Minnepolis in two days

When better to visit the Twin Cities? Thanksgiving. Thats right; the possibility of being in one of the coldest cities in America keeps the wimps away late November. Plus that whole holiday thing.

First stop on the way in: St Paul and the Happy Gnome. Go for the beer, stay for the beer. I will give props to the bison/elk/bacon burger of meatastic-ness but the rest of the food was nothing to blog about.

Stay at uber hip W Foshay, the art deco building oozes cool and the room's swank mini-bar (that we did not touch), made me wish I had worn something a little more...gangster moll. The Prohibition bar way up top was great for views and atmosphere, but light on cocktail snobbery.

Saffron, a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown, is where we ended up for dinner. Splitting delicately spiced small plates we sampled anchovies with harissa and preserved lemon, and kofta meatballs in tomato/mint sauce. Both we packed full of fresh and balanced flavors, the anchovies were a real hit- the preserved lemon cutting right through the oily fat of the fish and the earthy spice of the harissa. We then moved onto the lamb carpaccio and fresh beans with lemon and dill. The lamb and a wonderful combination of sweet fatty flavors with a hint of wildness and tart acidity. The beans were nice, nothing to write home about.

Located in the Graves Hotel is cocktail nirvana. Bradstreet Crafthouse is the kind of place you take someone who knows cocktails. Really knows cocktails. An inventive menu, classics and twists, attention to technique, glassware, house made bitters/syrups/etc all served to make this place truly at the pinnacle of the resurgence in the art of the cocktail. I could have watched all night. They even had specific shaped and sizes of ice for various drinks. My best cocktail was one created on the spot- he did a little twist on a Manhattan involving a dropper of Laphraoig and a spruce flavored liquor. I still dream of this place.

Breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. All kitsch, no bite. I guess its cool to be served by surly hungover hipsters in their jammies, and Ralph Steadman does some art for the place; but that does not make the food any better than any other urban diner.

Getting our sushi and ramen fix, we headed over to St. Paul for Saji Ya. Pretty sweet house ramen, and the lunch box special was satisfactory as well.

The last stop before we left the Twin Cities was a beer store located in the burbs. A good well rounded selection of imports, local and domestics. Nothing outrageously hard to find, but I was pleased to see that the beers was organized by style and not geography. This a great way educate and help people find beers similar to ones they already like. It encourages people to expand beer horizons!

Thus stocked at the Four Firkins, we headed back to Wisconsin well fed, having slept in a swank hotel, and with beer. The Pilgrims would have been proud.

Haru Ichiban

With some friends visiting recently, their wish was for us to find some good ramen in Atlanta. Scouring the web I looked on the Rameniac forums and local food blog Blissful Glutton for advice. Since I really do not know ramen from outside of the bag variety, we decided on Haru Ichiban based on the online menu and various comments on webpages.

My husband and one visitor had the Pork Yakisoba (fried pork, veg, and egg noodles) and sung its praises. The dish was literally steaming hot which brought to mind images of fajitas in Tex Mex places.

I had the Kake Soba (buckwheat noodles in broth with fish cake, seaweed, scallions) and 2 sushi rolls. The other visitor had her beef ramen and was very pleased. We all also split some crab shumai (steamed crab dumpling).

While the yakisoba and ramen seemed to satisfy their respective diners, but I was less than thrilled with my kake soba. The broth was boring, the bowl was huge but the seaweed/kake/veggies were the minimum requirements for the meal being slightly more than broth. I love the delicate flavors of Japanese food, and I by no means expect large portions or large amounts of stuff in the soup- but this was just sad. If I wanted boring broth, I am certainly capable of making it myself since my Japanese cooking skillz are lacking. I guess their strength is not in soups - or maybe I shouldn't order boring stuff and go all out.

On the other hand; I'd love to try the place again, the rest of the menu looked neat and the people next to us were all getting cool-looking chirashi juu boxes and gozen traditional dinners.

What I should have ordered:

Labor Day Weekend – Dragon*Con (D*Con)

The infamous 4-day “Mardi Gras for Nerds” floods the streets of Atlanta with Stormtroopers, Hogwart’s students, a million Jack Sparrows (excuse me: Captain Jack Sparrows), and a variety of additional fictional characters some ridiculously esoteric while others are easily recognizable. D*con typically means copious amounts of alcohol, long waits for elevators, and nasty food. The latter of these coming from either the adjacent mall’s food court or any of the crappy chains (Hard Rock, Hooters, etc…) that surround the hotels that comprise the convention. Our friends, who come for the convention, are often reluctant, and understandably so, to get into their cars and leave downtown for a single meal. To their credit for 4 years now they have trekked out to Decatur for pizza, Indian, or sushi and have been rewarded for their adventurous spirit. However, with the on-going revitalization of downtown we attempted to stick to local restaurants within walking distance of D*Con. As a result we got to share more meals with friends and ate a whole lot better than we would have at the food court. Nor were we alone! Many of the convention goers have tired of the same nasty food and were exploring smaller local venues. What follows is a condensed summary of our dining adventures.

Thursday night we started out at Ted’s Montana Grill. A chain started by local crazy billionaire Ted Turner we had never gotten around to eating at one before. I opted for one of their buffalo meat burgers and some thick cut onion rings. The onion rings were just how I like them thick cut and not over battered. I eat onion rings about once a year so it is nice to have good ones on that rare occasion. The burger was tasty but I’ve had equal of better burgers at The Vortex or Houston’s. The servers were friendly and fairly efficient but the bar appeared out of half the beers we wanted to try. If someone wanted to go again I would not say no but it certainly is not the first place I would recommend.

Thursday night I checked into the room and proceeded to do what most people come to D*con for… drink. I’ll spare you the gory details and move into Friday’s culinary excursions. A trio of ‘Tallahasseans’ and I made the pilgrimage to the brew pub within eye sight of the hotel: Max Lager’s. This has become our D*Con lunch spot on Friday over the past few years but it would be worth the trek to downtown to support local brew pubs. Typically, they have about 6 to 7 homebrews ready to go. While stouts and porters are good I’d recommend sticking to lighter summer beers which they do really well. Unfortunately, Max Lager suffers from the all too common schizophrenic pub menu syndrome trying to serve burgers, pizzas, steaks, and pseudo-asian dishes with the result that half the menu is a wasteland. The burgers are pretty good but the chicken is dry. If one wants to diverge from standard pub fare I recommend the duck quesadilla which manages to not be overly greasy nor are all the flavors overpowered by the duck as one might expect.


Friday night we supported foreign oil and headed out to Little 5 Points for dinner at Ru San’s. This local chain appears to have a branch in almost every ‘cool’ neighborhood in town (except Decatur notably) and is notorious for the blaring techno and elaborate sushi confections. I don’t really want to get into a sushi article here so I’ll just say that the best sushi is simple and highlights the protein (fish, eel, etc.) rather than masking it’s lower quality. I’ve made similar comments regarding Hummus so I think my thoughts on such things are already clear. What Ru San’s lacks in Sushi they make up for in Soup. They are easily the best source of Japanese inspired soups. A vegetable soup I had was warm and satisfying filled with bean sprouts, onion, carrot, cabbage, and more. The salty broth was great fortification for the night of drinking ahead. Thick avocado slices adorned the soup providing the necessary fat to keep you sated for several hours. The Five Points Location is a party on Friday night, filled with a good cross section of Atlanta nightlife.

Saturday was so busy my lunch was a bagel and cream cheese from Atlanta Bread Company. That night vegetarians and carnivores united and headed out into the streets of downtown for Indian food at Haveli Indian Cuisine. I’ll start by saying that this place does not make my Top 5 of Indian restaurants in town, a list we’ll discuss some other time, that said this place is okay. Tandoori and curry chicken dishes were a little overdone but the spiced shrimp were surprisingly high quality and well received by the table. Like most Indian places in Atlanta these folks excel in vegetarian dishes with excellent Saag Paneer (Spinach and cheese). My one criticism of this place would be in the lack of spices. While most Indian places are guilty of dumping a bunch of spices in at the end the kitchen here don’t add enough. The Saag had a hint of coriander but a few shredded leaves might have helped bring out some earthiness in this dish.

Sunday night we headed out to Slice, a new branch of a local ‘hipster’ pizza joint. Before we get into food I have to say that the service was simply abysmal. For the entire restaurant (over 15 tables) there was one waiter. Based on how long it took for the food to come out (over 1hr) I can only imagine there was only one chef also. That said, the antipasto appetizer was big enough for two with a standard assortment of meats, cheeses and olives. The meat and cheese were all of decent to better than average quality but the real stars were the olives. The olives had only the faint hint of brine, a flavor which is normally overpowering on antipasto plates, and were just spectacular. Pizzas have a nice thin crackly crust and are neither overly greasy nor soggy with sauce. To the staff’s credit as short handed as they were everyone’s food still came out at the same time and was warm without feeling like it had sat under a heat lamp. With food this good I am certainly willing to see if Slice’s staffing problem was a one time thing.

So there you have it. No longer do D*con attendees need be contented with the dreaded Food Court of Peachtree Center, McDonald’s, Hooters, Hard Rock Café, or any of the other chains that have populated downtown for so long. Cuisine has finally begun to catch up with the spirit of revitalization throughout the downtown area. Thanks to all my friends, both the locals and out of towners, who hit the pavement with me to make this review possible. We’ll see you next year!

Road Trip: Asheville, NC

Deep in the heart of downtown, the Early Girl Eatery serves up consistently fresh, tasty, and seasonal breakfasts. We also hear they serve lunch but the breakfast is just so good we’ve never tried coming in a little later. Shrimp and grits, pan fried trout, and black-eyed pea cakes are some of the down home Southern type dishes; but pancakes and omelets are not left behind in this Asheville institution. Good coffee, and attentive but not clingy service rounds out a solid entry in the Asheville canon.



This is not your unwashed hippie aunt’s restaurant, and there are no tofurkeys or boring salads. The Laughing Seed features consistently innovative vegetarian cuisine aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of hip young bohemians with discretionary funds. The sandwiches are always a good bet as they tend to be a departure from the usual grilled veggies or veggie burger, a recent cashew spread-feta-avocado with harissa sauce sandwich is a stand out. Of course the house hemp-nut burger is legendary in Asheville, but I’m more likely to go after the various tempeh sandwiches: tempeh reuben, tempeh Cuban, etc. The east/west quesadilla was a super cool mix of Tex-mex and Indian flavors featuring a mole-style sauce, cheese, and curried vegetables; it was a brilliant idea and I felt that the taste delivered on the promise. Low Country Roll-Ups feature tangy bbq tofu in tortillas with cheese covered in a tahini-mustard sauce that I have tried to unsuccessfully duplicate at home. Also featuring a full bar, Green Man beer, juices, smoothies, teas, and even elixir tonics.




What can I say about the pub decorated in Celtic fertility god themes? Not only does it have its own beer, Green Man Brewing Company, but Jack of the Wood is also part of the Laughing Seed collective so it has wonderfully greasy vegetarian selections among the usual pub fare. The tempeh reuben is a sandwich worth driving for, and it even tasted great before you have begun sampling the excellent beer. I think over the many times we have staked out our stools at bar for untold hours, we’ve tried every appetizer at least once and most of the sandwiches. Everything pleased the sober and drunk palate, maybe the spinach/artichoke dip was a little boring and the standard Irish pie fare was heavy and uninteresting; but for $god’s sake don’t always order the fish and chips, they may be all greasy and tasty but come pub food always tastes the same. Live music (Irish, Bluegrass and Old Time sessions!) and a very friendly atmosphere make Jack of the Wood our default hang-out when in Asheville.



Heiwa Shokudo: When we first came to this place in 2005, it was crazy busy and full of hippie families. I broke with tradition and did not order sushi, instead trying something new that I couldn’t pronounce. Coming back in 2007 to the place that prides itself on fresh ingredients and a little side of fusion in its recipes, the exciting flavors are still as much of a revelation now as they were when I left my sushi/tempura comfort zone. The menu is broken into soups, sushi, noodle dishes, and the flexible multi-dishes placed in cute trays. Plenty of vegetarian dishes mingle seamlessly with the seafood entrees. All of the fish I have ever tasted in this tiny restaurant have been of equal or better quality to any big city sushi joint; the cold ahi poki combined fresh tuna, avocado, and veggies in a soy-ginger marinade can make me instantly want to get in the car and drive up there just thinking about it. The ‘choose my own adventure’ menu also included a firm and flavorful tofu misoyaki, a perfect balanced seaweed salad, and crunchy brown rice. The fried edamame with a tofu crust was a great salty/crunchy beginning to a meal I can only describe as high-class hippie bento.

Other places of note:

For a quick or leisurely coffee and some light baked goods, the City Bakery is a good bet for an early crowd.

If chocolate is your thing, Chocolate Fetish has many different flavors of quality sin. The dark chocolate covered figs and ancho-chipotle truffles are a pricy indulgence.

While we didn’t try the food menu, the extensive beer menu of the Bier Garden is worth a meal when we come back to Asheville. Local beers such as French Broad, Highland, and the Pisgah Brewing companies sit along venerable micro-brews and Belgium beers in the massive collection. Cool new to me beer: Vermont’s Magic Hat no.9.