Lutong Mekeni: Filipino cuisine comes to St. Paul’s University Avenue

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You can view the menu before you visit Lutong Mekeni, the new Filipino storefront at 789 University Avenue West in St. Paul, by first checking out the restaurant’s Facebook page, but unless you speak Tagalog, it probably won’t do you a lot of good.Here’s what was on offer last Saturday: MenudoLechon KawaliBicol ExpressAdoboLongganisa DinuguanBistek Inihaw na BangusLaingPancit MalabonPan de CocoEnsaymadaTortaHopiang BaboySumanPutoKutsintaI was able to find translations for most of the names of dishes on the Internet, but another message on the Lutong Mekeni Facebook page stumped me: “Lahat ng pagod at sakit ng katawan pansamantalang nawawala sa tuwing nakikita ko ang masarap at ganado nilang pagkain.” I fed this through an online Tagalog-to-English translation site, with this result: “All fatigue and body aches temporarily disappear every time I see the delicious food they herd.”How can you resist that? Some of the names might sound familiar, but Filipino menudo, a pork stew with tomatoes, potatoes and onions, is nothing like its Mexican counterpart, a spicy tripe soup best known as a hangover cure. And the Filipino version of adobo, meat slow-cooked in soy sauce, garlic and vinegar has only a passing resemblance to its Latin American namesakes. Pancit is one of the few Filipino dishes that some foodies may be familiar with, and is usually prepared with very thin rice noodles; the pancit malabon offered at Lutong Mekeni is made with a much fatter rice noodle. Ordinarily on Saturdays, you get your choice of two entrees for $8.75, but chef-owner Jun Maniago offered me small tastes of several different dishes, and then let me choose a four-entree combo for $10.75. I am glad that he gave me a chance to sample the dinuguan, a pork blood stew, which I can only describe as a once-in-a-lifetime experience—and I intend to make sure it stays that way. Continue Reading

Frogtown’s Daily Diner dishes up meatloaf and mashed potatoes, with dignity and sobriety on the side

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I still remember the days when I used to get excited about the opening of new restaurants serving exotic dishes like pho and pad Thai. But nowadays, you can find pho and pad Thai on almost every block of St. Paul’s University Avenue, and my definition of new and exciting has shifted. What’s new and exciting these days is the Daily Diner, which opened Monday at University and Dale in Frogtown.The menu features such exotic dishes as meatloaf with mashed potatoes ($10.99); fried chicken with fries and coleslaw ($7.99-$11.99); and spaghetti and meatballs ($11.99; for those of you who aren’t familiar with this dish, the spaghetti is sort of like lo mein, and the meatballs resemble albondigas. It’s topped with a sauce made from tomatoes, which sounds strange but can be quite tasty). Continue Reading

Cranky geezer blasts decibel levels at Morrissey’s Irish Pub, Red Cow, Spill the Wine

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Am I just turning into a cranky geezer, or are restaurants getting louder? And if so, why?I have been to three new restaurants lately—Red Cow, Spill the Wine, and Morrissey’s Irish Pub—where the decibel levels were so high that they really defined the dining experience.I did have a fleeting paranoid thought that maybe the decibel levels were not accidental, but rather, designed to chase away the over-40 crowd. I remembered reading about a shopping mall in Ohio that solved the problem of loitering packs of teenagers by playing the mellow tones of Perry Como through the sound system. Maybe the rock concert noise levels were designed to have the opposite effect. This suspicion was further fueled by the menu at Spill the Wine, which is printed in black on brown paper, some of it in a small skinny font that was a challenge to read even with reading glasses and a flashlight.Or maybe I’m not paranoid. Continue Reading

Tenth Ward City Council candidates answer your questions online

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Do you have questions you want to ask the 10th Ward candidates for Minneapolis City Council?Five candidates are running this year: challengers Lisa Peterson Bender, Ken Bradley, Nate Griggs, Kendal Killian, and incumbent Meg Tuthill. The Twin Cities Daily Planet has invited all of them to participate in an online forum about the issues facing the 10th Ward, and the city of Minneapolis, where you get to ask the questions.(We did not receive a response from Nate Griggs, who is currently on active duty in Iraq. If we hear from him, his responses will be added to this article. You can read more about his candidacy on his campaign website, http://www.abetterminneapolis.com/.To get the ball rolling, we’ve asked the candidates to supply a bried bio, and answer one question: “What would be your top three priorities as a member of the Minneapolis City Council?”Read the bios that they provided, and their answers to the question, posted below in alphabetical order, and then it’s your turn. Post your questions as comments, either using Facebook or our in-house commenting system, and the candidates will give you their replies. Lisa Peterson Bender’s bio: I am running for Minneapolis City Council to provide stronger, more proactive and inclusive leadership in Ward 10. I have over a decade of experience providing innovative leadership as a transportation advocate, city planner and public health professional helping cities become more sustainable, equitable and healthy.Lisa Peterson Bender’s top priorities:In Ward 10, we need a City Councilmember who can bring our community together, who will say yes to good ideas, and who can get government working for our community. Continue Reading

Burch Steak and Pizza Bar in Minneapolis: Isaac Becker invents the un-steakhouse

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A steakhouse in Lowry Hill? Seriously?? A few short blocks from Birdhouse and the Namaste Cafe and the Wedge Co-op and Tao Natural Foods? (Okay, it’s also a few short blocks from Rudolph’s and Lee’s Liquor Lounge, but let’s not complicate this story.)The idea is so crazy that it just might work. Actually, to judge by the weekend crowds, the idea is working just fine.Who would have guessed? Continue Reading

Northeast Minneapolis taproom tour: Dangerous Man Brewing, Indeed Brewing, and 612 Brew

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I came late to the Northeast Minneapolis taproom party—so late that I almost didn’t get in. The first taproom in northeast, Indeed Brewing, opened back in August, but I didn’t get around to touring the new tasting rooms until last Friday. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things. The first stop on the planned itinerary was Dangerous Man at 1300 2nd Street N.E. The Dangerous Man website advises, “Pick up an Element Pizza, a sandwich from Maeve’s, some Anchor Fish and Chips or just bring in your leftover Chinese. We love food, we just don’t make it.”So, on our way to the brewery, we stopped at Element Wood Fire Pizza, 96 Broadway Street N.E., and picked up a namesake Element pizza—topped with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted eggplant, arugula, and basil—and a Caesar salad. The pizza was made to order while we waited, which took all of five minutes, including less than two minutes in the wood-burning oven. Continue Reading

Rincón 38: Terrific tapas in South Minneapolis

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Just when I was starting to worry that my palate had become permanently jaded, along comes Rincón 38. Hector Ruiz and Erin Ungerman’s new tapas bar at 38th and Grand in Minneapolis is one of the most exciting new restaurants I have visited in a long time.There’s a useful distinction to be made here between exciting and memorable. I’ve had a few memorable dining experiences over the past year or so at places like the Bachelor Farmer, Saffron, and Borough. But those are all places where the entrees are $20 or more, which, for us, places them in the category of special occasion restaurants. What’s exciting about Rincón 38 is that the cuisine is really outstanding, and at prices that put it—at least for us—in the “too tired to cook” category: places we might go on a weeknight just because we feel like getting out of the house.But it isn’t just, or even mainly, about the prices. I seem to have gotten bored with the entrée as a food category, chomping my way through bite after bite of a big chunk of meat or seafood with accompanying starch and vegetable. Continue Reading

Smack Shack restaurant: Same great lobster rolls, minus some of the funky charm

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I love the original Smack Shack—the food truck that parks downtown on Marquette Avenue during the warmer months and sells lobster rolls and shrimp po boys. The lobster rolls are delicious, and there is definitely a huge cool factor to a gourmet food truck. A food truck isn’t literally a shack, but it’s kind of the same idea—great food, no frills.I also loved discovering that I could have Smack Shack’s food at the 1029 Bar in Northeast Minneapolis (except for Mondays). The 1029 Bar isn’t a shack, either, but it’s the kind of funky neighborhood joint that has karaoke, pull tabs, and dozens of their customers’ autographed bras hanging from the ceiling.The lobster rolls are as good as ever, but I gotta say, I didn’t have quite as much fun at the new Smack Shack restaurant at 603 North Washington in Minneapolis’s Warehouse District. Part of it was probably my fault, for showing up on a Sunday night without a reservation. They don’t keep a waiting list, so walk-ins just have to grab the first seat in the bar area that opens up—which, in our case, was a back counter facing a low gray divider. Continue Reading

A gastronomic weekend in Pepin County, Wisconsin: Gumbo, Beulah’s potato dumplings, and upcoming attractions

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I know most folks don’t think of Pepin County, Wisconsin as a foodie hotspot—at least during the depths of winter, when the legendary Harbor View Cafe is closed—but I visited last weekend, and hit the gastronomic jackpot: the third annual Gumbo Cookoff at the Widespot Performing Arts Center in Stockholm on Saturday night, followed by Beulah’s potato dumplings at Ralph’s Bar and Mary’s Kitchen in Pepin.And it turns out I only scratched the surface.Nine cooks entered the gumbo cookoff, interpreting the classic New Orleans stew in a surprisingly wide variety of styles ranging from vegan to kosher (or semi-kosher)—i.e., no pork or shellfish. Ingredients ranged from the traditional shrimp, crab, file, okra and andouille sausage to seitan, corn and mustard greens. None of this year’s entries contained any crawfish, another traditional Cajun/Creole ingredient, though it has been featured in past competitions. Apparently, though it may be considered a delicacy in Louisiana, in western Wisconsin, crawdads are considered bait. More than 100 people bought $7 tickets, and everybody who bought a ticket got to vote. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that one of the contestants, Bruce Johnson, invited a few of his friends down from the Twin Cities and put them up overnight. Continue Reading