Crave

For the life of me I cannot upload the photo taken of my bento box, which is especially tragic for a bento box since a portion of a bento box's charm is in the compartmentalization and presentation of its various components.  One of these days, said photo will appear, but for now this post will be photo-less.

This was not my first time at a Crave as I've frequented the Galleria and West End locations on numerous occasions.  I've largely been a happy hour Crave-r as they really do have some stellar drink and appetizer specials and they happen to be an easy drive between work and home.

This time around, however, I was at the downtown location for their 45 minute power lunch menu. I won the meal (for two) in a contest and while I don't imagine I'll be lunching often downtown, I'm not one to turn down "free" when it's offered.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many options were provided on the power lunch menu.  I was expecting a small selection, maybe 3-4 dishes, but I believe there were 8-10 possibilities.  And, in a testament to the offerings themselves, my friend and I both had trouble deciding which dish to select. I went with the bento box as I'm a sucker for sushi and the friend went with andouille sausage and shrimp linguine, so that pairing alone tells you something about the breadth of options.

I've always enjoyed Crave's sushi and this lunchtime selection was no disappointment.  The rolls provided were simple, which was fine, but I'd be interested to see something a tad more exciting (yellowtail is yummy but is it really something anyone craves?) in future bento boxes.  The tempura vegetables, too, though flavorful, were rather cold.  Tempura doesn't need to be hot, but it shouldn't be cold.  The rolls themselves were prettily arranged and the amount of food was very reasonable for a $10 lunch.

My friend's dish was a bit more impressive to me.  The shrimp were huge, which is always something I'm impressed with up here.  Having moved to Minneapolis from the Gulf, I'm routinely shocked by what passes for "large" shrimp in these parts. But the critters in the linguine were hefty, delicious, and hearty and though the pasta wasn't near as spicy as any self-respecting andouille-lover would ingest, the flavors were spot-on.

Lunch can be a rather dismal affair when you're pressed for time.  But we really were in and out in 45 minutes and probably could have been out sooner if we hadn't taken so long to choose our respective dishes.  So there's no doubt in my mind that with less than an hour to spare, you can't do much better than Crave's power lunch menu.

French Meadow (airport)

I live near the Uptown French Meadow location so I'm well-acquainted with the perfection of its omelets, orange juice, and various sandwiches and pasta dishes. But given my need to kill a lunch hour at the airport, I'm especially grateful for the airport location today.

I will say, the service can be a bit lethargic, which is not a good quality in any restaurant but is especially ill-suited for an airport cafe. Luckily, my gate was nearby.

And, lethargic or no, the fish tacos were far yummier and healthier than my second choice (Snickers bar and a Diet Coke).

City of Lakes 25K

I run a fair number of races in town, mostly half-marathons.  And while I don't plan on saying much on this blog about my training, etc., I do feel like this would be a good place to review some of my experiences at various area races.

First off, you really couldn't ask for a prettier urban race.  Two figure eights around Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, on a day as sunshiney and autumnal-feeling as today, made for a pretty perfect experience.  The roads around Harriet can be a bit potholey, as proved by my stumble around mile 7, and a chunk of the route around Calhoun is run on concrete, quite possibly the most annoying surface to run on, but these were both minor aggravations. They probably don't even rise to the level of being aggravations, just less-than-perfect.

Another thing I really loved about this race was the swag.  I need another race shirt like I need another pair of black heels (I have roughly 6 pairs of black heels).  So I'm pretty stoked by the pint glass and key chain alternative.  These are two things I will actually use, instead of a race shirt that will likely 1) fit funny and/or 2) be ugly.

The MDRA always does a great job organizing their races, so I should probably get crackin' and become a member instead of paying full price for most of the races they host. And this experience may have been the one to push me into membership territory. Great organizers, great volunteers, and a route that proves, once again, that Minneapolis is a fantastic place to be a runner.

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Bricks Neapolitan Pizza

After our jaunt to Stillwater we crossed the river and drove a few miles south to Hudson, as I'd heard good things about Bricks Neapolitan Pizza and I require a substantial dose of pizza the night before races.  So while I usually stick to my traditional Pizza Luce Ruby Rae, I decided to test the superstition attached to that pie and try my hand at another pizza joint.  As I'm writing this review post-race, still alive and happy with my performance, I'm pretty sure the pizza tradition has legs but the locale, perhaps, is less important.  As long as it's good...

And if "good" is a requisite for pre-race carb-loading, Bricks more than delivers because the pizza is fantastic.  We got there before 6 so we each received a free small salad with our pizzas and while I didn't take a picture of the gorgonzola salad, I can assure you that I pretty much licked that bowl clean. Delicious. The roasted garlic honey dressing was wonderful paired with that distinctive gorgonzola flavor.  I'll be trying out that combo (honey+garlic+gorgonzola) in recipes soon, I can feel it.

But the pizza is the real attraction.  I ordered the Bella (pictured), which had asparagus, parmesan, red onion, and pine nuts on top of the classic San Marzano and mozzarella-topped crust.  A great Neapolitan pizza has a light, flavorful crust with a touch of char on the bottom, small pockets of air where the outer edge meets the cheese, and a bit of restraint as far as cheese goes.  Bricks does this masterfully. The tomato-to-cheese ratio was perfect, allowing the special toppings to shine individually without being lost in a sea of ooze. I especially liked the surprise crunch of the pine nuts. I need more pine nuts in my life.

My boyfriend ordered the Salame (we were informed that "the boys" love this one, so clearly it's the tough guy, macho pizza), which had pepperocinis, basil, goat cheese, salami, and garlic.  It had a hint of a kick, but we're crushed red pepper people so a kick is always welcome. The Salame was a bit too salty for me, but as I'm not one of "the boys" perhaps it's fitting that I prefer my pine nut perfection. The boyfriend polished this off happily so clearly it was a winner in his book.

Bricks is a hike from Minneapolis, but on a sunny, autumn afternoon, when the days just kind of seem  created for the purpose of leisurely drives, Hudson should be on your list.  This place is worth the gas money, I promise.

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Stillwater Olive Oil Company

I toyed with the idea of keeping this blog specific to Minneapolis and St. Paul and their immediate suburbs, Stillwater being a bit of a stretch.  But it's my blog so I can break (or rewrite) my own rules whenever I like.  And I just love these olive oils and vinegars too much to not sing their praises.

I love to cook.  Along with this little blog I also keep a pretty active food blog, Edible Avocation, and my Stillwater Olive Oil favorites are called upon frequently to make my good recipes even better. I used up the last of my Herbs de Provence olive oil on Thursday (is it sad that I can pinpoint the moment I used up the last drop?) so I knew a trip to Stillwater had to be in the cards for the weekend. The shop also has locations in White Bear Lake and Rochester, neither of which I've frequented, and while White Bear Lake would be a smidge closer for me, I prefer wandering the streets of downtown Stillwater after gorging on (ahem, I mean, "testing") a couple dozen oils/vinegars.

My picks this weekend were two favorites, Herbs de Provence olive oil and Juniper Berry vinegar, and two new-to-me flavors, Red Apple vinegar and Sicilian Lemon white vinegar.  I've still got a healthy stash of the Harissa olive oil, which adds an awesome spice to absolutely anything and reminds me fondly of the Harissa flavors of my Moroccan life.

And while I highly recommend stocking your own kitchen with an exciting array of these goodies, I also cannot stress enough how awesome a gift these make.  They have a wonderful sample size and you can mix and match flavors to suit anybody's taste.  I've used the sample gift for birthdays and housewarmings several times.

Note: Don't store your oils by a window.  I only did that for picture purposes.

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Taste of Greece Festival

I'm a sucker for any kind of festival.  You could pick any food/activity/nationality and throw in the word, "festival," and I would be gung-ho for the experience, regardless of any genuine interest (or lack thereof) in the subject.

Give me a festival involving copious amounts of delicious Greek food, however, and I will turn cartwheels of joy (figuratively speaking).

The Greek festival is hosted by St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, a locale that I have run by a million times while on jaunts around Lake Calhoun but never ventured near.  On Irving between 34th and 35th Street, you could probably find it my aroma alone this weekend, with the distinctively delicious smells of gyro meat and feta and hot pita bread wafting around every corner.

Like any summertime festival (especially when the weather is this gorgeous), it's crowded and the line to order food is lengthy.  But the enthusiasm of the volunteers and the occasional, "opa!" forgive a lot of that wait time.  Part of the wait is due to the need to stand in separate lines to purchase food/wine tickets and the food itself.  I'm not a huge fan of the buy-food-tickets-and-then-buy-food concept, but I won't whine too much when the result is a happy one. Because the food really is delicious.  My mom and I split the chicken dinner and a large salad and then splurged on three desserts to share.  As we'd completed the Taste of Greece 5K minutes before, we figured we were entitled to a substantial amount of compensatory calories.  

And while the food was definitely the best part of the evening, there was also a great deal of other activities lined up to enjoy.  Live music, traditional Greek dress with explanations, a marketplace of pretty baubles and "Greek Girls Rock" tshirts, and wine tasting in the evening.

The festival runs all weekend and I can't think of a better way to enjoy the sunshine than with a big, fat gyro and a Mythos beer in hand.

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Minnesota State Fair Food Round 2

Round two picked up where round one left off, with the successful acquisition of a corndog. This corndog, however, was actually a beef and wild rice corndog, which was a yummy Minnesotan homage to the classic.

A few hours in, the corndog was no longer satisfying, so I tried a steak kabob from the Minnekabob stand. I don't know what they marinate their steak in but I want to buy a tub of it.

I polished off the night by providing emotional and practical support for Molly's purchase of a deep fried Minneapple pie. Paired with cinnamon ice cream, it was a perfect finale. Nothing exciting about this one, but why does a classic comfort food have to be exciting? Sometimes, just-what-I-expected trumps the renegade recipe. And a warm, flaky apple pie tops a deep fried Snickers any day.