daaaaaaamn you, St. Paul!

Jfc. Senator John Hoffman reports ICE took the owners of crumbs and coffee in BP this morning and left the building unlocked with money on the counter.

“I had to teach a lesson on asparagus, an ingredient I couldn’t care less about but apparently was good for SEO.”

thinking of her today

cleanse + gm www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYgq...

ANUBIS: (presses button with paw) [guilty] OSIRIS: im sorry he does this when he's hungry ANUBIS: (button) [guilty] [bad] [food] OSIRIS: you already ate ANUBIS: (button) [bad] [bad] [bad] OSIRIS: he's right though we weighed your heart against the feather and its not looking good

I wrote about doing 24 hours of eating and drinking in Wausau and Stevens Point, Wisc. - everything from potato vodka and ginseng whiskey at Great Northern distilling to creme brûlée French toast at Era Cafe to killer sandwiches at Main Grain Bakery: heavytable.substack.com/p/24-hours-i...

Just bought a staggering amount of top tier Midwestern meat and cheese at Eastside Food Co-op for a book talk tonight at the Gaylord Public Library at 6pm. STAGGERING. It's all gonna be good, but cracking into a new vintage of Rush Creak Reserve is always a highlight.

Tasting notes: Door County Coffee cherry pie coffee - shockingly, SHOCKINGLY restrained. Bit of cherry comes through w/ cream and sugar. Palatable. American Ginseng Whiskey from Great Northern: real herbal bite / brightness to it. Almost "pre-bittered." The perfect cocktail case must exist.

Tomorrow in the newsletter: Chi-Chi's 2.0. Huge buzz! Surprisingly challenging reservations! Can this reanimated dinosaur survive in a modern environment absolutely stuffed with terrific Mexican and Mexican-inspired dining?

this year’s crop of home-grown pumpkins is in SERIOUS TROUBLE

the Scandinavians have rights we Americans haven’t even dreamed up yet

Cheers!! I swear that I have a functional sense of humor, it’s just that if you’re going to be playful with menu items, at least present something that’s crude in a fresh way!

Just witnessed someone trying to fireb*mb Fletcher’s Ice Cream in NE. Saw a dude acting weird next to a parked car in front of the place. I walked by, heard a smash through my earbuds, smelled gasoline/kerosine. Turned around, snapped some photos instinctively. Thankfully they suck at molot*vs.

I take for granted how all-around decent and basically tasty Cub doughnuts are. Cub was closed today so we grabbed doughnuts from Holiday instead. Instant compost. Absolutely inedible. Would love to know how they do it.

pleased to announce that there seems to be a passive-aggressive conflict roiling the august pages of Cooks Illustrated, Fall Harvest recipes edition. allow me to explain:

Started watching Columbo. This may be the greatest show ever made. My prior Columbo experience outside of pop culture osmosis is Peter Falk in Wings Of Desire. Wenders told us the truth: he was an angel.

Happy Columbo’s Day

If you know some curious kids (or kids who you would like to encourage to be even more curious!) the excellent, formerly-on-MPR podcast Brains On! is back as an indie project. Check it out, back it if you can - they're great people doing tremendous work. brainson.supercast.com

just incinerated an entire spatchcocked chicken far beyond the point of edibility, AMA

Gotta put in a plug for Red Coral Coffee @ Okome House. Their salted caramel latte is subtle and so terrific - I’ve gotten quite jaded about coffee but this takes me right back to my “wow, a coffee drink is a TREAT” days. Just a charming place.

Reasonably sure that I just had the best fish and chips of my life here in Bayfield, Wisc. at Hoops Fish. The whitefish was swimming in Lake Superior this morning, now perfectly fried, firm and flaky and moist. Good lord.

“ill see you in valhalla” is not something i would ever say in memory of a friend. its something i would say to a $28 Hamburger

As an antidote to my highly annoyed sushi review in this morning’s newsletter: went to Saji-Ya in Saint Paul for lunch. Their sushi lunch special ($16, pictured below) was superb - simple, elegant, skillfully prepared. Nothing wacky, just capably executed standards. Loved it.

Got out to Indian Kitchen in St. Paul last night. Long wait for food, world’s most forgettable name. Terrific, delicious dishes with subtle layers of spice. Clearly the kitchen takes its time because they’re doing it right. Will absolutely return!

Biscuit Day at Casa Dilley-Norton. A pretty good day!!

If you haven’t watched “3 Days of the Condor,” tonight is the night to fire it up. One of the best thrillers of any era, just a crisp, streamlined adrenaline rush. RIP Robert Redford.

Everyone shut up now. It’s the Iron Chef corn battle.

I don't post much about Heavy Table because, frankly, I am tired out from editing and writing. But tomorrow's newsletter has a terrific interview with Ben Wu from Red Coral coffee, who is doing delicious work in Longfellow. Story by @jeannelakso.bsky.social, photos by Becca Dilley. 1/4

just one more thing..

Once again, we're tapping into the ridiculously rich diversity and creativity of food in Minneapolis, check it out! This time: the Middle East-meets-the-world sweets of Mrs. Dessert and Kumpir.

A little proud of myself for patronizing 5 of the 6 joints Chris covers here. (Never been to the Terminal Bar.) One more I might add: the 331 in Northeast.

Orange Cat v. Sunflowers. Smart money is probably on the cat.

Homemade pasta night!! Always worth the effort, at least in terms of praise from the kids, who legitimately seem to like it more than the dried stuff

We've been super lucky to have Nathan Wold contributing videos to Heavy Table - he's got a gimlet eye and a nose for good stories. His feature tomorrow morning on the Saint Paul restaurant Tongue in Cheek is a great yarn.

It's Minnesota State Fair time! It's time for Minnesotan folk art! Here, for example, is Saturn Devouring His Corn, in the seed art category!

Lunds (on Hennepin) makes fresh mozzarella every Monday?! What the hell? The cheesemaker gave us a still-warm sample, which rules. Quite good!!

If I can break character for a second ("Guy Who Eats and Enjoys Uncrustaburgers"), a book recommendation: The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris. It's about a guy in the middle of the action as a great, cosmopolitan republic is transformed into a dictatorship. www.abebooks.com/978178633292...

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

BEHOLD the State Fair mega-post! 75 freakin' items, 8,900 words, assessments without fear or favor, a dash of satire, spiritous beverages, interviews with the new foodsmiths… holy hell, we were busy. Bon appetit and happy hunting! heavytable.substack.com/p/the-2025-m...

Here's roughly what my tomorrow looks like. Can't wait to get out there with John Garland, Becca Dilley, @amyrea.bsky.social, @tangledupinfood.bsky.social, @jeannelakso.bsky.social, Joshua Feist, Andy DuCett, @wacso.bsky.social, @mccronin.bsky.social and Nathan Wold. Bring on the chaos!!!

Bossangoa Restaurant; FCRX+5WF, RN 1, Bossangoa, Central African Republic https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=6.490441400000001%2C17.44978799999999&query_place_id=ChIJaXJa-_63wxARNE5fyzoXi1w

Enjoying “War of the Worlds (2025).” Fun to watch Ice Cube adlib a whole script! Great use of stock footage and drop-down menus! Makes a strong and compelling case for ordering stuff from Amazon, too, which I definitely needed to hear more about.

there is a search going on right now at minnehaha falls for missing 12 year old child victoria alexandria jackson and they need more people helping if anyone can go join, please share this flyer!!!

This is why I pay for Internet