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.
The Black Ice Cream Cone at Milkjam Creamery
Olive oil and earthy black salt turned Milkjam’s black ice cream in a black cone (crowned with all-black toppings) into a deep, organic experience, like the best soil turned into a dessert. The obsidian waffle cone lacked the malty wonder of a standard option, but the overall experience — visually and gastronomically — was unique. The sundae-in-a-cone experience was a one-off, but hopefully we’ll see it return down the road.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Bjorn Christianson]
Brisket and Side at Surly Brewery
Good barbecue can be hard to find in Minnesota. Which is why I was surprised and delighted with the brisket and sides at the Surly Brewery this weekend — beautifully smoky, slow-cooked beef brisket in thick slices came out hot and sauce-free, accompanied by an excellent slice of warm jalapeño cornbread, soft Hawaiian rolls, and piles of bread-and-butter pickles and white onion slices. The Brussels sprouts in Thai vinaigrette were also excellent, and they paired up nicely with the traditional barbecue flavors. The tableside sauces were balanced and delicious. I made my own mini sandwiches with the Hawaiian rolls and accompaniments, and between sips of the latest Surly Pils, happily contemplated how this homey and clearly cared-for barbecue could come out of such a massive operation.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Peter Sieve]
Babka Ring from Brake Bread
Brake Bread is doing some lovely work at its newly opened bricks-and-mortar location (which we reviewed here), and that extends into the realm of sweet baked treats like the babka. Beautifully layered and not overly sweet, and smitten generously with cinnamon, this is a perfect accompaniment to coffee and a newspaper, or whatever your favorite digital equivalent might be.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #2 | Submitted by James Norton]
Flash-Fried Calamari at Silos
Fried calamari is, generally speaking, a loser of a dish — greasy, flavorless, and occasionally rubbery. The flash fried calamari at the newly opened Silos restaurant in Duluth (part of the Pier B resort) is another animal entirely — light, tender, and delicately crispy. If that wasn’t enough (and, honestly, it should be!), the addition of orange blossom honey and pickled ginger gives this dish a complexity and depth that is remarkable.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]
Beet Gose from Eastlake Brewery
In a risk that paid off greatly, Eastlake Brewery poured a pale pink beet Gose into the tasting glasses of hesitant drinkers at All Pints North. The Gose style, a nearly defunct German wheat ale resurrected by a handful of American brewers, is a summer favorite due to its use of salt, which falls shy of brine but adds perceptible tartness. The sour program at Eastlake (dubbed the Kirby Pucker Series) has been largely successful, and the beet Gose is no exception. It combines the root vegetable with pickling spices and the aforementioned salt, and is ideal as a palate cleanser on a hot day.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a Toast column about All Pints North by Paige Latham]