Heavy Table Hot Five: Jan. 16-22

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Each Friday afternoon, 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.

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

1-new - oneGoat burger from The Curious Goat at Sociable Cider Werks
Chef Ian Gray’s goat burger is one of the most accessible and comforting culinary wonders floating around the Twin Cities right now. We tasted this hearty patty topped with rich, delicious Singing Hills goat cheese curds and a mixture of kale and herbs and found it to be a thing of real beauty. Try it with Sociable’s Freewheeler cider or its pilsner.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Tweeted by James Norton]

Isabel Subtil / Heavy Table
Isabel Subtil / Heavy Table

2-new - twoHouse Special Noodle in Soup at Keefer Court
The House Soup at Keefer Court features two delicacies: The thick slices of pork are sweet and tender, and the cuts of duck are rich and moist. Both go perfectly with the deep shellfish and pork broth. In case the duck and pork aren’t enticing enough, the soup also includes a couple of deliciously dense shrimp wontons that pop with flavor, as well as a heaping portion of thin but sturdy noodles.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Tweeted and reviewed by Josh Page]

Maja Ingeman / Heavy Table
Maja Ingeman / Heavy Table

3-new - threeCalamarata with Raw Tuna at Bar La Grassa
Move over, orange-cauliflower gnocchi — while the creamy, comforting dish certainly have their (admittedly excellent) place, BLG’s chewy, al dente squid-shaped rings of pasta and huge, tender chunks of tuna conjure up a setting far from the landlocked tundra. The textural contrast — yielding, fresh tuna versus chewy, sauce-enrobed pasta — is a delight. Better yet is the shallot-and-garlic-heavy tartare treatment given the tuna, and the way it slowly intermingles with the brightly spiced (and colored) hot sauce coating the pasta. We’ll gladly hang at the pasta bar, whiling away the winter with a forkful of this pasta in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Contributed by Maja Ingeman]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

4-new fourUnagi rice box at Origami in Uptown
This simple dish of sliced, sauce-lacquered eel served on a bed of rice is somehow profoundly exotic while tasting tremendously comforting. There’s a luscious warmth to the dish that makes it ideally suited to the depths of winter.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Contributed by James Norton]

Brasserie Zentral logo
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

5-new -fiveKasha Varnishkes at Brasserie Zentral
The waiter at Brasserie Zentral warned us that some people are deeply offended by the kasha varnishkes because it doesn’t taste like their Bubbe’s. (Tradition!) But if I could eat only one thing for the rest of the winter, it would be this. Instead of button mushrooms, they use chanterelles, and that’s mostly what you taste: rich and sharp and fruity.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | Contributed by Tricia Cornell]