My girlfriend had a gift certificate to Buca’s so we went to the one in Downtown Minneapolis the other day. This place is like the TGI Friday’s of Italian restaurants. The servers run around hollering the birthday song, dancing jigs, and expounding upon the menu and daily specials as if it were their life’s work. Man, I hate that. Calm Down!! I’m here to relax, not to feel like I’m at the adult equivalent of Chucky Cheese. Anyways, despite the spastic atmosphere, some of what we ate wasn’t terrible. some..

I love Caprese salad - sliced tomatoes, slices of real mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves in olive oil. Nice and simple; you’d  think it would be impossible to screw up, but for whatever reason,  Buca uses Tomato wedges instead of sliced tomatoes. This may sound like a small thing, but it totally destroys the entire geometry of the thing. Also, the basil looked like it had just been pulled out of the ground, not in a fresh kind of way, but in a wash me kind of way.

Buca’s supposed specialty are their garlic mashed potatoes.  They weren’t bad, but they tasted like they had been whirling in a food mill all day. No lumpy character to speak of. If you are fan of the mashed potatoe, I recommend Joe’s Garage, who take the thing to a whole new place.

The one thing I did enjoy was the Eggplant Parmesan:  Breaded eggplant, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and parmesan,  baked into a melted squishy mess. Good comfort food, and the leftovers held up for lunch the next day.

Me, I would rather just eat the box.

Great article on how a great many Americans tend to put limits on their capacity to enjoy and glean nutrients from a multitude of delicious foods. It amazes me how many otherwise enlightened people I have come across who limit their culinary experience with the most cockeyed of reasoning. Rational such as "I can’t eat guacamole, I mean, It’s green!!!" or "Mushrooms are just too darn squishy."

Disgust is a mechanish programmed into our hardware that is designed to keep us away from things that might make us sick. Dead people, fecal matter, and rotting foods invoke our disgust modules for good reason - they contain scary microscopic things that are harmful to us. But somehow this same disgust module can become invoked in some of us by things that are not only harmless, but actually good for us. Why is this? Perhaps it stems from childhood Brain washing: "No Ice Cream for you until you finish your broccoli Edwin!!" So now Edwin has learned that broccoli is a punishment, or at least an obstacle to some kind of greater prize. Or perhaps it is the same unfortunate elements in our culture that make the majority of us fearful of people, places, or things that our different then what we are accustomed to.  (51% to 48% if this past election was any kind of indication) "Mom never cooked that when we were growing up, so it must be poisonous."

Whatever the reasons may be, I feel fortunate that I am not inflicted with what ever psychosis is at fault. I love food. I love trying new foods. And I love the feeling of new neural pathways forming as the unfamiliar becomes familiar.

Speaking if Nicollet Avenue, Mose and I had dinner at a great little spot on 26th and Nicollet yesterday called Jasmine Deli. Being a Vietnamese deli, it doesn’t have many of the items you would find at a more full service Vietnamese restaurant, such as Mai Village. If you are looking for Stir Fry this isn’t your place.

What you do have is Egg Rolls, Spring Rolls and Papaya Salad as appetizers, Vietnamese sandwiches ($2.50 a pop!), Noodle Soup, and Vermicelli noodle salads, as well as a few rice entrees.

The plan was to order egg rolls, a few noodle bowls, and take some sandwiches to go. Unfortunately, they were out of bread or something, and were unable to do the sandwiches. Not a problem. Without missing a beat, we ordered an order of Egg Rolls as an app, and some Noodle Bowls to finish the job. Mose had the Charbroiled Beef Noodle Salad, and I had the Charbroiled Shrimps, Pork, and Meat Patties Noodle Salad. I would like to point out that I ordered the single most expensive item on the menu, at a whopping $6.45. No kidding!

The Egg Rolls with Fish Sauce came up, and I must say they were first class. Fish sauce is something of a passion for me, and this did not disappoint. It had a nice light flavor to it, and was great with the Egg Rolls. The egg rolls themselves were a little smaller then what you usually see, and were fantastic. They were freshly fried (trust me, some places pre fry-them, and let them sit under a heat lamp…bad bad bad) and not greasy at all. You could actually pick them up without having to run for the bathroom to wash the grease off of your fingers after finishing. The flavor with the fish sauce was really nice and well rounded. Sometimes egg rolls have a real strong pork flavor that will overpower the other ingredients and sauce, but the flavors were balanced quite well. Very delicate and very good.

Next up were the Noodle Bowls. A vermicelli noodle bowl, when made correctly, is a wonderful example of how simple food created with good fresh ingredients can be as delicious as something you pay $35 for at some swanky chef driven kinda place. The noodles (very light vermicelli noodles) are served with a little lettuce, fresh herbs, cilantro, cucumber and a sprinkle of roasted peanuts. It comes with more of the nice light fish sauce. I pretty much just took the little bowl of fish sauce and dumped it right in the bowl, grabbed the chop sticks, and went to town. It was GOOD. Similar to the egg rolls, the flavors were all balanced in some kind of noodle based harmony of flavors. After a few bites, i pepped things up with a wee bit of the Sriracha sauce at the table. The Shrimp and pork were both marinated and grilled, and tasted great. The pork was sliced razor thin, avoiding a common pitfall with asian foods- sometimes the grilled meat is thick and tough. Not in this case.

All in all, a great inexpensive lunch or dinner. I can’t wait to go get one or two of the sandwiches and see what that is all about. Hell yea!

Jasmine Deli
2532 Nicollet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 870-4700

Last night, Mose and I had a little tasty din at a place on Nicollet
Avenue in south Minneapolis. For those if you who do not know, Nicollet is somewhat of a rags to riches story these days, having been decidedly seedy not too long ago. Even so, “Eat Street” has always had good food, with a nice mix of Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese and Middle Eastern restaurants sitting alongside one old school German joint for good measure.

The list of highly regarded restaurants that live on Nicollet is pretty extensive. First we have the old classics that have been with the avenue through thick and thin. I am not sure how long the Black Forest has been on the corner of 26th and Nicollet, but it has been offering up its fantastic patio since long before patios were commonplace in the Twin Cities. Sitting right next door to the Black Forest is the old late night punk rock dining standby, Little Tijuana. Minneapolis residents who go to late night shows and drink too much have probably spent many hours coloring on the paper tablecloths with the provided crayons at this stoner friendly stablishment.

Some of the more interesting local Asian restaurants have grown up in
front of our very eyes on Nicollet. Take Rainbow Chinese Restaurant and Bar for example. It started as a small hole-in-the-wall and graduated to a much larger and much more elegant location some years back. A good Vietnamese joint called Quang Restaurant did the same thing. Taco Morelos, once a humble but delicious Mexican dive, has expanded into the rest of the building it shares with Azia (see below). One has to wonder if they have turf wars over dining space.

There are some other classics on the avenue, such as Pho Quan, a tiny place that does nothing but Pho (Vietnamese soup, 1818 Nicollet Ave.) Another must-try is Sinbad Deli & Market, which is fantastic and has some of the best handmade pitas mankind has to offer. Seriously. Check it out. It smells like a dream in there.

Right around the corner is the new anchor of 26th and Nicollet, giving the Black Forest and Little T’s some respite as the de facto destination joints on this corner. It is new, stylish, expensive, and really pretty tasty. It is called Azia, and gets so much press that there is little point in me going on about it.

Yet another Nicollet restaurant I have eaten at recently is a new Chinese place called Yummy, a haven for the folks that would like to look the lobster dead in the eye before having it killed for their dining pleasure. Not too shabby.

All in all, you could eat at a different but excellent eatery –lunch and dinner — for a week without doubling up. I think I have mentioned maybe half of the bars/dining rooms/cafes I can think of off hand, and that is not even taking into account the various ethnic grocery stores and delis Nicollet has to offer. Eat Street is a fantastic resource for the would-be gourmet who wants to tackle Falafel or Pho in one convenient neighborhood.

Oh, and the dinner that Mose and I had, the one that inspired this ode to Eat Street? I haven’t even mentioned that restaurant — you’ll have to stay tuned to find out about the best noodle dish I’ve had lately…

-Off the Rails

Funny website.

The Stained Apron

Dear almost every coffee shop in the world. Thank you for the sometimes tasty baked goods, and the gazillion different ways of introducing caffeine into my blood stream. And yes, the free wireless internet access rules, you

guys were totally ahead of the curve on that one.  But would you PLEASE dump the goof-offs who supply those ass-backwards wobbly pedestal-style café tables? I have to believe that in this age of the mapped genome and Sir Mix-A-Lot Ring Tones, someone out there must have produced a table that maintains enough horizontal-ness to keep my scalding hot cup of coffee off of my crotch. Just saying…

Since today was payday, I decided it was high time to get an odometer for my bike. As it happens, the nearest bike shop to where I toil for the man is across the street from a great little family run pan asian joint called Thanh Do. It is run by a gang of extremely attractive young women who happen to be sisters. From what I know their brother is the Chef. This is somewhat common knowledge because the he had made some news for himself with his new place, Azia. I may have some details off the mark, but who cares, right? These people are enthusiastically friendly, in a way that only a family run place can be. Plus, they don’t take themselves too seriously. All of these factors make for a great place to get a meal.

Anyhoo, I went in and ordered something off of the “Specialty Creations” menu called Xanh Chicken. What it is is basically a large pile of deliciously spiced chicken with onions served over a bed of steamed broccoli. Very tasty. And, with all the unhealthy foods I eat on a regular basis, a large quantity of steamed broccoli is certainly a GOOD THING. I ate about a third of it, and took the rest for lunch next week.

That is not all they have however.

A guilty pleasure of mine is good old fashioned vietnamese-style egg rolls. For those who aren’t sure, I am talking about skinny egg rolls cut into pieces and served with fish sauce on the side. Some Thai places I have been to (namely Ruam Mit Thai Cafe) do this as well. Thanh Do has, as far as I can tell, the best ones in the city. Or, maybe Ruam Mit does… hmm. Please bring me a plate of each, and we will try to get to the bottom of this. I may need several plates before I am ready to make decision though…

It is the fish sauce that gets me. Fish sauce is made by taking small fish and salt and fermenting for a long time. The juice is then extracted and boiled. When I am eating egg rolls with it, I put a piece in the little bowl and leave it there for a few minutes. Then, when I am ready to eat it, I get the next one in, so it has time to soak. Hey, it’s messy, but I do NOT get an order of these with plans to share, so what do you care? Hands off!

But enough about the fish sauce. They make a very good classic Pad Thai, Thai Basil Supreme, and have been known to conjure up a mean curry from time to time. What more can you ask for?

That is all I have… 10-4

Spotted at in a parking garage in Saint Louis Park:

A rusty two tone blue and silver Chevy Citation, with an orange "Mechwarrior" bumper sticker on the back. It also has a Starsky and Hutch style cop light on the top left. Interesting.

I had a hell of a gastronomical weekend, laying waste to many a delicious plate of food, as well as a few dodgy ones.

First off, I would like to discuss the meal I ate at the modern cafe… On second thought, nothing I can say can possibly do justice to this absolutely fantastic dish I had. Mother. Fucking. GOOD. No joke.

Oh, if you want to try it, it is the Duck Hash… I feel like a moron for not remembering what it is called, but hey, I am not a food critic, and I forgot to take notes. Believe me, the only food critic that matters likes the place as well. I  WILL be going back there to get it again, and I will let y’all know.

The Modern Cafe, 337 13th Ave NE, Mpls.; 612.378.9882

Anyhow, my beloved wife Peachcup and I had a dinner party at which we were serving Roustissouns, which is apparently french for Pork Sauteed with Herbs and Red Wine Vineger. So far so good. We bought all organic produce, and delicious happy free range pork tenderloin yada yada. Then I got cocky, and decided I would hand make gnocchi. To make a long story short, the pork was fantastic, but, well… the gnocchi’s… am I allowed to blame the food mill? I didn’t think so. Thank god we had plenty of wine, and the guests had a good sense of humour about the "mashed speatzel gnocchi" mush. I melted some cheese into it. That seemed to help… yea, less said the better.

So on sunday, not being one to learn from a mistake, I tried yet again to whip up some frenchie food. This time it was Veronique Chicken Breasts with Mascarpone and Fresh Spinach, Veronique being the name of the restaurant that it came from. I found the recipe online at this place called recipegoldmine.com.

Anyhow, It was num. I stuffed vegetarian fed amish boneless skin on chicken breasts with a creamy spinich mascarpone mix, and served it over a fantastic cream, wine, shallot, and chicken stock mixture. That kicked some serious tastebud ass.

Too bad we didn’t serve that on saturday. Ah well, live and learn

VeroniqueChickenBreastsWithMascarponeAndFresh Spinich.pdf