Schneier on Security

We don’t want to mention any names, but we’re sick and tired of national chain pizza restaurants.

Focus-group tested, centrally controlled menu items are average by design. Sure, the food looks fun on television, and even on the plate. But it’s bland. It’s mediocre.

For national chains, the name of the game is to eschew any sense of place and to entice every consumer. A pizza chain might not offend anybody, but it won’t delight anybody either.

The Italian Pie Shoppe is not a national chain. It’s local, with four restaurants in the Twin Cities. Two are owned by the same person, and two are franchises. We dined at the Yankee Doodle Square location in Eagan…

There are two basic styles of Mexican restaurant.

One is the more traditional variety. Think of small perfect tacos consisting of nothing but grilled pork and cilantro folded into a corn tortilla.

The other style is sometimes called Tex-Mex: tacos filled with plenty of meat and cheese, served with rice and beans and sour cream and some iceberg lettuce. Expect every square inch of the large plate to be covered with food.

El Tequila in Apple Valley is a Tex-Mex place.

The combination plates provide nearly every possible permutation of enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, chalupas and more. We found the combinaciones pequeñas (small combinations) to be huge plates, and the combinaciones grandes only a bit larger…

Strip malls don’t work in Minnesota, and here’s why: When it’s 10 degrees below zero, you really need a second door between the bitter weather and the store. But once you’ve entered Junior’s and found a seat away from the icy blasts coming from the door, fill up and warm up with the kind of basic grill cooking you used to find all over America before the rise of fast food.

What we like best about Junior’s Cafe and Grill in Eagan is the friendly, family-run atmosphere. No, we like the tender tasty pot roast. No, it’s the mashed potatoes. Well… let’s be honest. We adore the cheap, cheap prices. Imagine a huge half-pound burger on a grilled bun and served with a giant pile of hot fries for $4…

Escaping the manufactured surroundings of corporate restaurants is, to us, a major advantage of world travel. We love the family-owned taverns and bistros in Europe, the comedores of Guatemala. Give us a personal vision, and we’re sympathetic. Give us a meal made from the heart, and we’ll be friends forever.

Nina’s Steakhouse in Burnsville is such a restaurant. The decor is faux garden mixed with low-rent disco, unaffected and guileless. No focus group has been anywhere near the dining room, and we love that. Formerly known as the Russian Tavern, Nina’s is still a gathering place for the area’s Russian immigrants…

January is the perfect time of year to enliven your taste buds and warm up with the light, flavorful and exotic cuisine of Thailand.

Central to Thai cooking is a complex union of flavor provided by ginger, lemongrass, garlic, cumin, basil, mint, lime, tumeric and more. And don’t forget the chilies. Thai chefs have produced some of the most astoundingly hot foods we have ever tried (and failed) to eat.

Happily, Spice Thai, newly opened in Savage, is serving wonderful, aromatic food that is hot enough to warm you up but not melt you down.

We love Thai soups and how they symbolize the harmonies and balances of Thai cooking. Thai food is all about balance of tastes. Tom Yum soup is a distinctive hot-and-sour soup with huge shrimps and mushrooms, seasoned with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal (similar to ginger), and mixed with the sour note of fresh lime and the sweet note of palm sugar. The combination is pungent and perfect on cold nights…

Notice the African bazaars, Asian markets, and Mexican panaderías around the area. Even in the far-flung suburbs, the white-bread woebegone Minnesota facade is being replaced by wild new tastes from far-off lands. Well, Chicago, anyway.

Chicago Johnny’s in Lakeville serves hot dogs. If you want to pass as a Chicago native, order a “hot dog loaded.” You’ll get the classic Vienna all beef hot dog. You’ll get a poppy seed bun, steamed. This will come topped with mustard, a violently green relish (called piccalilli), diced onions, sliced tomatoes, a pickle spear and small mildly hot peppers (called sport peppers). The whole dog is seasoned with celery salt…

Search the Internet for information on Korean cuisine and you invariably stumble across the proverb that you can eat as much Korean food as you want and not gain weight. We doubt that but we can report that Korean food is nutritious, balanced and low in calories.

Traditional Korean cooking includes a lot of fish and vegetables. Common seasonings are soy sauce, red pepper paste, soybean paste, ginger, garlic and sesame oil. Rice comes with every meal.

Hoban Korean Restaurant in Eagan is an excellent introduction to the cuisine.

None of the appetizers were very interesting. Mandoo are fried dumplings; these were too greasy for our taste. Even the bin dae tuk, bean pancakes filled with scallions and seasonings, were greasier than we’ve seen elsewhere. Stick with the entrees and you’ll be happier…