CONTEST COMPLETE AZ Cooks Your Grandma’s Best Recipes Contest Share a favorite, original recipe from your Grandma’s collection for a chance to win a great prize pack, a shout-out from Andrew Zimmern, and have your recipe prepared on AZ Cooks. Scroll down to enter! My grandmother only cooked a few dozen dishes on a regular… Read More →
Pajarito Just over a year old, Pajarito’s contemporary Mexican cuisine is still satisfying a packed house every night. Located on St. Paul’s West 7th St. in the historic Glockenspiel building, it’s proven to be the right combination of quality ingredients, superb flavors, affordable plates, great service and a sophisticated, inviting atmosphere. I love a cheap… Read More →
Grand Cafe Important restaurants keep exploding all over the Twin Cities. Grand Cafe joins the list that includes Spoon & Stable, Heyday, Bellecour, Corner Table and many new to the scene like Kado No Mise and Martina, that are proof positive Minnesota is ground zero for some of the best food in America. Photograph… 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 →
How to Make Chicken Lollipops Looking for a fun presentation for chicken wings or legs? Learn how to make chicken lollipops, an easy frenching technique where you scrape the meat away from the bone to create a lollipop shape. The chicken will be more succulent and easy to eat with its bone handle. Learn how… Read More →
Honey & Rye Located less than a mile from the office, Honey & Rye has been a favorite since it opened four years ago. All of our carb-loving dreams came true when that retro-era corner dry cleaners transformed into a neighborhood bakery. It’s not a run-of-the-mill bakehouse or one that stocks its cases with trendy… Read More →
How to Prep Lemongrass I love cooking with lemongrass. It’s a staple of many Asian cuisines that lends a unique citrusy aroma and flavor to soups, curries, marinades, stir-fries, dumplings and dipping sauces, even cocktails. Peel away the dried, tough outer layers, trim the top of the long stalk, pound the root end with a… Read More →
El Taco Riendo There are a handful of spots in the Twin Cities that I can rely on for excellent Mexican food, and El Taco Riendo is one of them. Located on Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, the fast casual restaurant has a Chipotle-style ordering system where your meal is made fresh in front of… 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 →
France 44 Cheese Shop Located at 44th and France in Linden Hills, this expansive corner shop is half wine and liquor emporium, half specialty cheese, meat and sandwich shop. In the gourmet grocery, you’ll find knowledgeable staff at the cut-to-order cheese counter who can help you select the perfect amount of cream or funk for… Read More →
America the Great Cookbook I’m honored to be a part of America the Great Cookbook, a celebration of our country’s food scene with more than 100 recipes by chefs, producers and food heroes from every region of the United States. Flipping through the pages, you’ll notice that what makes America’s food American is its sheer… Read More →
Food Policy Action 2017 Scorecard Food Policy Action recently released their 2017 scorecard, revealing where members of Congress stand on important food policy issues in this country during a turbulent political climate. The 6th annual progress report shares objective information about votes taken and bills introduced by Congress on policies that affect everyone who eats,… Read More →
Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar Buying a bucket of Sweet Martha’s cookies to share with your friends is a Minnesota State Fair must, and one of those food experiences that cannot be accurately replicated at home EVEN IF their dough is available for purchase in your grocer’s freezer. Few things can beat piping hot, messy chocolate… Read More →
Bellecour My friend Gavin Kaysen’s latest project, Bellecour, is an absolute stunner. The award-winning chef’s return to the Twin Cities in 2014 to open Spoon and Stable came with unprecedented buzz—a few years later and it’s still near impossible to score prime time reservations—but the announcement of Bellecour sent diners into a frenzy, with more… Read More →
Pizzeria Lola Since it opened in 2010, Pizzeria Lola has always made it onto my top-ten list of favorite pizza joints, not only in the Twin Cities, but in the entire country. Chef Ann Kim is a perfectionist when it comes to her crust and an artist when it comes to toppings. The menu offers… Read More →
Partnering with All of Us Travel I spend close to 250 days out of every year on the road and I’m a strong believer in the transformative power of travel. Nothing challenges your perspective or opens your heart and mind to humanity like travel. We become our best selves on the road, culturally curious and acutely… Read More →
Bar La Grassa This ode to Italy isn’t your grandparent’s eye-talian eatery. With moody date-night lighting beaming from chandeliers, a steel pasta bar that provides the best seats in the house, and a broad range of shareable plates, Bar La Grassa is one of the great Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities with consistently good… Read More →
Aki’s BreadHaus In the midst of Oktoberfest season—now a worldwide trend no longer reserved for Munich—it’s only appropriate I share my favorite German bakery. In the Twin Cities, most steins of beer this month seem to be accompanied by one of Aki’s famed pretzels, and for good reason. Located in Minneapolis’ Northeast neighborhood, Aki’s BreadHaus… Read More →
How to Truss a Chicken My digital series, AZ Cooks, is all about culinary literacy. I want to give you the tips, techniques and recipes you need to become a better cook—from demystifying essential dishes from cultures around the globe to teaching basic methods for peeling, chopping and preparing everyday ingredients. Learning to truss a… Read More →
What’s the easiest way to peel fresh ginger? The best tool for prepping ginger is something I guarantee you have in your kitchen cabinet: a spoon. Because the irregular-shaped root has thin, delicate skin, a spoon can easily scrape it away without much waste. It’s also much easier to get into all of the nooks and crannies… Read More →
Black Sheep Pizza One of my favorite pizzerias in the Twin Cities, Black Sheep Pizza brings something different to the table. While I love traditional Neapolitan-style, blistery thin crust pies, Black Sheep’s coal-fired pizza—with its chewy, crisp, sturdy and slightly charred crust—has a nostalgic East Coast vibe that always hits the spot. The menu is… Read More →
What is Huitlacoche? Easy to identify from its grey kernels, huitlacoche is a fungal mold that grows on corn. Often called corn smut or Mexican truffle, it’s considered a delicacy with its uniquely sweet, earthy, funky, antique corn flavor. Use the huitlacoche to season soups, saute it with vegetables, stuff it in a quesadilla or… Read More →
112 Eatery Located a few short blocks from Target Field in downtown Minneapolis, James Beard award-winning chef Isaac Becker’s first restaurant is a favorite amongst chefs and service industry folks. That has as much to do with their steak tartare, famous 112 cheeseburger and foie gras meatballs, as it does with their night owl hours… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride Aug. 29 at 9|8c on Travel Channel The midnight ride of Paul Revere marked the beginning of a war that changed our world forever. On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I’m following in the footsteps of this great patriot, revealing layers of history and food traditions… Read More →
My Top 3 Favorite New Foods As you probably already know, I’m an evangelist for the classics. Despite my inherent bias, I still think it was one of the weakest years ever for new State Fair foods. There’s just too much gimmick—think deep fried red liquorice— too many unworthy things on a stick, too much… Read More →
Cutting Board Classic at Blue Ribbon Pines Disc Golf Course Save the date! September 30, 2017 Andrew Zimmern is taking his passion for disc golf to the greens with his first ever charity disc golf tournament. As an avid player and Celebrity Ambassador for Innova Disc Golf, Zimmern wants all Minnesotans to come out and… Read More →
Gizmo Sandwiches I would rather be at the Minnesota State Fair than anywhere else in the world. Why? The people, the food, the sense of community and tradition. Carla Wood and her Gizmo sandwich embody everything I love about the fair. The Gizmo is a ground beef and Italian sausage sandwich covered in their secret… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: Cajun Country Aug. 15 at 9|8c on Travel Channel On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I’m traversing the heart of Acadiana, an untouched bastion of American history where centuries-old traditions remain a way of life. A region of swamps, bayous and gulf coast marshes, people in Cajun country still live… Read More →
Shuang Cheng Everyone knows a Chinese restaurant like this one, armed with an enormous 400-item menu that mostly caters to a Westerner’s palate. And while Shuang Cheng offers a dizzying variety of dishes, it defies the stereotype that quantity does not equal quality. I usually skip straight to the seafood page of the menu. If… Read More →
Tune in for Bizarre Foods: The Magnificent Mississippi River Aug. 8 at 9|8c on Travel Channel On this episode of Bizarre Foods, I had the pleasure of traveling from Memphis to Natchez by boat, and got a real taste of life on the Mississippi. This majestic river is a refuge for a slower-paced, nature-based way of… Read More →
