Poutine Update, Cheap Beer and More

I stopped for Happy Hour by at Harry's Food and Cocktails, 500 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, last week, about 15 minutes after they opened for business, and found lots on the menu that I would like to try, including starters of grilled beef ribs with garlic and ginger ($11) and braised pork ribs with lentils and escarole ($10), and a soft shell crab po' boy sandwich ($16), but no poutine, the legendary Quebec delicacy of fries, cheese curds and brown gravy that chef Steven Brown had promised would be on the menu.

When I asked Brown for an explanation, he said the current menu is just a preview, while the kitchen gets up to speed. "Rest assured, the poutine will be there or I'll be a monkey's uncle. Part of the issue was getting fresh curds vs frozen so they squeak."

The opening of Jasmine 26, the new Asian eatery next door to The Bad Waitress at 26th and Nicollet, was scheduled for last Saturday, but has been postponed to next Friday, July 20. It's owned by the same family as the nearby Jasmine Deli, 2532 Nicollet Ave., so you can expect a lot of the same Vietnamese soups, noodle salads and spring rolls, plus Chinese and Thai specialties and a full bar, in a much more stylish setting.

Half a block away, at 25th and Nicollet, Yummy, which happens to be one of my favorite Chinese restaurants, now has another attraction, besides fresh (i.e., live) seafood, daily dim sum and bargain-priced Peking duck: on Monday through Thursday, bottled beer for just a buck - and that includes Tsing Tao, imported from China. And starting this month, they are open every day of the week.