Sweet corn ice cream at Sonny's Ice Cream
When August rolls around, Sonny's Ice Cream co-owner Ron Siron hits up sweet corn vendors at the Kingfield Farmers Market and the Mill City Farmers Market and crafts an annual treat: sweet corn ice cream. Using a recipe he's been following for 20-plus years, he cuts the kernels off the cob, nurtures them on the stove in butter and a pinch of salt and then incorporates that golden late-summer bounty into his rich sweet cream base. Siron told me that the results are "almost like you're eating corn on the cob," and he's absolutely right; this sweet corn fanatic finds Siron's handiwork utterly irresistible. It won't occupy a berth in the shop's scoop case for much longer, so hurry in. $4.95 single scoop, $8.95 double scoop. Sonny's Ice Cream, 3403 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-824-3868.
Lox and bagel at Common Roots Cafe
One benefit to point-of-sale technology is that it can easily track mountains of data. Here's an example: since owner Danny Schwartzman opened his Common Roots Cafe in 2007, the restaurant's kitchen has boiled and baked an astonishing 769,582 bagels. In this instance, practice does indeed mean perfect, because these handmade beauties are some of the state's best bagels, wonderfully dense, chewy and dimpled. My idea of a perfect quick-service breakfast is a Common Roots bagel, split and generously embellished with a cream cheese schmear, ribbons of tender lox fashioned from wild Alaskan salmon, shards of sharp red onion, salty capers and a handful of crunchy sprouts. $9. Common Roots Cafe, 2558 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-871-2360.
Rice bowl at Ngon Bistro
What better place to detox from the Minnesota State Fair than Ngon Bistro? When visiting this Vietnamese-French restaurant off the clock – as a civilian, and not a restaurant critic – I have a silly ritual. I'll peruse the menu and, for a moment anyway, pretend that I'm going to order a new-to-me dish or two. Maybe lamb bacon in puff pastry, or sweet potato ravioli. But then the server arrives at the table, and I invariably revert to my non-pho favorite: an uncomplicated rice bowl filled with grilled chicken, shredded carrots, pickled cucumbers and a few juiced-up tomato slices. For me, it's a favorite don't-feel-like-cooking comfort food, and every time I order it, I'm reminded of what chef/owner Hai Truong told me about it, years ago. "That's the way I grew up eating," he said. "A protein, rice and something vinegary and crunchy." Why didn't my Betty Crocker-era parents think of that? $13. 799 University Av. W., St. Paul, 651-222-3301.
Tartine at the Kenwood
