Eat Your Way Through Austin Paul Qui‘s career took off after winning Top Chef Season 9, followed by a James Beard award for Best Chef: Southwest, and a spot on Food & Wine’s roster of Best New Chefs in 2014. What’s more impressive is that the 33-year-old Filipino-born Austinite is killing it at his ambitious flagship restaurant qui, which was named the Best… Read More →
Austin’s Top Chef Last year, Paul Qui rocketed into culinary fame after winning Top Chef Season 9, followed by a James Beard award for Best Chef: Southwest. The young, Filipino-born Austinite honed his skills at Uchi for eight years under chef/owner Tyson Cole, killed it as executive chef of Uchiko and is now at the helm… Read More →
Austin’s Top Chef Last year, Paul Qui rocketed into culinary fame after winning Top Chef Season 9, followed by a James Beard award for Best Chef: Southwest. The young, Filipino-born Austinite honed his skills at Uchi for eight years under chef/owner Tyson Cole, killed it as executive chef of Uchiko and is now at the helm… Read More →
Pickled Golden Chanterelles & Morels By Andrew Zimmern Marinovannye Griby are pickled mushrooms in Russian, and until I spent time in St. Petersburg a few years ago, I never would have told you to pickle chanterelles and morels, but I’m telling you…do it. These days, with access to farmers’ markets and foragers these mushrooms are… Read More →
Really Cool Waterslides Grant Pauly is living most home brewers’ dream. Just a year ago, he opened 3 Sheeps Brewing Co., a microbrewery in Sheboygan that’s quickly gaining recognition for quality brews with flavor profiles Grant labels “one off of normal.” He lives by a philosophy that it’s always better to forgo fame, fortune and stability in… Read More →
Really Cool Waterslides Grant Pauly is living most home brewers’ dream. Just a year ago, he opened 3 Sheeps Brewing Co., a microbrewery in Sheboygan that’s quickly gaining recognition for quality brews with flavor profiles Grant labels “one off of normal.” He lives by a philosophy that it’s always better to forgo fame, fortune and stability in… Read More →
Chicago’s Culinary Rockstar Paul Kahan was ahead of the farm-to-table curve when he opened Blackbird in the West Loop, he brought the city communal tables and small plates with Avec, a pig-lovin’ gastropub with the Publican, followed by Big Star taco bar in Wicker Park and now the artisanal butcher shop Publican Quality Meats. The serial restaurateur… Read More →
Chicago’s Culinary Rockstar Paul Kahan was ahead of the farm-to-table curve when he opened Blackbird in the West Loop, he brought the city communal tables and small plates with Avec, a pig-lovin’ gastropub with the Publican, followed by Big Star taco bar in Wicker Park and now the artisanal butcher shop Publican Quality Meats. The serial restaurateur… Read More →
Austin City Bites By Bob & Sue A weekend in the country’s fastest growing city (which embraces its reputation for being weird, as well as the Live Music Capital of the World) included memorable dinners at a prominent food critic’s three favorite restaurants: Qui Credit: Nicolai McCrary Philippine native Paul Qui delivers an eclectic combination of… Read More →
What Not to Miss in Austin The co-owner of Salt & Time, Ben Runkle is Austin’s leading meat purveyor. What was born from Runkle’s passion for Old World charcuterie, turned into the city’s first whole carcass butcher shop and salumeria when a partnership with Bryan Butler developed in 2010. The pair are committed to sourcing animals… Read More →
Another Austin Food & Wine has come and gone, and I for one can’t wait for 2015. One of the most fun, intimate festivals in the country. Without further ado, some of the best moments (and one sort of ugly one) from this year’s party: 1. Paul Qui has confirmed for me that the Next Big Food Trend… Read More →
A few nuggets for y’all from the Austin Food & Wine Festival: Graham Elliot always travels with a tuxedo…. T-shirt. Tim Love has the most badass tailgate set up of all time. Marcus Samuelsson is the only man on planet earth who can pull off floral-meets-camo pants. We love this man. Jason Dady‘s “Mexican street… Read More →
The world’s live music capital has a gourmet side. Austin’s quirky vibe and come-as-you-are attitude seems to attract a lot of creative talent, especially when it comes to food. From barbecue and tacos to food trailers and world-class Japanese restaurants, the Texas capital has a place for everyone. Here are just a few reasons I… Read More →
The world’s live music capital has a gourmet side. Austin’s quirky vibe and come-as-you-are attitude seems to attract a lot of creative talent, especially when it comes to food. From barbecue and tacos to food trailers and world-class Japanese restaurants, the Texas capital has a place for everyone. Here are just a few reasons I… Read More →
On’s Thai Kitchen Located in Midway on University Avenue, On’s Thai Kitchen always makes it onto my list of top 10 favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities. There are many excellent choices for Thai cuisine in my hometown, but none transport me to Thailand quite like On’s. The 105-item menu has many recognizable standbys like fresh herby… Read More →
Pho 79 As the cold weather settles in, all I’m craving is a steaming bowl of pho with rich, flavorful beef broth. Lucky for me, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. And in a town chock-full of great Vietnamese restaurants, it’s difficult to name the best, so I won’t go there. What I can… Read More →
Southern Soul Food Takes Root When you think about Minnesotan food, the first thing that comes to mind is… well, anything BUT fried chicken. Lucky for us Northerners, chef Thomas Boemer filled the city’s Southern-food-void with crunchy, succulent Tennessee hot chicken, Johnnycakes and crispy pigs’ ears. They’re also serving one of the best burgers in town… Read More →
My Favorite Chickpea Salad By Andrew Zimmern Dressed with lemon juice, Banyuls vinegar, earthy capers and fresh herbs, this flavorful salad is one of my go-to side dishes all year round. It makes great leftovers as well. Like this recipe? Save it on Pinterest!
The Twin Cities’ Best Vietnamese Restaurants Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. And in a town chock-full of great Vietnamese restaurants, it’s difficult to name the best. From fantastic noodle soups to Banh mi sandwiches, bao to broken rice platters here are our favorite Vietnamese spots. Quang If… Read More →
Devour London A global hub of history, finance, fashion and food, London is incredibly accessible, reliable and popular for tourists. As England’s capital grows increasingly diverse, so do the culinary offerings. From high-end Michelin-rated tasting menus and an influx of chef-driven gastropubs to roaming food trucks and amazing ethnic food from around the globe, there… Read More →
Real Minnesota Farmhouse Food By Andrew Zimmern These beet pickles are simply the best. Don’t throw the brine away when the jar no longer has beets in it. Core and slice a hard, crisp apple. Bring to a simmer in the brine, return to the jar and refrigerate for a day and you will have… Read More →
Congratulations JBF Award Winners! As always, I had a fantastic time at the annual James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious awards ceremony honoring professionals in the food and beverage biz. I’m so proud to be a part of this amazing organization that works hard on education, agriculture issues, food insecurity and hunger relief. You… Read More →
Minnesota Restaurants Supporting Local Farms I love all four seasons, but there are few greater things in life than the first days of a Minnesota spring. We love celebrating another winter survived, and if you’re anything like me, food plays a huge role. I can’t wait until restaurants unveil their spring menus, teeming with fresh… Read More →
Embrace the Cold A lot of people think I’m nuts when I tell them I live in Minnesota. Yeah, it’s cold here. However, the difference between Minnesotans and most other folks is that we embrace the cold. We ski, ice fish, skate and sled. We even still cook outdoors. We pack our weekends with loads… Read More →
Cookbook Gurus Brothers Matt and Ted Lee grew up in Charleston, South Carolina but attended colleges in Massachusetts. They so missed the foods from back home that they founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order Southern food company. When an editor of Travel + Leisure magazine asked them to write a story about road-tripping their home state… Read More →
Where to Eat in Mexico City When I first started traveling, Mexico City’s fine dining scene was peppered with Mexican chefs cooking other countries’ food, like Italian or French cuisine. That’s no longer the case. These days the best Mexican food is once again being cooked for Mexicans, by Mexicans. Here are five restaurants you… Read More →
Where to Eat at the Great Minnesota Get-Together I love the Minnesota State Fair so much that I try to go all 12 days. Every year there’s a list of new food booths, serving every type of novelty deep-fried and on-a-stick creations, but when it comes down to it, half of the food sales comes… Read More →
#JBFA Every year a new crop of Bizarre Foods alums win Journalism and Media awards. This year Tim Byres led the charge for his book Smoke. Buy it. It’s a great one. Amy Thielen is loved by all, she cleaned up this year and her son Hank and husband Aaron were by her side all weekend.… Read More →
Congratulations JBF Award Winners! I had a fantastic weekend at the James Beard Foundation Awards in NYC, the nation’s most prestigious awards ceremony honoring professionals in the food and beverage biz. Winners of the Foundation’s annual Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards were presented on May 2, at Gotham Hall in New York City, during a… Read More →
#OnlyinMN I’m constantly traveling around the world, but there is no place I would rather be than my home state, Minnesota. What makes the land of 10,000 lakes so great? Check out just some of my favorites things to do only in Minnesota. MINNESOTA STATE FAIR I love the Minnesota State Fair so much that I try… Read More →
