I’m going to see Dolly Parton perform at Northrop Auditorium tonight, as part of her Backwoods Barbie tour, and decided to take my mom for an early Mother’s Day present. I’m thinking we ought to have southern cooking tonight, but for the life of me, I can’t think of a good place to go. We’re originally from Springfield, Missouri, gateway to the Ozarks, so I’m familiar with the dishes, but only ever from having it cooked at home. Where do we go in the Twin Cities to have good Southern cooking these days?

(I had originally used the word cuisine in my post, but I changed it to dishes, feeling that the word “cuisine” has no place in reference to Southern cooking. At least not until you get to New Orleans)

Mother’s Day is the only day of the year that Broders’ Pasta Bar is open all day. Broders’ is hands down one of my favorite places in town. They’re doing brunch from 10am-2:30pm and the regular pasta bar is open all day, from 9am-10:30pm. There’s also a kids menu available all day.

Calling ahead to get on the list on Friday or Saturday night means you’ll only wait an hour instead of two (unless you’re waiting when they open or wait until right before they close), so I bet they’re going to be swamped all day on Sunday. But really, it’s soooo worth it. (See, Leif agrees with me.) So as highly as I’d recommend Broders’, good luck getting in there.

I’ll actually be at Turtle Bread (Chicago Ave location) early on Sunday morning. Without my mom or my mother-in-law.

What else looks good for Mother’s Day eats? What are y’all doing for and with your mothers on Sunday?

Minneapolis will soon see the opening of, Agri, another “sustainable” restaurant at 4300 Bryant Ave. My boyfriend alerted me to the restaurant’s opening after trolling through craigslist and finding this job ad. Apparently, Fabrizio Ciccone is the man behind the grub, and also runs Restaurant Aura in Uptown. Aura’s menu seems pretty straight shot, but everything sounds dependable if you’re looking for good food, even if it’s not adventurous.

I haven’t been able to turn up much info via the internet, but I’m guessing the restaurant will be opening sometime after May 10th, as that’s when they’ll be interviewing for servers.

Anyone able to dish on Ciccone?

Every year Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream celebrates by providing free ice cream cones. Today, my friends, is that day.

From their email announcement:
“It all began 30 years ago, Ben & Jerry scooped up free ice cream all day to thank the community for supporting them in their first year. Now it’s an annual tradition at many of our scoop shops around the world.”

According to the site, all but two of our local B&J’s are participating (not Shakopee or MSP Airport).

Yesterday was my birthday, and sometimes on your Birthday you get to go out to eat. I was able to get food from four places yesterday, which is something I don’t do very often. Here is where I went.

Brownie’s Restaurant, in Northeast for breakfast. 2 eggs, Corned Beef Hash, Hash Browns and toast. Pretty good stuff, the staff at Brownies is always really friendly and the few times I went there the food was good. Of course living in Northeast we don’t go out for breakfast much. Brownies - 2510 Kenzie Ter St.,Minneapolis.

Whitey’s World Famous Saloon, this is a place I hit at least once a month and this time I brought my Mom there to show here what it was all about. I had the Roast Beef Sandwhich and we had some Walley strips for an appetizer. I never have had a bad food experience at Whitey’s. Make sure to have a Greyhound with their freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Whitey’s - 400 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis.

Pizza in the evening! We were having family over in the evening, and what is easier then Pizza. In the last few months, after people mentioning it to me I finally tried the Afghani Pizza at Crescent Moon Restaurant. Sometimes it’s spicier then other times, but always tasty. We also ordered two pizzas from Snap Pizza, for those who didn’t want the spicy pizza. Snap! has pretty solid Pizza, not my favorite in town but good and way better then Dominoes. Crescent Moon 2339 Central Ave NE. Minneapolis - Snap! - 2851 Johnson St. NE Minneapolis.

So, the mild hubbub over at mnspeak.com is about rockstar restaurateur Thom Pham closing down Temple Bar & Restaurant on Saturday night. If you’re not into dining out but the name seems familiar, perhaps you remember the owner of Thanh Do, Azia, and Anemoni Sushi from the story about him being attacked by a group of men outside Azia on Eat Street. Or perhaps you remember him from the tale of the night he stopped in to Temple and a pair of dine-and-dashers skipped out on a very large bill, then showed up at Azia later in the night, where Pham chased them down and exercised his judo skills.

I haven’t been able to find anything in the media about Temple closing yet, and I never saw any prediction of its end either. So I haven’t been able to verify the rumor. From what I’ve read about Pham and his restaurants, he is the goldenboy of culinary modernity, with sheek atmospheres and satisfying and sophisticated food. His other restaurants are successful, so what made this one a flop? (If it has, in fact, flopped.) Perhaps it was the French-Asian fusion cuisine, perhaps it was the highbrow element, perhaps it was the prices, but I doubt it was the naked sushi.

I never made it over to Temple, as it wasn’t in my immediate price range, so I can’t testify to its quality and performance. Either way, it’s too bad that another restaurant has gone under–it takes so much effort, capital, and PR to get one running in the first place. Not that Pham doesn’t have other projects to manage.

I spend a lot of time driving between Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Super Wal-Mart, coops and farmers markets buying organic produce (among other things) and getting what I pay for — expensive prices for food not treated with chemicals. Check out this graph and article from the NYT, “Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles”

Over all, grocery prices have increased about 5 percent over the last year, though some staples like conventional eggs jumped 30 percent and milk, 13 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index. That government index does not break out prices for organic food.

Organic manufacturers and retailers said prices began increasing last fall but were only now starting to spike significantly in some parts of the country…Organic food is typically 20 percent to 100 percent more expensive than a conventional counterpart; the gap has narrowed in recent years as discount retailers like Wal-Mart have offered organics and more private-label organic products have become available, according to the industry.

As you can see from the charts, Minneapolis is ranking 1st or 2nd in highest price organic staples in the NYT’s informal poll of organic food prices. The article alludes to a drought in the Upper Midwest that may have caused poor yields for some organic crops. It also quotes one organic food eater in Saint Paul (to represent all of us, mind you), who says, “he had quit smoking and cut back on drinking and ’superfluous recreational spending, like going skiing’” in order to keep buying organic.

Well, besides cutting back on smoking and drinking, what’s your solution for buying organic in the most expensive organic market in the country?

I’ve lived in Eden Prairie two years now but had never eaten at Lions Tap until tonight.

From their Web site:

Lions Tap has been rated as having one of the best hamburgers in the Twin Cities area by almost all surveys around. In 1995 we were recognized as one of the best 500 restaurants in the entire nation. The good news is that it’s right here in Eden Prairie.

Fresh ground beef individually pattied daily, and our own “secret” seasoning are two of the reasons for the hamburgers famous reputation. The buns are also given special care; heated and slightly toasted on the grill. Simple. Hearty. Juicy. Napkins are plentiful, and necessary.

What the site doesn’t say is when ordering your burger, your waitress will ask you if you want it the “normal way - medium.” And if you say yes, your burger will come dripping blood down the bottom bum, all over the paper plate and leave blood drops onto the table and possibly your shirt with each bite.

Don’t get me wrong - the double cheeseburger I ordered was delicious. Just the right size, fresh bun and salty meat (thanks to the “Famous Lions Tap Seasoning”). Tap beers are served in munchin glasses and the place has plenty of charm.

I’ll be back, but I think next time I’ll ask for medium well.

Totino’s Italian Kitchen, local pizza pioneer and mainstay of Minneapolis Italian cuisine since 1951, closed its northeast Minneapolis Central Ave location last fall while vowing to reopen soon at a new suburban location.

And while you could still buy the Party Pizzas at any discount grocery chain, many of us were quite missing the gigantic ravioli, drippy meatball subs and Mrs. Totino’s Italian Salad.

Well the new location (within an old Mattress Factory, mind you) is now up and running way up in Mounds View.

It has some new flair (flat screen TVs), old traditions (that gigantic red booth and the same delicious red sauce) and thank God — no gnats.

No gnats — which were my least favorite thing about the old location!

According to the Strib, the new place is about half the size of the old one and seats a maximum of 96 instead of 140. That explains the two hour wait last Wednesday.

Or maybe that’s just old and new friends anxious to get their fill of a Minneapolis classic, now 30 minutes north.

Last night’s episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods show on The Travel Channel was all about Minnesota.

He visited Ingebretsen’s, Olsen Fish Company, and the annual lutefisk dinner in Cyrus, MN (with visiting German polka band).

Of course you can’t talk about MN without talking about the State Fair with its elk burgers, cheese curds, stuff on a stick, dairy products, and Marjorie Johnson (man, she can talk).

He made the restaurant scene sound pretty good for about 10 seconds, and then he went to the Rail Station for a meat raffle. Next up was Heartland and Lenny Russo’s locally-sourced, determined-daily menu. I’m going to eat there for the first time next week.

Okay, I stopped watching after that. His next stops were the White Earth Indian Reservation and Grand Marais.

The beginning of the show kind of read like any Minnesota 8th grader’s history project (except maybe the meat raffle part). We’re all a little self-conscious about looking like rubes to folks in other states, but I had to admit that he didn’t show anything that wasn’t completely true. You just won’t find me in Cyrus, MN.