first title, “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” came out in 2007 (it’s now in its 18th printing) and was followed two years later by “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and last fall’s “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day.” Combined, all three titles have sold nearly half a million copies. Expect to see two more François-Hertzberg collaborations, coming in 2013 and 2015.

Say 'aaah'

Wednesday May 23, 2012

When summer’s sweltering temperatures hit — and it’s only a matter of time, right? — don’t forget that Bill Waddington has your back. And your parched throat, since his three TeaSource shops (truly, some of the Twin Cities’ most aromatic real estate) feature five — yes, five — daily, ever-changing varieties of refreshing iced tea.

Secret slice shop

Wednesday May 23, 2012

After devoting her weekday mornings at Isles Bun & Coffee to the shop’s signature cinnamon rolls, baker Angie DeMars pulls a focaccia-style pizza out of the oven around noon. Lunch is $3.50 a slice, and topped with an impromptu medley of whatever DeMars discovers in the vegetable crisper that day. “That’s the way it should be,” said DeMars’ boss, co-owner Jeff Veigel. “If you’re a decent cook, you should be able to open the refrigerator and get started.”

The 'dead owl' lives on

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Remember the Red Owl? Yes, the supermarket (the chain disappeared when Supervalu bought it in 1988), but also the store’s awesome logo. Promoter Todd Haugesag does, and he’s been quietly reviving the iconic image, one T-shirt at a time. “People do get a kick out of it,” he said. “I get to the point where I don’t want to wear them, because total strangers will come up to me and talk about the Red Owl.” For copyright reasons, Haugesag has slightly tweaked the original design, which is the work of the late Les Kouba, the dean of Minnesota wildlife artists; Kouba also designed the iconic Old Dutch logo.

Success story

Wednesday May 23, 2012

It’s a good thing that Victory 44 is now accepting reservations, because the casual gastropub is more popular than ever, a happy reflection of chef/owner Erick Harcey and his boundary-pushing (and shockingly affordable) cooking. The coffeehouse side of the building is no slouch, either. 

Mobile masters

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Our vote for the Food Truck Hall of Fame: Hola Arepa, and its gung-ho owner/operators, Birk Grudem and Christina Nguyen, for importing the arepa — a grilled cornmeal patty that’s split and filled with all manner of Latin-infused deliciousness — to the streets of Minneapolis.

Fungi fan

Wednesday May 23, 2012

“I’m absolutely fascinated by mushrooms,” said Tom Peterson. It shows. In meticulously managed indoor and outdoor environments, the owner of Birch Creek Forest Products in Burnsville cultivates 19 mushroom species, year-round. Peterson’s hard work is paying off, with a clientele of chefs and shoppers that’s spreading faster than morels in springtime. “Just ask anyone at the farmers market where the mushroom guy is,” he said. “They know who I am.”

Street scene-setter

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Three cheers for Ben Janssens. The owner of SignMinds specializes in designing and fabricating eye-catching signage, including several food-and-drink marquees that light up the Twin Cities streetscape. Our favorite? The aluminum-and-neon doozy that heralds Thom Pham’s Wondrous Azian Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis. “They wanted that old-style chow mein Chinese restaurant feel,” explained Janssens. Mission accomplished.

Over ice

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Thank you, Dan Oskey, for brightening up the soda pop aisle, big time. The Strip Club bartender was tapped by the makers of upstart Joia Soda to develop fizzy, color-saturated, all-natural beverages “that were more than just a one-note,” he said. Oskey did not disappoint: Hibiscus-lime-clove, or pineapple-coconut-nutmeg, anyone? They’re refreshing on their own, and they also make cocktails sing (view the recipe online).

Keeping cool

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Another beverage innovator worth watching: Bryan Deane Bertsch, maker of St. Paul-based Deane’s Kombucha, an effervescent green tea-based beverage that’s fermented in oak barrels and flavored with locally sourced honey and maple syrup, pressed ginger root and fresh fruit, a formula guaranteed to take the swelter out of a humid summer’s day.

Model host

Wednesday May 23, 2012

We could all take a lesson in generosity (and, let’s face it, marketing smarts) from Josh Brown. On the first Thursday of every month, the Gather chef opens his kitchen —and menu — to a who’s-who of local culinary big shots (including Tim McKee, Isaac Becker, Alex Roberts and Steven Brown), and everybody wins: Diners enjoy face time with top chefs (and delicious free samples of their work), and Brown burnishes his hospitality credentials by hosting what might be the Cities’ most entertaining regularly scheduled food event.

Turning up the heat

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Speaking of guest chefs, Heather Jansz, the (accurately) self-proclaimed Curry Diva, heats up Monday nights at the Highland Grill, serving up the fiery flavors of her native Sri Lanka with a different $14.95 menu each week. Go.

A different kind of dairy farm

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Let’s all raise a glass (of milk) to Vincent Maefsky, the hardworking patriarch of Poplar Hill Dairy Goat Farm in Scandia, Minn. Since 1975, the Maefsky family — and their 750-plus herd of purebred Alpines, Saanens, Toggenburgs and Nubians, of course — have been delivering much-needed diversity, in the form of fresh pasteurized goat’s milk, to supermarket dairy cases across the Upper Midwest. Look for the cute brown-and-green carton.

Pastry princes

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Forget about Pepperidge Farm, which has the audacity to use shortening — shortening! — as the building block for its puff pastry. Which is why convenience-seekers should rely upon Wedge Co-op bakers Tim Kastner and Coary Barnard. Earlier this spring, Kastner and Barnard started diverting a small portion of their buttery, all-natural layered dough away from the bakery’s fantastic fruit turnovers and into the store’s frozen foods section. It bakes up like a dream (view the recipe online), and as a bonus the package includes easy-to-follow directions for preparing turnovers at home.

Urban renewal

Wednesday May 23, 2012

“Not in my wildest dreams.” That’s how Tom Hoch puts it when asked if he ever imagined one, let alone two supermarkets — Lunds (debuting June 14) and Whole Foods Market (opening next year) — landing on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, or that the street would blossom into a prime dining-out address. Hoch, president and CEO of the Hennepin Theatre Trust, which operates the Orpheum, State and Pantages theaters, is the driving force behind Plan-It Hennepin, a yearlong grass-roots initiative “that’s fundamentally different from how city planning has occurred in the past,” he said. The goal: To develop a consensus for the future of the city’s primary entertainment thoroughfare. Hoch believes that food is destined to play a key role in the street’s transformation. “It’s such a part of the cultural experience,” he said. “You buy a ticket, and the next question is, 'Where are we going to eat?’ Those two things are inextricably linked.”

Early adapter

Wednesday May 23, 2012

During every dinner service at Joan’s in the Park, chef Susan Dunlop performs a minor cooking miracle: Nearly every dish that comes out of her modest kitchen is prepared in a double-decker pizza oven, a holdover from the previous tenant. But here’s the thing: Nothing about Dunlop’s expertly roasted meats, seafood and vegetables gives away her secret. Not only that, but she’s grown accustomed to her no-stove arrangement. “If we ever did another location, I don’t know if I could go back to a traditional kitchen setup,” said Dunlop with a laugh. “Well, I could. But it would take a while.”

Carb loading

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Even the threat of swimsuit season isn’t enough to keep us from the mango-glazed, coconut-garnished raised doughnuts at Mojo Monkey Donuts. The same goes for owner Lisa Clark’s maple-bacon “bars.” Yeah, they’re that good.

Brilliance on Concourse G

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Here’s a sure sign that the dining options at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are on an upward swing: The gifted Rob Moore is running the kitchen at Taste of Mill City Tavern. Steelhead trout gravlax and bison tartare, next to gate G-19? To say that Moore’s locavore-inspired cooking is awesome for an airport is not doing it justice. No, this place could thrive well outside the confines of MSP.

Hot-hot-hot

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Timberwolves fans, take note: There’s a reason why many of the team’s players make Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine a second home. It’s the endearing presence of chef/co-owner Marla Jadoonanan and her feisty, true-to-her-roots cooking, a reflection of the culinary melting pot that is her native Trinidad and Tobago.

Sea change

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Next time you savor a taste of fresh wild Alaskan halibut or tai snapper, make a mental note to send a word of thanks to Suzanne Weinstein. If she hadn’t had the foresight and drive to create the game-changing Coastal Seafoods 31 years ago, Twin Citians might still be making do with a minuscule selection of frozen fish.

Shutter bug

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Bump into Mette Nielsen at one of the many farmers markets she browses, and chances are she’ll have a camera in her hands. The Copenhagen native (and avid gardener and cook) didn’t set out to be a food photographer — her St. Louis Park studio bustles with work for Target, Lunds and Byerly’s and other corporate clients — but while working at the former Donaldsons department store in the early 1980s, “Everyone wanted to shoot fashion, and I wanted to shoot the pots and pans,” she recalls. “Someone told me that there were food photographers, and I said, 'Really?’” That was then, this is now. Her latest in a string of high-profile jobs: the gorgeous “The Spoonriver Cookbook” (view the recipe online). Coming up next: A Birchwood Cafe cookbook.

We'll drink to that

Wednesday May 23, 2012

The Twins have done a four-star job of luring fans (and locally brewed beers) into Target Field, but this year, the boys of summer have been upstaged by Ryan Petz, Brian Hoffman, Jim Diley and Peter Grande. They’re the brain trust behind Fulton Beer, and on game days, they throw open the doors of their taproom (just two blocks north of the ballpark) and play host to the most happening pre- and post-game party in Twinstown. Cheers.

Taste of Nepal

Wednesday May 23, 2012

What started as a dumpling stand at the Mill City Farmers Market has blossomed into a remarkable bricks-and-mortar destination, thanks to the determination, passion and know-how of Sarala Kattel and Rashmi Bhattachan of Gorkha Palace. Go for the mo:mos  (those incredible steamed dumplings, filled with Minnesota-raised turkey, yak or spinach and cabbage), stay for the beautifully seasoned vegetarian dishes and puffy clay oven-baked breads.

Natural-born restaurateur

Wednesday May 23, 2012

When Patti Soskin was growing up in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood and all of her friends were playing house, “I was playing restaurant,” she said. Something obviously stuck. Yum! Kitchen and Bakery, Soskin’s mob-scene restaurant, specializes in fresh, wholesome fare that’s served with a side of the philosophies that define Soskin’s life: Choose happy (“That’s one of the lines that my husband uses at home,” she said. “And we do.”). Work hard and be nice to people (“That’s from a poster that my kids got for me,” she said). “The restaurant allows me to do really nice things for people, and I love that,” said Soskin. “Food creates bonds. It heals the soul.”

Valuable asset

Wednesday May 23, 2012

As Middle Eastern flavors have hit the mainstream, credit must flow to the 25-year-old Holy Land Brands empire. Let’s do the numbers: Its busy northeast Minneapolis workrooms produce 120,000 (8-oz.) containers of hummus spreads each month (for sale at Costcos nationwide), nearly 6,000 pieces of pita bread are baked each day and, on a typical action-packed Saturday, CEO Majdi Wadi said his counter-service cafe can sell 500 two-fisted gyro sandwiches.

Hot dog!

Wednesday May 23, 2012

Consider it the best part of the day when the intrepid Nate Beck rolls out his jaunty Nate-dogs hot dog cart to a nearby sidewalk. And who needs ketchup when Beck produces his own honey-spiced mustard? It’s one of many food product innovations coming out of Kindred Kitchen, the vitally important north Minneapolis culinary business incubator.

Photo gallery: 50 Tastemakers

Tuesday May 22, 2012