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.
Heliotropic Wooden Soul Saison Brett by Indeed Brewing
This week we taped this season’s last edition of our podcast, The Weekend Starts Now, at Indeed Brewing’s barrel room. We feasted on Annie B’s caramels; we were serenaded by Ashley Gold of Holidae (above); and we tasted our way through four of the beers in the sour, funky, wild, and barrel-aged series called Wooden Soul. My favorite: Wooden Soul #1, AKA Heliotropic, coming to bottles soon. A blend of three yeast strains, this dry, bubbly, grapy, slightly funky beer could easily pass for a sparkling wine. Some things do, in fact, get better with age.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]
Bone-in Kingston Style Jerk Chicken at Pimento
This tropically spicy menu staple at Pimento does not disappoint — from the fall-off-the-bone, marinated meat to the mounds of coconut rice, Jamaican slaw, and fried sweet plantains it’s served on. For just $9, this hearty meal is a home-cooked steal, and the fast-casual environment had us enjoying the Jamaican fare in no time. Choose one of five homemade sauces. We chose the medium-heat “Minnesota nice,” but next time we’ll ask for a side of the habanero-lime “Kill Dem Wid It,” just for some extra fun.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Ruthie Young]
Rotisserie Chicken from The Dirty Bird
Upton 43’s sidecar grab-and-go restaurant is about as simple as they come: a small counter slinging whole and half rotisserie chickens along with a few sides and sauces. We thought our chicken was divine — profoundly moist and tender flesh with a delicate-yet-crispy skin that was practically glowing with hot, spice-rubbed flavor. This is the only chicken we’ve met that can stand up to the wood-fired rotisserie of Holy Land, and that’s saying a lot.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]
Sweet Child of Vine by Fulton Beer at Chef Camp
This week we got up to Camp Miller to re-explore and start working on a dry run for this September’s Chef Camp retreat. (Five tickets remain; act quickly if you’re intrigued.) Our beer sponsor, Fulton, came with us, and we feasted on lamb and pesto sandwiches on Spoon and Stable bread, fire-roasted asparagus, and — of course — Fulton Beer. Sweet Child of Vine is one of the beers that made the company’s name, and it’s a gorgeous thing to drink in the woods on a summer day. It’s a multidimensional IPA with a lot to say, its flavor built upon a dramatic and ultimately satisfying tension between malt and hops.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]
Berry Crumble Ice Cream from Sweet Science
Lakewinds Food Co-op dispatched a “flavors of summer” box to our door, and it contained — hallelujah — a pint of Sweet Science ice cream. The timing of this particular flavor wasn’t accidental. Berry Crumble is summer in a cardboard cylinder: whole berries plus crumbly topping plus full-flavored ice cream in a single, convenient package.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]