Jeremy Iggers's blog

The little deli hidden inside the United Noodles grocery store in the Seward neighborhood has reopened with a new name - Unideli - and an expanded menu that now includes sushi and other Japanese specialties.

Unlike many of the new sushi restaurants popping up around the Twin Cities, the Unideli's sushi chef is actually a native of Japan. Kosuke Zaworski (he has his adoptive father's family name) was a sushi chef at Saji-ya in St. Paul for 12 years. His mother, Shigeko Zaworski worked with Ryeko Weston, founder of the Twin Cities first Japanese restaurant, Fuji-ya, back in the 70s.

Fine dining wasn't on the menu, or in the budget when I went to France earlier this month. Just a chance to catch up with old friends, and spend some time with my son, who lives in Vienna. Micha and I stayed with friends, walked a lot, talked a lot, bought baguettes at the boulangerie and sausages and cheeses at the local market. Sometimes our friends cooked for us, and one night Micha made his special chile con carne.

I have been on a bit of a Korean eating binge lately.

Three sure signs that you are getting older - restaurant critic's edition:

1. (This one doesn't just apply to restaurant critics.): You don't go out to hear music much any more. Too tired. Past your bedtime. You listen to MPR a lot.

2. You get cranky about the noise level in restaurants. 

3. I forget. 

I was starting to feel a bit grumpy about the bill at Pizzeria Lola: nearly $80 for two, including tax and tip — with only one glass of wine between the two of us. If we had had a couple of drinks apiece, we could have pushed the bill all the way into triple digits, which seems rather outrageous for a neighborhood pizza joint with bare tables and a poured concrete floor.