We went to Cheeky Monkey in St Paul and it was good.

I liked the interior and would definately check it our again.

I liked the fresh cut potato chips and the homemade pickles.

 Kurt had a gumbo that he really liked that had the perfectly brown roux that you look for in a good gumbo.

I had a pot roast sandwich with horseradish sauce that was good tasting I just wish someone had looked at the meat on my sandwich more closely - I got a giant hunk of grissly meat so I had to pick around the clumps on fat - not what I wanted in a sandwich - the chef should have pulled the meat.

  Good Flavor though and I will try it again.

They have a great tart idea. They use a tart pan and make the crust but then they topped it with a pie crust so you got lots of crust. I LOVED this idea. Here is their version

Kurt and I then tried this same technique up north with a blueberry pie. We picked all the bluberries and honestly - this pie/tart will be a highlight of our summer! WE probably should have vented ours better so everything didnt spill over but it was awesome! YUMMY.

 Another great food night! I was invited by my friends at Surdyks to join them at a Crispin Cider dinner to benefit Second Harvest Food Shelves. The dinner was at the Happy Gnome in St Paul - did you know they have a whole private dining area upstairs? It was really a nice spot for a dinner of about 75 people. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Joe and Leslie Heron, the makers of the Cider. They are lovely folks who emigrated here from South Africa and now call Minneapolis home. It was fun to taste all the versions of their cider, Brut, Light and Classic and also to sample the new artisinal Honeycrisp Unfiltered Cider that will be on the market in a few weeks.

Here is a bit more about Joe Heron from Crispin Cider compliments of our friends at www.heavytable.com

heavytable.com/joe-heron-of-crispin-cide...

Here is what we ate:

Braeburn Apple Crepe and Cured Salmon: This was the amuse bouche with chive cream, cheese béchamel and salmon caviar. This was a really beautiful presentation but I must admit, sometimes a ball of caviar bursting its salty fishy goodness in my mouth can gross me out - sorry.

Frisee and Fennel salad with peaches, pancetta, st pete's blue cheese and a Crispin Cider vinaigrette. They served this with the light Crispin with a lemon, which was really lovely and refreshing. The salad was delicious and I just have to say, Pork is good on everything!

Achiote poached Alaskan Halibut with green curry and apple cous cous, celery root bisque and yellow curry oil. This course was divine, spicy, moist and tender and the celery root was a delicious foil for this fish - I loved the fresh dill also that was heaped on the fish.

Seared Amish Chicken Breast with roasted cipollini onions, baby carrots, broccolini, and thyme apple truffle foam. The chicken here was cooked beautifully and the sauce made with Crispin cider was lovely with the chicken. I am not impressed by foam. I know its very hard to make but I honestly cannot say I have ever had a foam on a dish that I felt enhanced the dish, it always just seems like a strange chef trick that I am not sure makes the food taste better. Sans the foam, this dish was really tasty. A brut Crispin was served with this course that was really perfect.

Cider Glazed Buffalo with fingerling potatoes, smoked pork belly, porcini mushrooms, fig brule, watercress coulis, horseradish aspic and was served with the Crispin Honeycrisp unfiltered artisinal honey flavor that they are debuting this Summer. First the Cider, this was really a perfect fit with this meal and the cider was really great, I will definitely add it to my Surdyks shopping list. The buffalo was really tasty, I have had buffalo a lot lately and its great to see it making it to so many menus as it is a really tasty, lean alternative to beef and when grown locally and grass fed the flavor is lovely. The fig brulle served alongside the meat was one of my favorite things on the plate. The figs were caramelized like a crème brulee, which made them tender but not mushy, and the sugar coating was a delicious crisp sweet bite in your mouth.

Crispin Cider Poached Apple. This was awesome with Izzys ice cream a walnut tuile cookie and cinnamon and Crispin apple caramel that they made with the cider. This dessert screamed autumn day and I loved it. Simple, sweet and lovely.

Stephanie March and I had a great time last night at the opening of Sea Change, the new seafood restaurant located in the former Cue space at the Guthrie that has been concepted by Josh Thoma and James Beard award winning chef Tim Mckee. The opening was a who's who of the local scene - I saw Alexis Walsko from the shop girls on FM1071, Jon Hansen who looked super dapper in a white linen jacket from Twin Cities Live, man about town Fox 9's Todd Walker, many of the folks from Minneapolis St Paul Magazine including Steve Marsh, David Anderson, Guthrie alum Jeffrey Hatcher, and various other notables.

The decoration in the new restaurant is really simple and nice, it's not too different from the old Cue but different enough to not make the space feel so cavernous and they have added lots of patio seating, which was really lovely. A giant raw bar with seats around it felt really welcoming, I always love to sit at a food bar and watch the chefs in action and there is plenty of room to do so here.

I must comment on the servers. All of the servers were calm, pleasant, knew tons about the food they were serving and really made the evening special. Usually at an opening, things can be chaotic and frantic, but this staff was amazing and super professional and helpful. I can't wait to go back for dinner and get this same treatment. I loved the drink that Kyle, our phenominal server offered up, it was a Sazerac made with Rye Whiskey and citrus with a sugar rim - I would never have ordered this drink without his suggesting it and I loved it - I will go back for this ****tail alone!

Here is what we ate and I am told all of these items are on the menu for diners as well:

Yellow fin Tuna - with sesame and seaweed. This was delightful; it looked like a giant ruby Jell-O jewel as the tuna was covered in sesame and seaweed and a bit of jalapeno. This was a winner.

Crispy Octopus, salsa Verde, Spanish peppers - I would have ordered this as an entree - it was amazing! The Octopus was cooked sous vide in airtight plastic bags that are held at a temperature just lower than boiling for 10 hours. The result is the most tender, tasty octopus you have ever had, it made even the best calamari I have had at any restaurant pale in comparison and the sauces were bright and really the entire bite was awesome. I loved, loved, loved this dish and pray it's on the menu.

Clam croquettes - these were tasty appetizer morsels. There was a spicy red pepper, siracha romenesco sauce napping the plate and the bite had that warm, cheesy crab burst that you get from a perfectly cooked croquette.

Roasted Beets with walnut and blue cheese. This dish had a beautiful presentation but was a bit hard to eat, as the beet was more than a mouthful. This would be perfect though as a salad and the flavors were very balanced.

Seared yellow fin tuna with spice crust, Jerusalem artichoke and citrus. This bite was really great; the artichoke puree with the blood orange citrus puree that napped the plate was a super flavorful bite. I would order this on the menu.

Bouillabaisse. This is a dish I really love with an amazing rouille that was served alongside a crouton. The flavors were classic and perfectly seasoned. Many times when you have this in a restaurant they add too much seasoning or spice, not so here, it was a CLASSIC and I had two. I would eat this for lunch or dinner any day.

Roasted chicken with cheddar, beech mushrooms, arugula and israeli cous cous - for being a seafood restaurant they had no trouble cooking an amazing chicken dish. This was a bite of perfectly seasoned thigh floating on top of a israeli cous cous and cheese dish. YUM.

Braised beef short rib with tomato, blue cheese, and black olive gnocchi. I LOVED this and want it on their regular menu. The meat was perfectly tender (also cooked sous vide) and the gnocchi just made me want more. This was second to the octopus as the best dish I ate.

Raw Oysters with cu****ber - jalepeno sorbet. I thought the oysters were really fresh and tasted good but the entire dish lacked punch and was frankly a little boring - this was my least favorite bit we ate

Chocolate caramel, black current and peanut - this was a decadent truffle that the flavor stayed in my mouth for a solid ten minutes. The only thing that could have made this fine dessert even better would have been a sprinkling of fleur de sel.

Blueberry cheesecake with citrus, yogurt and coconut. This was delicious with the candied orange zest and meringue chip garnish. Fresh, light and tasty.

.

I had the pleasure last night of hosting a dinner as part of the Chefs For Change Event at People Serving People. Chefs For Change pairs local chefs with People Serving People, a homeless shelter in downtown Minneapolis that serves families, women and children and provides them with shelter, childcare, skills training and gives them help as they get through their transition. Its hard to believe that right here in the town I grew up in and have passed through many times on the way home from a Twins Game or dinner on the twon is a shelter with 8 floors that is serving 1000 meals a day three times a day and staffed by 20,000 vounteer hours.  I invited Chef Scott Pampuch from the Corner Table Restaurant to cook for 60 of my friends and co-workers who each joined us by buying a ticket as a contribution. My friends at Surdyks donated the Wine and the ladies of FM 1071 helped my host. Cathie Hartnett, Kevin Burger, Stephanie March, Margery Punnett, Lori and Julia all were in attendance and it was truly a great night that raised lots of money for the shelter.

 Here is what Scott Prepared for the dinner:

First there was this fabulous Rose. Rose is a really great chilled Summer wine so try this for your next party as people enter the room like we did at the dinner. The Rose we had was a 2008 Mordoree Cotes du Rhone Rose (from southern France, great producer, fresh fruit and strawberry notes)

Course 1- Sockeye Salmon with a radish drizzle and salt. The brioche was from my favorite Bakery Rustica. The Salmon was like butter! The wine pairing was a 2008 Berger Gruner Veltliner Liter (dry white from Austria, part of the Terry Theise portfolio - an exclusive)

Course 2:

I almost forgot to take a picture of this because I was so excited to eat it. Arugula with Hidden Streams Farm bacon and a pea puree dressing was swirled on the bottom of the plate - it was awesome! The wine pairing was a 2006 Verget, St Veran "Terrior de Davaye" (they are a top producer in Burgundy - this is a very popular single vineyaerd Chardonnay)

Course 3:

I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of this course and it was so so good. It was duck confit with puffed fritters that were napped with a delicious sauce. I have had duck confit at the Corner Table and Scott always makes it perfect. My sister who sat next to me who had never had duck before loved it! 2001 Torre-Oria Uteil Requena Reserva was this wine pairing. Its a traditional Spansih red with cherry and rasberry notes.

Course 4:

This was really unbeliveable. The meat was brisket that was made with Bison. I have become a true Bison lover. The potatoes were roasted and fabulous, the swiss chard was local and the sauce had some briny green olives sprinkled in it and this was many peoples favorite course. WE had a fabulous big red wine wine with this course. Wine was 2007 Atteca Garnacha a strongly flavored red, fruit driven and perfect with the bison.

Course 5:

Dessert. Yum - lets just start there. The champagne was poured it was a rose from N.V Domaine Ste Michelle blanc de noir in Washington State that was to die for - lightly pink sparkling finish. Next came the chocolate terrine that was frozen and had bands of dark chocolate throughout and then, homemade strawberry ice cream on top - thank god my friend Dawn doesn't eat sweets so I got to eat her portion and mine!

Here is a photo re-cap of all the great food, the fun folks who came and the event in general - it was awesome.

gabster.fm1071.com/stephanie

It was a lovely Summer evening on Monday with warm breezes and some clouds that kept things cool. Stephanie March and I took the opportunity to eat outside at the newly remodeled exterior of one of the finest restaurants in Minneapolis, Broders Pasta bar. Broders has taken the outside of their building and virtually transformed it into an outdoor kitchen that has a completly different menu consisting entirely of Antipasto. The setting is beautiful with a wooden pergolla and a granite outdoor bar with warm wood chairs and tables. Broders has long been a Twin Cities favorite for simple, fresh Italian food and I was excited to try the antipasto bar. It was simply awesome.

We sat at the granite bar that overlooks the chefs preparing the meals and it was like having two very experienced chef's in your kitchen cooking for you. We had them reccomend dishes and we watched them assemble and cook them - it truly felt like no one else was in the restaurant but as as they made us plate after plate of gorgeous food. If you like small plates and alfresco dining, run, not walk to Broders to try some of these yummy dishes.

We started with some seasonal spanish blistered padron peppers. They look like jalapenos and 1-10 is a hot one so its a great game. These were simply tossed in olive oil and grilled and sprinkled with black salt. They were divine, fresh, peppery and Stephanie got the hot one!

Next came the dish recommended by the chef, grilled red peppers with white anchovies and pickled garlic. This was not something I would have ordered without the chefs suggestion and I loved it. The pickled garlic slices were briny and delicious, the anchovies were salty, not at all fishy and really complimented the garlic and the red pepper - it was the perfect bite!

We then shared the pea and mint salad with watercress. The peas were a day old and sprinkled lightly with oil - the salad was divine. The peas were like they were popped right from the shell into your mouth. Yum.

Bresaola, sheep cheese, watercress and Crispy Capers. This was also awesome. I would have never thought to fry a caper but I will now. They were light, crispy salty little nuggets that I craved as soon as they were all gone. The meat was salty and fabulously cured and the cheese filling was light, lemony and again - this was another super bite.

The calamari was delicious. Fresh, not fried, with sweet peppers, garlic, lemon and it all made a wonderful sauce for dipping the grilled bruschetta in.

Believe it or not, we were still wanting more at this point so the chef suggested the sausages. These were very simply prepared, split and grilled served alongside grilled grapes which I had never had and will probably try at home. They were sweet and smoky and would be great on a salad or served alongside some grilled chicken - balsamic vinegar was reduced and added as a sauce.

Onto the white bean fennel salad, arugula, parmigano and orange segments. The beans on this one were a little el dante for my taste but the falors were spot on and I would like to make this on my own. The fennel was shaved thing and added a very subtle flavor with the cheese.

Next came the cheese plate. A dry, flavorful sheeps milk sprinkled with wisconsin honey and blackberries and served alongside a fennel dusted cracker that was really unique tasting and great with the cheese.

 Lastly, we each had a dessert to share. I am CRAZY ABOUT PROFITEROLES, the french puff pastry that they stuff with ice cream - in this case caramel and layed it on a bed of chocolate sauce. This dessert rocked. I would go back for this after a walk around Lake Harriet every day.

 Olive Oil cake finished us off, literally. We finally reached full. The cake was a bit dry, the blackberries on the plate saved it but if this was the worst dish we had? Not half bad for me. I will go back to Broders and look forward to sitting outside.