Heavy Table Hot Five: Sep. 11-17

hotfive-flames

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.

Amy Rea / Heavy Table
Amy Rea / Heavy Table

1-new - oneTater Tots at Tavern 4&5
The tater tots at Tavern 4&5 in Eden Prairie are not even in the same category as sad tots coming out of a freezer bag. These bite-sized pieces of fluffy mashed potatoes are delicately coated in panko and fried, and are much lighter in texture than regular tots. They melt in the mouth and are the most comforting of comfort food. You can get them as an appetizer to share, but be prepared to fight for the last one.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Amy Rea]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

2-new - twoBeignets at Mon Petit Chéri
Mon Petit Chéri has quickly become one of our favorite neighborhood bakeshops, and we feel even more warmly still about it now that it’s offering (sporadically, on special) legitimate, New Orleans-style beignets. Far (far!) too many beignets in these parts come out doughy and heavy, more doughnut-like than divine. MPC’s version (which comes with an apple-cider glaze) is spot on, slightly chewy and cloudlike in texture.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

3-new - threeAvocado Toast at Bar Luchador
We found a lot to like at the new tacos-and-tequila place, Bar Luchador, in the old Campus Pizza location. Near the top of the list: avocado toast, consisting of charred crostini with large amounts of creamy avocado, Kewpie mayo, and onion, and a nearly raw egg that brought a ton of unctuous richness to the party. This stuff was intense yet soothing.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | From an upcoming review by James Norton]

Tricia Cornell / Heavy Table
Tricia Cornell / Heavy Table

4-new fourSour Cream Raisin Pie at Lange’s Cafe in Pipestone
This is road-trip food exactly as it was meant to be. Lange’s will serve you dinner at noon and supper in the evening and pie at every meal, if you want it — even after one of their famously mammoth cinnamon rolls at breakfast. Sour cream raisin pie is a diner tradition crying for a comeback. Lange’s is so thick it is almost spreadable — and sweet enough to make your teeth ache. In other words: exactly right.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | Submitted by Tricia Cornell]

Amy Rea / Heavy Table
Amy Rea / Heavy Table

Vomacha at Chameleon’s Coffee and Deli5-new -five
Chameleon’s Coffee and Deli in New Prague is one of many cafes in the area selling the traditional Eastern European soup known as vomacka, which they spell vomacha, but where other cafes serve it with a bottle of white vinegar on the side, Chameleon’s cooks it into the creamy soup. The result is a deeper flavor, with the vinegar cutting through the cream and dill more thoroughly than when it’s just added on top, and the soup is even richer and more complex.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Amy Rea]