Each Friday, this list will track five of the best things Heavy Table’s writers, editors, and photographers have recently bitten or sipped. Have a suggestion for the Hot Five? Email editor@heavytable.com.
The Hot Five is a weekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm.
“Big Game” Hand Pies from Rustica Bakery
If you decide to go the high-class route for your Super Bowl party — and Lord knows, not everybody does or even should — the ovens of Rustica are offering a pre-orderable catering option that’s high on both deliciousness and convenience. Sweet and savory hand pies (a blueberry mascarpone hand pie and a goat cheese and sun-dried tomato galette) are perfect if you want to have a platter of locally made, highly noshable baked goods on hand. The blueberry pie is not overly sweet or too tart and austere, and the galette is a well-balanced mix of earthy, tart tomato and creamy goat cheese in an incredibly buttery crust.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]
The Legend at Passionflower
We profiled the owner of the Highland Park functional beverage shop Passionflower and tried an array of the shop’s drinks; among the standouts was The Legend (above left), a smoothielike blend of ginger, blueberries, pepita, goji berries, banana, vanilla whey, chia seeds, almond butter, and hemp milk that comprises a bright, distinctly not-sugary meal’s worth of nutrition in a drinkable format.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a profile by Joshua Page]
Chilaquiles at Restaurante El Hauchi in Mercado Central
The Chilaquiles at Restaurante El Hauchi are loaded far beyond the typical restaurant chips+eggs+salsa version of the dish. These come with cubed bits of fried potatoes, a ton of aggressively stringy, tasty cheese, and a couple of little, flat-pounded pieces of steak for good measure. At various points, you’re eating steak-and-potatoes, steak-and-eggs, spicy nachos, steak nachos, and more. It’s like a kaleidoscope of savory flavors.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton in advance of the next edition of the East Lake Checklist]
Ho Muk at On’s Kitchen
The beauty of the food at On’s Thai is that it’s hot, it’s funky, it’s complicated, and it’s real. Perhaps nothing is more emblematic of that than the fish and coconut stew known as Ho Muk. It’s about 10 pounds of flavor in a ¼-pound ramekin. You find a lot of food like this — challenging, colorful, delicious, and surprisingly affordable — scattered throughout our new dining guide aimed at out-of-town visitors but good for just about everyone who’s serious about finding great chow wherever it lives.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from our Deliciously Polyglot Dining Guide by James Norton]
The Morning Bun at Honey and Rye
When you cross a cinnamon roll with croissant or Danish dough, you get a morning bun, and the Honey and Rye version of this baked good is one of our favorites. It has the flaky sophistication of a croissant or Danish plus the gooey sweetness of a cinnamon roll, creating a “best of both breakfast worlds” situation. Good Danish dough has a chewy, flaky, buttery character that is well-complemented by an aggressive sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, and this great morning bun is at once sophisticated and childishly delightful.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a review by James Norton]