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 Kingfield Gobbler at Sun Street Breads
If you enjoy leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches, you’ll likely dig the Kingfield Gobbler. There’s really not much too it — just a mound of super juicy pulled turkey, mayo, and veg on a wheat bun. It’s simple comfort food at its best. Pro-tip: Order a side of barbecue sauce to add a little zip.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Joshua Page]
Masa Cake at Restaurant Alma
I’ve been reading Daniel Patterson’s The Art of Flavor. It’s about how flavors, textures, cooking methods, and other factors play off one another. The masa cake at Restaurant Alma is an example of how it works. The cake itself has a creamy center — but not without a bite — and a surface that’s fried crisp. The smoked chicken and the mole share their warm, deep flavors, while the cilantro and pickled onions add a sharp brightness. Altogether this was a deft combination of numerous excellent ingredients disguised as a simple, comforting dish.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Jane Rosemarin]
Mini-Pop Tarts by Duluth’s Best Bread at Chef Camp
If you’re starting camp at 6:30 in the morning, as some guests at Chef Camp do, you need something with a bit of sweetness and substance to help you into the waking world. Enter the mini “pop tart,” cooked on site by the guest bakers of Duluth’s Best Bread. These jam-filled, iced pastries are surprisingly light and delicate, with none of the cardboardlike bulk of their commercial namesakes. These seemingly humble pastries were shockingly good.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]
French Fries at Fat Chance
Brooklyn Park’s Fat Chance is known for its sandwiches (which we’ll tell you about on Monday), but it should also be noted that they know a thing or two about French fries. Lightly crispy on the outside, hot and fluffy on the inside, and served with a house-made dipping sauce that involves mayo and sriracha, these are worth the trip all by themselves.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a review to appear Monday by Amy Rea]
Blissful Ignorance Double IPA by Lupulin Brewing
The appropriately named Blissful Ignorance double IPA by Big Lake’s Lupulin Brewing is an excellent example of the style. The taste and aroma (even from an unsanctioned kind of glass, tsk, tsk) is a delightful blend of tropical fruit and pine that all but masks the 9.0 percent ABV. If you are having only one beer with your video games, technical manuals, or whatever helps you relax at the end of a long day, this is a mighty fine choice.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Ted Held]
Alma adopted the masa cake from its sibling Brasa? Cool.