Comfort Food

Yesterday morning I woke up to beautiful sunshine. The promise of gorgeous weather after a ridiculously humid & stormy Saturday made me want a delicious breakfast to go along with it. I'm not much of a breakfast eater. In fact, I usually will only eat breakfast foods when someone else prepares them. Hopefully my future husband (whomever he may be) gets that message early on, cause it'll be a rare and special event that gets me cooking breakfast foods.

Anyways, I was in the mood for something... comforting. I centered on pancakes or french toast, both of which remind me of my childhood. My mom & I made a lot of pancakes and french toast when I was a kid - both allowed me to help with the cooking, and it was something we both liked a lot. Considering I don't have the recipe that I love for pancakes in my apartment (and didn't feel like calling home to get it), I decided on french toast.

We had some leftover italian bread - soft, almost Wonderbread-like stuff. Perfect, since I grew up on white bread that never died. Unfortunately, our eggs were way past their prime and we were out of syrup. A quick run to the store fixed that (thank GOD we live a block from the grocery store), and 30 minutes later I had my french toast.

For a single (large-ish) serving of "Mom's French Toast":

2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. milk
2 T. butter (for pan)






Blend together, soak bread slices on each side until thoroughly coated in egg mixture. Cook in buttered frying pan until both sides are golden brown. Lather on butter and drown in syrup... and enjoy!



It was good, but not the same, not right. I'm fairly certain that I will never be able to make it taste the same as my mother's french toast. That makes me a little sad, that I can't reproduce the flavors I remember from my childhood. I guess that's a part of growing up, be it slightly depressing, that you can't always have things the same. Perhaps I'll just have to convince my mother to make me some (as I'm quite sure that's step one of getting anything to taste better - have someone else make it for you!).

Restaurant Week!

One of the best weeks of the year has come and gone... "Best of the Best" Restaurant Week. I'm sure there are many cities around the country that have something quite similar, but here in Minneapolis, it is quite a treat. The best restaurants in town (and by best, I mean award winning, 5 star, expensive restaurants) come up with Tasting Menus for anywhere from $10 to $30 per person for lunch or dinner.

Last year I had the privilege of dining at D'Amico Cucina (where I actually ate skate, as is bottom-feeder from the ocean skate - and liked it!), Cosmos (worth the $30 just for the atmosphere, the food was quite delicious as well), Cafe & Bar Lurcat (AH-MAY-ZING!), and somewhere else I can't think of at the moment. All of it was spectacular. We even braved a blizzard to go to D'Amico, it may have made the food taste that much better.

Here's a brief synopsis of this year's delights:

Red Stag Supperclub - One of my first forays into the Nordeast Minneapolis (why haven't I been coming to this area all along??). The room is loud with the chatter of the other patrons, which adds to the atmosphere. Our food was good. Not great, but satisfying. Good beer! A bonus: Red Stag has decent deals outside of Best of the Best week, free parking, and live music quite a few days a week.

Barrio - Another of Tim McKee's great ideas, Barrio Tequila Bar is a storefront's width on Nicollet Mall. Barrio actually provides you with a tasting menu - fresh guac & chips, tequila marinated shrimp kebabs, mahi mahi tacos. Kind of fish heavy, for a non fish eater, but I still ate all of it, and liked it. Delicious cocktails as well! I had the blackberry mojito - oddly light for a winter night, but it fit well with the food. I can't wait to get back here in the summertime when the tables take over the sidewalk and the windows are thrown wide. Something about this place tells me it will be even better in the summer.

Chambers Kitchen - I've been told by a couple of people to make my way here, and Best of the Best seemed to be the 'best' way to do it. Chambers Kitchen is located in the basement of the Chambers Hotel. We went for Sunday lunch, and enjoyed a delicious squash soup. It is kind of like eating in an art gallery, which I guess is how it's supposed to be. The bar upstairs is even better - very chic and sleek, especially later in the evening.

Vincent: A Restaurant - This was the BEST of the best, the food was just to die for. Chef Vincent Francoual is a true artist. I had Coq au Vin, which tasted exactly as you imagine it should. Hearty and comforting, with no pretense or too much flair. There isn't anything wrong with a little flair when you're eating at award winning restaurants, but sometimes an honest dish is exactly what you're looking for. We saw Vincent out and about in the restaurant during our meal, greeting patrons, without any stress on his face. He loves to cook, loves his restaurant, and loves pleasing people with food, and it shows. Go there. NOW. I can't wait to get back.


I wish I had all of the money in the world to get out to all of the restaurants I would like to go to, but sometimes you just need a week devoted to food to encourage you to really get there (the prices can't be beat, either!). I'm looking forward to next year already!

Wayzata Eatery

The other day I had the great pleasure of dining at Wayzata Eatery for lunch with a coworker. Having grown up in Wayzata, I've seen quite a few businesses come and go from this location, and was curious about what the latest venture might be. I'm glad to report that the food was magnificent, the service attentive and friendly, and the atmosphere very "Wayzatan".

First, the food. I had the Half and Half, with the Reuben sandwich and the soup of the day; a Cream of Portobello Mushroom. The Reuben was a bit on the greasy side, but I believe it was only because of the way the bread was toasted. I haven't had many Reuben sandwiches in my life (it has become a craving only in the past few years), but this was very good. The true star of the day was the soup, with a great full-bodied portobello taste and a hint of bacon to round out the flavor. I could, perhaps, have eaten just the soup for lunch; but when eating somewhere new I do enjoy trying more than one thing. My lunch companion also enjoyed the soup and a Chop-Chop Salad, which looked very nice.

Our waitress was friendly and informative, I almost felt as if I was dining in her own home from the way she spoke about the food. Very much to the point but still descriptive enough to get me interested, which I like. While some foods do indeed deserve an introduction, most do not and I feel quite non-plussed at restaurants that do such things for simple plates. For dining during the lunch hour, I was impressed by the timeliness of our service (even with our non-complicated choices); it shows that the staff is aware that not every patron has hours to spare.

The atmosphere, I've decided, is very much "Wayzatan". There are old maps and pictures of Wayzata's crown jewel, Lake Minnetonka, hung on the walls. The tables are small and cozy, fitting for the space that was once an artisan bread shop. I was impressed that the space beared no resemblence of its prior incarnations, as so many restaurants often do. The spacing of the tables and the high-backed booths offers the intimacy one might need for date night or a power lunch; while the openness of the room allows for the symphony of conversations and laughter one would expect during Sunday brunch. The beautiful woven rugs and dark wood tones offer the feeling that you are in someone's dining room, rather than a bustling up-and-coming restaurant.

It's no wonder why this little restaurant has received some rave reviews from the Star Trib, Minnesota Monthly, and City Pages. I will certainly be returning!

Well, howdy.

My goal for this blog is to write a bit about my experiences with food - cooking, eating, restaurants, etc. Maybe a bit about bars/nightlife and weird Minneapolis stuff too. I'll post when I find a new recipe that I really like or don't like, and my tips and tricks. Sounds like fun to me! Hope you enjoy!