My latest for the Star Tribune: a 1-star review of Hendrix & Siena in Hopkins, a modern Italian restaurant with a split personality. The pasta is impressive, inventive, and fun, but the pizza needs work. Photos and video by @reneejonesschneider ; the photos of the pizza are from my visits.
Bellecour, Gavin Kaysen’s casual but chic neighborhood bistro in Minneapolis, pays homage to the classics. Everything is so precise, luxe, occasionally hedonistic, and so very French that you’ll walk out the door floating. Featuring stunning photos by @leilanavidi , my @startribune review is up now, go get it.
My latest for the Star Tribune is a two-star review of Animales Barbeque Co., the Twin Cities’ most ambitious barbecue restaurant. Founder Jon Wipfli opened the sprawling 12,500-square-foot brick and mortar location of Animales back in October with a pair of enormous, hot pink MM2000 rotisserie-style smokers. He calls the style “Midwest barbecue.”
This place has got everything: superb sandwiches (they bake their own bread), some outstanding barbecue (especially that pastrami beef rib), live music (with effective soundproofing), and even a huge kids play space.
Photos by @jeffersonwheeler , @leilanavidi , and me. Videos by @abbyisntcrabby . More in my bio.
NEW, from me: A deep dive on cream cheese wontons, which are a uniquely Minnesotan phenomenon. It’s a winding road, from Trader Vic’s with crab rangoon in the 1940s, to the local chain Leeann Chin that dropped the crab in the 1980s, to Asian restaurants all over the state adopting it as their own.
Cream cheese wontons have since become part of the Minnesota culinary lexicon, with all sorts of fun riffs popping up, like Wok in the Park’s ever-changing puffs, Wrecktangle’s stoner renditions, Ann Ahmed’s nostalgia plays, Minari’s haute version, and the crab rangoon danish at Diane’s Place.
Eric Pham of Khue’s Kitchen explained it well: “Don’t think about it as a Vietnamese dish. Don’t think about it as a Chinese dish. It’s an American dish. It’s a Minnesotan dish.”
My latest for the Star Tribune is a two-star review of Mothership Pizza Paradise in Minneapolis, where ’90s jams, housemade mozzarella sticks, retro plastic red cups, wood-fired pizzas, and intricate cocktails all come together to make pizza night an event. It’s loud, it’s saucy, it’s boisterous, and it’s full of heart. 🍕🍷🍝 Photos by @leilanavidi + videos by @abbyisntcrabby ! Link in bio.
Quick trip to Philadelphia for @thechefassembly !! Got to hit up @philapans and Rachel’s electrifying new southeast Asian crudo and oyster bar @saophilly (those spicy crab gravy noodles are all I want in this world). I finally got to meet the sandwiches at @middlechildphiladelphia and the pizza at @pizzeriabeddiaphilly ; had a delightful picon-biere at @superettephl (not something you see too often in the states) and some brilliant fried artichokes at @emiliaphilly . And then there was @bombbombbar in South Philly, an outstanding revival of an Italian American institution: big fan of the pepperoncini vesper and the lobster and shells. What a vibe. Thanks @mjtraud for the hospitality and the recs! Philly’s the best.
My latest review for the Star Tribune is of Minari in Minneapolis, with a menu rooted in modern Korean cooking that bounces between cultures and techniques. So there’s everything from KBBQ to riffs on kimbap, from Chinese-inspired dim sum to mashup pastas like a gochujang vodka rigatoni. It’s ambitious and crowd-pleasing, but most of all, it’s genuinely fun. 🔥🍖🇰🇷 photos by @carlosgphoto / video by @abbyisntcrabby
My latest review is of @hyacinth.restaurant , a tremendous neighborhood Italian restaurant in St. Paul from @chef_abraham_gessesse , who is quietly and slowly tweaking regional Italian dishes. He’s basically spent the last eight years perfecting the cacio e pepe recipe; he has a lot of thoughts about cheese. With an astonishingly great list of obscure, rare, and fun Italian wines, this is the sort of restaurant I’d eat at all the time if I could. You should too. 🍝🍷🇮🇹 Video by @abbyisntcrabby and photos by @reneejonesschneider
Ever wondered what critics are really thinking?
Jamila Robinson sits down with Bill Addison, Raphael Brion, Joshua David Stein, Lyndsay Green, and Elazar Sontag for A Conversation with the Critics—a candid look at what shapes a review and how criticism is evolving today.
Link in bio for the full lineup & tickets.
Over at the @startribune we’ve been covering the devastating impact of the ongoing ICE surge in Minnesota. It turns out that a federal immigration enforcement operation isn’t great for small businesses? Restaurants of all kinds are reporting some pretty distressing numbers, with some saying that business is down 50%. But going out, if you can, is a sign of support, and in a lot of ways, a form of resistance by way of economic solidarity. Finding joy, art, connection, and community can be powerful acts in some deeply unsettling times.
Might I propose a restaurant like St. Pierre Steak & Seafood from the veteran chef Isaac Becker, the subject of my latest three-star review. At @stpierrerestaurant , Becker is reviving fan favorites from some of his previous restaurants, but then he’s coming up with a whole bunch of new, innovative dishes. Of course the steaks and seafood are brilliant here, and there are also incredible cocktails (get the Afternoon Dill-Light martini, but the NA options are pretty great, too). Do make sure to order the brioche doughnut with a crème brûlée shell, torched to order.
Every Friday @startribune Taste team shares our best bites from the metro area. But everybody knows, nothing is normal in #Minneapolis right now. After watching in horror the images of what happened here last Saturday - on this familiar, restaurant-dense street, we made the collective decision to spend two days immersed in the restaurants surrounding the ongoing vigil for Alex Pretti. We’ll share more about in depth about that experience soon, but for now? It’s called #EatStreet for a reason. While people mourn, others show up for work with their own grief and pour love into the food they make and people they serve. We have 12 Best Things this week and it could easily have been 50. Anyone who knows this place, has a favorite can’t-miss order. Link is in my stories. 💜 😋
🍽️ 🌮 For many Minnesotans, restaurants are a bright spot — places of routine, connection and care amid a broader uncertainty. That sense of normalcy is now under strain as the effects of the federal ICE surge ripple through businesses statewide, hitting the restaurant industry especially hard.
As restaurants step up for the community by running food drives, hosting fundraisers and donating profits, behind the scenes many are struggling to stay afloat. The atmosphere feels eerily similar to the early days of the pandemic: unpredictable, chaotic and financially perilous.
Several recent dining attempts have revealed a growing number of temporarily closed restaurants. Mercados and Hmong marketplaces are nearly empty; most of the Somali-owned shops in Karmel Mall are dark; close to 80% of immigrant-owned businesses along key corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul have temporarily closed in the past week.
Make no mistake: this is an extinction-level event. Restaurant profit margins are razor thin even in the best of times, and January is traditionally one of the slowest months. Add harsh winter weather, widespread economic anxiety that’s keeping diners at home, and fear among both workers and the dining public around ICE activity, and the result is a perfect storm — one that threatens the viability of restaurants across the state.
📝 + 📸: @raphael_brion /The Minnesota Star Tribune
