Krik's Picks

By Tovah Domenick When Peter and I decided to spend part of our holiday money on going out to a nice dinner, the possibilities were endless. Chicago is definitely a foodie's world and since it's rare that we treat ourselves to a nice dinner, we wanted it to be a memorable one. After much debate, we decided on Graham Elliot . Graham Elliot is a celebrity chef in Chicago and is known for being at the forefront of the molecular gastronomy trend at Avenues, the restaurant in The Peninsula hotel. Creating dishes such as fois gras coated in Pop Rocks, Elliot took fine dining to a whole new level – though the prix-fixe menus were out of reach for everyday people like us. In June Elliot opened his own restaurant, coining the term "bistronomic" for his new approach, blending everyday bistro ambiance with modern haute-cuisine. As we entered the restaurant we were greeted by friendly staff and an amazing smell, which turned out to be a bowl of juniper and rosem...

I've always felt that the dairy promotion organizations should give a "Dairy Hero of the Week" award to the most favorable portrayal of milk or dairy products in public media. In the absence of such an industry recognition, let me forthwith offer my nominee for this week's Dairy Hero of the Week - Mark Bittman, New York Times food writer, AKA "The Minimalist." His column in today's food section extols the simple joy of northern Italian buckwheat noodles "bathed in butter ." You can read his column online , but I think you'd enjoy watching the video. (My favorite ad lib from the video, when commenting on the amount of butter in the recipe, he suggests that you could double the amount, or even triple the amount, if you want. My hero!) Click here to watch the video.

I like Hell’s Kitchen . I really do. But after my most recent visit, I’m concerned that it’s focusing so much on the schtick and losing sight of the food. Hell’s Kitchen moved to a new location not too long ago. The new venue is great! It’s a basement/cellar space that used to be a jazz club and steakhouse. It lends itself wonderfully to the ambiance that Hell’s Kitchen cultivates. And they’ve done a fantastic job with the lighting and décor. But here’s the thing – when you look at the menu and the web site, they milk every pun and double entendre that you can imagine. “Damn good food.” “Spicy (food)? Hell no.” Gift cards labeled “Ticket to Hell.” You get the idea. It’s all very clever, though they have overdone it a little. But it only works if the food really shines. Otherwise, it’s just a gimmick. Much of the food is very good. I had the corned beef hash and really enjoyed it. The menu says the beef is house-cured. The potatoes, onions, and celery in the hash are co...

Had a very enjoyable sushi dinner at Wasabi with some people from work . Food: 3.5 Service: 3 Ambiance: 2.5 Value: 3 I’ve been on a project team with a group of consultants from Deloitte . As we near the end of the project, and as the consultants begin to disperse, the project sponsor offered to host an early dinner before people made their way to the airport. I was asked to recommend a venue. Wasabi was the choice. We don’t have too many sushi places in Minneapolis . I like Nami and Origami . There are a few others like Fuji Ya and Sushi Tango . I hadn’t tried Wasabi, which is relatively new. But a co-worker had, and he had very good things to say about it. The location was appropriate for two of the consultants who needed to leave early and get to the airport. Ordering was really quite simple. We started with a ‘boat.’ It was, literally, a large model boat with different varieties of sushi and sashimi arrayed on the deck. These items all were pre...

The only thing sadder than a reliable standby that disappoints (see next post) is a reliable standby that closes. I just read in today’s StarTribune that 3 Fish has closed. I always considered 3 Fish to be a hidden gem. Comfortable décor, good food, reasonable prices. I felt it and Stella’s were two of the most reasonable places to get good fresh fish and seafood in Minneapolis . Now it’s gone. Too bad.

I hate it when a restaurant that I consider to be a reliable standby is disappointing. But that’s the experience my wife and I had with the dinner we had recently at Amore Victoria . Food: 3 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Value: 3 Before dinner, we went to an open house at the pottery studio where our son does his work. We did some light noshing so we weren’t starving, nor were we in a rush to get our food. We started with drinks. I had a glass of wine, and my wife had a cocktail. Our server asked us if we were ready to order, so we did. We had barely begun sipping our drinks when our first courses arrived. We didn’t want to send them back, but we really would have preferred to enjoy our drinks a while before eating. I ordered the Lombardi salad. It was really good. It had romaine, kalamata olives, goat cheese, artichokes, tomatoes, and baby red potatoes. The dressing was whole grain-mustard vinaigrette. Linda had zuppa de mare (seafood soup). It was very tasty with lo...

Back in May, I did a post about a lunch I had at Porter & Frye at the Ivy Hotel in Minneapolis . My comment in the post was that I couldn’t wait to come back and try it for dinner in the lower level dining room. So I picked Porter & Frye for my birthday dinner. Guess what? When my wife and I arrived for our reservation on a Tuesday night (my birthday), we were informed that the lower dining room was not open that evening. So we ended up eating in the bar, like we did for the lunch on my previous experience. We settled in to our table and began to peruse the wine list. Porter & Frye has an interesting concept for its wine list. They have a variety of wines listed at several price points. You can choose a 3 ounce sample, a 6 ounce serving, or a bottle. So, for example, they have nine wines listed at $38 per bottle. But if you prefer, you could get a 3 ounce serving for $6 or a 6 ounce serving for $10 of the same wines. They also have a second list of reserve wine...

I have to admit that I’m not a chef groupie. I don’t usually try a new restaurant because of the chef. So when people started talking about this new place that chef Tim McKee had opened on the Nicollet Mall , I didn’t pay much attention. On the other hand, I started hearing this really fantastic vibe for Barrio Tequila Bar . There was a great Star Tribune review. And my wife (who does pay more attention to chefs than I do) also heard some great things. It seemed like the consensus was that this place would be worth visiting. I even went so far as to recommend it to a co-worker based on the hype. (After her visit, she reported that it was good.) So the Saturday after Halloween, we decided to try it. I did worry a little bit. Even if the place was good, would it be disappointing compared to my heightened expectations? Nope. In a word, Barrio is fantastic. The food is great. The drinks are great. The décor is fun. The service was friendly and helpful. And it’s a bargain besides. That al...

There must be something between me and fast food and Clear Lake , Iowa . I’ve written before that I’m not a big fan of fast food, nor a frequent consumer of it. In fact, I haven’t eaten at a fast food joint since spring of 2007. But a strange thing happened a couple of weeks ago. I was driving home from a meeting in Ames , Iowa . It was around 1 p.m., and I was feeling a little hungry. The next stop was on the freeway was Clear Lake . I decided to stop at the Wendy’s restaurant for a quick lunch. The last time I ate fast food was at an Arby’s in Clear Lake . Now, here’s the freaky thing. Earlier this year, the same company that owns Wendy’s bought Arby’s. Whoa! What are the odds? I even ignored my own advice. In my posting from my visit to Arby’s in Clear Lake , I suggested taking an extra few minutes to drive into town and eat at a real café. I totally ignored my own advice and swung into the Wendy’s off the freeway. So I had a BBQ Flavor-Dipped Chicken Sandwich valu...

The communications staff from Land O'Lakes went to Kafe 421 for a celebration lunch in late October. Food: 3.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 3 Value: 3.5 I’ve written about Kafe 421 before, and I like it. That’s why I recommended it for our celebration lunch. Not everyone else is a big fan of ethnic cooking, as I am. But the nice thing about 421 is that the menu has a lot of variety. We started out by ordering a selection of dips – hummus, tapenade, eggplant, and tzatziki. For our group, the tapenade was the favorite. Three of us had the mezedes special, a selection of Greek specialties including dolmades, spanakopita, chicken and beef skewers. Very good. Others had sandwiches. I’ve had the sandwiches at 421 and liked them quite a lot. I think the most attractive meal of the day was the steak Cobb salad. It had such a nice selection of ingredients and was very attractively displayed. Recommendation: I’ve been to 421 for lunch with just a couple of people. I’ve been there with a group. ...

I added a new blog to my Blog list. It's called matzo&rice . I found it pretty much by accident. I was playing around with Wordpress (another blog publishing site) and saw it listed there. When I checked it out, I kinda liked it. To be honest, I've been feeling bad that I haven't been including many recipes in Krik's Picks. matzo&rice seems to be mostly recipes and homecooking food experiences. So I thought I'd add it as a vicarious source of that kind of content. Anyway, check it out.

When I first started my career, 34 years ago, the company I worked for, Midland Cooperatives , was located at 2021 E. Hennepin Ave. in Minneapolis . Every once in a while, the publications department where I worked would go to Muffuletta for a special lunch. (I seem to recall that when we went there, the restaurant was called the Lamplighter Inn. Muffuletta’s web site says it’s been a St. Paul mainstay for 27 years. That would imply that it used to operate under a different name, probably different owners. But I couldn’t find anything online to confirm that.) Whatever it was called, one of the specialties that we all would look forward to was the beer cheese soup. Things change. Midland eventually moved out of the neighborhood to a new office in Fridley . Then, in 1982, it merged with Land O'Lakes , office located in Arden Hills. Muffuletta has changed a lot, too. The menu is much more up-scale with an emphasis on locally-produced food. But they still serve bee...

I’ve written before how my brother (whose birthday is in October) and I (birthday in November) have an annual lunch to celebrate. Well, we missed last year. And we almost missed this year. We agreed on a date, but I didn’t write it on my calendar. I would have totally missed it if he hadn’t had his assistant call and ask if we could meet a little earlier. Manny’s was an easy choice for this year’s lunch. It never used to be open for lunch. But a change of venue this year, to the swank, new W Minneapolis Hotel (located in the Foshay Tower ), also resulted in a few other changes – including, now they serve lunch (and breakfast, too). We both decided to order the Peppered Bar Steak with Bleu Cheese, Cabernet Butter. Wow! It was fantastic. The steaks were done to perfection. There was a generous dollop of a bleu cheese and butter blend with a hint of cabernet. The steak was a nice size for lunch. That is to say, it was a big steak. Not as big as the steaks they serve at Manny...

When we have dinner with my son and his wife and daughter, it’s usually at our house. And when it’s not at our house, it’s at theirs. But in late September, after Linda and I returned from our vacation in Greece , we decided to eat out with Ben and his family. He suggested Brasa . It’s reasonably close to their neighborhood, it has a good reputation, and he’d eaten there once before. It was a beautiful Friday evening. The weather was warm and still. The sky was cloudless. The trees in the neighborhood hadn’t begun to turn color yet. When we arrived at Brasa, we snagged the last remaining outdoor table and ordered a bottle of wine. (No struggling with a wine list here. The menu simply lists “Med. Bodied, Fruity, Red” or “Bold, Ripe Red.” We went with Med Bodied Fruity Red (which turned out to be a Pinot Noir.) The concept at Brasa is pretty simple and straightforward. Roasted meat – chicken, beef, or pork. Interesting sides. Lots of attention paid to quality and skillful preparation. On...

Our daughter ran the Chicago Marathon in October. This was the second time she ran it. She beat her first time, but she doesn’t run competitively. She’s one of the charity runners. She ran for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society . After she completed the run, she went back to her apartment to rest. Then we met her for a dinner to celebrate her accomplishment. Gibson’s Steakhouse is less than two blocks from her apartment, and she commented that she’d always wanted to eat there. So as my wife and I walked over to her place, and as we passed Gibson’s, we stopped in to see if we could get a table. “Sorry,” we were told. “No tables are available until after 9 p.m.” We didn’t think that would work for Tovah. After all, she’d just finished running 26.2 miles. We figured she’d want to eat early and go to bed. As we turned to leave, my wife thought to ask about the outdoor tables. “You’ll have to check outside,” was the answer. Well, we did check outside, and much to our delight, we d...

Ok, I know that the host ‘cities’ for the convention were Minneapolis and St. Paul . I actually spent quite a lot of time during the RNC attending different events. I never got to St. Paul once. I think it’s noteworthy that while the business of the convention was conducted in St. Paul , 75% or more of the social activities were held in Minneapolis . Draw your own conclusion. The Star Tribune’s restaurant critic, Rick Nelson, wrote about the reception food at two of the events that I attended. For the delegate reception on Sunday, Aug. 31, he wrote: “ This red carpet seemed a bit frayed, thanks to generic, we-could-be-anywhere offerings along the lines of soggy duck spring rolls, drab commodity cheeses, fried and skewered scallops straight out of Mrs. Paul's and a mystery spread billed as olive bruschetta …” I agree with his assessment. Granted, it’s tough to serve a wide variety of reception food to thousands of people in a space as large as the convention center. But t...

When I invited the Strib restaurant critic, Rick Nelson, to attend AgNite, I said in my e-mail, “ I've gotta believe that the food and ag people will put on the best spread of the convention.” Being as objective as I can be, I believe my boast was partially true. AgNite was planned by the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council . It was intended to be a non-partisan celebration of the food and agriculture industry. A way to raise awareness among the visiting media and delegates (and a small handful of politicians) of the role of our industry in the American economy. AgNite was recognized as one of the major events of the convention, perhaps the major event on Tuesday, Sept. 2. We planned for 3000-4000 guests. Like the delegate reception, it’s a challenge to put on a party for that many people and still make the food special. In the main reception areas, there were several ‘butler-passed’ items. I didn’t try them all. There was a particularly unusual roast beef with horseradish canapé...

My wife and I went to Palomino after a reception. Food: 3 Service: 2 Ambiance: 3.5 Value: 1 When I set the 1-5 scale for KwikPick rankings, for ‘value’ I said a 1 means “they should have paid me.” For our visit to Palomino, they sorta did. We had a $20 gift card that we used on our visit. As I noted above, we had been to a reception earlier in the evening. There was plenty of food and drink, but we had planned to use the gift card anyway. We were surprised how vacant Palomino was at only 9:15 on a Saturday night. (Labor Day weekend, the waitress complained. She was bored and inattentive.) We each had a glass of wine and we split a salad and a pizza. My wife quite liked the salad; I thought it was ordinary. She didn’t so like the pizza, but I thought it was tasty. 4 items, $40. Not worth it. Take off the $20 gift card, and that was about right Recommendation: Keep looking. You can find better food, better service, and better value within a few blocks.

Another amazing meal that confirms my opinion that this is the best restaurant in the Twin Cities. Food: 5 Service: 5 Ambiance: 4 Value: 5 On my third visit to Chamber’s Kitchen, I wondered, “How could this compare to the wonderful ‘ chef’s table’ experience we had on my last birthday?” Though we didn’t get the little extras that go along with the chef’s table meal, we had a great meal. My ‘4’ rating on ambiance reflects the somewhat stark and industrial décor, and it can be fairly noisy. Four starters, four entrées, four delighted diners. Though it can be expensive to eat at Chamber’s Kitchen, I still rate it ‘5’ for value. It truly is worth every penny. Recommendation: Find any excuse to eat here.

There’s nothing like an outdoor lunch on the Nicollet Mall. Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3.5 Value: 4 Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer in Minnesota , and Labor Day this year was a brilliant, gorgeous, warm day, just right for al fresco dining. After a morning of shopping downtown, we picked Zelo for lunch and staked a strategically-placed table near the corner of Nicollet and 9 th with the restaurant awning providing enough shade to keep us comfortable. The people-watching was great. Limos kept pulling up on Nicollet, disgorging unidentifiable VIPs to what appeared to be a special event at McCormick & Schmick’s across the street. Clueless out-of-towners drove blithely down the Mall, unaware that it’s for taxis, buses, and limos only. (The only downside to outdoor dining on the Mall is the bus traffic – noisy and smelly.) The menu at Zelo is creative and the food is nicely prepared. We kept it simple and each had a soup and a salad and a glass of wine. The on...

I was supposed to have been on a plane to Washington , DC , on September 11, 2001. I cancelled my trip because I needed to be in the office to finish up a project. If I had been on the flight, we would have been in the air for about an hour when the first plane hit the World Trade Center . I think the flight I would have been on was diverted to Detroit . I suppose most of the Minneapolis passengers ended up renting cars to get back home. September 11, 2001 was supposed to have been the kick-off for our company United Way campaign. I was working at my desk when a co-worker arrived and said that he’d heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center . My first reaction was – oh, it must have been a small plane and an inexperienced pilot who lost control. No, my co-worker said, it was a jet. I checked the news on the internet. At that point, it still wasn’t clear what was going on. I read what I could online and then went back to work. Some of the other people turned on a T...

(A guest post by Patty Miller) Out for a business lunch, we decided to eat at Bank on the spur of the moment. Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 5 Value: 4 Comments: Bank is definitely one of the hot new business-lunch destinations downtown. The surroundings are gorgeous - the lobby of Farmers & Mechanics Bank restored to its arte moderne glory. Former bankers' offices are now private dining/meeting rooms. I had a stellar pannini of asiago, basil, grilled chicken, roasted red peppers and tomatoes accompanied by homemade, super-crisp asiago-sprinkled potato chips. One companion ordered a chicken Caesar salad that was a standout due to the presentation: an assortment of toppings was served in small spoons arranged around the outside of the plate. The other ordered half a roasted chicken that was golden-brown and moist, accompanied by roasted potato salad, which she said was quite good. Recommendation: Definitely worth a visit.

An overnight trip to Chicago provided me with an opportunity to have dinner with my daughter . It actually was the day after her one-year wedding anniversary. Regrettably, her husband had to work that evening, so he could not join us. As I considered where to eat, I thought about picking a place that I know my wife wouldn’t like. So I suggested sushi. A quick check in Open Table revealed that Tsunami is located less than a block from Tovah’s apartment. She likes sushi and was eager to try it, so I made the reservation. We had a 7 p.m. reservation on a Wednesday night. It wasn’t very busy when we arrived. Maybe it was because if was just after the Labor Day weekend. We were seated in the upstairs dining area near the bar. We liked the ambiance upstairs better than downstairs, although the dining area in the front of the restaurant leading out to the patio also had a nice atmosphere. Since I don’t eat sushi very often, I knew I’d need help, and our server was very ...

I’ve been doing Krik’s Picks for over two years now. If you happen to be a regular reader, you recognize that I am not the most frequent blogger. Earlier this summer, I went for six weeks without a new post. I went the whole month of July without posting anything. (Shameful, I know.) I think the blog Chocolate & Zucchini does the best job of having regular posts that are pretty interesting to read. She posts two or three times per week. I very seldom achieve that frequency with Krik’s Picks. Some of the other blogs that I read post daily or even multiple times in a day. I kind of envy the discipline that it takes to decide to just post a couple of paragraphs on something. The best example of that is the food columnist for the Sacramento Bee. It’s called Appetizers with Mike Dunne . However, even he doesn’t post every day. The sad thing is, I’ve got notes on about a half dozen restaurants. So I’ve decided to develop a format to do quick reviews of restaurants. So even...

My wife and I went to the New Scenic on a rainy Friday afternoon late in June. Food: 4 Service: 4 Ambiance: 4 Value: 4 Comments: This was sort of an anniversary lunch after a business meeting in Duluth . Since we were celebrating, we ate a little more than we normally would at lunch. I had duck. My wife had lamb. The food was excellent. It’s pretty rustic, but still comfortable. It wasn’t cheap, but I thought it was a good value for what we had. Recommendation: Worth a visit.

Went to St. Elmo for dinner with a co-worker while on a business trip to Indy. Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Value: 3 Comments: Great steaks! Great drinks! Shrimp cocktail features huge shrimp with a homemade cocktail sauce that features freshly ground horseradish. Handsome bar. Classic steakhouse décor. Tables a little crowded. Service was friendly but not particularly attentive. Expensive. Recommendation: Go there for a special occasion, or when you win the lottery.

We recently had our second meal at Café Maude in south Minneapolis . Both experiences were wonderful. Café Maude is one of those great neighborhood restaurants that can be found all throughout the city. Besides great food and an interesting wine list, they have live music on Friday and Saturday nights. On our most recent visit our friends started with a Caesar salad which they split. They weren’t too fond of anchovies, so I scored the white anchovies that were served on the salad. The salad was unique in that it was served with a “tempura fried egg.” It was a hard boiled egg lightly coated with crumbs and then fried. It had a crisp crust that gave the egg an unusual texture. My wife had a special on the menu – cauliflower soup. She said it was very good. I also had an evening special of squash blossoms stuffed with goat cheese. They were lightly battered and fried. I shared all around, and the verdict was unanimous. It was great! I don’t think I’d previously had squash b...

This is another guest post written by my daughter who lives in Chicago . Wednesday night Peter and I celebrated my birthday and we went to Il Mulino , that's an Italian place right down the street from our apartment and it was SO SO good! One of the best meals I have ever had! Right away when we sat down they had a plate of fried zucchini drizzled with chili oil. Then they brought out this huge chuck of super fresh and very tasty parmesan cheese and shaved off a piece for each of us. Then they brought a small plate with a couple pieces of Italian salami. Then they brought a bread basket with a variety of sliced breads, and another bread basket with two pieces of warm garlic toast. And THEN they brought us each a piece of bruchetta, which I didn't eat of course because too many tomatoes but Peter said they were great. And this was ALL before we even got our menus! The basic menu looked great but we both ordered from the specials menu, which had a ton ...

I recently was drafted to organize a dinner for a group of former Land O'Lakes executives. One was my retired boss, one was our retired CEO, and one was our former VP of International Development. I was happy to do it. As I thought about where we should eat, I decided on Salut Bar Americain . My wife and I had only eaten at Salut for lunch, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s got a comfortable ambiance and a quirky sense of humor. (It celebrates using the term ‘ frog ’ as a nickname for the French. I always thought it was a derogatory term.) Actually, what happened was that my former boss (Bob) lost a bet to our former CEO (Jack). As a result, Bob (who lives in Philadelphia ) had to buy dinner for Jack. So when Bob needed to come to Minnesota for a foundation board meeting, he asked me to organize a dinner to pay off the bet. After I had the dinner arranged, Bob invited Martha (the former International VP) to join us. Voila! Our group started with some appetizers. My wife...