The latest from Twitter: @chowgirls is planning a Valentine’s Day Dinner featuring loads of local farmers, @BlackDogStPaul is serving limited edition Lift Bridge Biscotti Ale tonight only, @SaffronMpls will reward the person who guesses how many pounds of lamb bacon are piled on their counter, and (though not from Twitter) Beez Kneez Bicycle Delivered Honey tragically lost a hive yesterday.

Perfect hot chocolate; granola; braised halibut with leeks, mushrooms, and clams; and sweet and spicy pork roast.

WACSO sketched iPho by Saigon, praise for Ted Cook’s 19th Hole, how the Summit Hill Association successfully fought off a new wine-bar equipped location of Cupcake on Grand Avenue, the Fridges of Hennepin County, a snapshot of some of the most notable ongoing restaurant delays, Lift Bridge Biscotti Ale, love for Cheeky Monkey Deli, and pull tabbin’ it at Dempsey’s Public House in Fargo.

James Norton / Heavy Table

Nineteen miles over the border into Wisconsin on Hwy 94, mere yards from the exit marked “Baldwin,” there is a Mobil station.

If you stop at this Mobil station and fill up, you may glance over and notice a sign in the window that is unlike any other sign on any other gas station (Mobil or not) between St. Paul and Chicago.

It reads: “WE SERVE AMERICAN AND EAST INDIAN FOOD IN RESTAURANT — CURRY TANDOORI SHAKES LASSI VEG SPECIALTY CHAI.”

Six months ago I noted this with interest. There is no commercial reason to be serving Indian food off the side of Highway 90 / 94, a notorious food desert. Locals won’t clamor for it. Passers-through are close enough to or from Minneapolis-St. Paul that they won’t pull over and eat a sit-down meal. The only real explanation for the sign is this: Somebody is so bloody determined to serve Indian food that they’re doing it, commercial imperatives be damned. The sign smacked of hopeless, pointless, beautiful love.

I promptly forgot that the sign and the Mobil station existed. But this week, driving back from Madison and half-mad with both curiosity and hunger, I pulled over to check it out. The assumption was that whatever quixotic impulse had led to its construction had burned out. But, no. The sign was still there.

The Mobil station’s restaurant is called Ray’s Southside, and it’s a tired-looking place. Swinging wooden shutters separate the counter from the kitchen; one shutter dangles half off of its hinges, and swings at a 45 degree angle. On a Tuesday afternoon, multiple groups of old men in overalls were eating chicken wing “wing dings” and hamburgers. One of the waitresses was aware that the Super Bowl was being played the next weekend, but couldn’t think of who was in it; the old man at the counter only knew that the Packers weren’t, so he didn’t much care.

But there on the specials board — right below “wing dings” — was the Indian special of the day, “Chicken Shahi Korma,” for $6.99.

I ordered it, and was asked if I’d like my dish mild, medium, or hot. I blurted out “mild” without thinking, and then immediately regretted my answer. Ordering a “mild” anything in a bad-to-mediocre Indian restaurant is the kiss of death, and will result in a castrated dish, devoid of flavor.

So when I put the first bite to my lips, I was braced for blast of bland. But no; the food had depth of spice, it had balance, and it even had a mild but pleasant kick of heat at the back of each bite. The dish was rich without being caked with an artless, cream-based sauce — much of the pleasure from the plate came from the full-flavored paneer, the raisins, the almonds, and the multidimensional sauce that brought all the various elements together. And when the dish hit my table, it was not barely warm, congealed from hanging out under a heat lamp, but delightfully piping hot.

Korma is often creamier and more almond-driven — this version had a tomato base, and consequently more acid than you might expect. Still: legitimately delicious. And serendipitous. (Hunger is the best sauce; serendipity is the second best best sauce, and they layer beautifully.)

I talked to my waitress about the dish and my experience. The dish, she said, was a “team effort,” put together by everyone in the kitchen. The Indian food isn’t typically available on weekends. It has been served at Ray’s Southside “for some time now.”

Clearly getting nowhere, I settled my check and tried the East Indian woman working the counter at the gas station half of the establishment. She was pleased but slightly bemused to hear that I enjoyed the food. She said that she had no idea if it was a family recipe, or, even, what exactly it was doing there. “My husband makes it,” she said, disclaiming responsibility with what may have been a faintly detectable rolling of eyes.

Next time I’ll talk my way into the kitchen and shake the hand of the chef. But he probably won’t need to hear my words, as he is clearly cooking for himself.

Ray’s Southside
American and East Indian Food in Baldwin, WI
501 US Highway 63
Baldwin, WI 54002
715.684.4729
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN: Yes / Possibly
ENTREE RANGE: $5-10

The latest from Twitter: @piccolo_mpls debuts new menu items, @PizzeriaLola informs @FreshTartSteph of a forthcoming gluten-free crust, @spclassiccookie is having a New Oven Bake Sale on Saturday, and @DearDara and @MNMOmag will be at France 44 tonight.

Maple sugar candy, orange and olive oil cake, roasted beets with skordalia, coconut waffles with chunky pineapple syrup, green smoothies, and raw corn tortilla chips.

Emily Schnobrich / Heavy Table

Ryan Taylor loves cake so much he used to make a weekly pilgrimage to Cub for a big fat personal slice. In 2011, Taylor’s enthusiasm morphed into a company called Cakedy (pronounced cake-uh-dee, a sound that mimics Taylor’s playful attitude) and a mission to create a candy bar that equals the joy of a dense piece of your favorite cake.

A Cakedy candy bar is thick and stubby and kind of charmingly misshapen here and there. Its “cake nougat” filling has a decadent, under-baked quality and a pleasant stickiness that doesn’t overwhelm the way many candy bars can with their oozing caramel and super-sweet edge. The nougat is flecked with teeny candy chips and covered in a thick candy shell.

We tasted the Peanutter and the RedHead, two of Cakedy’s three current flavors. The third is a double chocolate bar with mint candy chips called Choco Chocatus.

The Peanutter is the company’s best seller, and it’s no surprise. Its soft peanut butter cake nougat has all the allure of those childhood Little Debbie Nutty Bars without the thick, mouth-coating quality. It’s subtle and delicately sweetened by butterscotch chips and a chocolate shell.

The RedHead bar pays funky homage to the red velvet cake craze, with bright strawberry cake nougat, strawberry candy chips, and a vanilla candy shell. The combination leans more toward the cloying and artificial, but strawberry is a devil of flavor to convincingly recreate, and the bar’s moist, center-of-the-brownie texture keeps it from entering crappy candy land.

Emily Schnobrich / Heavy Table

Taylor’s sister Krystal is the woman behind the Cakedy recipes, and it was her idea to add mini candy chips to each bar’s filling. Taylor’s small but enthusiastic team did loads of consumer research (on local and national levels) before getting started, down to holding a large public tasting on Nicollet Avenue last year. “Honestly, we’re always tinkering with new things in the kitchen,” says Taylor.

The production team sources ingredients from grocery store chains and Lynn’s Cake and Candy Supplies, and right now they’re working on a caramel-based bar for release this spring. According to Taylor, a consumer flavor contest yielded 100 fancy flavor ideas, “all of which I would like to explore,” he says, “much to Krystal’s chagrin.”

Although he’s new to the Minneapolis-St. Paul food scene, Taylor’s got a big vision: “I’m very ambitious. My ultimate goal is to have Cakedy bars sold everywhere you can find a Snickers. If Snickers is in the UK, I want the Brits chowing down on RedHead. If Snickers is ‘A1′ in the vending machine, then Cakedy is ‘A2.’” After selling Cakedy at local craft markets, Taylor’s small team quickly headed for a wholesale license and began peddling candy to local retailers. Their current target market is large grocery chains, but they hope to also plant seeds in more specialized spots like Sugar Sugar.

You can buy Cakedy in bulk on the company’s website, and you can also find them on the shelves at Sentyrz Grocery in Northeast Minneapolis, as well as a smattering of convenience stores and coffee shops in the metro area. Ann Yin of Local D’Lish has recently begun test-selling Cakedy products in her shop. As a perennial proponent of the small and local food vendor, Yin says, “I want to be a resource for [Cakedy]” by encouraging them to begin using higher quality and local ingredients. She thinks “they have a fun product,” with the goofy, party-favor appeal of a cake pop, and she’d love to see them succeed as a truly local confection.

While Cakedy is reaching out to franchises in the Carolinas and Florida, Taylor feels his product will do especially well here in Minnesota. His spirited foray into candy land has opened his eyes to all that’s bursting on the local food scene: “I think [Minnesotans] enjoy new and unique food experiences, and that’s just what Cakedy delivers.”

How a woman named Sarah Kowal is working to raise money to found WeatherVane Creamery, a River Falls, WI-based “Wisconsin-only specialty shop and café featuring farmstead, artisan and specialty cheeses”; winter-grown Minnesota sprouts from Pyramid Sprouters; reviews of Baldy’s BBQ in Lakeville and Zamboni’s Pizza in St. Paul; a new WACSO sketch (hangin’ at Starbucks in Minneapolis); Rick weighs in on the controversial Rye Deli; and how to make a Wisconsin (i.e. brandy) Old Fashioned.

The latest from Twitter: @sewardcoop will host Trout Caviar author Brett Laidlaw on Saturday, @bullrunbar is tempting us with an orange-scented latte called The Dreamsicle and Raspberry Habanero Hot Chocolate, and @RickNelsonStrib scoffs at Open Table for excluding Minnesota from their list of romantic restaurants around the country.

Minneapolis makes number six on Organic Authority’s Top 9 Cities to Live Organic, R.A. MacSammy’s plans to debut their mac and cheese truck at the St. Paul Winter Carnival, Moorhead-headquartered American Crystal Sugar and its employees continue to duke it out over contracts, local baker and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day author is invited to be on the Cooking Channel, and the Well Fed Guide to Life visits a halal pizza joint on Central.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

You might think that Burger Jones, with its cusp of Uptown / Lake Calhoun / St. Louis Park location, might corner the market for burgers in this part of town, but the November opening of My Burger makes a case that there’s room for more than one burger joint near the Lake Street-Excelsior Boulevard junction. Expanding from its downtown skyway lunchtime hot spot, the newish My Burger serves up fresh burgers and crispy fries in a fast-casual atmosphere that more closely evokes Smashburger or Five Guys than Burger Jones. In fact, starting at $5.45 for a classic hamburger and fries, My Burger beats all three on price. But flavor? That depends on the burger.

My Burger offers its basic burgers ($5.45 for a single, $6.75 for a double) two ways: “original,” with ketchup, mustard, fried onions, and sweet pickles, or “California,” with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. Both feature a well-seasoned patty on the thinner side, with a crust that draws some comparisons to Smashburger, and a hefty golden bun that deftly holds in the inner layers without smushing to bits under your fingers. While it’s a satisfying patty on its own, the meat’s true purpose is to host the variety of toppings you can choose — we liked the addition of pepper jack cheese (50 cents), but you can also select blue, cheddar, American, or Swiss, as well as mushrooms, bacon, a fried egg, and various sauces.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

With patties that lean toward the bland side on their own, the non-beef burgers benefit from those toppings big time. The turkey burger ($5.95) features a forgettable round of ground turkey, but adding lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, and ketchup helps it sing. The veggie burger ($5.75) is the same Gardenburger you’ll find in the freezer case at the grocery store; it’s perfectly palatable but won’t inspire you to order it again. Breaded and fried chicken and fish burgers ($5.75) round out the menu, but your best bet is to stick with beef.

Whoever mans the fryer at My Burger gets a double thumbs-up for the tasty, surprisingly non-greasy fries and onion rings (75 cents extra to substitute for fries). The fries offer the ideal contrast between their pillowy potato center and crunchy exterior, making them the ideal carrier for ketchup or a shake. (I know I’m not the only one who likes dipping fries in shakes, right?) Though the rings could use a touch more salt, we dug the crispy batter and sweet onion interior. Definitely choose them over the coleslaw if you want to swap out your fries — the overly sweet, runny slaw dressing did little to pep up the cabbage and carrot.

If you’re grabbing your burger to go and want a frozen beverage to accompany it, you can’t go wrong with a shake or malt ($2.45 small / $4.45 / large). Available in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry with several mix-ins, the treats please with their Frosty-like texture and flavor. But if you’re dining at My Burger, skip the shake and head next door for dessert at The Yogurt Lab for a greater variety of flavors and toppings.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

With its simple yet eye-catching, orange-tinted decor, designed by local brand agency FAME, My Burger provides a level of sophistication to your burger binge that others in town can’t match, and neighborhood touches, like the wooden beams featuring the names of nearby streets and landmarks, cement the restaurant’s foothold in the Lake Calhoun area. And foodie voyeurs will enjoy the seats under the “Um Yeah” sign to watch the action in the kitchen.

The rule of thumb at My Burger: Stick to the classics and you’ll leave happy. Your wallet will be, too.

My Burger
Burgers and fries in West Calhoun

3100 Excelsior Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55416
952.500.9118
MANAGER: John Abdo
HOURS: 10:30am-10pm daily
BAR: Beer and wine
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN: Yes / No
ENTREE RANGE: $5.45-6.95

The latest from Twitter: @sweetlandorchard shares details on the Homebrewers’ Hard Cider Showcase in February, @gaigaithai will deliver Gai Isan and green curry wings on Super Bowl Sunday, @PizzaLuce plans on donating all dessert sales to the Animal Humane Society this Valentine’s Day, and the heart-shaped chocolates @goldenfig are filled with surprise roasted tomato. Gnarly.

Figgy mushroom pizza with Wisconsin blue cheese, savory cheddar chive waffles, vegetable tagine, and baked mini pumpkin doughnuts.

Readers: Win Heavy Table pint glasses

The Tap loves restaurant tips from readers, so we’re awarding a Heavy Table pint glass to the best tipster each month. The Tap is the metro area’s comprehensive restaurant buzz roundup, so if you see a new or newly shuttered restaurant, or anything that’s “coming soon,” email Tap editor Jason Walker at

December’s winner: Todd Wiese of Chaska

Turkey to Go (now open)

101 7th St S, (Roanoke Building skyway), Minneapolis | 612.655.1795 | turkeytogo.com

After more than 50 years at the State Fair (below), Turkey to Go is expanding in a big way. First came downtown Minneapolis and Target Field food trucks, then late last year a location opened in downtown St. Paul. Now, owners Drew Levin and Danny Perkins have added a permanent Minneapolis location in the Roanoke Building skyway, serving their flagship turkey sandwiches but also pitas and salads.

The menu at the Minneapolis location doesn’t stray from those three items, but the key, Levin said, was the vast array of ways to prepare each.

“As opposed to just having it on a bun at the fair or Twins game, now you’ll be able to have it on a salad or a warm pita,” Levin said. “And we’ll also have a whole line of toppings … ones that we had in the past that we’re bringing back are brie and cranberries, others are diced salami, mozzarella cheese, jalapenos. We have those little potato-skin chips, they go really well and add a crunch.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

“And there’s a whole list of 15 different sauces from standard stuff to cranberry sauce, a whole line of dressings for the salads, and a homemade cucumber sauce which is phenomenal. It’s just basically adding new ways of enjoying our turkey.”

Levin said it was fun developing the fast-casual stores because, with general manager Tim Malloy, the Turkey to Go guys were able to experiment with all sorts of foods and flavors. Levin is especially proud of the salads, which he said are delicious even without turkey. That’s one of the almost funny things about the new Turkey to Go: You don’t have to get turkey, because there are plenty of vegetarian sandwich and salad options.

“I will bet you our salads are going to be better than any fast-casual place like Potbelly,” Levin said. “Tim’s really taken it to heart that we’re going to get the best ingredients.”

Levin is hoping that all these factors, combined with the year-round availability of the new store, will make Turkey to Go a downtown lunchtime hotspot. But despite all these new options and quirks, fans of the simple state fair sandwich can still get one.

“That was one of our biggest concerns: Do we even want to break out of that?” he said. “We tell people at the fair, ‘Don’t put anything on it, it doesn’t need anything!’ But there’s only so many times you can eat a plain sandwich every week.”

Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

Lucid Brewing (on tap now at various locations)

6020 Culligan Way, Minnetonka | lucidbrewing.wordpress.com

Good news: Lucid Brewing’s beers, Air and Camo, are available at around 30 metro locations (including the Pig & Fiddle, which is becoming a haven for Minneapolis beer) and growing daily. Also good news: Much to The Tap’s delight, Lucid’s Jon Messier (above) and Eric Biermann were pouring ferociously at the recent North Coast Nosh, and they attended last weekend’s Beer Dabbler in St. Paul.

Bad news: Growler sales won’t begin until this spring because of various delays, according to Messier. That’s too bad, but soon they and Boom Island (next month) will join Harriet and Fulton on the new-brewery-growler scene.

Nadia Cakes (opens this spring)

11650 Fountains Dr, Suite 207, Maple Grove | nadiacakes.com

Upon learning of Nadia Cakes’ impending arrival to the Twin Cities, The Tap did a little research on the Google and had a startling reaction: There are multiple TV shows about cakes?

Yes, and apparently Abby Jimenez of Nadia Cakes has appeared on both “Fabulous Cakes” and “Cupcake Wars,” with Jimenez winning the latter’s competition. She should really try for a spot on “Ace of Cakes” just to make the circuit.

Anyway, Nadia Cakes’ original location is in Palmdale, CA, and features cupcakes in flavors like Banana Nutella, Candied Yams, and Candy Corn as well as some pretty creative-looking cakes for special occasions.

As for why they’re expanding to Minnesota, according to a story in Maple Grove Patch, owner Abby Jimenez said: “Our family has actually moved to Minnesota to open the new shop and we plan on staying here to live and opening several more locations over the next couple of years.”

NOW OPEN

• Saigon, 704 University Ave W, St. Paul. Open again after remodeling. | 651.225.8751 | Find it on Facebook
• Which Wich, 2073 Ford Pkwy, St. Paul | 651.328.8044 | whichwich.com
• Turkey to Go, 101 7th St S, (Roanoke Building skyway), Minneapolis | 612.655.1795 | turkeytogo.com
• Cintia’s of Mexico, 6042 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis
• Free Style Yogurt, 500 Lexington Pkwy S, St. Paul | 651.699.1992 | Our take
• The Hole Sports Lounge, 2501 University Ave SE, Minneapolis | 612.331.7474 | theholesportslounge.com
• Eli’s East Food and Cocktails, 815 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis | 612.331.0031 | Find it on Facebook
• The Oceanaire, 50 S 6th St, Minneapolis | 612.333.2277 | theoceanaire.com

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

• Yogurt Lab, 3104 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis | 612.926.8212 | Find it on Facebook
• Boom Island Brewing Company, 2207 N 2nd St, Minneapolis. Now on tap at Pig & Fiddle; growler sales coming in February. | 612.227.9635 | Our take
• Zest Bar and Grill, 525 Diffley Rd, Eagan | 651.468.9053 | zesteagan.com
• Colossal Cafe, 2315 Como Ave, St. Paul | colossalcafe.com
• El Loro, 2535 W Highway 10, Mounds View
• Valley Tap House, 14889 Florence Tr, Apple Valley | 952.431.2337 | Find it on Facebook
• West Bank Diner, 324 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis | 612.333.2211 | Find it on Facebook
• Five Guys, 8360 3rd St N, Oakdale; 4105 Vinewood Ln N, Plymouth; 12555 Castlemoor Dr, Eden Prairie | fiveguys.com
• Lucid Brewing, 6020 Culligan Way, Minnetonka. On tap now at various locations; growler sales begin this spring. | lucidbrewing.wordpress.com
• Venture North Bike Walk & Coffee, 1830 Glenwood Ave N, Minneapolis | 612.377.4476 | venturenorthbwc.org
• Eat Street Pizza, 1931 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis (inside The Nicollet) | 612.874.9125 | eatstreetpizza.com
• Famous Dave’s, 590 Prairie Center Dr, Eden Prairie. New fast-casual prototype. | famousdaves.com
• Zamboni Pizza, 184 7th St W, St. Paul | 651.225.2999
• Kopplins Coffee, 2038 Marshall Ave, St. Paul (new location) | 651.698.0457 | kopplinscoffee.com
• Social House, 2919 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis | 612.824.6300 | Our take

CLOSED / CLOSING:

• Amici, 2851 Johnson St NE, Minneapolis
• Q Kindness Cafe, 350 St Peter St, St. Paul
• Prairie Ale House, 16396 Wagner Way, Eden Prairie
• Rubylicious, 4100 W Broadway, Robbinsdale
• Kenwood Cafe, 2115 W 21st St, Minneapolis
• Chula Vista, 1741 S Robert St, West St. Paul
• Black Bamboo, 333 S 7th St, Minneapolis
• Leaning Tower of Pizza, 2505 University Ave SE, Minneapolis

COMING UP:

• :D-Spot, 1993 Burns Ave, St. Paul | Our take on the original
• Eat Street Social, 14 W 26th St, Minneapolis. Opens early February. | 612.767.6850 | Find it on Facebook
• Tonkotsu Ramen and Curry House, Central Ave and 26th Ave NE, Minneapolis
• Blood and Chocolates, 495 Selby Ave, St. Paul | 651.492.4799 | Find it on Facebook
• Butcher and the Boar, 1121 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis. Opens in February. | Find it on Facebook
• Sweet Ducky Cupcakery, 117 W Churchill St #2, Stillwater. Opens in February. | Find it on Facebook
• Devil’s Advocate, 89 S 10th St, Minneapolis. Opens in Feburary.
• Maruso Street Food and Cocktails, 715 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis. Opens in February.
• George and the Dragon, 813 W 50th St, Minneapolis. Opens in April. | 612.355.9114 | ganddpub.com
• Masu Sushi & Robata, Mall of America. Opens this spring. | Our take on the original
• Bar Louie, 1320 Lagoon Ave, Minneapolis. Opens spring 2012. | barlouieamerica.com
• Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis. Opens April 2012.
• Ike’s, 17805 Hwy 7, Minnetonka. Opens in April. | ilikeikes.com
• Rocky and Shem’s Ice Cream Shoppe, 56th St and Chicago Ave, Minneapolis. Opens April 1.
• Smokehouse Brewpub, 38th St and 28th Ave S, Minneapolis. Opens May 2012. | smokehousebrewpub.com
• Nadia Cakes, 11650 Fountains Dr, Suite 207, Maple Grove. Opens this spring. | nadiacakes.com
• Blue Door Pub, 3448 42nd Ave S, Minneapolis. Opens this spring. | thebdp.com
• Mona, 333 S 7th St, Minneapolis. Opens this spring. | Find it on Facebook
• Rincon 38, 3801 Grand Ave S, Minneapolis. Opens this spring.
• Selma’s Ice Cream, 3419 Saint Croix Tr S, Afton. Opens in May.
• Cossetta’s, 211 7th St W, St. Paul. Existing market opening new rooftop restaurant; opens this summer. | 651.222.3476 | cossettaeventi.com
• Rodizio Grill, 12197 Elm Creek Blvd N, Maple Grove. Opens in 2012. | rodiziogrill.com
• Dr. Chocolate’s Chocolate Chateau, 579 Selby Ave, St. Paul | 651.379.3676 | chocolatechateau.wordpress.com
• Well Seasoned, 920 E Lake St, Minneapolis (Midtown Global Market)
• Super Moon Buffet, 6445 Wayzata Blvd, St. Louis Park
• American Joe, 344 Wabasha St N, St. Paul
• Sparks, 230 Cedar Lake Rd S, Minneapolis
• Dangerous Man Brewing, 1300 2nd St NE, Minneapolis | 612.377.4164 | dangerousmanbrewing.wordpress.com
• The Original Just Turkey Restaurant, 3758 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis | originaljustturkey.com
• Tibet Kitchen, 1833 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis
• Cupcake, 949 Grand Ave, St. Paul | cup-cake.com
• Hell’s Kitchen Bakery, 80 S 9th St, Minneapolis | hellskitcheninc.com
• Alda Mediterranean, 2208 W 66th St, Richfield
• Burger Night, Minneapolis. Still looking for location. | 612.217.0102 | burgernight.me
• Pistol Pete’s BBQ, 222 N Chestnut St, Chaska
• Patron Mexican Restaurant, 207 N Chestnut St, Chaska
• Pizza Luce, 800 W 66th St, Richfield
• Humble Pie, 822 W 36th St, Minneapolis. Kim Bartmann’s revamp of Gigi’s. | 612.825.0818
• Cranky’s Bicycle Bar, E Lake St, Minneapolis | Find it on Facebook

The Tap is The Heavy Table’s guide to area restaurant openings, closings, and other major events. The Tap is compiled by Heavy Table writer Jason Walker, and will be published biweekly. If you already subscribe to our newsletter, look for an emailed version of The Tap every other week — otherwise, you can find it on the website on alternating Tuesdays.

If you’ve got tips for The Tap, please email Jason Walker at The Tap’s Twitter feed has moved to @heavytable.

New Glarus Moon Man Pale Ale, Cuppa Java in Bryn Mawr, and the story behind the TC Foodies / Daily Planet merger.

Dara reports that the former Duplex location in Uptown will become a new Stewart Woodman restaurant, Birdhouse. Numerous vegan and vegetarian offerings will create a health-conscious place that “we’d want to eat at and bring our kids to every day,” says Woodman. It sounds as though Woodman is following in the footsteps of Alex Roberts; as Brasa is to Alma, Birdhouse will be to Heidi’s.

The latest from Twitter: @cocoaandfig is giving away boxes of macarons for Valentine’s Day, @midwestbrewing shares a recipe for New Belgium 1554 Ale ice cream, and according to @citypages, Rick Santorum will hit up Pizza Ranch in Luverne tonight.

Lemon pound cake, chicken and noodles, pretzel bites with spicy cheese sauce, roasted vegetable galette, smoked trout chowder, date bars, homemade Oreo cookies, and brownies.

Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery near Grand Meadow, MN, held its grand opening this weekend (it makes its wine on site from cold-hardy grapes); the National Mustard Museum of Middleton, WI, gets a new lease on life; Cannon River Kitchens apparently makes a decent sweet cardamom bread mix; an excellent preview of some of 2012′s most promising Wisconsin cheeses; the good folks at Works Progress (Salon Saloon, etc.) need some donations to get their new space up and running; Dara likes the food at the post-Jack Riebel Dakota; a recap of Harriet Brewing’s anniversary at Blue Nile; Trout Caviar is a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award; and an amazing, crazy business card for the now-defunct Island Cracker Factory of Minneapolis.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Going into the “food entrepreneur” business can be risky: You’re putting your palate, time, and creativity on the line. We talked to three local entrepreneurs with dreams of making it big with their food products.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Lee Zwiefelhofer and Chad Gillard, l.c. finn’s extracts

A beer-fueled conversation in 2009 gave Chad Gillard (above, left) and Lee Zwiefelhofer (above, right) the idea to start making and selling homemade extracts. The two St. Anthony neighbors were talking about the products available at local farmers markets and what kind of products they could come up with to fill an unserved niche.

Not long after that, they came across a recipe for making homemade vanilla extract. Zwiefelhofer recalls, “I just bought some vanilla beans, threw in some alcohol, and let it sit.”

The two were inspired to keep going after that first batch.  “If [Lee] could come up with the formula, I’ll be able to sell this,” Gillard recalls thinking. As one of the founders of Aunt Else’s Æbleskivers, Gillard had the marketing experience to get the product out into the public eye. That left Zwiefelhofer, a photojournalist at KSTP-TV (full disclosure: he’s also my co-worker), to try and nail down the perfect formula.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Because extracts are highly regulated, they had to have a specific vanilla bean-to-vodka ratio. They also started trying other ingredients. Soon, they had three recipes ready to go to market: a vanilla extract, a cinnamon extract, and a cardamom extract. They officially launched l.c. finn’s extracts in 2010.

The guys make the extracts in small batches. A batch of vanilla extract takes 30 days to create. The cinnamon takes the longest (six weeks) while the cardamom takes the shortest (four days). They pride themselves on using as many local ingredients as possible. They don’t put additives, sugar, or water in their extracts. “We want it to be local, we want it to be pure, we want it to be about the flavor,” says Gillard.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Right now, the cardamom extract is their biggest seller. Zwiefelhofer and Gillard will soon have an anise extract ready to sell in stores and on their website. They’re also working on a few other flavors, including a pecan, an almond, and a chocolate extract. By the end of the year, they hope to have three more extracts to add to their lineup.

“If we can keep finding the niche [extracts]…I think that’s what will set us apart,” Gillard says.

And they want to be good community stewards, too. Using some of the l.c. finn proceeds, Zwiefelhofer and Gillard plan to create a scholarship to help someone attend Kindred Kitchen, a training program in north Minneapolis that helps food entrepreneurs start their own businesses.

Where to get it: $7.49 a bottle online at www.lcfinns.com, Golden Fig in St. Paul, Local D’Lish in Minneapolis, Byerly’s Culinary Shop in St. Louis Park, Annona Gourmet in St. Anthony, Ferndale Market in Cannon Falls.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Donna Cavanaugh and Bonnie Alton, A Gourmet Thyme Too

This year, Donna Cavanaugh (above, right) will celebrate 20 years since launching her catering company, A Gourmet Thyme. She says her focus on high-end, gourmet food for home-based dinners and parties has caught on, earning her a loyal following without any advertising. Her menus consist of everything from open-faced tenderloin sandwiches and grilled shrimp to spiced beef skewers and elegantly displayed cheese platters. “The flavor is important, but how it looks is just as important,” she says.

Over the years, Cavanaugh developed more recipes, including a cayenne-flavored shortbread (to use as an hors d’oeuvres base) and a brownie. Her clients loved them so much, they suggested she sell them as a side business. She first took that idea up three or four years ago, renting out kitchen space to bake shortbreads and brownies, and selling them at Coastal Seafoods in St. Paul.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

About 18 months into her new venture, Cavanaugh stopped. “It just got to be too much between the baking and the catering,” she explains, “so I stopped the baking.” But people were constantly asking Cavanaugh where they could get her brownies and shortbreads.

In February 2011, Cavanaugh met Bonnie Alton (left, two photos up), the owner of Great Harvest Bread Company on Selby Avenue in St. Paul. The two set up a meeting and struck up a partnership now known as A Gourmet Thyme Too. Alton works on baking and packaging the shortbreads, while both of them work on marketing and distributing the product to local food stores. Since summer, they’ve also added some new recipes to their lineup, including a pistachio shortbread, a cocoa shortbread, and savory-spiced walnuts.

The shortbreads and walnuts can now be found in Kowalski’s Markets and several local food stores around the Twin Cities.  And Cavanaugh has plans to expand their selection in 2012. “We’re looking to do something for Easter / Mother’s Day, then maybe move into something that’s more fall-like,” she says.

A website to sell A Gourmet Thyme Too products should also be ready to go before the end of winter. Cavanaugh is using Facebook to communicate with customers and share new recipe ideas. Plans are also in the works to have a booth at the Food & Wine Experience in March.

So far, Cavanaugh is thrilled with the results and feedback from customers. “We like to think that we’re just a little bit unusual without being too peculiar and weird,” she says. “It’s been a good fit.”

Where to get it: Kowalski’s Markets, Golden Fig, Local D’Lish, Coastal Seafoods in St. Paul, Great Harvest Bread Company in St. Paul, Gourmet Oil & Vinegar in St. Louis Park, Fleurish in Wayzata (around $7 a package).

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Lori Turner, Elle-Tee & The Kitchen

Say the word “cheese” and Lori Turner’s face instantly lights up. Her love for cheese turned into a job as a cheesemonger at Kowalski’s Markets about four years ago. “When people walk up to an imported cheese case, they’re immediately overwhelmed,” she explains.

As she would suggest types of cheeses for a customer to try, Turner discovered many customers did not like certain kinds: blue cheese was “too strong” or goat cheese was “too tangy,” as she puts it.

Turner (above, second from right) was inspired to make a torta-style product (cheese flavored with other ingredients) after a Wisconsin-made one, sold at Kowalski’s, was discontinued. She incorporated ingredients such as garlic, olives, and herbs, into the cheese. “We did have to put ‘training wheels’ on some of these cheeses,” she says. “It dresses up the cheese so people get over that scary hump of having a bite of cheese and having it be too strong.” Thus, Elle-Tee & The Kitchen’s line of cheese tortas was born.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Three years into the venture, Turner now has five cheese tortas in her lineup: a blue cheese torta with date jam and roasted hazelnuts; a goat cheese torta with peppadew peppers, roasted garlic, and black olives; a feta cheese torta with an apple curry chutney; a cheddar cheese torta with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts; and a dessert-style ricotta cheese torta with Austrian rum-chocolate ganache and orange. In addition to the tortas, she has added almond florentine crackers and coconut macaroons to her product line.

But Turner’s not the only one involved this food venture — her whole family helps out. Her two children, Lydia and Jack (far left and center left, two photos up), and her husband, Brian “B.T.” Turner (deejay at Cities 97, far right, two photos up), regularly lend a hand, from making and packaging the tortas in a kitchen space in Crystal to marketing and distributing them to new customers.

Scott Theisen / Heavy Table

Turner has demonstrated her product at Kowalski’s, Golden Fig, and various food shows such as the Food & Wine Experience. She also has featured them on local television shows. This year, she hopes to sell the tortas at some local farmers markets, including Mill City and the St. Paul Farmers’ Market.

Turner has some other big goals for 2012, including expanding her product line. “I always want to stay a little bit fresh and keep motivating myself to come up with new ideas,” she says. She also wants to create more crackers and cookies. “[Ideally,] I want to make crackers to go with all the different tortas.”

And Turner is excited to publish more ways to use the tortas on her website. “People have been coming up with awesome recipes,” she says. “That just brings a whole new mindset to the game.”

Where to get it: Kowalski’s Markets, Golden Fig, online at www.elle-tee.com (around $11 a package).

The latest from Twitter: @BirchwoodCafe’s pulling out some vegan and gluten-free pumpkin doughnuts, @BrasaRotisserie is taking orders for Super Bowl packages, there’s an after party @goldensdeli after the @BeerDabbler tomorrow, and @mnbeer and @MNBeerActivists share MPR’s story on the growing number of breweries in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Mango sticky rice, paprikash, FanFrikkinTastic pulled pork, smoked fish and spinach quiche, Big Bowl’s hot and sour soup, and fruited goat tagine.

Chowgirls Killer Catering is hosting a Locavore Love Affair with a five-course menu featuring artisan cheeses from Shepherd’s Way; free-range meats from Pastures A Plenty and Callister Farm; and other local ingredients including Bossy Acres microgreens, Ames Farm honey, Hope Creamery butter. If your V-Day is free, it’s worth a look.

There’s a new St. Paul food truck focusing on tater tots called Tot Boss, Darin Koch of :D-Spot is opening a second location with 48 different wing flavors from the 60 or so offered at his first location, some great new WACSO restaurant illustrations (Mickey’s Diner, Wise Acre Eatery, and Fuji Ya), Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill in St. Louis Park is nominated for a Academy of Country Music Award as nightclub of the year, and praise for “fabulous” Indian food at Passage to India in Fargo.

The new Madison-based retro joint The Fountain gets high marks for concepts and mixed marks for execution, upcoming local dining opportunities include lutefisk but not Dunkin’ Donuts, and Rick’s local soup rundown.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

Upon hearing about the recent influx of frozen yogurt shops popping up across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a colleague remarked, “Is this the 1980s all over again?” Though we have yet to see a Flock of Seagulls haircut resurface, he does have a point: The Twin Cities hasn’t seen this many fro-yo places open in quite some time. Just as cupcakes were the rage two years ago, self-serve frozen yogurt — sweet and tart, with toppings galore — is becoming ubiquitous, and The Heavy Table has the lowdown on four shops that let you swirl and scoop your perfect dish. Just be warned: Those cups are generously sized for a reason. The more you add, the more you pay.

The New Kids on the Block

Of the four recently opened frozen yogurt shops we visited, two were home-grown concepts and two were franchises. Tutti Frutti, located in Maple Grove’s Main Street at Arbor Lakes, was first of the four to open in September 2011 by franchisee Kelly Gaspar, who saw an opportunity to dish up a treat she felt was missing from the Twin Cities.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

“We didn’t have a lot of good yogurt, let alone self-serve yogurt, in this area,” Gaspar says. “I did a lot of research, and it came down to quality of product. I found that with Tutti Frutti.”

Another popular national chain, Menchie’s, entered the Twin Cities market in early October when manager Whitney Anderson and her family opened their Highland Park location at the corner of Cleveland and Pinehurst avenues. A University of St. Thomas alum, Anderson had spent a year scouting a storefront and found that even with an autumn opening, the locals were ready for frozen yogurt.

“Obviously, the ideal time [to open] would have been summer, but we’re in this for the long haul,” Anderson says. “We liked that Menchie’s is, at its core, family and community and giving back. It aligns well with our beliefs.”

The holidays brought a third fro-yo concept to the area: The Yogurt Lab, adjacent to the new My Burger near Lake Calhoun. According to manager Marie Tavlin, owners Aaron and Andrea Switz and Phil Becker saw the trend explode on the West Coast and saw an untapped niche here. A Dec. 18 opening, combined with a milder-than-average month, proved to be advantageous for the shop, which welcomed a flood of students and families in its first few weeks.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

“It was a great time with the kids back from winter break,” Tavlin says. “We’ve been doing better than we thought we would with a winter opening.”

And across the river near the St. Paul Trader Joe’s on Lexington Parkway, former restaurant and retail consultant David Brandner launched Free Style Yogurt just last weekend. Like with Yogurt Lab’s owners, he saw the frozen yogurt scene flourish in California and Texas and decided Minnesota would be the ideal location for his first fro-yo venture.

“I love the product, I love the energy in the stores, and I thought I’d really like to do this,” Brandner says. “I wanted to build a brand from the ground up and create a shop atmosphere that would be unique.”

The Heavy Table did an exhaustive, gut-busting pilgrimage to sample the frozen yogurt, discover new toppings, and feel the vibe of each shop. Overall, we found the yogurt quality and flavor selection ranging from good to excellent, but subtle differences among the shops’ offerings exist. While not a strict head-to-head comparison, below we explore the nuances of taste, decor, and cost. While you can’t really go wrong with any of the shops if you’re craving a cold treat, chances are one will fit your style more than others.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

Flavors and Toppings

If you’re the kind of person who likes a little bit of one flavor and some of another, you’ll love self-serve fro-yo — you can mix and match to your heart’s content. All four shops offer small cups for tastes so you can find your favorites, and then you can pick up a big bowl for your real treat. (Menchie’s offers a waffle bowl for an extra $1, while Free Style also has a cone option.) You’ll always find vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, a cake batter / cupcake flavor, and other classics among the 12-14 flavors available daily.

Red velvet seems particularly popular these days, and our preference is for the not-overly-sweet version at Tutti Frutti. Seasonal favorites rotate in and out frequently, though we saw candy cane flavors still holding on through January. The salted caramel is the “rock star” at Yogurt Lab, according to Tavlin, which they pair with green apple for a caramel apple swirl option, but our favorite was the fior di latte, a milky smooth base that easily takes on toppings. Other standouts include the white chocolate mousse at Free Style, the almond and coffee at Tutti Frutti, and the gingerbread at Menchie’s.

All the shops offer at least one tart yogurt flavor as well — the California favorite, a la Pinkberry, may be new to many Midwestern palates, but it’s slowly catching on.

“It takes an acquired taste. At first people would want to mix it with fruit to sweeten it, but now it’s selling more,” Gaspar says.

“About 75-80 percent of people want frozen yogurt to emulate ice cream, and 25 percent prefer tart — and they’re passionate about it,” Brandner adds.

The variety of toppings at any of the shops put your average TCBY to shame. Anything goes on frozen yogurt, from candy, cookie dough, and brownies to cereal, fresh fruit, and boba. I squealed with delight when I spotted Twix pieces at Menchie’s — why more shops don’t have this candy bar as an option, I don’t know, but you can bet I loaded up on it. Kudos to Tutti Frutti for keeping the toppings containing nuts in a separate carousel from the others — a tip Gaspar picked up from her store manager, who has relatives with nut allergies.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

Layout

Traffic moves most smoothly at Menchie’s, which placed its cashier stand in the center of the store and the yogurt machines and toppings stations in an arc along the back and side wall. This layout allows the customers to make their way around the perimeter of the shop efficiently without much of a backup. Tutti Frutti and The Yogurt Lab have their yogurt dispensers along one wall of a narrow hallway and the toppings stations along the opposite wall, which can make for a tight squeeze when there’s a crowd hankering for yogurt. Free Style has its machines along one wall of its roomy entrance and the toppings along the edges of a toppings alcove, if you will, at the front of the store. It was easy to maneuver during a recent visit, when traffic was small but steady, but it could feel more packed on a hot summer’s day when something frozen and creamy is the only thing on people’s minds.

Theme

Your favorite shop likely will be determined not only by your taste in flavors but by theme, too. The bright, whimsical Menchie’s motif fits in well with its family-focused Highland Park clientele, but if an abundance of pink and green makes you think you’re living in Barbie’s dream mansion, you may prefer the stark, almost sterile approach to Yogurt Lab’s decor. Spotlessly clean, the shop features its “periodic table” on the wall to showcase the various families of flavors on rotation, and there’s not a drop of kitsch to be found.

Not surprisingly, the colorful palette of fresh fruit dominates Tutti Frutti’s decor, with posters extolling the yogurt’s health benefits filling the shop walls. You have to laugh as you load your cup with cheesecake bites and hot fudge. Free Style takes its cue from owner Brandner’s California days, with red and white surfboards serving as tabletops and decals of boarders gracing the walls. We’ve got to tip our hat to his funky, spherical light fixtures and the long table placed at the perfect height for a preschool-sized visitor. If we had a crystal ball, we’d likely see many birthday parties at Free Style in the future.

Katie Cannon / Heavy Table

Price

The beauty of self-serve yogurt, of course, is that you can take as much or as little you can eat. But when you pay by ounce, as you do at all four shops, you might walk away from the register with a bigger hole in your wallet than you anticipated. The per-ounce cost varies from 42 cents / ounce at Free Style to 48 cents / ounce at Yogurt Lab, and with large cups that encourage you to fill ‘em up, don’t be surprised if your concoction costs $5-6. And if you bring in a team of hungry teenage boys… well, bring your credit card. It’s not going to be cheap.

Free Style has a (pun definitely intended) cool option, though – -you can spin a wheel marked with various numbers ranging from 29 to 46, and whichever number you land on is your price per ounce in cents. Most of the numbers are below the listed 42 cents / ounce, but if your number is higher, you get a coupon for the difference in price to use on your next visit. Both Free Style and Tutti Frutti offer loyalty cards that give you discounts after a certain number of purchases, too.

Sizing up the Competition

The proliferation of frozen yogurt shops doesn’t seem to phase the leaders of these local ventures. In fact, they welcome it.

“I think competition is good. We did our research and liked what Menchie’s stands for. But the more, the merrier,” Anderson says.

“I love frozen yogurt and I don’t want to drive a long way to get some. I like seeing other shops pop up in other parts of town,” Gaspar adds.

And with the new shops spread out across the metro, Brandner thinks there’s room for all to succeed.

“Competition is good to raise awareness of frozen yogurt. With proper spacing within a market, it’s great,” Brandner says. “But when you have three shops on a four-corner intersection, someone is going to lose.

“I’m a firm believer in giving value for people’s money, and I believe we have a great value, but ultimately it’s the community that decides.”

Free Style Yogurt
500 Lexington Pkwy S
St. Paul, MN 55116
651.699.1992

Menchie’s
750 Cleveland Ave S
St. Paul, MN 55116
651.797.6428

Tutti Frutti
7781 Main St N
Maple Grove, MN 55369
763.416.0362

The Yogurt Lab
3100 Excelsior Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55416
612.926.8212

The latest from Twitter: Today @commonroots will close at 7 pm for a staff party, @PottersPasties is busy making pumpkin pecan sweet whiskey ice cream for beer floats @TheBeerDabbler this Saturday, @grumpysne has added four new beer lines to the bar, and @MSPWineGuy is digging affordable @duckpondcellars wines.

Three fancy pizzas (cheese tarts, if you’d like), ahi tuna tacos with jicama slaw, curry-spiced zucchini, ginger fried rice, clementine-braised chicken.

Rick Nelson’s food tour of St. Louis, pho at La Belle Crepe, the owner of not-yet-open Nadia Cakes in Maple Grove wins Cupcake Wars, Iggers writes up the North Coast Nosh (his Daily Planet is hosting a sausage festival and winter party next week), apparently the folks out at Google have good taste in cheese (St. Mary’s Grass-Fed Gouda by Minnesota’s own Faribault Dairy), a profile of St. Paul’s Candyland, some tasty ways to eat vegan locally, and the Well Fed Guide to Life heads to Yangtze for Chinese New Year. Gung Hey Fat Choy!