Heavy Table Hot Five: May 6-12

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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.

shepherd-song-banner-ad-horiz-3The Hot Five is a weekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm.

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James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

1-new - oneRed Curry on Rice with Shrimp and Pineapple at Sea Salt Eatery
As the weather goes from “nice” to “sublime,” outdoor dining shifts from “a good idea” to an “absolute imperative.” One of the metro’s finest options has long been Sea Salt Eatery, next door to a lovely raging waterfall, and serving all manner of seafood-bestudded dishes. We’re partial to their curries, like the mellow, rich, full-flavored red shrimp curry they’re serving over rice.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]

Paige Latham / Heavy Table
Paige Latham / Heavy Table

2-new - twoBlossom Wine from Schram Vineyards
Cold-climate grapes don’t have the best reputation among wine connoisseurs, but several skilled vintners are working to change that. Schram Vineyards uses a blend of Minnesota and West Coast grapes to create wines like Blossom, a beautiful white with apricot and pineapple notes. It’s unique, bright, and intriguing.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | From a feature by Paige Latham]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

3-new - threePaella Valenciana from Estrellón in Madison
The full-bore, completely serious, pleasing-to-people-who-have-eaten-in-Spain Spanish restaurant that we wish was in the metro area is hanging out about four hours to the southeast in Madison, Wis. Estrellón does all manner of tapas and drinks well (and their Basque cake is one of the best desserts we’ve had this year), but their Paella Valenciana deserves particular praise. Richly stuffed with roasted rabbit, shrimp, mussels, clams, chorizo, bomba rice, and tomatoes, it’s a $55 dinner for two (or maybe three, with a tapa or two) that lives up to the princely price tag through skillful execution.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from an Instagram post by James Norton]

Brianna Stachowski / Heavy Table
Brianna Stachowski / Heavy Table

4-new fourThe Farm: Braised Oxtail Ragout from Handsome Hog
The Farm is braised oxtail ragout served with an enormous and dense biscuit and topped with a duck egg and a pickled squash blossom. It is a plate so fine to behold that the restaurant made it the first thing you see when you land on their website. The oxtail was well browned, slightly sweet, and supremely beefy. The duck egg was crisp on the bottom, with the large yolk still runny. Mixing the yolk with the oxtail and sopping it up with a biscuit — that is the essence of soul food. You could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all three in the same lucky day.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | Submitted from a review by Ted Held]

Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table

5-new -fiveBrandade from Staghead in Red Wing
Staghead’s Brandade was the perfect find on a cold, blustery, spring night in Red Wing. The dish is composed of salt cod, potatoes, garlic, various other seasonings, and white truffle oil, served with a grilled baguette. The Parmesan on top was torched to a perfect crisp. If you’ve had the luxury of sampling brandade in Provence, France, in the fall, you’ll know Staghead’s Brandade is the real deal … and maybe even better.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Brenda Johnson]