All About Food

RUGSAN CUISINE: AFRICAN RESTAURANT

April 13th, 2016

By Payton Berger

Rugsan Cuisine is in a strip mall at 2424 13th Ave S. The exterior and interior are both simple and hint at the presence of simple, well-cooked food.

What isn’t simple is the embracing and delicious smell of food and spices. There were a few people working behind the counter and it was busy, even some time later than traditional lunchtime.

The menu is brief and easy to decipher. The dishes in the lunch and dinner section are goat meat, chicken stew, fried chicken drum,…

SAZERAC ALLEY: A TASTE OF THE BIG EASY

April 8th, 2016

There is one commodity in the South that there is no shortage of and that is hospitality. It is syrupy sweet and just oozes out of people with sincerity and grace. Pair that up with some soulful food and you’ve got a taste of how they roll in the Big Easy or anywhere else in the south.

The jewel of the Third Coast, New Orleans, is a cultural melting pot with one common element- food. It’s not all about the food, there is the music but it is the passion for food that fuels not only…

URBAN GREENS

April 6th, 2016

I got a chance to sit down with Paul P. “Pete” Nielson to talk about his business, Dirt Head Farms, urban farming, his crowdsourcing campaign, and next steps.

Nielson just launched a GoFundMe campaign to purchase start-up equipment to expand the business beyond micro greens. Money raised will be used to purchase a tiller, tarps, a flame weeder, and other items needed for farming. These items are crucial for starting the urban farm. Nielson says that eventually the building of a…

Springing Forth

March 31st, 2016

Spring is probably my favorite time of year as winter melts away revealing the rich sodden soil and its heady aroma. A time to shed the gloomy grey of late winter for the potential of the spring bloom. Time to source two of my favorite spring treats; ramps and morels. You would be hard pressed to find either in your local grocery. Foragers who guard their secret places might share their finds, but at a cost as ramps can go for $20.00 a pound and upward. Morels, well that is an entirely…

Trending in America: Food halls

March 24th, 2016

If you travel to the big cities in America today you will come across the hottest food to trend to hit the restaurant scene since the food truck explosion of the nineties. We’ve all visited food courts at our local mall but the new trend of high end food halls is sweeping the country.

Imagine dropping into a food hall where there are booths staffed and run by the likes of Mario Batali, Marc Forgione and other hot chefs, either new on the scene or well established. This could the future…

BernBaum’s:A taste of the traditional.

March 24th, 2016

There is something special about neighborhoods that continuously offer surprises in the most unassuming places. From the outside it doesn’t seem to be much of a restaurant at all. The sign is printed on sheets of paper. BernBaum’s is tucked inside of the vintage and retro furniture store MIDMODMADHAUS at 115 Roberts Street N. Both look like they might have been plucked from a neighborhood in NYC.

The location is in a place, that coowner Brett Bernath calls NoRo (North Roberts),…

Loafing around

March 16th, 2016

Loafing around

Empire Tavern’s third annual meatloaf cook-off

By Brittney Goodman

When I told my friends I was writing an article about a meatloaf cook-off, almost everyone had an opinion. One friend: “It’s all about the seasoning. Bland meatloaf sucks. Kick it up a notch.” Another: “I love meatloaf, cold, the next day, in a sandwich with some hot sauce.” Another: “I hope someone sings ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light.’” Oops, wrong meatloaf. For the third year,…

Beer and Bacon Dinner at Luna

February 27th, 2016

Five courses of bacon paired with five craft beers. When I was asked to cover this dinner I asked myself as a chef, “What would I make if I was cooking it?” It’s a normal reaction for chefs. When we watch shows like “Top Chef” and “Chopped” we wonder what we would do. Knowing that chef Ryan Nitschke of Luna was putting this together made complete sense.

Nitschke is the consummate modern American chef right down to the tats, love for everything pig and hand-crafted local…

Ding, dong, dinner is here

February 18th, 2016

A few weeks ago as the northeast braced for what would be a historic winter storm, news outlets positioned teams around the area at various locations to capture every possible public nuance and one provided me a great laugh. The team covering New York City located themselves outside of a Whole Foods Market in Manhattan. Now anyone who has shopped at Whole Foods knows it is not only a great store and a great company but consequently not cheap. But you do get what you pay for without a…

Valentine’s Day: Make it special

February 11th, 2016

With the special day for romance just a few days away, are you stressing about what to do for that special person in your life? Can’t afford a diamond? Flowers always work but are so predictable. An expensive dinner at a restaurant? Well that’s just a waste of money and frankly not romantic at all. Anybody can make a reservation.

So do something really special for your lover, something intimate, make dinner yourself.

That probably struck a bolt of fear in your romantic heart. But…