With a name like Taste of Minnesota, you'd expect food to be the center of attention at St. Paul's annual July 4th celebration. In recent years, however, the musical acts have eclipsed the cuisine.
But with new management at Taste this year, there is a slew of new food vendors, many of which are local restaurants that will offer more than your typical carnival fare. So what's worthy of your tastebuds in 2010? Use this guide to help you decide for yourself.
Once again, vendors will accept food and beverage tickets instead of cash. Five dollars buys you eight tickets, and most items cost between eight and 16 tickets for full-size portions. "Taste"-size portions will go for three to six tickets.
Lucy gets messy.
South Minneapolis mainstay the 5-8 Club will be on hand again this year with its signature Juicy Lucy, but burger lovers looking to break away from the traditional cheese-stuffed half-pounder are in luck. As part of the grill's summer "Free the Cheese" menu featuring five new specialty Lucys, the 5-8 Club will debut the Pig-Pen, stuffed with bacon cheddar cheese and bacon crumbles, at this year's Taste. Purists can relax, though -- the classic Juicy Lucy (12 tickets) will be available, too.
"It's Minnesota signature food at the signature Fourth of July festival," said Jill Skogheim, business manager of the 5-8 Club, which has been at Taste since 2004. "Guests look for us now. People notice that we're a part of it."
Latin flavor behind the wheel
Barrio's mobile Taco Truck is taking a detour from the streets of St. Paul to Harriet Island, where it will serve up some of the tequila bar's most popular items, such as pork carnitas tacos with Serrano chile salsa, chicken al pastor tacos with avocado and habanero-pickled onions, and fried mahi-mahi tacos with citrus-cucumber pico de gallo. A newcomer to Taste, Barrio hopes to garner good exposure for its restaurants in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, in addition to the Taco Truck. "It's easy advertising for us," said Matt Helgason, manager at Barrio's St. Paul location. "We thought it would be a fun thing to do."
Grilled corn with chipotle aioli, cotija cheese and cilantro, chips and salsa, guacamole and popsicles round out the menu. Most items sell for eight tickets, with the popsicles going for six.
A lot more fishy
Seafood lovers will have no problems finding food at Taste this year. In fact, they may find it hard to choose among the numerous vendors peddling fish -- most of it fried, of course. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. makes its Taste debut with Cajun, fried and drunken shrimp, as does Joe's Crab Shack with mini crab cakes and crab cake sliders. Taste veterans McLellan's Shrimp Shack and the Walleye Wagon return with their signature items, but the latter's walleye fish and chips will have to compete with The Liffey's beer-battered cod and French fries (14 tickets). No stranger to the event due to its location near Xcel Energy Center, the Irish pub will offer its most popular menu item at Taste of Minnesota for the first time.
"The Liffey has always benefited from Taste of Minnesota," said general manager Jay Johnson. "This year we decided to go down and give it a go. We try to support all events in downtown St. Paul."
A touch of glamour
If the thought of dressing up for dinner on a hot summer's evening doesn't appeal to you, you can sample the offerings from a couple of the area's more upscale restaurants appearing at Taste for the first time. Suburban destination Crave is bringing several of its sushi rolls, as well as an Asian noodle salad and a New York grilled pastrami sandwich, at prices ranging from three to 10 tickets. Sushi is also on the menu at the booth for Seven, the sleek downtown Minneapolis steakhouse, along with carved beef sandwiches, chicken wings and edamame. All items will cost 16 tickets or fewer. "We're showcasing everything on the menu that are Seven staples," said Sheila Cachuela of Seven.
Sweet and fried
Minnesotans have never shied away from deep-fried desserts, and 2010's Taste will feature new concoctions to tempt the tastebuds -- and waistlines -- of festival-goers. The Atsidakos family, which runs the Cottage Grill in Rogers, is bringing its Minneapple Pie, a deep-fried individual apple pie (eight tickets) served alone or a la mode for an additional three tickets. Upon arriving in Minneapolis from Greece in the 1960s, Andy Atsidakos worked as a baker at Peter's Grill, where he fine-tuned his family's apple pie recipe into an award-winning dessert. Some 40 years later, Andy's daughter Joanne has tweaked the pie once again to create a more fair-friendly treat.
"It took nine months of trial and error to find the perfect recipe," George Atsidakos said. "We needed a great flaky crust that doesn't fall apart when fried."
Fellow vendor -- and St. Paul police officer -- Kurt Roettjer believes his sweet treats will find a following at this year's Taste. Roettjer's cream cheese comets (12 tickets for two) will offer a hearty bite of strawberry or brown sugar-cinnamon cream cheese surrounded by a wonton-like wrapper, while his Retch's Cookie Dough (12 tickets) may appeal to fans of Minnesota State Fair institution Sweet Martha's cookies.
"It's just like biting into a warm cookie," Roettjer said of the cake-battered and deep-fried dough. "Our slogan is 'You can't say no to cookie dough!'"
Stay bubbly
If July heat has you hankering more for a cold drink than a hot snack, several Taste vendors will be eager to wet your whistle. The Tea Garden will serve a variety of fruit- and spice-infused bubble tea drinks for eight tickets each. "It's like a dessert drink with tapioca pearls or fruit gels at the bottom," said co-owner Diana Nguyen.
If tea's not your thing, Maui Wowi will have fresh fruit smoothies, 1919 Root Beer Floats will offer both root beer and orange floats, and the Gass Station will be pouring lemonade.
