St. Paul’s Hmongtown Marketplace A pillar of the Twin Cities’ Hmong community—which is the largest in the country—the sprawling Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul is the next best thing to hopping a flight to Southeast Asia. This market and those making the food represent centuries of Hmong traditions. In warmer months, you’ll find people selling plants,… Read More →
Bizarre Foods Season Premiere Tuesday July 25, 9|8c on Travel Channel On the season premiere of Bizarre Foods, I’m headed to Texas to explore American cowboy life, past and present. The cowboy is the last great American icon, a romantic, rugged symbol of our frontier past. Camping along the Chisholm trail—the storied bovine highway that… Read More →
Blue Door Pub If burgers stuffed with cheese aren’t on your list when you visit Minnesota, then you’re not doing it right. We Minnesotans love to debate who does the best juicy Lucy. There are plenty of spots serving up classic beef burgers with a molten hot cheddar cheese filling, such as perennial favorites Matt’s… Read More →
Make Whipped Cream from Scratch, It’s Easy Canned whipped cream doesn’t even compare to freshly whipped cream. It’s so easy to make, and in my opinion, the best way to top off my favorite dessert—key lime pie. Really, the only mistake you can make is over beating it and turning your cream into butter. When making whipped cream, it’s… Read More →
Wise Acre Eatery It seems just about every restaurant claims to be farm to table. In the case of Wise Acre, it’s part of the business plan. Depending on the time of year, 75 to 95 percent of ingredients originate on sister business Tangletown Gardens’ 100-acre farm in rural Plato, Minnesota, including Scottish highland cattle,… Read More →
Rise Bagel Co. The Twin Cities are my second home, and I love living here, but over the years there’s been one gaping hole in the food scene and it was bagel shaped. As a Jewish kid from New York, I’m admittedly picky when it comes to bagels, and there wasn’t a worthy one in… Read More →
Revival St. Paul This town was a barbecue waste land, until my friends Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone opened their second location of Revival in St. Paul and decided to add classic smoked meats to the menu, celebrating Boemer’s southern roots. The fried chicken and burger were reason enough to battle the crowds getting their southern comfort… Read More →
St. Genevieve I’ve often said that one of Minneapolis’ greatest assets in the food scene is chef Steven Brown, and his newest addition, St. Genevieve, is a testament to that. A Parisian-style buvette, it’s one of a slew of new restaurants in Minneapolis celebrating familiar, yet reinvented French fare—proof that the classics never go out… Read More →
‘The Zimmern List,’ My New Series on Travel Channel, Starts Production Next Week! I’ve devoted a lifetime to gathering the best food experiences all over the world. From iconic restaurants to off-the-beaten-path markets and shops, I’m adding to my ‘best of’ list everywhere I go. The new series is about more than just delicious food on the plate. It’s… Read More →
Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine Located just south of Powderhorn Park, Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine is justifiably famous for its incredibly fresh, spicy, from scratch, honest and delicious Pan-Caribe style food. Marla is a doyenne of jerk and an expert with the hallmark Caribbean mashup of Indian, Creole and Latin flavors. I can typically take down… Read More →
The Salty Tart Chef Michelle Gayer is a James Beard Award nominee many times over, including being a 2017 semifinalist for “Outstanding Baker.” Open since 2008, Gayer and her team at The Salty Tart make everything from scratch everyday—from pastry cream-filled brioche to flaky layered croissants and buttercream-topped cupcakes to banana cream pies. Her macaroons are… Read More →
Tilia Chef Steven Brown is one of Minneapolis’ greatest assets. At Tilia, he’s taken the concept of a comfortable neighborhood restaurant and perfected it—from the cozy atmosphere and kitchen counter seating, to the affordable, yet insanely delicious menu. It’s a place I can take my kid for breakfast, my wife for lunch and my lawyer… Read More →
Pineda Tacos Minneapolis may not have a dependable taqueria on every corner like Los Angeles, but head to Lake Street and you’ll discover plenty of authentic options. Pineda’s is a hidden gem of a place. What this sparse taco shop lacks in ambiance, it makes up for with flavor. I usually go for an order of four… Read More →
Feeding hungry children is not a political issue, it’s a moral one. On Tuesday morning, the White House sent its annual “budget blueprint” to Congress. This budget recommends deep cuts to programs that would be devastating to the children that many organizations work to help each day, like Share Our Strength. I wanted to make… Read More →
Nico Osteria By Bob & Sue This Paul Kahan restaurant on Rush Street features imaginative Italian fare. Executive Chef Erling Wu-Bower, a James Beard finalist in 2017, brings his own interpretation to traditional dishes. Crudo selections included Suzuki bass with chili flakes, Madai snapper with a kohlrabi salsa verde, bigeye tuna with black olives and… Read More →
The Anchor Fish & Chips Well before the influx of destination breweries and galleries re-energized Minneapolis’ artsy Northeast neighborhood, The Anchor Fish & Chips was battering Alaskan cod and frying hand cut chips for the locals. The narrow restaurant with tin ceilings and deep red walls lined with cozy booths has a real deal fish… Read More →
Szechuan Spice Of all the great regional Chinese cuisines, Sichuan food holds a special place in my heart. While we don’t have as many great Chinese restaurants as I would like in Minnesota, we do have a few that absolutely blow me away and Szechuan Spice in Uptown is one of them. It’s best to… Read More →
Alma: Cafe, Hotel & Restaurant After a major overhaul and grand re-opening, Alma is as gorgeous as ever, filling a hole we didn’t know we had in the Twin Cities dining scene. What was once solely a fantastic restaurant, owned and operated by James Beard award-winning chef Alex Roberts, is now an elegant, design-driven hotel,… Read More →
Lowry Hill Meats When Erik Sather opened Lowry Hill Meats in the fall of 2015, let’s just say I was excited. There are less than a handful of great, old-world butcher shops in the Twin Cities, and LHM’s standard for every product they sell—from meat to eggs, cheese, spices and coffee—is exceptionally high. I always… Read More →
Brasa Rotisserie For years, Brasa Rotisserie has been the go-to for Creole-style rotisserie chicken and Southern-inspired sides. From the mind of James Beard award-winning chef Alex Roberts, Brasa is a casual, convivial spot where meals are best had family style. They’re known for a mash-up of Southern-Caribbean-Mexican-Creole dishes, like slow roasted pork doused with fresh… Read More →
Authentic Vietnamese Food at Quang Home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, the Twin Cities are a pho-lover’s paradise. Quang Restaurant is family owned-and-operated, always packed and serves some of the best traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup in America. Don’t let the line out the door scare you away—even at their peak hour, the wait will… Read More →
Mucci’s Italian Owned by local restaurateur Tim Niver, Mucci’s Italian is one of the best new restaurants to come to the Twin Cities. In a tiny, unmarked brick building in St. Paul, you’ll find incredible food and service in a beautiful, yet unpretentious setting. With lacquered wood tabletops, black leather banquettes and chairs, the cozy… Read More →
Hola Arepa One of the most popular Latin American restaurants in the Twin Cities, Hola Arepa started out as a food truck, slinging their take on the satisfying Venezuelan sandwiches on the streets of Minneapolis. For those unfamiliar with their eponymous arepas, think hefty griddled cornmeal cakes stuffed with all sorts of ingredients, from Argentinian-style… Read More →
Punch Pizza There are plenty of great pizza places in the Twin Cities, but Punch will always have a special place in my heart. Now with eight locations across the metro, their first location, which opened back in 1996 in St. Paul’s Highland Park, is my favorite. Co-founders John Soranno, who grew up in Milan,… Read More →
Modern Scandinavian-Influenced Fare Located in a historic 19th-century brick-and-timber warehouse in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, The Bachelor Farmer celebrates Nordic-inspired cuisine made with ingredients sourced from local farmers or grown on the rooftop garden. They created small masterpieces on top of a humble piece of toast before it became a culinary craze, so order a few toasts as an… Read More →
Heyday A Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2015, chef Jim Christiansen’s thoughtful food is hyper-seasonal (often foraged) and speaks to his stint at Noma, with dishes such as grilled lamb with winter radish and stewed local oats, and hake with cauliflower, smoked cod roe emulsion and herbs (pictured above). Christiansen skillfully balances flavor, texture,… Read More →
Spoon and Stable After rising to chef stardom working for Daniel Boulud in NYC, Gavin Kaysen returned home in 2014 to open his first restaurant Spoon and Stable. Located in a beautifully renovated stable in the North Loop, it was the local restaurant opening of the decade. The hometown hero is one of the best… Read More →
San Francisco’s In Situ By Bob & Sue By offering the signature recipes of many of the world’s greatest chefs, Michelin 3-star chef Corey Lee of Benu and his executive chef Brandon Rodgers have made In Situ, located in the renovated Museum of Modern Art, one of the most unique dining experiences in the world. The… Read More →
Great Food Paired with Great Beer The folks behind Surly Brewing Co. are geniuses. Their new-ish destination brewery is an architectural stunner, with a wood and metal adorned taproom, glass-enclosed brewing facility, and a massive patio with fire pits and the occasional live music act. If I drank, I would be there all the time.… Read More →
The Best Thing I Ate Last Week This bay scallop ceviche with yuzu and sea urchin at Cut in Beverly Hills was a stunning example of why this steak house continues to serve simple delicious surprises at every turn on their menu. Fresh and bracing with deep bass tones from the urchin, it was the… Read More →
