Krik's Picks

Sometimes people will ask me what’s my favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities. That’s a hard question to answer because it really depends on the occasion. I really like Barrio and Broder’s Pasta Bar and Al’s Breakfast , but all for different kinds of meals. So usually when I answer that question, I pick my favorite special occasion restaurants. Up until now, those have been Chambers Kitchen and Cue at the Guthrie . I understand that Cue is undergoing a renovation soon, and that it will have a new name and new menu. So for now, I probably will drop that from my list. But I have a new one to add, and I’m really excited about it – Meritage . Are you shocked that I have a St. Paul restaurant on my favorite list? I am. But I don’t need any coaxing to cross the river for a dinner at Meritage, it’s that good! First of all, the décor at Meritage is wonderful. It has a casual feel of a French bistro (the owner actually calls it a brasserie). A long wall of windows provides engaging views of ...

I’ve got a review coming up for a DC restaurant called Agraria . The North Dakota Farmers Union developed the concept and is a part owner. I like entertaining groups of farmers there when I bring them to Washington . The only thing I don’t like about Agraria is that while its location is very scenic, it’s a long way from Capitol Hill . So it’s not ideal for groups who are spending their day tramping the Hill in support of ag issues. So I was excited to hear that a sister restaurant, Founding Farmers , recently opened on Pennsylvania Avenue . Still not the closest to the Hill, but somewhat more convenient than Georgetown . The name is apt for many reasons. It calls to mind the phrase ‘founding fathers,’ an appropriate reference in our nation’s capital. It also should remind us that George Washington and many of our nation’s founders were in fact farmers. And lastly, it’s a reference to the fact that some of the restaurant’s founders are farmers. I invited a friend and colleague to join...

When my kids were little, we had a common Sunday ritual. I would bake fresh bread in the morning, and for lunch, we would have bread and homemade soup. One of their favorites was Cream of Spinach Soup. It was really easy to make and didn’t take long, either. So today, on my Facebook page , my sweet daughter sent me a wall-2-wall request for the recipe. How could I say ‘no?’ Besides, I promised to post two recipes this month because I didn’t post any in February. This is a Land O'Lakes recipe. It appeared in the magazine that we published for the members of the cooperative. The recipe calls for using canned corn. I’m sure you could easily use an equal quantity of fresh corn. But when I make it (which I haven’t done for years), I used frozen corn from my parents’ garden . So here it is, by special request from Tovah , with love to her and her brother: Cream of Spinach Soup 6 tbsp. butter ¼ c. chopped onion ¼ c. chopped celery 1/3 c. flour 7 oz. can of whole kernel corn, drained (or...

In January, my wife and I traveled to Washington, DC , to witness the inauguration of Barak Hussein Obama as President of the United States of America. It was a fantastic experience. We were traveling to DC on the Saturday before the Inauguration. We planned to arrive late afternoon and then have dinner at a nice restaurant near our hotel. My wife had her heart set on scallops. We’d eaten there on a previous visit, and we knew they had a jazz trio performing in the lounge. It sounded like fun – nice dinner followed by jazz music. Our trip to DC required a connection in Chicago. Everything seemed to be going ok. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. We boarded on time and pushed back without delay. Then came the announcement – we’d have to de-ice. Not to drag this part of the story out too much, but de-icing, and a particularly delays on the ground after we landed in Chicago resulted in us missing our connection. There were plenty of other flights to DC that day. Tr...

On Monday of our trip to Washington for the Inauguration, we went to Capitol Hill to pick up our tickets for the swearing-in ceremony. The lines to get though security and into the Congressional office buildings were unbelievable. But as was generally the case during our whole stay for this amazing event, people were in good humor and patient. Once inside, most offices had light refreshments for the visitors. We stopped at Rep. Tim Walz , Rep. Betty McCollum , Rep. Collin Peterson hosted his in the House Ag Committee hearing room (very impressive), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar . After we left the office buildings, we still felt like having a light lunch. So we walked a few blocks to Johnny’s Half Shell . Linda started with the soup of the day. One of the problems with delaying my blog entries is that I didn’t write down anything about the soup, and now, two months later, I can’t remember what kind it was. But she liked it. What she really liked, however, was the grilled squid that she o...

On my annual winter trip to Madison , I hosted a dinner with the folks from the Cooperative Network . We dined at Ocean Grill , part of a local group of creative restaurants. Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Value: 3 One of my guests was a student at the University of Wisconsin . His dad works with me at Land O'Lakes . He noted that Ocean Grill is one of his parent’s favorite restaurants in Madison. I’ve eaten there previously as well, and it certainly is great place to eat. The quality of the fresh fish and seafood is exceptional. I had the potato crusted seabass – fantastic (take a look at the photo). A couple people had seafood enchiladas, another regular item on the menu. They all said they really liked it. One guest had scallops, and they looked fantastic. One guest, who has a seafood allergy, even had steak. So you can see it’s a diverse menu. So for my KwikPick ratings, I rate the food pretty high. The service for our group was fine, but there wasn’t anything exceptional about...

Technically, I’ve already broken one of my New Year’s resolutions. In January, I resolved to run at least one recipe per month on Krik’s Picks. Well, I only posted three items in February, and none of them were recipes. (Note that I’ve been doing pretty well on my other resolution, to eat more slowly.) My lapse in February notwithstanding, I intend to fulfill the spirit of the resolution and get back on track by posting two recipes in March. The recipe in this post is my wife’s second favorite biscotti. Most of the time, when I make biscotti for her, the recipe features slivered almonds and candied orange peel. This weekend, however, when I asked what kind she wanted me to make, she asked for the chocolate pistachio recipe below. I got this recipe from the Food Network web site, which says the recipe is from Gourmet magazine. I have made two modifications. The original recipe calls for hazelnuts, not pistachios. I made the recipe once with hazelnuts, and it was good. But I really lov...