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.
Animal Crackers from Sun Street Breads
If you’re having the sort of day that makes you want to run away to the circus, but you maybe have kids at home who would miss you, here’s a suggestion: head to Sun Street Breads for a box of animal crackers, and make everyone happy. There are 15 buttery, larger-than-grocery-store cookies per box ($6): elephants, seals, lions, giraffes and camera-shy tigers.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Jane Rosemarin]
The Breakfast Taco at the Red River Kitchen food truck
Nothing starts the day like a good breakfast taco, and the Republic-run Red River Kitchen food truck is slinging one that’s composed of a perfectly balanced mix of egg, chipotle slaw, guac, and pico de gallo overflowing in a fresh corn tortilla.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Brenda Johnson]
Avocado Toast at Bar Luchador
We found a lot to like at the new tacos-and-tequila place, Bar Luchador, in the old Campus Pizza location. Near the top of the list: avocado toast, consisting of charred crostini with large amounts of creamy avocado, Kewpie mayo, and onion, and a nearly raw egg that brought a ton of unctuous richness to the party. This stuff was intense yet soothing.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | From a review by James Norton]
Sauteed Beef Over Fried Potatoes at Kim’s Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant
Some of our favorite dishes on the Central Avenue Checklist crawl we’ve been undertaking from 694 to Broadway Street have been the dark horses — items no one knew about or particularly wanted to try, but that we felt compelled to try anyway, due to intriguing ingredients, a sense of machismo, or in this case, a server recommendation. The unassuming brown-meets-brown appearance of the Sauteed Beef Over Fried Potatoes at Kim’s on Central Avenue lowered our already depressed expectations, but then we took a bite — and another — and another. There’s something intriguingly savory and delicious about the classic way potatoes and beef and onions play together on the palate, and we loved the variable texture on the potatoes. Some were soft and yielding … some were basically house-made potato chips. All were delicious in this curveball of an entree.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton from an upcoming Central Avenue Checklist]
Salmon at PUBLIC kitchen + bar
The server at PUBLIC kitchen + bar in St. Paul strongly recommended the salmon, and he was right to do so. Besides the gorgeous presentation, the salmon itself was cooked perfectly, with a crispy skin and melty interior and it was served on a strong tarragon mustard that paired equally well with the salmon and the vegetables. And, oh, the vegetables: crisp-tender green beans and fennel slices, and fingerling potatoes delicately seasoned with dill. Each item on the plate was a pleasure on its own, but together they were close to perfection. As delicious to eat as it was beautiful to look at.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Amy Rea]