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.
Sambusa from Ibrahim Restaurant
We liked so much about our trip to Ibrahim Restaurant on Lake Street that it’s hard to condense it down to a single experience. The hot sauce alone is worth a column. But we can at least start with the sambusa: a perfect filling-to-crust ratio, a crunchy-yet-chewy exterior, a diverse and deeply spiced filling (spicy but not excessively so). It may be the best in town. At the very least, it’s our favorite.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]
Pho from JACS Pho
JACS makes a sweet, rich and elegantly clear broth — one of our favorites in town — then concentrates, vacuum seals, and freezes it for delivery along with individual packets of noodles, meat, and herbs. Now your freezer is stocked with some genuine Minnesota-Southeast Asian hygge. (Everything about JACS Pho is both ersatz and friendly: Orders and payments are handled by text and Facebook messenger. Then a friendly owner shows up to hand you a tidily packed paper bag at a mutually agreed upon time.)
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Tricia Cornell]
Porchetta bagel at Rise Bagels
The pork in this remarkable bagel sandwich is incredibly tender and gently fennel-flavored, the flavored cream cheese brings a wonderful garlic note to the dish, and the tomato and arugula were nice accents without overwhelming the dish as a whole. One of the best sandwiches in town right now.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #1 | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]
Raspberry Roselle from Fair State Brewing
Fair State has been crushing it this year, and the Raspberry Roselle is a lovely note to go out on. This (lightly) sour ale is flavored with raspberries, which imparts a mildly tart, earthy, berry-powered flavor. The sweetness on this brew is ideal, neither painfully tart nor irritatingly sugary. It’s just delicate, tasteful, and elegant.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a review by James Norton]
Rush Creek Reserve from Uplands Cheese
Every year, Uplands Cheese rolls out its pricey ($25+) little wheels of Rush Creek Reserve, a raw milk cheese aged for 60 days. And every year, we go out and buy a wheel or two because there’s just nothing else like it — so creamy, so rich, so delicately earthy. It’s a flavor bomb, and it’s beautiful when spread on a Rustica baguette.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]