Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
For a luscious ending to your day, it’s time to curl up on your couch with a bowl of frozen deliciousness. You’ve had so many products made with artificial ingredients, that you’ve forgotten wbat your favorite frozen treats are really supposed to taste like until you discover Talenti Gelato. This Texas-based company makes everything from scratch, using only the finest ingredients available. From the freshly pasteurized milk to fresh whole Tahitian vanilla beans straight from to New Guinea to real chocolate imported from Belgium, you can expect nothing less than the best — and this comes to play when you are indulging in this creamy treat spoonful by spoonful.
Talenti Gelato is available in many flavors, both Gelato and Sorbetto. Each individual flavor is sold in a sleek pint-size, reusable container. The gelato was easy to scoop out as soon as it came out of the freezer, and held the desired consistency that one would hope for. The flavors were clean and fresh — and you knew you were eating something that was good for you. While we quickly ate up the Double Dark Chocolate dotted with pieces of Belgian Chocolate and the Sicilian Pistachio blended with roasted pistachios and pistachio butter, our favorite was the Mediterranean Mint. Forget ever going back to your childhood flavor of Mint Chocolate Chip. Mediterranean Mint is made with fresh mint leaves, giving it a distinct, clean flavor. It reminded us that this green scoop we grew up with was actually supposed to taste like — um, real mint — something you often forget about. Specks of bittersweet chocolate pieces added a nice balance to every spoonful.
Talenti also offers a selection of exotic Sorbetto flavors, but we’ll stick with the gelato. All are available at select supermarkets or can be ordered online. Prices vary from location to location, but usually cost between $4.99 – $5.99 for a pint.
You might think me odd, but until last week, I could count on one hand the number of times I had been to Chipotle. Now I need to add one finger — and I suspect I’ll eventually eat there enough to run out of fingers and move on to my toes. Me being me, that’s a high compliment for the national burrito chain with more than 800 stores.
I have a bumpersticker on my car that reads “support your local independent everything.” I used to twitch uncomfortably whenever I went to the suburbs (and sometimes still do). I’ve even gone so far as to declare that all of my favorite restaurants don’t have parking lots! That’s why I love the deliciously ironic dinner I ate last week on Chipotle’s outdoor patio overlooking the parking lot of Ridgedale Mall. Someone had to put me in my place — and that someone is Steve Ells, Chipotle’s CEO.
Why did I go? I was invited by Michael Fuller who works in marketing for the restaurant. I also went because Chipotle is no longer owned by McDonald’s — and hasn’t been for a few years. Whether or not this actually makes any difference is negligible. Even though Chipotle drew away from the cheeseburger behemoth, Michael tells me that Steve Ells’ vision of serving real food has never been compromised. Ells calls it “food with integrity.”
Learning about Ells and his philosophy was an eye-opening experience that fundamentally changed my perception of Chipotle. There’s a guy with a degree from the Culinary Institute of America who speaks my language at the helm of a fast food chain. What’s the world coming to?! I might have to double think my “alternative” identity and hop into bed with the mainstream, or at least flirt with the mainstream as best as I can. Never did I think I’d see the day. Chipotle is a nationwide, publicly-traded fast food chain making tremendous progress in validating and popularizing local, sustainable food.
The Chipotle in Minnetonka, Minnesota where I ate last week is one of two LEED-certified branches in the country. Both the front and back of the kitchen are extremely clean and tight, and not one Chipotle across the country even has a freezer. As of this month, the chain’s produce buyers are sourcing 35 percent of at least one bulk seasonal produce item from local farmers. This is a 10 percent increase over last year. But you wouldn’t even know these numbers, as Chipotle simply does what is right without any fanfare, as reported by the Washington Post. Ells works with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms (that wonderfully upright and uncompromisable farmer from the movie Food, Inc.) and is even sponsoring a series of free showings of the film around the country. (Here’s a great article by Sarah Gilbert with a video showing Ells and Salatin mucking it up with the pigs.) And better yet, Chipotle buys the majority of its pork from Niman Ranch, an alliance of 650 independent farmers and ranchers spread throughout the country. As the story goes, every time Chipotle opens a new restaurant, Bill Niman can add a new farm to his network.
And what about the food? It’s fantastic. I tried everything on the menu so now I know that the barbacoa is the best item, hands down. The meat is spicy and warms your mouth with heat and toasted cumin. I was impressed by the tortilla chips, which are addictive, fried on-site every day, squirted with lime juice, and covered with just the right amount of chunky sea salt. The guacamole is fresh as green grass and about as good as it gets.
All in all, the coolest thing I have read about Chipotle is this quote from Ells: “We decided long ago that we didn’t want Chipotle’s success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment, but the engagement of our customers.” Let’s all stop to think about how wildly different this is from the typical exploitative model of corporate America. Steve Ells is spreading good karma one burrito at a time, and that’s something I can get behind.
Although I have lived in my share of cities, I am always impressed with the diversity and quirkiness of events being held in Minneapolis. Where else can you attend a community gathering over hundreds of hotdishes? A book club in a bowling alley? A town hall discussion in a vintage theater?
On Thursday, we’re in store for another of these great events. This time around, it’s a free, socially responsible film series held in the parking lot of Patrick’s colorful cabaret.
Movies in the Park-ing Lot is the creation of local filmmaker Mark Wojahn, best known for his documentary What America Needs.
Mark is a curator of underground micro-cinema. He shows thought-provoking documentary films throughout the year under two names. Casket Cinema is held in his studio space in the Casket building in Northeast. And Movies in the Park-ing Lot is held throughout the summer in the lot wedged between The Hub Bike Co-Op and Patrick’s Cabaret. Head over to facebook to sign up for each of these groups so you won’t miss these great opportunities.
This Thursday July 2 at 9:30 p.m. Mark is showing the movie Food Matters, a documentary about America’s industrialized food supply and largely unhealthy eating habits.
In grassroots fashion, Mark also asked a number of local experts to join in for the discussion and showing, which is sponsored by Seward Co-op. There’ll be a raffle for gift cards to the co-op. One of the guests is Adiel Tel-Orien (“Dr. T”), the owner of Ecopolitan raw foods restaurant. There will be also be short cartoon on food by local filmmaker John Akre.
Grab some lawnchairs, food, drinks, and your friends and RSVP here so that Mark knows you are coming.
Minnesota Public Radio recently reported on the “great harvest” of food movies being shown in Minneapolis. You can stay in the know by heading over to see Food Matters and, best of all, talk about food issues with your community on a wonderful summer night.
Just a handful of pictures from Uptown Market’s debut on Sunday. The buskers were really good–I wish I knew their name. For pictures of the stalls and the wares, become a fan of the market on facebook. And support the market as it grows. If I was in a money-spending mood, I would have went home with handmade flax crackers, “cheesey” kale chips, and a handmade handbag from Moroccco. Not bad!
This weekend, we all have yet another reason to be excited about living in the Twin Cities. A brand-new outdoor market is opening that is all local, all volunteer, and driven by the power of a few great ideas.
Roxie Speth, founder and visionary of Uptown Market, proposed the idea of a European-style street market to her neighborhood council in February of this year. Five months later, it has become a reality, with the first market kicking off this Sunday.
The Uptown Market is located on 29th Street between Lyndale Ave S. and Dupont Ave S., easily accessible by public transportation and close to the Greenway bike trail. The market will empower and enliven the neighborhood by giving artists, craftspeople, small business owners, farmers, cooks, bakers, and neighbors a place to come together to sell their goods.
Given that this is a grassroots, all-volunteer market, Roxie and her team are starting with four dates: June 21, July 19, August 16, and September 20 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. You’ll find produce, prepared food, fine art, crafts, antiques, and vintage clothes. Roxie says it was challenging to bring in farmers for a market that doesn’t happen every week, but in time, she hopes to establish the market as a local weekly institution, which should draw a standing mix of diverse vendors.
Roxie’s inspiration comes from her own love of community gathering and vibrant neighborhoods. On a trip to Seattle, she and her friend Jess Horwitz fell in love with the Fremont Market, a fantastic year-round street market with over 150 vendors. And as an artist herself, she’s always craved an accessible venue to sell her work. Once she got involved in her neighborhood council, she met Brendan Jordan, a program manager for the Great Plains Institute who helped make it all happen. “It’s amazing how much you can accomplish once you take action,” she says, “and how much support you get–not only from friends, but also from your community.”
As for food, we might just have to wait to find out what’s there. Roxie mentioned coffee and corn roasters and the purple hot dog vendor known as the Magic Bus Cafe that sells psychedelic hot dogs, vegan tofu pups, popcorn, and baked goods.
If you or anyone you know are interested in being a vendor, please contact Jess Horwitz, the market’s vendor coordinator, at jess@uptownmarket.org. See you there!