Best dishes countdown #20: BBQ at Q Fanatic
Rare is the Minnesota BBQ technician who can stand up and look any master of smoke, anywhere, in the eye. The people of Q Fanatic are those technicians. They have a way with ribs, leaving them rosy...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #19: Bespoke cocktails at the Alchemist
At least one third of the charm of the Alchemist is its mysterious steampunk design. Here, labyrinthine twists and turns confuse and delight like an Alice in Wonderland panorama. There are privacy...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #18: Crab toast at Burch
The very idea of fancy toast is a sitting duck for ridicule. It's toast. By its nature, toast is not meant to be fancy. Toast is for kids to lose between the couch cushions while watching Looney Tunes....
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #17: Lamb tartare at St. Genevieve
Some days you wonder if there's anything new in the world anymore. You jaded so and so. You think you've seen it all. Clearly you haven't seen the lamb tartare at St. Genevieve. When handled with...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #16: Sandwiches at Lowry Hill Meats
If you're anything short of philosophical about a sandwich, then you don't deserve to eat one. Whether it's tuna fish on white or a hubcap-sized New Orleans muffuletta from Central Grocery, there is a...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #15: Spaghetti Nero and clams at Il Foro
If there is a line separating serious, regional Italian cooking and Italian-American cooking, then the spaghetti Nero with clams sits smack upon it. This dish is a stunning example of the way the...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #14: Meat pie at Heirloom
Many dishes look too pretty to eat, but this one might be the prettiest. A pastry basket made for one is filled with shredded chicken and pork. Rather than cloying gravy that turns the basket into...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #13: Red wine-poached eggs at Spoon & Stable
How do you make breakfast new again? Like this. Red wine rarely has a place at the brunch table, unless you're nursing a hangover from too much of it the night before. Instead of the freewheeling...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown # 12: Pancakes at Nighthawks
Floppy, dense, fragrant, more cake than air — there's really no arguing about what constitutes a perfect pancake. "Plain old buttermilk" cakes at Nighthawks are anything but plain. For those with a...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #11: Beet salad at Surly Brewer's Table
The ubiquitous beet salad has been having its day for over a decade. The earthiness of the enigmatic vegetable paired with lush cheese and a textural nut is too irresistible a combo for chefs to push...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #10: Lexington pork shoulder at Revival
When you're known as the best fried chicken restaurant in the city, everything else you do can get overshadowed. And that's just a shame, because Revival also churns out some of the best BBQ around....
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #9: Belgian chocolate brownie at L'etoile du Nord
The Belgian Chocolate brownie at L'Etoile du Nord deserves a more sophisticated title. It's not fudgy, nor cakey, nor any of the other adjectives that bring brownies to mind. It's rich without being...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #8: Bologna sandwich from Saint Dinette
The beauty lies in the purity. The fried bologna sandwich at Saint Dinette is like the fresh-faced girl next door who inspires all the other ladies to nervously check their lipstick. No matter how...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #7: Ice cream from Milkjam Creamery
It's interesting that it's taken this long for an ice cream maker around here to look around and ask: "Hey: why can't we throw some tequila in this ice cream? Or this champagne? Or these Fruity...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #6: Pastrami sandwich from St. Paul Meat Shop
The delicate balance of lean to fat, smoke to spice, brine to steam are no casual things. Historic meat preservation techniques like brining and smoking may no longer crucial for survival, but like...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #5: K'ul Chocolate
Last December marked one of the biggest memorable scandals in the food world. Brooklyn chocolatiers Mast Brothers were essentially exposed as frauds. The story goes that their wildly popular...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #4: The Burger 2.0 at Il Foro
Minnesotans love burgers, to the chagrin of some of our best chefs, who put an excellent burger on the menu, then watch as diners refuse to order anything else. So popular are these burgers that chefs...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #3: Wagyu four ways at Sushi Fix
The Wagyu beef four ways at Sushi Fix embodies the spirit of this Excelsior temple of Japanese eating. Over-the-top, decadent, whimsical, and always surprising, Sushi Fix manages to toe an ambitious...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #2: Ramen at Ramen Kazama
Highly specialized cooking is a blessing and a curse for all involved. For the chef it means painstaking hours in the pursuit of perfection, allowing for no corner-cutting and no fuck-ups. For the...
View ArticleBest dishes countdown #1: "Chocolat" at Patisserie 46
How many local dishes can you point to that are undisputedly the best of their kind in America and the finest in the world? So far we know of only one. This one. You may already know that John Kraus...
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