Call it flammkuchen, tarte flambée or just Alsatian pizza, but this flatbread found in loads of pubs and street-food vendors in the area along the Rhine River where France and southern Germany meet is just plain delicious.
It starts with a thin, almost flaky crust and gets topped with crème fraîche or sour cream, a melty cheese like Gruyère or mozzarella, little chunks of bacon or ham, and thinly sliced onions. It’s hasn’t been super common in the United States, save for an excellent Alsace-made frozen version at Trader Joe’s, but we’re starting to notice it popping up at more Twin Cities restaurants. Here are three of our favorites.
Chloe by Vincent
French-born chef Vincent Francoual offers Alsatian Tarte Flambée with the traditional fromage blanc at his downtown Minneapolis bistro. It’s on the happy hour ($12) and dinner menus ($16). Make it meatless by subbing mushrooms for the bacon.
700 S. 3rd St., Mpls., chloebyvincent.com
Punch Pizza
The Neapolitan-style pizza makers bring their own spin to tarte flambée, topping their usual wood-fired crust with cream sauce, onion, prosciutto and Parmesan that come together in homage of the Alsatian tradition. They call it the “Alla Panna” ($16), but it’s only on the menu at select locations. If your go-to Punch isn’t one of them, you can get close to it by crafting your own pizza.
A dozen Twin Cities locations, punchpizza.com
Aki’s Wunderbar
The new evening wine bar that’s grown out of German-style bakery Aki’s Breadhaus has a flammkuchen special ($14) available only on Saturdays. They use ricotta for the flatbread’s creamy base.
1712 NE. Marshall St., Mpls., akisbreadhaus.com
