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.
Lox and Bagel at Black Dog
Our favorite dish during a recent trip to Black Dog was the Lox and Bagel ($12). The house-cured lox could almost take you from Lowertown to the Lower East Side. Mild tasting, but with a pronounced salmon flavor, oily, but not the least bit slimy, and soft without a hint of stringiness, this lox was expertly done. Normally, when a bagel arrives toasted and buttered, one senses an attempt to disguise staleness or industrial flavor, but in this case, it appeared to be just a stylistic choice. We suspect this bagel would be just as good untoasted. Capers, sliced tomato, onion, cucumber, and a dish of cream cheese completed the outfit.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted from a review by Ted Held]
Apple Pie a la Mode at La La Homemade Ice Cream in Minneapolis
A few new ice cream shops have opened in Minneapolis, and I think La La is my favorite. Jennifer Lisberg, the owner, is doing things right. Her ice cream is bold and flavor-forward, rich and creamy. Simple comes to mind, but it’s so much more than that. She uses local ingredients when they are available and keeps batches small. For fall, La La is featuring homemade apple pie a la mode. We sampled many apple pies for the Heavy Table’s Great Autumn Pie Bracket a couple of years back, and Lisberg’s pie meets all the best in class qualities: firm, sweet, slightly tart apples; hints of cinnamon and other warm spices; flaky, buttery, tender crust. Jennifer mentioned something about winning awards for her apple pie, but I wasn’t listening too intently since I was focused on getting the perfect combination of ice cream and pie into my mouth.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted Brenda Johnson]
Apple Ale by New Glarus Brewing Co. in Wis.
“Apple Ale sings with the fresh crisp taste of Wisconsin apples.” Sure, it’s bottle text and it’s promotional, but the liquid in the bottles of New Glarus Apple Ale backs up the poetry with flavor. This beer is right on the border with cider, having a clean, crisp, floral apple flavor as its backbone. With little in the way of hops, the beer is straightforward and elegant, with none of the cloying sugar or traffic-jam flavor clashing you might fear from a fruited beer. New Glarus knows how to play to its strengths: fruit and beer tastefully intermingled. This is a brew worth crossing the border for.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]
The Fantastic Mr. Fig doughnut from Rebel Donut Bar
This two-bite donut is relatively new to town, but we welcome it — and all of Rebel Donut Bar’s creations — wholeheartedly. The Fantastic Mr. Fig is sold exclusively at Rebel pop-ups at Inbound Brewco’s North Loop taproom, and it offers the perfect cure for a sweet tooth or a beer-fueled appetite. The sweet bite’s icing is crafted with Inbound’s weizenbock beer and brown Turkish figs, and it’s topped with a caramel drizzle. The muffin-shaped mini doughnut’s slightly crisp edges and complex, not-too-sweet icing offer an entirely new and very satisfying doughnut-eating experience. Rebel Donut Bar currently accepts only advance catering orders but will soon open a storefront in Northeast Minneapolis.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Ruthie Young]
Two is Better than One at Original Coney Island in Duluth
Mounds of chopped onions, the restaurant’s own meat sauce (looks and tastes like chili), and bright yellow mustard — I don’t think they’ve changed the recipe since Gus Saites opened the restaurant in 1921. The hot dogs might be smaller and the buns bigger, but if you’re hankering for the real deal, this Coney dog is it.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted Brenda Johnson]