Cornbread ice cream from Herbst Eatery & Farm Stand
Every summer, I look forward to back country roads. Windows rolled down, jamming to music I know every word to, and the occasional forced slowdown by a tractor making the commute from one field to the other: it's my version of heaven. During the season of exploration, especially in Wisconsin's Driftless Area, it's easy to gauge the weather and the time of year by the height of corn stalks.
That region, and the farm stands that dot those two-lane roads, are what inspired Angie and Jörg Pierach to open the new Herbst on Raymond Avenue in St. Paul. The restaurant and adjacent storefront are dedicated to rolling with the seasons and its bounty. Chef Eric Simpson sometimes changes the menu daily, depending on what the suppliers bring to the back door.
It's a restaurant intrinsically tied to season and place, which is why one bite of pastry chef Maria Beck's cornbread ice cream ($6) took me back to those country roads, scooping the air with a sun-tanned arm out the window. The cornbread flavor is bright as a yellow sun, and filled with that caramel-toasty flavor of a corner piece in the pan. The texture is smooth and supple, dreamy as fresh cream (even though it's made with oat milk) and icy cold for the hot days ahead. Served as a double scoop and garnished with cherry blossoms, it's available in the restaurant now and soon by the pint in the adjacent market. Perfect for packing up in a cooler for cabin season. (Joy Summers)
779 Raymond Av., St. Paul, 651-340-0254, herbstsaintpaul.com
Breakfast at Toma Mojo Grill
I got the e-newsletter Monday evening from Toma Mojo Grill announcing a new breakfast menu, and hours later I was standing in front of an electronic display with rotating photos of the new offerings saying "That one! Wait, no, that one!" to the very patient staffer trying to ring me up. What-to-order FOMO is real.
While I'm still dwelling on the fully loaded breakfast sandwich that I didn't order (a sausage-bacon-egg-cheese deal with potato chips stuffed into the sandwich), I couldn't have been happier with this breakfast potato bowl ($10). A base of fried potato wedges comes piled high with pulled chicken, a fried egg, roasted red peppers and arugula, and everything is drizzled with the restaurant's signature red and green mojo sauces. I also couldn't resist the cinnamon-sugar-dusted churro with chocolate sauce ($2.79 plus $1 for the chocolate), a warm and crunchy treat that I now realize every past breakfast was lacking. (Oh, and since there's been a lot of talk about breakfast sandwiches lately, Toma Mojo's start at $5 and go up to $8 for the fully loaded version.)
To drink, the coffee program is by Misfit Coffee Co. The cold press topped with dairy-free pistachio lemon foam ($5.29-$7.29) was a lovely sipper on the warmest patio day yet this year.
Having watched the morning traffic at nearby Panera and Caribou Coffee, both visible from Toma Mojo's windows, owner Paul Backer is hopeful his scratch-made Spanish-Portuguese spot will quickly snap up some of the robust a.m. business in this slice of the western suburbs. With Toma Mojo about to expand to Richfield, Backer says the breakfast program is in testing mode so it will be fully dialed in when the south metro location opens at 66th Street and Cedar Avenue S. (give it another few weeks). Breakfast is served daily from 7 to 11 a.m. (Sharyn Jackson)
12977 Ridgedale Drive, Minnetonka, 952-405-9179, tomamojogrill.com
Tasting dinner at Gia @ Cavé Vin
Chefs are embracing spring, filling menus with peas, asparagus, ramps, lamb and squeezes of lemons — and we are loving every minute of it. Among them is Jo Seddon, whose popular Gia at the Lake brought fresh Italian-inspired seasonal dining to Lake Waconia last summer. Now she's bringing the same idea to Minneapolis with a limited pop-up at Cavé Vin, and not only is it fantastic, it's a bargain.
The three-course prix fixe menu ($48) offers a starter, main and dessert (and a first taste of fried polenta with ramp aioli). The menu will change weekly, but we lucked into the most vibrant of first courses and it was my favorite. Creamy bufala mozzarella is drizzled with olive oil and cracked pepper and served with a salad of crisp, fresh peas and fava beans tossed with mint and lemon. Piled on top of the accompanying grilled bread (is there anything better?), it could be a light meal all on its own. Rounding out the first-course options were an equally delightful asparagus bundle in a lemon-Parmesan sauce and an arugula salad.
There were two options for both the main course and dessert, which made deciding easy and sharing obligatory. Seddon served up handmade pasta stuffed with Parmesan and ricotta with a ramp pesto and seared lamb chops over braised cannellini beans and roasted tomatoes for the entree. For dessert? Blueberry-lemon panna cotta with biscotti and a chocolate-hazelnut espresso cake with ricotta dolce. We loved it all.
What next week's menu holds is anyone's guess, but Seddon promises there will always be pasta, vegetable and gluten-free options. Gia is at Cavé Vin from 5 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through June. The opportunity is fleeting — much like spring. (Nicole Hvidsten)
5555 Xerxes Av. S., Mpls., 612-922-0100, joseddon.com/gia
Birria Ramen from La Bodega Taco Bar
There's a distinctive spice that permeates most of the dishes at La Bodega: a garlic powder, dried chile and familiar-but-can't-quite-place-it savoriness that if it were available by the bottle, I would stock it forever in my spice cabinet. It's just one reason to love this new taco shop that just opened on Hennepin Avenue in Uptown, right by Troubadour wine bar. (If you're looking for ideas for an excellent first date, this is it.)
La Bodega is the fast-growing mini-chain of restaurants from Alexander Rosario, who also owns the La Michoacana Rose ice cream shops. This is their first restaurant in Minneapolis; other locations have all been in the western suburbs.
The counter-service taqueria is filled with a giant mural and neon-lit moments perfect for a photo backdrop. White silk wisteria dangles from the ceiling, offset by a small skylight that brings in the sunshine.
The birria ramen ($11.99) is a signature dish. A large bowl is filled with large hunks of tender-stewed beef with a tangle of wiggly noodles and heaped with red consommé rich with toasty chile and beef flavor, along with that seductive signature spice blend. While birria ramen has proliferated in popularity, this one strikes the perfect balance of silky broth to fatty meat ratio. Just don't wear your favorite white T-shirt when ordering. (J.S.)
2829 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-434-6539, labodegataco.com
Asparagus at Wise Acre Eatery
With so many new restaurants opening, it can be hard to make time for repeat visits to old favorites. And yet, how could we not return at least once a quarter to a place so tied to the seasons that it has its own farm? Everything on the menu at Wise Acre Eatery is as colorfully abundant as the wavy wildflower landscaping surrounding its bursting-with-life patio.
With most of the food coming from its farm in Plato, Minn., one would be remiss not to order the seasonal vegetable as a side ($5). This week, it was the springiest of spring veggies, asparagus. The thin spears are charred on the grill and touched with healthy grinds of black and red pepper, served alongside a bundle of microgreens and edible flowers. If anything can capture the loveliness of a Minnesota spring, it's this bowl. (S.J.)
5401 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. 612-354-2577, wiseacreeatery.com
