Valley Vine and Harvest Throwdown

the churn

Skimming the cream of local food news

• Pickled Rhubarb and Recipe Roundup

  No-mayo potato salad, grass-fed mini burgers, crunchy swai with basil-goat cheese potato puree, curried pea soup, pickled rhubarb (etc.), white bean ragout, Italian sausage grill with gnocchi, leftover oatmeal pancakes, and cheddar chive buttermilk biscuits with extra creamy scrambled eggs.

• SpongeBob Pork Belly and May 25 Tweet Rodeo

  The latest from Twitter: @piccolo_mpls sees visions of SpongeBob in pork belly, @decantthis found a summer gift for wine lovers, and @chowgirls will host a bridal brunch in June.

• The Brewery Boom Booms On and Morning Roundup

  Big Wood Brewery hopes to set up a taproom in White Bear Lake (zoning code update required), Northgate Brewing is opening early this fall in Northeast and will make English session beers, DeRusha digs Cafe Levain and praises the short rib burger, a construction boom in Lowertown could bring some new restaurants and bars, Madison will soon be home to a local grenadine by Quince and Apple and a Death’s Door Spirits distillery, and why you should grill clams, cheese, and other crazy stuff.

• Ultra Late Mid-Afternoon Morning Roundup

  A fairly amazing-sounding Better Beer Society brown bag series event at Butcher & the Boar, some revised menus at local restaurants, a local foodie’s epic Mother’s Day feast, tasting notes for Summit Pilsner and Steel Toe’s Provider, the Star Tribune’s Taste 50, and a new urban farm in Minneapolis.

• Restaurant Parking Changes in St. Paul and May 24 Tweet Rodeo

  The latest from Twitter: @Labellevie_mn gets a Zagat mention (along with 112 Eatery, Vincent, Alma, and Bar La Grassa), @andrewzimmern eats something like a Treatzza Pizza at El Taller in Tijuana, and @weeklydish is excited for new, more flexible parking requirements for restaurants in St. Paul.

Read more of the Churn