Food and restaurants

Looking back over 2008, there were a couple of high-profile openings – Porter & Frye and Barrio, and a few high-profile departures: jP American Bistro, Babalu, Temple. But it’s hard to spot any big trends on the local dining scene, except for maybe More Sushi: openings in the past 12 months include Musashi and Seven downtown, Tiger Sushi in Uptown, and Giapponese in Woodbury. More Vietnamese noodle joints opened on Eat Street, including Pho Hoa, the Noodle Bowl and Hoanh Thien Y, but that’s not exactly news. Eat Street also got a new Indonesian restaurant, Bali, at 14th and Nicollet, and a Mexican Deli, Marissa’s, at 28th and Nicollet. My most memorable meals of the past year were mostly driven by the joy of discovery – terrific Thai cuisine in the back room of a deli on University Ave; wood-fired pizza on a farm in Stockholm, Wi., world-class sushi in Woodbury.Herewith, in no particular order, a few of the highlights of the past 12 months: MORE »

This week’s picks

Thursday, January 1
Swing by your local video store to rent a copy of Wall-E, the animated film that’s shaping up to be the surprise critical favorite of 2008.

Friday, January 2
“While some bands find Rock ‘N’ Roll after taking the most circuitous path possible,” writes Jon Behm, “Nightinghales take a straight path from A to B minor.” Catch them tonight at the 331 Club, where Dwight Hobbes praises the courteous barstaff—who don’t “saunter over with a kiss-my-grits disposition like they’re doing you a favor to let you spend your bread.” MORE »

Roat Osha offers Thai food the way Americans like it, and that’s just fine. The new Thai restaurant at 27th and Hennepin follows pretty much the same formula as the other three Uptown Thai eateries, including Chiang Mai Thai, Amazing Thailand, and Roat Osha’s sister restaurant, Tum Rup Thai: stylish contemporary décor, big bar with a hip cocktail menu, and lots of colorful dishes that tend to look alike, because they all have carrots and broccoli and green beans and big chunks of red bell pepper. Okay, not all of them, but you get the idea. And of course, cream cheese wontons. MORE »

The BK “Whopper Virgin” ad campaign is “as real as Borat” wrote one reader, and “no innocents are actually being exploited except by the concept that Whoppers are good for all, the idea of Burger King as a missionary/ sexual encounter.” Many readers had strong feelings about the Burger King “Whopper Virgin” ad campaign and protests against it. Some comments dismissed Minnesotan Seng Vang’s criticism of the campaign — “This person complaining is being to foolish…. Its a commercial and has nothing to do with Hmong people. I am Hmong and quite proud with this exposure of our people.” Just as vehemently, others agreed that the campaign demeans Hmong people — “I agree 120% not just a commercial..you fool wake up.” The lively dialogue included attacks on Seng Vang, with one commenter lamenting “this is exactly what it means to be Hmong, one person speaks or leads and other pull down … It’s sad already how Hmong being viewed in the mainstream cultures…but, it’s even sadder for Hmong to bash and hurt each other.”

Another comment said that most Hmong people in Thailand would not eat burgers because they eat healthier food, and that BK burgers are “mainly there for tourists and expat locals.” Still another Chiang Mai resident pointed out that the BK is “not cheap by Thai standards. I have quite a few Thai friends in town and they have never eaten there.”

By the end of the week, Seng Vang had responded with more detailed critique of the BK ads, and Sun Yung Shin weighed in with additional analysis (both reprinted below the jump.) Read the original article here, followed by all of the comments, and a second article with Tou Saiko Lee’s blog post from Thailand here. MORE »

This week’s picks

Thursday, December 25
The Roundup Beer Hall opens at 1 p.m.

Friday, December 26
There are just a few days left to catch “the Twin Cities’ most honest holiday tradition,” the British Television Advertising Award Winners at the Walker. Many screenings are already sold out, so order your tickets now. MORE »

Minnesotan Seng Vang is deeply offended by Burger King’s portrayal of Hmong people in its “Whopper Virgin” campaign. The offensive segment of the campaign featured Hmong people in Northern Thailand “simply as “tribesmen” who “don’t even have a word for burger,” Seng Vang wrote in a protest letter to Burger King. MORE »

With the current economy being described as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, couldn’t we all use a little taste of the Roaring 20s? MORE »

Food not used or eaten at three innovative Uptown restaurants isn’t dumped into a landfill anymore. At Barbette’s, Bryant Lake Bowl and Common Ground food scraps are composted and transformed into dirt that nourishes more growing food. MORE »