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.
Pork Sausage Banh Mi at Tay Ho
There’s an awful lot to like about the earthy, soulful food at the criminally underappreciated Tay Ho in St. Paul (hint: order the Bun Bo Hue, the spicy noodle soup), but this banh mi may well take the cake. At $3, it would be absurdly cheap even if it were small and of low quality. It’s not, and it isn’t — the baguette is delightfully crackly and soft without being insipid, the sausage is ably spiced but doesn’t overpower the sandwich as a whole, and the mix of pickled veg and cilantro is wonderfully balanced. Plus, it’s big.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton from the upcoming debut of the Green Line Checklist]
Tomato Soup at ie
It doesn’t look like much in the picture above. It doesn’t look like much on the menu. But the tomato soup at the newly opened ie (Italian Eatery) is one of the most ravishing things we’ve tasted in quite some time. The secret is mascarpone cheese folded into the soup, which brings a silken, creamy richness that complements the tart, bright flavor of the tomatoes. The sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top (not pictured due to the fact it got eaten too quickly) didn’t hurt, either. A much needed reminder that food doesn’t have to be complicated or novel to be absolutely awesome.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]
Poppyseed Cake Topped With Lemon-Raspberry Custard at Savory Bake House
Longfellow’s newest bakery has some good stuff happening on both the sweet and the savory sides of the aisle. Here’s one from the former: the lemon-raspberry-custard-topped cake offers up a lovely hit of tart via the lemon curd, which looks like an egg yolk atop the poppy-seed-dusted cake. The cake itself is tender without being soft or over-moist, and the raspberry flavor comes through clearly.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #1 | From a review by James Norton]
Sour Pork Ribs from Thai Cafe
Almost peanut-brittle chewy and crackly, fatty and rich, and sour almost beyond human comprehension, these pork ribs will divide a table down the middle between those who are angry that the ribs were ordered and those who will obsess about them until returning a week or two later to eat them again. If you’re looking for a really bold taste of Thai food, uncompromised and gloriously real, here’s the dish for you.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton from the upcoming debut of the Green Line Checklist]
Chocolates from Patisserie 46
Boxed-to-order chocolates are the best kept secret at Patisserie 46. Each bonbon is a small masterpiece of well-flavored ganache or caramel coated in a thin layer of dark chocolate that snaps to the bite. The green piece in the bottom row is filled with a peppermint and lemongrass ganache. The beige dot on the chocolate in the middle row is a perfect half of a coriander seed that denotes the coriander-mango milk chocolate inside.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #2 | Submitted by Jane Rosemarin]