Barrio Tequila

It would appear that the place to be right now (at least for my friends and I) is Barrio, whether it be in St. Paul or Minneapolis. That being said, I have only written about Barrio once so I figured it might be time for an update.

Let's start by talking about the St Paul Barrio. It is in a space right off Mears Park and while the decor is similar to Minneapolis (candelabra and all), it definitely has a different vibe. The crowd in St Paul is considerably older and more focused on the dining than the bar. I found it a much calmer experience than the Minneapolis location, with larger space and increased breathing room between the tables. Personally, I am going to vote for Minneapolis, where the energy infused in the skinny place is, simply put, more powerfully fun.

Regardless of the location, I am going to throw this one out there: Barrio has the best mojito in town!!! Huh, you say, aren't they a tequila bar? Yes, yes, they are but until my memory of tequila in college fades weaker by far, there will be very little tequila in my life. (In fact, I fear the trips with one of my college roommates because she is a tequila pusher. It may be her only fault). Thus, you all can comment on the tequila, I will instead voice the opinion that they make a wonderful mojito. It is the perfection of not-too-sweet and not-too-tart, melded with mint and topped off with excellent rum. I did like that pineapple mojito over at Chamber's but RIP to them...

On to the food... the guacamole is good. I have eaten a lot of it, with pleasure. I particularly like the radish and jalapeno garnishes that allow for every bite to be a bit customized. However, there is no doubt in my mind that the quantity of guacamole has decreased since their opening. While it used to be enough for 3-4 to split as a starter, it is now a stretch for two to share. I suppose this is what happens when you try to have a consistent price on many of your menu items. I would rather them price everything different and make the quantity more substantial.

Speaking of those small plates all priced at $7.50, a good sized and tasty item are the mushroom quesadillas. It is also nicely garnished with romaine and radishes, rather than accompanied byt small black cups of salsa and sour cream like you would get at most places. This quesadilla you can eat with some guac as a starter and have had a full meal. The rest of the small dishes I have had (potato sopes, jicama and citrus salad) you couldn't do this with or else risk ongoing hunger pains. Both the potato sopes and jicama salad are pretty good too although not as good as the mushrooms.

Moving over to the tacos.... oh wait, I can't, because they don't have a vegetarian taco option! Barrio, puh-lease?!? Puh-lease make me a vegetarian taco. I want tacos too. I had great "fish" tacos in Mexico in May made with fried broccoli or else I adore huitlacoche and that is even more interesting. Squash blossoms too. Mmmmmm....

So, conclusion on my ramble and rant: great mojitos, nice guac (but more if it please), and definitely hit up Minneapolis for the "real" experience.

Thumbs Up: Mojitos, bar scene in Minneapolis, garnishes on the food, love that candelabra
Thumbs Down: More guac please, St. Paul is a bit snoozy

Barrio Tequila Minneapolis and St. Paul www.barriotequila.com

Stabby's Cafe

If you go right out on your own website and say "The Cities Best Breakfast", not only blatantly self-aggrandizing but also doing so in a grammatically incorrect way, you invite a visit from Twin Cities Eats. And a call out about it.

So, is Stabby's Cafe the Best Breakfast in the Cities? Well, to put the conclusion at the front of the essay, as grammar school forbade but work demands, the answer is, it depends. Ah, yes, it depends. I know that you hate me for using that phrase and, honestly, I kind of hate myself for it but it does truly depend:

If you could care less about the atmosphere you are in and are happy to just close your eyes and eat, then based on my one experience at Stabby's, it very well could be the best breakfast in the Cities. However, if you open your eyes and take in the whole experience, suddenly other places in town aren't looking out of the hunt.

The food options are pretty basic breakfast: eggs a bunch of ways, from scrambles to omelets, and then some unique looking pancake choices, such as gingerbread banana. I immediately set upon an omelet with my name written all over it: Kristin's Vegetarian Revenge. The omelet was huge and filled with veggie sausage, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, spiced hashbrowns and cheese. Given my COGs tendency to overanalyze, I was extremely impressed with the generosity of veggie sausage used in the omelet - enough for some in every bite of the most expensive ingredient! Yay! Basically it was a fantastic omelet and, in addition, the spiced hashbrowns on the side were also just the perfect slightly spicy. This was one great plate of breakfast.

But then I looked up.

When I walked into Stabby's Cafe I was excited to see the side room with window counter seats, perfect for the solo diner but I was then informed that even though they have this extra room and counter, they couldn't serve food there and never explained why. So, instead, I put my name on the list and received a not-so-happy look that I was going to be a table of one. With only about ten tables in the entire restaurant, I can understand why they didn't want a "table for one" and had an uncomfortable moment but I stuck it out and determinedly waited. After about 15 minutes, I was seated, served coffee, and then subsequently requested to move to a different table so they could us the original one they had seated me at for more people. My new seat's vista was the hallway to the bathroom. So, I looked up from my yummy food and down toward the loos. Sad.

In addition to the distracting move, the rest of the space was also nothing to write home about. There was a random sink in the dining room with a shelf above it holding boxes of Sysco-ware and also no apparent attempt in the room to doll anything up to create atmosphere. While atmosphere is certainly not a requirement to serve good food, I will say that a lack of BOTH atmosphere and graciousness left me in a position where I have to say that this wasn't the Twin Cities' Best Breakfast (note correct grammar). It had potential, yes; but in eyes-open reality, no.

Thumbs Up: Great vegetarian omelet and hashbrowns
Thumbs Down: Atmosphere and graciousness

Stabby's Cafe 4159 Cedar Ave S Minneapolis www.stabbyscafe.com

Azia

It’s pretty hard to turn down an invitation to dinner with Thom Pham, of Azia and ThanDo fame, so while I don’t normally take “free stuff” for my blog, in this case I signed right up. Not just has Thom had a history of bringing some unique and memorable fusion food to the Twin Cities (Cranberry Puffs, anyone?), he has also changed a street corner for the good on Nicollet, restored a gorgeous building and only gotten beat up once along the way (I think, this one through the blogs and gossip, not from his own mouth). Admittedly, I was surprised to be invited to attend as my previous posts (one and two) on Azia were not overly positive, mostly decrying the high prices.

On Monday night, four bloggers and guests joined Thom and his PR team for drinks, apps and dinner at Azia, followed by a building tour. I was pleasantly surprised by the creative cocktail list and had something refreshingly and wonderfully blue and bubbling. My college friends are now laughing as they read this as they know I have a strange affinity for blue drinks. Seriously, though, have you ever tasted a blue cocktail that isn’t wonderfully delicious and tasting of the tropics? This one was like a blue liquid pina colada and the dry ice turned it into my own Hawaiian volcano. I think I will simply call it the Blue Volcano.

The appetizer spread ranged from the aforementioned Cranberry Puffs to fresh spring rolls to sushi. I really love those darn puffs. Best bar food in the Twin Cities in my book. I also enjoyed the squash dumplings and fresh herbed spring rolls stuffed with veggies, herbs and mock duck. We mingled, we chatted, we watched the other bloggers take pictures I am sure you can find on their sites. All good fun.

We then sat down to dinner where the Azia signature dishes kept rolling onto the table. Sweet and spicy Cranberry Curry. Check. Yum. The lingeringly spicy Singapore Noodles may become my new fall comfort food of choice. I loved that spice level, one where I could feel it and love it and not be writhing in pain. But my favorite dish that I got to try was the Hot & Spicy Lemongrass. I had the tofu variation while others at the table had beef. This is something where when I look at the menu of Azia online and I would never think to order this dish but I have to tell you, if you love that grilled flavor, it is awesome. The dish is filled with veggies, pineapple, and meat (or mock meat) which has been grilled over cedar. This is not something you are going to get at other Asian inspired restaurants in town. The rest of the table was practically coo-ing over the seafood dishes as well, something that the restaurant has great pride in. Over at the sushi bar, we even learned that the sushi chef stops at the airport on his way to work to pick up the fish that has been overnighted in.

For dessert we shared the Almond Joy and Banana Rolls. The Almond Joy was a combination of coconut, almonds, ice cream and chocolate that was the perfect uber sweet taste of Almond Joy, the candy bar that my mother would surreptitiously pick out in the check out line at K-Mart when I was growing up, making sure the wrapper disappeared before we got home to my dentist father. The Banana Rolls were a little over the top for me – wonton-wrapped and deep fried, a little too phallic. The ginger ice cream accompanying it was well worth it, though.

So what about Thom? He took us on a tour and showed us Azia, obviously his pride and joy. We saw everything from what the building used to look like (aka the basement) to hearing about the efforts to restore the tin ceilings which had been burned out in a fire. In the years since Azia has been open (about 6, I think), the neighborhood around the building has been transformed. People thought Thom was crazy to open such a nice place at 26th and Nicollet but after the first year, the drug dealing on the corner reduced 70% and nowadays, you look across the street into a diner and up into condos. Not bad, Thom, not bad at all.

Overall, I had a really fun time and am glad I went to go meet Thom. I have a newfound respect for Azia, especially now that they have lowered their prices and I have learned that they will serve you food til 2am. No more rummaging through the fridge at 10pm because the only thing I can think of where the kitchen is open is Pizza Luce.

Azia 2550 Nicollet Ave Minneapolis www.aziarestaurant.com

Grand Ole Creamery

I admit it. What can I say? I use blind dating as a foil for checking out new places. If the date is going to be a dud, the adventure may as well not be!

In the world of dating, there are rules. Well, guidelines, not actually "rules" like that one author got rich off of last decade. Basically, on a blind date, make sure you have the option to get in and out quickly. I am sure that there plenty of you out there that have had horrendous blind dates and are nodding in agreement. This guideline means that many of my dates don't end up on this blog because you probably could care less about the one glass of pinot grigio I drank with a random man sitting outside at the View. I would rather forget most of them too.

But there is one food item that works well for blind dates: ice cream. It melts. Fast. Obviously, this trick only works well in the summer because in the winter, ice cream would imply freezing which might lead to cuddling way too fast.

Last summer, I whirlwinded around Minneapolis eating ice cream. But I didn't hit more than Izzy's in St. Paul so I used a St. Paul blind date to try out Grand Ole Creamery, recently awarded top marks by Heavy Table for their Sweet Cream flavor.

I met my date outside and we headed in, where suddenly the pressure was on... I had to pick a flavor! Delay tactic: I asked for a sample of the Sweet Cream knowing I just had to taste it even though I wasn't going to order it. Very mild, unexciting. Oops, pressure is back and small children are stepping on my heels. Indecisiveness only stays cute to Blind Date for so long. "Chocolate Fudge Brownie", I screamed out in an unreasoned decision. "In a waffle cone".

Wow! That is a lot of ice cream. Good thing I worked through lunch and was easily able to eat the whole thing. Oh wait, darn, I probably looked like a pig. Oh well. But it was legitimate to eat the whole thing because I was hungry AND I really liked the ice cream! It was smooth and creamy, right in the middle of perfect, not icy or buttery at all. The ice cream base was a smooth milk chocolate and had a perfect amount of large brownie pieces in it. It was ice cream with brownies, not the other way around, like Ben & Jerry's often is. The brownie pieces also had a bit of extra sweetness from either maraschino or amaretto that I thought added to the flavor as well. The waffle cone was crisp, light and crunchy good. I was delighted by the malt ball at the bottom of it!

Grand Ole Creamery just made it to the near top of my Twin Cities ice cream list, alongside Sebastian Joe's.

As to the man, perhaps it is indicative that I am waxing poetic over the ice cream and not much else.

Thumbs Up: Great consistency, yummy brownie pieces
Thumbs Down: Not that I could figure out

Grand Ole Creamery 750 Grand Ave St. Paul www.grandolecreamery.com

Sidetrip: Detroit and Stratford, ON

There is nothing I enjoy more than watching the friends I love fall in love and marry the people of their dreams. This past weekend, I was honored to witness not one, but two, of my friends get married, one in Detroit and the other outside of Chicago. But in between the tears at the ceremonies and kicking up my very high heels on the dance floor, I also had some great meals.

In Detroit, or more accurately Harrison Township, I was excited to try the Gourmet Veggie Pizza at Luigi's. The famed Alan Richman had recently named this pizza one of the top 25 pizzas in America in GQ magazine. Luigi's is an Italian restaurant in what looks like an old house in a random suburb north of Detroit. My parents have liked this place for ages but admitted to never having tried the Gourmet Veggie Pizza. We started with a Caesar Salad (guaranteed of no anchovies so none of you can try to creep me out!) which was basic and nothing special. But I will say, the pizza was very good. It was a medium thin crust with a mild red sauce topped with broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, portabella mushrooms, red onion and grated asiago cheese. There were three things that made this pizza great. First, the crust was topped with crunchy sesame seeds, adding a great nutty taste and making that crust just as much fun to eat as the middle of the pizza. Second, the toppings were cut to the perfect size. There were no huge broccoli spears or zucchini slices to try to bite through or cut. Instead, they were each chopped to similar sizes and perfectly dispersed on the pie. Finally, I think it was that asiago that added thecherry on top to this pizza; something unique that just fit in flavor with all of the other ingredients. This pizza was so good that we all ate a LOT of pizza. And I don't regret one bite.

Friday night, I partied away at a beautiful wedding and then Saturday morning, I headed out with my parents to Stratford, Ontario to check out the Stratford Festival's production of West Side Story. We arrived in time before the matinee for lunch at York Street Kitchen, a small restaurant focused on fresh sandwiches at lunchtime. My "Spring Thyme" wrap was filled with roasted vegetables, including, to my pleasant surprise, Brussels sprouts. That was officially the first time I had Brussels sprouts on a sandwich. And I liked it. A lot. To accompany that, we tried the fresh potato salad. How fresh? I could swear the potatoes were still a little warm. This was a nice lunch although I will say it took a long time. This was not the most efficient of productions.

For dinner after the show, we headed to the downstairs pizzeria at Pazzo restaurant. They specialize in thin crust pizzas and this second pizza of the trip was also quite good, although very different. It was a very thin crust, almost cracker-like, more Pizza Nea than Punch. While they had specialty pizzas, it was more fun to mix and match our own pizza toppings. I found it fascinating how we all ended up with such different pizzas (personalities?)! I went for a pizza with tomatoes, mushrooms and the special "Pazzo fresh herbs". The Pazzo herbs were basically rosemary. This was a good thin crust pizza. No Punch Pizza but still a good pizza nonetheless and the crowd at the restaurant seemed to indicate a local favorite as well!

From there, off to 24 hours in Chicago for another wedding then skidding back into Minneapolis at the wee hours on Monday morning to make that 10am meeting...

Luigi's http://www.luigisoriginal.com/Luigis/Home.html
York Street Kitchen http://www.yorkstreetkitchen.com/
Pazzo http://www.pazzo.ca/

Food Inc

Food Inc is a documentary that takes Eric Schlosser, Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan and basically turns their associated books into a documentary. If you (like me) have already read said books, you don't really learn anything new but just watch them visually come to life.

But the benefit of a movie is that you can take someone along with you that has no intention to ever read these books but will pretty much never turn down a movie. So, take a friend to Food Inc that you will never convince to read the books. It definitely results in interesting conversation. And they will be happy to split some vegetarian food with you afterwards too.

Food Inc is currently playing at the Lagoon in Uptown and is being showed in a wide variety of special events around town.

Cowboy Slims

I have officially lived in Uptown now for 6 years. 3 years before, then 2 in Massachusetts and then another 3 back here where not only do I live in Uptown, I committed to Uptown by purchasing a condo here. I have seen a lot change in Uptown in recently and I like to go with the flow but I kind of have to admit that I don't love all of it.

On the one hand I love the openings of Tiger Sushi, Moti-i, Zen, Risotto and Mt Fuji. On the other, the other establishments more reminiscent of First Avenue turn me into a crotchety old woman at the tender age of 29. Don't get me wrong, I have spent plenty a night enjoying these types of places but I am admittedly having a "Not in My Backyard" response to it in Uptown. It is epitomized by the fact that the old Campiello space is now kitschy-upped into a theme bar called Cowboy Slim's where the tables are moved aside at 10pm in order to crush more people inside. I now wish I had spent more time drinking martinis at Campiello.

Basically, Cowboy Slim's is not for the type of eating most people want who read this blog. But if you are hungry for the nubile young things of Minneapolis, you can definitely feast at Cowboy Slim's. After a showing of Food Inc at the Lagoon, we stopped at Cowboy Slim's around 9:15 for a beer and some food. The nachos were straight from the Sysco bins of tri-color chips and pre-shredded cheese. Yawn. The meatloaf sliders looked more interesting but weren't even given a comment considering we couldn't stop people watching instead. By the time we hit 10:15pm, my late 20s age started making me feel like a cougar and it was either time to hit the road or start downing tequila shots.

All I can say is I hope that Uptown doesn't all turn into Cowboy Slim's. I don't mind some of this mixed in but may I please beg Parasole not to turn Figlio into another Cowboy Slim's? And I hope that the new Sauce Sound Bar and Anchor Bar at Lyn-Lake provide more than tubs of beers at the entrance.

Please forgive me if I am asking too much.

Cowboy Slim's 1312 West Lake Street Minneapolis www.cowboyslims.com