Fresh Tart

I just returned last night from a weekend of eating my way through New York. While we had a killer time eating very special things, I thought on several occasions...I eat better than this in Minneapolis. What?! But yes! I've been thinking this on the last few trips I've taken, especially pork dishes, which I declare: Minneapolis has conquered. If you're a regular at Butcher & the Boar, Corner Table, The Craftsman, Piccolo, Heartland, The Bachelor Farmer, Haute Dish - plus many, many other spots in town (name them below, please) - you are eating better pork than New Yorkers.

Yeah, I just said that.

In fact, the way my week played out last week now seems supernaturally designed to illustrate just this point. I was invited to the staff meal prepared by Doug Flicker of Piccolo Restaurant, to promote his inclusion in a new cookbook, Come In, We're Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World's Best Restaurants. Co-authors Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy spend two years traveling the world, enjoying staff meals (the meal served to restaurant staff before service) in 25 iconic restaurants. Any jealousy I felt about the authors terrific idea was wiped away by chatting at the dinner with Eddy, who is lovely and a bit in awe herself at what she and Carroll experienced and achieved.

Flicker's staff meal was a buffet of rib-stickin' Southern love, with piles of pulled pork, collard greens, red beans & rice, coleslaw, and cornbread. I meant to eat lightly, taste things, then go home to cook dinner for my family. Uh no. I saw the spread, squealed, and proceeded to pile my plate high, trying to take pictures while balancing the bounty, and tucked into some of the best pulled pork this pork lover has ever had. And collard greens! I confess that I also have a soft spot for collard greens, but these were such a treat. Even though the collards recipe is not included in the book, the recipes for Cast-Iron Cornbread with Maple-Bacon Butter, Celery Root and Almond Slaw, Mr. Pickle's Pulled Pork with Johnny Two Socks' BBQ Sauce, and Slow-Cooked Red Beans with Ham Hocks are included. Eddy generously shared the recipe for the collard greens, so armed with this, and the book, I have my next dinner party already planned.

A few days after the Piccolo staff meal, I sat my Minnesota self down at Red Rooster Harlem, the highly-acclaimed fusion-soul food restaurant of Aquavit chef Marcus Samuelsson. Back in the day, when Aquavit still graced Minneapolis, it was one of my favorite restaurants. I was seriously excited to eat my way through the menu at Red Rooster, but our meal was...not good. I'm not the only one who thought so - we were a group of 8 disappointed diners - but I knew that I was very much comparing my meal to the staff meal at Piccolo, wishing I were back enjoying that meal...

So hey. I love you NYC, and I'll be back soon to eat and be inspired and come back with a million ideas. In the mean time, I'll be eating just beautifully in Minneapolis, thank you.

Recipe for Linh Ho's Collard Greens, via Chef Doug Flicker of Piccolo Restaurant, at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Andrew Zimmern wrote a great piece on his Chow & Again blog this week about one of my favorite chefs, Doug Flicker. I don't actually know him (Stacey used to work for him), but Doug used to run lovely Auriga (now closed, sniff) and the food I had there...it blew me away. His was the first truly creative, insanely fresh foodie-food I tasted in Minneapolis, and I will never forget it. Plus, Auriga is where I had my first (blind) date with John, so it forever has a special place in my heart. As much as I love on Lucia's, we'd go to Auriga for our pre-SATC movie date today if it were still there. The rave on AZ's blog is that Doug is leaving Mission American (his post-Auriga gig) - can't wait to see where he lands.

And oh, while I'm mentioning AZ, if you haven't seen Bizarre Foods - Russia yet, you should. We watched it last night and it is spectacular. The scenery is breathtaking (St. Petersburg, wow) and the food is gorgeous - I irritatingly fell asleep with my mouth watering and stomach growling (we watched at bedtime). The killer is a scene where Andrew is downing the freshest of the fresh Russian caviars, with warm blini (basically crepes), rich Russian sour cream, and hard-cooked egg... Lord, help me. I can't believe I didn't dream about caviar - although I'm thinking about it plenty this morning, obviously. Which is too bad, because there is none on the horizon (the pic, above, is from this past Christmas). Shucks.

OK! In other reality-based, non-caviar musings, check out this slideshow on the eight foods you should be eating every day. Not too difficult when you think about it - spinach salad with carrots... Quick black bean soup garnished with tomatoes... Yogurt with toasted oatmeal, walnuts, and blueberries... A little inspiration for healthy, colorful, delicious eating over the weekend. Enjoy yours!

Moderate it: you know the cool things about a diet that includes the eight foods above? It pretty much moderates itself. Thank you, vegetables...