These are photos from the 2010 Philippine Day, St. Paul, Minnesota. This year’s event is this Sunday, March 25th from 12:00-4:00PM at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Details on the Cultural Society of Filipino Americans (CSFA) event are on the Facebook event page.
All photos (c) Steph Pituc.
healthy-habits asked: Also, I currently live in WI and am moving to Minneapolis soon. What are your favorite places to eat? I'm up for anything, especially "hole in the wall," vegetarian and/or ethnic places! Thank you!
Hi there, welcome to the Twin Cities! There is no shortage of good food in lots of different niches. Here are some of my faves (in no particular order):
I’m always discovering more new places and new favorites (send me your suggestions!), so consider this list a living document and in no way exhaustive. You asked this question a while back, so hopefully you can still find it helpful! Hope to read more about your favorite places as you get settled in your new home!
Readers, this $2 pupusa is just one of many reasons why you must give St. Paul a chance. Manana Restaurant y Pupuseria, located on E. 7th Street past Mounds Blvd, serves food native to El Salvador and other South American culture. Slightly crispy on the outside from the griddle, filled with oozing cheese and your choice of meat or beans, pupusas make for a very hearty snack. In pairs, threes, or with a tamale or taco (also under $2!), you have yourself a super cheap, knockout meal - as in, holy crap I need a nap. Be sure to eat your pupusas and tamales with the complimentary Salvadorean slaw and hot sauce, which help to lighten each bite. Then don’t forget to wash it down with some sweet horchata!
There isn’t much space for hanging out and digesting afterwards, so check out the thrift store across the street. Or the place that sells hair extensions next door (they’re made out of real hair!).
Special thanks to Erica for introducing me to this awesome hole-in-the-wall and ethnic food gem! One more reason to consider St. Paul.
Minneapolis may have just passed the ordinance to allow street food vending, but other parts of the country are all but ready to leave the trucks in the dust. Granted, the conditions for the nascent street food scene in MSP are different from those in other cities. Minneapolis is not NYC. St. Paul is not LA. (And I’m guessing they don’t want to be either). But the Twin Cities may have something to learn from the rise and projected-fall of street food and its culture in other metro areas. Based on Eater’s observations, the danger seems to be in becoming too trendy and the tenuous relationship between traditional Brick-and-Mortar models and this mobile movement. Given the pragmatic, agreeable, and creative folks that we are in Minnesota, I’m hopeful that street food here can take its own shape and foster its own sustainable culture.
From Yelp Events description:
Presented by the Cultural Society of Filipinos in Minnesota, the public is welcome to attend the largest gathering of Filipino Americans in Minnesota. Enjoy the Taste of the Philippines as food vendors provide a sampling of Filipino dishes and desserts. There will also be a Filipino arts and crafts fair and information booth from various organizations. Entertainment is provided by various local Filipino artists and performers.
And the James Beard Awards Semifinalists Are …
The James Beard Foundation has announced its list of restaurant and chef semifinalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation Awards. The foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Committee selected the nominees from 21,000 online entries.
OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR
Larry D’Amico and Richard D’Amico, D’Amico & Partners, MinneapolisRISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, MinneapolisBEST NEW RESTAURANT
Bar La Grassa, MinneapolisOUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF
Michelle Gayer, Salty Tart Bakery, MinneapolisOUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE
La Belle Vie, MinneapolisBEST CHEF: MIDWEST
Isaac Becker, 112 Eatery, Minneapolis
Vincent Francoual, Vincent, Minneapolis
Håkan Lundberg, Cosmos, Minneapolis
Mike Phillips, The Craftsman, Minneapolis
Alexander Roberts, Restaurant Alma, Minneapolis
Lenny Russo, Heartland, St. Paul, MN
Stewart Woodman, Heidi’s, Minneapolis(via east-lake)
The Twin Cities are represented in 7 out of 20 of the semifinalists for Best Chef: Midwest, as well as many of the other major categories. Pretty darn awesome. I knew I was falling in love with the TC with good reason.
p.s. Please forgive the title for ending in a preposition.
rebeccalando asked: Okay! Why Minneapolis, how do you like it, how long have you been there, and how does it compare to the other cities you've lived in?
People ask me this all the time, especially my friends from home in Chicago or accumulated while I lived in New York and San Francisco. Growing up in and going to college around Chicago, I never really thought about Minneapolis. Not good or bad. Just never entered my mind. Other folks from the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, the Dakotas in particular) seem to look to Minneapolis as more of a destination than I ever considered.
That said, I moved here in 2007 to go to graduate school to work with a particular professor whose research interests match up closely with mine (i.e., Asian American psychology, experiences of racial-ethnic discrimination, identity, immigrant cultural adjustment, mental health to name a few things). You wouldn’t think that Minnesota (nicknamed “the Great White North”) would be a hotbed for this type of research, but there is quite a vibrant community of scholars, artists, and activists who are into these issues. Really interestingly, there are large communities of color here in the Twin Cities, such as Hmong and Somali refugees, other immigrant groups like Vietnamese people, and a large number of folks who were adopted internationally, etc. Despite this though, I still sometimes feel a bit out of place as a Filipina American and yearn for the incredible diversity of NYC and SF (even Boston, where I lived for a summer and visited frequently for years). Like I said though, I have a good group of friends and colleagues who are also transplants and we bond over our unique place in this city dominated by non-transplants.
Overall, I would say that I really, really like Minneapolis…I even found myself telling someone yesterday, “I think I could stay here.” You wouldn’t have heard me saying that 3 or 4 years ago.
You could probably say that Minneapolis-St. Paul is “urban-lite.” I appreciate that the Cities are fairly progressive (let’s ignore Michelle Bachmann for a minute), with mayors who support sustainable agriculture and infrastructure. I’ve experienced the MSP as quite queer-friendly. It is a very green, bike-friendly city. The public transportation could be better but it could also be a lot worse. You might be wondering, but what about the COLD? All that snow! Yes, it’s true. Long underwear have become a fact of life, but people here are incredibly hardy and it’s even a bit of a bonding point for us. That’s mostly the case in November-April (yes, it sometimes snows into April)…but then the months of May-October come and make up for all of that crap we put up with the rest of the year. Call it Seasonal Amnesia. Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, prides itself on its recreational offerings. Everyone is out and about when it gets warm - running, biking, sailing, hiking, whatever. Spirits are very high, perhaps because we can appreciate it that much more because of the cold winters. I would have to say that only San Francisco’s year-round-mild climate would beat it here.
As far as other draws - the arts/culture are pretty darn awesome here! Minneapolis has the second largest number of theaters per capita in the nation (second of course to your home, NYC) and an incredible number of artists in every domain. The TC also has a great music scene, with some interesting notes in rock/punk history, First Avenue, and of course PRINCE! If you have any interest in the whole arts and culture thing, it’s pretty rad.
And, of course, what about the food scene? Considering the history of the city, it’s no surprise that you’ll find less ethnic diversity than the other cities I’ve lived in (make no mistake, there are some really great ethnic restaurants like great pho, Japanese noodles at Tanpopo, Ethiopian at Fasika). But really, what I most appreciate is that food culture here reflects a lot of the Midwestern values that I truly admire. There’s a great respect for our ties to the land, as you can see from the ubiquity of establishments that honor local farmers and artisans. I also really admire how simple and honest a lot of the food is here. Even the most celebrated restaurants (e.g., La Belle Vie, Restaurant Alma, Meritage) manage to balance a high-end quality with an earnestness and lack of pretension. As a graduate student, I don’t have quite the resources to explore the entire scene, but I really love what I’ve experienced so far.
Of course, I would be remiss to fail to mention the people. Sure, there are stereotypes of Minnesota-Nice that occasionally show some truth every now and then. I wish that people were a little bit more direct sometimes, but you learn to navigate the passive aggressiveness and the subtlety of communication.On the whole, people are friendly. I’ve managed to find cool folks to connect with, though it wasn’t easy at first. There are a lot of people who are from the area and have social networks that go back to the elementary and middle school days. As a transplant, I have been able to find others like me with similar interests or life experiences. I’ve also found that I’ve adjusted well socially because of my experiences moving around so much in the last five years.
So…wow, I didn’t realize I had so much love for my current home. I tend to adapt pretty well to wherever I live, loving every city that I’ve been in (okay, except Boston. Sorry, Boston). In thinking to other places I’ve lived…New York City is wonderful with its intellectual culture and diversity, but ultimately, I think I value green space too much to live there.Part of me still holds onto San Francisco as a gold standard when it comes to my major values for life - diversity, weather, and food. But Minneapolis is doing right by me so far. She may not be Ms. Right, but she’s Ms. Right now, and I’m perfectly happy with that.
(via simplegoodandtasty)
Whoaaa, there’s a new Filipino restaurant in town - Subo, serving up small plates in the old Hell’s Kitchen space. And it’s not a greasy buffet. It might even be a source of Filipino Fine(r) dining that seems to elude the restaurant scene - especially outside of major metropolitan areas (see the now closed Cendrillon in NYC and Patio Filipino in San Mateo, CA).
I’m tentatively hopeful. Subo, expect me to bring an army of Filipinos hungry for something better than buffet fare. Stay tuned.
Press release via The Hot Dish/CityPages
Subo features exotic ingredients not easily sourced in the Midwest to create a feast. The Filipino chef-driven menu can be sampled through its distinctly adapted foods from China (pancit is similar to lomein, only using rice vermicelli), Southeast Asia (sour broth-based dishes have a cooling effect in hot tropical weather) and Spain (unlike its Spanish name, the Adobo Chicken Wings are marinated in sweet rice vinegar and garlic with coconut milk and soy sauce.) A chef for twenty years and most recently working in Manhattan, Neil Guillen was discovered by a business man from Minneapolis who returned to his cuisine countless times (despite Manhattan’s many offerings) for Guillen’s addictive cooking style. Guillen was then enticed him to Minneapolis to hang a shingle and share the joy of his unique sauces, meats, seafood, and vegetables in crunchy, brothy, comforting and palate-stimulating foods. Oddly enough, the space developed resembles a Manhattan bar, long and deep with a narrow storefront.
Almost literally, the Southeast Asian adventure scene is set. Market awnings, a cobblestone style floor and dangling star shaped light fixtures frame the entrance to the restaurant and invite a romantic cultural shift. The back bar itself is constructed of aged produce crates, arranged as if they are actually hanging off the back of a truck in the Philippines or somewhere in the tropical clime where rainy and dry seasons, mountains and forests meet. Continuing toward the back room, offset by a narrow brick archway, the perspective becomes distinctly more food-centered, with Subo’s iconic wooden spoon and fork logo applied to a pillar marking the exposed kitchen. The back room, whose sliding doors suggest rice sacks in their burlap panels, and skylights above, lined with sheer swags, create a tropical hideaway with delicate bamboo lights and buttresses overhead.
The approach for the “Subo Family,” as Guillen calls themselves, is to offer grand scale Filipino hospitality that unites the land of 7,000 islands just north of the equator and blends flavors of its nearby China, Thailand, Vietnam and even the colonies that settled there, like the Spanish, with classical French culinary training and two decades’ experience. This creates a confident use of noodles, rice, vegetables, seafood, spices and cured meats that only a cooperative approach to cuisine can deliver. The dishes are best ordered in sequence, so the flavors can remain the superstars and the “Subo Family” experience can charm any adventurer who comes in off the street. Its Chili Chocolate (Italian-named) Panna Cotta served in an espresso cup captures the “best of the best” in Subo’s eclectic style. The logo captures the host’s approach to the feast, with a fork in the left hand and a spoon in the right- all the better to mix and merrily combine the varied dishes with heaps of rice and accents of dipping sauces and each created by a master.
(image via Serious Eats)
When I recently declared that macarons were the new cupcake, I thought I was some kind of trendcasting genius. Token indulgences like this are bound to explode in these difficult economic times, much like lipstick sales skyrocket when times get tough. I even went and did a little Google Trends analysis of searches for “macaron” in the U.S., learning that interest in macarons has gone up dramatically from practically nil in the last two years:
Then I did a little more research and found that the Foodista blog beat me to this trend report by less than a month (goes to show…don’t neglect your blogging). They even included a little Google Trend screen cap (note that most searchers were within France). Then there was the macaron cookbook review featured on Eat Me Daily. Serious Eats has featured many a macaron post since 2007, most recently breaking some news that Starbucks is going to start selling macarons imported from France. That’s OK, this little blogger may not be the most forward food trendcaster, but I will continue to extol the virtues of this most sophisticated cookie (and don’t confuse it with the macaroon).
Pour moi, the X-Factor of a macaron is in the breakthrough of the delicate crust to a soft, airy cookie texture. The closest I have ever come to experiencing macaron perfection is Miette Patisserie.
Bouchon Bakery comes a close second:
Here in the Twin Cities, Sweets Bakeshop in St. Paul brings a respectable offering to the meringue gods. But I do find myself wanting in the texture department with the Sweets macarons, which have more of a dense, somewhat pasty interior. Perhaps the recipe will evolve, as Sweets is relatively new. I do have to say, the flavor of the salted caramel filling is outstanding. Below are a couple of macarons, one pistachio/chocolate and the other some other flavor that was not very memorable.
One of my friends suggested that macarons are too difficult to make to ever achieve the popularity of cupcakes. I am going to put that to the test with my own attempt next weekend. Stay tuned. Project *Macaron will return soon enough with the next effort at making this pastry take over the world.
EDITING NOTE: *I mistakenly added a second “o” the first time I posted this, totally proving that….well, I guess it’s pretty easy to mix up the macaron and the macaroon (hey, at least I know the difference), and I need a copyeditor. Oops!
