Yum!

Just stopped into the Mill City Café and discovered that, among other things, they have Surly Cynic on tap! To bad I had to go back to work, or I guarantee they would have sold 2 or 3 of those delicious citrus undertone having pints of heaven. Wow, is that even a sentence? Who knows.

For lunch I enjoyed a really nice riff on the cuban sandwich. Very affordable. $7.95 and it came with a green salad! I love that. Provolone cheese was melted over a concoction of ham, roasted pork, pickles, and a few jalapeños, and inserted in to a soft, but not so soft, baguette. Well done, good people in the kitchen.

I was very tempted to order the pasta special, some kind of mixed veg with truffle oil, for a whopping 6.95. I bet it was good…

Oh, and delicious coffee!

I will be back, for sure.

-shogunmoon

Mill City Café

The missus and I had a really nice brunch this Sunday at Picosa. For those of you who love Eggs Benedict, Picosa has would I would argue is the ultimate rendition of the classic. Tomillo roasted pork with poached eggs on a masa cake bed with chipotle hollandaise. Pure heaven. Came complete with a charming flamenco band!

-shogunmoon

Picosa Website

I have to say that I have a new favorite beer.

Beer is personal though, and my personal reasons for loving this beer may not jive with your own.

Let me start by addressing my take on microbrews. Love them. If I see a Bell’s product, I generally order it. Thing is, more often then not, I never order more than two. Why? Too hoppy! If I am burping and hiccuping after two beers, I am going to be switching to something sensible, like the venerable Amstel Light. Or I will just cough up half my paycheck and start drinking Stella Artois. (Though I do not care for the stupid Stella promo glasses… just gimmee a pint glass! If I wanted wine, I would order it, dig?)

This bring me to a point I would like to make… namely that the Microbreweries do not seem to make a habit of brewing lighter beers like lagers. Drinkable beers. Summit is the prime offender. The IPA is, in my humble opinion, not very good. After two IPA’s, I feel like I just ate a cheap Chinese buffet. I am a guy that generally eats and drinks locally when I can, but Summit IPA? I am going to get a Heineken. Sad but true. That said, I do REALLY love the Scandia.

Thankfully Surly has entered the scene. Both the 331 Club and Grumpy’s NE have it on tap, and God bless ‘em for it. Grumpy’s has even been known to test out some of Surly’s more esoteric beers from time to time. I remember ordering a Surly there once, and ending up with some kind of Lambic, fancy glass and all. I like both the Bender and the Furious, and will always order them on site.

SO, here is where I get to the point.

Last Monday. Happy Hour. Grumpy’s downtown. I ordered a Stella (or something like that) because it was hotter then hell, and the folks I was meeting decided to sit outside! I do not have central air… when it is 90 degrees out, I am going to be sitting at the coldest bar I can find. Anyhoo, in the heat, I was not in the mood for the usual glass of Bender, or one of the Bells Products. Ponied up the $4.50 or whatever it was for the privilege of drinking “Belgium’s finest.”

(Editors Note: Author is referring to Stella as Belgium’s finest, how shall we say, a tongue and cheek way.)

Turns out, my friend Dave had ordered a Surly. When the ‘tron brough him his glass, I was deeply skeptical. Compared to the Bender and the Furious, the hue of the beer was very light. I was confused. So I asked.

Turns out, he had stumbled upon a new (well, new to me) Surly ale, called Surly Cynic. It is a beer made in the tradition of the Belgian Saison, though the folks at Surly Brewing are very clear that they are not trying to recreate classic Belgian Beers note for note. This style has been around a long time. Though it is a summer beer, it was brewed in the winter and stored until summer because brewing in hot weather proved to be inconsistent. Much like the IPA, it needed to be strong enough to not deteriorate during lengthy storage. Thusly, we have a lighter beer, but still strong in both flavor and alchohol content.

So, how is the Cynic? GOOD! I absolutely love it. Hoppy? Yes, BUT. Not burp and hiccup after three swigs hoppy. Delicious fruity undertones? Check, but again, with a delicate hand. This is a beer you can actually eat with seafood. Halibut with a gut buster like Summit IPA? No gracias, amigo. This is the beer you want when you order a nice delicious fresh herb filled Vietnamese dish.

This is simply the best beer I have had in a long time. Fantastic.

Anyway, at the moment., the only places that I am aware of that have it on tap are Sea Salt, Grumpy’s downtown and NE, as well as Mac’s Industrial Bar. Some of the nicer liquor stores in town have the stuff in cans as well. You can also visit the brewery itself on Saturdays from noon till two and pick up a growler.

If anyone encounters the stuff, let me know. I will keep a standing list.

-shogunmoon

List of bars the carry Surly (not necessarily the Cynic.)

List of Liquor Stores the carry Surly.

Thanks to our beer loving readers, I have the beginnings of a list of bars that have the Cynic on tap. Note, the list above from the Surly website has a full list of those that carry the Bender of the Furious. The following list is Cynic specific.

Here is the list of bar’s known to carry the CynicAle:

Grumpy’s NE
Grumpy’s Downtown
Mac’s Industrial bar (My apologies, all I could find was the MySpace page… let me know if there is a better link! Great bar, and fun bar menu.)
Acadia Cafe (I must say, looking at the website, that I need to drop in here fast.)
McKenzie
Blue Nile (City Pages link)
Sea Salt Eatery
Mill City Café

Special thanks to commenter al for the heads up on several of these awesome Surly supporting Bar’s.

And I agree with commenter Ben, Surly does make the best brew around.

Happy Drinking!

I love taco’s. More specificially, I love Taco’s Al Pastor, that delectible Mexico City street food tradition. Not that I have ever been to Mexico City.

I have been checking out a new mexi joint at Central and Lowry called Adelita’s quite a little bit, and it seems pretty solid.

Decent molé, tasty salsa, and nice carnitas and tacos al pastor. Polle en adobo is pretty rightous.

Check it out, and let me know if you think it stacks up!

-shogunmoon

Adelita’s

2405 Central Ave
Minneapolis - Northeast/St. Anthony
612-789-2526

Last friday, the wife and I were in search for cheap eats. Lulled by the new sign hanging outside the NE Palace proclaiming for the world plus dog that Juicy Lucy’s are now available, we took the bait.

The NE Palace is a cool bar! We ordered Juicy Lucy’s, and they were as good as the “Jucy” Lucy that can be had at a certain venerable place in town, no joke. On top of all that, the guy in the kitchen is not an inch less then seven feet tall.

If you decide to get the Juicy Lucy’s and NE Palace, do yourself two favors:

1) Ask for a little pink in the burger… much much better then well done. That is the secret to a Lucy that is actually Juicy.

2) Go on friday night, and have a hand at Karaoke. For the record, they have plenty of Billy Idol songs in the book. What did I sing, you might ask? Rebel Yell of course! Raawr! In the midnight hour babe… more more more!!

Anyhow, that is all I have.

10-4

-shogunmoon

NE Palace
Lowry and 4th (One block east of University on lowry.)

Must read article:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/10/05/ruhlman_bourdain_foie/index.html

This says it all, eventually.

PS. It is an interview with Bourdain. What else do you need to know?

I just finished reading Dara’s review of Spoonriver, Brenda Langden’s new health-food restaurant in Downtown Minneapolis, in this week’s City Pages. In it she comments on the meager selection of health-food-specific, fine-dining restaurants in the Twin Cities. Although, I’m not certain it would be considered fine dining, I felt the need to give a shout out to Ecopolitan, one of my favorite places to go when I have been treating my body like hell for too many days in a row.

Ecopoltan is one of the first restaurants in the country, and to my mind, the only restaurant in the Twin Cities to offer an entirely raw vegan menu. Raw means exactly that, no cooking of any kind. Food is prepared using blenders, food processors, and dehydrators; the idea being that cooking strips food of vital nutrients while introducing toxins into our systems.

The restaurant is located in a remodeled South Minneapolis duplex on Lyndale Ave near The Wedge. The interior feels very much like dining at someone’s home. Half the tables are of the typical wood variety, while the other half were created by placing glass table tops over giant flower pots filled with sand which produces a nice aesthetic. Sunlight streams in through the many windows during lunch time, and even the paint on the walls is organic, done in friendly muted pastels.

The menu is divided into traditional categories. Appetizers are mostly patés of mashed nuts, seeds, vegetables, and herbs served with crackers made out of flax seeds that are ground into a paste and then spread out onto a dehydrator tray until they are crisp. Entrees are raw versions of conventional menu items you might see anywhere. The burrito filled with curried sprouted garbanzo beans and vegetables is wrapped in a lettuce leaf instead of a tortilla. The noodles for lasagna and spaghetti marinara are made out of specially cut zucchini. Sauces are purées of fruits and vegetables served cold. Deserts consist of cookies and pies made out of fruit (both fresh and dried), and nuts. To drink there are several varieties of organic wine and dozens of fresh smoothies and squeezed fruit and vegetable juice.

I usually order the lunch special which is served anytime and consists of a huge salad spilling over the plate and a slice of “living pizza” for $8.95. Calling it pizza is a bit of a stretch, but it was delicious all the same. The crust is made with sprouted buckwheat and almonds mashed into a paste and spread on a dehydrator tray, similar to the flax crackers; The result is somewhat similar to an unsweetened pie crust. This is then topped with different combinations of vegetables, nuts, cold pressed olive oil, fresh herbs and spices. There are about 5 varieties, my favorite so far is the pesto.

The service is generally helpful and attentive and servers seem genuinely passionate about the food and the philosophy behind it. The one unfortunate thing is that regardless of how busy the restaurant is they only seem to staff one server at a time, so I would recommend bringing a good book or conversationalist along with you as the food can take a bit long to reach your table at times.

Ecopolitan is owned by Doctor Tel-Oren, a holistic medical doctor, nutrition scientist, and university professor. In addition to the restaurant, the space also contains a small shop selling eco-friendly products like hemp clothing, and organic cleaning products; An infrared sauna which is supposed to be better for you then the traditional variety; A Juice bar where you can pick up fresh juice and smoothies to go; And an “oxygen bar”, which is actually just a funky machine that looks like this that sits in the corner of the juice bar .

Just wanted to give props to my favorite coffee house. Ok, the only coffee house I am willing to set foot in, period. You see, as a general rule, I have open contempt for the idea of a place ostensibly meant to hang out in that does not have booze for sale. It is just how i am. I don’t expect anyone to understand.

However, in the AM hours, sometimes a guy just wants to pop in someplace to get some @#%#$@# joe in the morning, right? Though it is rare for me to stop, The Shogun Manor currently has depleted supplies of coffee. When this happens,I find that Matchbox is the best place to stop. They are cool, have great coffee, and best of all, I have yet to get stuck behind some pansy ordering a Mocha or similar drink. I mean really… if you want espresso, just get espresso! If you want milk, have a @$%##$% glass of milk. Steamed milk makes people TIRED! IT IS ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST THE CUASE OF A MORNING WAKE UP JOLT! LATTE DRINKERS MUST BE DESTROYED. Yes. I said it. WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT?!?

Needless to say, when I am i a frame of mind like this, I need coffee and fast. Thank you matchbox for being what you are, a very small and fast organic coffee house.

Oh, and a little anecdote to support my pleasure with this fine establishment:
This morning, there was a kink in my coffee swilling plans. No sooner had I ordered my cup of delicious organic joe when I realized that I had left my wallet at home! Not to worry… they just said that it is very important to have your morning coffee, and let me have it! How is that for service?

(And yes, of course I will stop in and pay them tomorrow. maybe I will even get a punch card. )

-shogunmoon
The Matchbox Coffee Shop
1306 2nd Street Northeast
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Here is how the Shogunmoon goes about cooking at a cabin using what was available… and after several beers.

Gin and Phonics Presents: Cabin Cookin’ with Shogunmoon

Awesome! 10% of the Dairy farms in Vermont are organic.

http://cornucopia.org/index.php/137