Yes, ‘Rock Of Ages: The Musical” is a different kind of show. Not many musicals can encourage fans to dress up in 80s garb just to rock out in the audience. It’s that kind of show. You have to expect that, however, when you feature the classic larger-than-life themes, big-haired bands and mega-hits from the 80s.

Quick side note: For those of you who might be reluctant to see a musical in general, Rock Of Ages is unique in the fact that it has the ability to reach a wider audience — blending a classic musical with a fist-pumping rock concert atmosphere. I love rock concerts, and, at times, I felt like I was at one.

Anyways, I’m fairly ignorant when it comes to what constitutes a spoiler, so I’ll be subtle in my description of the overall show, and try to keep hidden what might be revealing.

First off, you might not want to bring your kids to this show. Among other mature themes, the show includes strippers, foul language and plenty of poop jokes.

But that’s what makes it fun for the rest of us.

The story features a music venue/bar, The Bourbon Room, and all the drama that occurs around it, including the classic love between two characters, Drew and Sherrie, who are struggling to make it in the big, wide, over-sparkled world.

Drew, a bar back/bathroom cleaner at the Bourbon Room, dreams of making it big as a rock musician, but can’t find the right inspiration to connect with listeners. That is, until Sherrie comes into the scene, providing exactly just what Drew needs — whether he realizes or not.

Then, there’s a major rift between the two … that being (cough) Stacy Jaxx, the front man of the fictional rock powerhouse, Arsenal.

While not giving away anything major, Drew receives some advice (by the amazing narrator) and is urged to “screw the writer” and write his own destiny. Whether or not that ends with him melting faces on the stage – or reconnecting with his beloved Sherrie – is for you to see.

Rock of Ages will be in Minneapolis until May 19 for five shows. Tickets ($34-$94) are still available. For ticket info. or more information, click here.

The namesake burger on a Patisserie 46 brioche bun topped with an over easy egg. (credit: CBS)

–By Rosa Smith

Do yourself a favor.

Take a drive down westbound Franklin Avenue, past Lake of the Isles and turn left. Nestled between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, you’ll find Chef Don Saunders’ newest concept, The Kenwood.

With seasonal ingredients and rapt attention to detail in both the kitchen and dining room, Saunders and his staff have created a stimulating zig amongst zags in the Minneapolis restaurant scene.

Made with red wine and garnished with cornichons and prosciutto, the bloody mary’s perfectly seasoned. (credit: CBS)

Designed by Jim Smart (Smart and Associates) the addition to the Kenwood neighborhood has all the romantic charm of an East Coast bed and breakfast (minus the fireplace). The décor features walls covered in plaid fabric, hardwood floors, reclaimed wood tables, and button tufted banquettes.

Paned windows offer a view of the Kenwood Elementary School playground. While not a particularly picturesque view, the windows do allow natural light to bathe the cozy room. In the evening, overhead lighting is dim and accentuated by candlelight, making the space even more intimate.

If you’re looking for a full bar, you won’t find it here. However, the venue does offer beer, Dogwood coffee, and Tea Source tea, as well as a wine list that would make any sommelier proud.

My group walked in to a bustling dining room at the height of brunch. The lounge area is in the dining room, but not intrusive. You can order beverages while you wait for your table. We were quoted a 20-minute wait, but ultimately waited less than 10 minutes.

Mussels with a perfectly light and buttery broth are a definite must. (credit: CBS)

With an assist from Pip Hanson (Marvel Bar) the bloody mary is re-imagined. Made with red wine and garnished with cornichons and prosciutto, it’s perfectly seasoned. The red wine complements the tomato juice and other spices, giving it a unique floral note.

The namesake burger on a Patisserie 46 brioche bun topped with an over easy egg was a favorite at the table, as was the huevos rancheros, (which my friend wolfed down in — seemingly — one felled swoop after reluctantly giving me a bite). The salmon benedict on ryebatta was a bit of a disappointment. The amount of dill in the salty hollandaise could have been considered felonious assault on the senses.

The pork tenderloin was cooked to perfection. (credit: CBS)

We moved on to the cheese plate, garnished with mixed greens, cranberries, strawberries, and marcona almonds. It features a truffled pecorino, a Camembert-style triple cream, an aged goat cheese and delightfully strong bleu cheese.

Dinner was out of this world. Duck confit cigars wrapped in a crisped shell accompanied by figs and a light demi glace made for a perfect appetizer.

The savory pain perdu is a collaborative effort between Saunders and his Chef de Cuisine, Matthew Hughes. It is, by and large, one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. The pork tenderloin was cooked to perfection, accompanied by a bean ragout, serrano peppers and ham hock was also extraordinarily delicious.

Indulge in the double chocolate stout bread pudding. (credit: CBS)

If you have a sweet tooth, I recommend you indulge in the double chocolate stout bread pudding topped with coffee ice cream.

Food and service this outstanding does come at a price, but it won’t break your bank.

Now, please. Stop reading this, get out and take that drive down westbound Franklin Avenue. You’ll be glad you did.

–Rosa Smith is a WCCO-TV intern writing for the Curiocity blog. She is a senior at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. You can follow her on Twitter @missikat

They may not be as ‘twisted’ in name as they used to be but one thing’s certainly for sure — this truck will put an end to your hunger.

The House of Hunger food truck has been around for a couple of years now but what they’re able to do with a tiny kitchen and a hefty menu continues to impress.

Whether it’s elevating Philly sandwiches with their special sauce or giving a twist to your typical hot dog, the staff inside this food truck will ensure you’re both fully fed and fully entertained.

Let’s find out more about this week’s feature.

(credit: CBS)

House Of Hunger
Find them at @houseofhunger and at houseofhunger.com

Owner: Wesley Kaake and Cody Allen

Date the food truck opened: Roughly July 4, 2011.

What kind of food do you serve? Urban comfort food.

Price range of menu: Anywhere from $5 to $12 per meal, depending on what you get.

Hours of operation: Usually on the streets from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., plus various special events.

What was your job before opening the food truck? I did tech support for Apple, for iPhones, iPhone Touch and iPads. The owner of the truck (Wesley) was an administrative assistant for Globe University, until he finished his business degree and then started looking into, originally, a doughnut shop. It evolved and now we have a food truck, not a doughnut shop.

What made you change paths from doughnuts to a food truck? The money. Quite honestly, it was the money. When we first went in for a loan for the doughnut shop, they told us 15 percent down, no problem, we could get the loan. And then we went back a couple months later all ready to go, with all the signatures and they wanted 50 percent, which, if we had that we wouldn’t have needed the loan in the first place. So we started talking about the food truck because the idea had been brought up in meetings with the city, just as an idea to keep in mind, and we did it. We worked on the doughnut shop for about five, five-and-a-half months and then within two weeks after that fell through, we were driving out to Ohio to pick up the truck. So, it went quick. (Laughs)

So from tech support to food trucks, what made you want to get into the culinary business? I’ve always enjoyed cooking and I loved people. I had actually just finished my IT degree the first year, a couple months into our season, so I was, and am still, managing the website, facebook, twitter, all the digital stuff. All the logo work that we’ve done, all of that stuff. So I still get the IT part of it, just not the “have you tried turning it off and back on yet?” We’ve gotten past that stage.

(credit: CBS)

How did you come up with the name? We actually bought it. It came with the truck, we found it. It was originally the Twisted Sister House of Hunger. Come the end of last year or beginning of this year, we’re no longer using the first half — it got censored by the 80s.

And the logo, too? Yep, she came with it. Her name was different. We have changed the name to Kathy, in honor of Wesley’s mom who passed away two weeks before we opened the truck. It was definitely a struggle to get going. He lost his mom and it was a six-month decline so it was very, very difficult but he kept it together. In our very first event, there was a live band playing and they actually sang a song dedicated to Wesley and his mom, in honor of our first day opening when she couldn’t be there. So that was awesome. We’ve had a couple special events where they’ve acknowledged us on stage and we’re like, “Wait, did they just say our name?” We always try to take care of the bands, as well as our customers. They can’t play good music unless they’re well fed.

How is the food prepared? We make it all fresh. If you order a Philly, it will be five minutes because we will be cooking the vegetables fresh. We’ll be toasting the bun as soon as you order it. The fries are obviously cooked to order, because we don’t have a warmer. Everything’s made fresh. We do have a little bit higher of ticket times than other trucks just because we’re pulling it right off the grill to give it to you. There’s only so much you can do with a 24-inch grill. So sometimes that can have a little bit of an effect but we pride ourselves with having a lot of fun with the customers, not only to distract them but to make sure they’re having fun since they’re standing out here with us for 15 minutes or so. We just want everybody to have fun, enjoy the food and kind of make it a thing, instead of “oh hey, let’s go get lunch.” It’s kind of a thing — we’ll walk out of the truck and give people hugs. We have our regulars. We definitely have fun with it.

(credit: CBS)

How did you decide on the menu? It actually has evolved. Our first year, we were doing beef brisket and pulled pork and we were doing it very differently. It was a big, long process. It was a headache. We were, on average, pulling 16-hour days every day, just to be out for lunch. Then early last season, we found a so-much-easier way to do everything and made the decision to eliminate the beef brisket and switch to Phillies, just because steak, cheese on a bun, you can do so many different things. And a lot of the stuff for the Phillies, we already had, so we just changed meat. So it has evolved a little bit.

We just wanted comfortable, urban food that everyone can find something on our menu they like. The hot dogs have been fun, because they’re just deep-fried hot dogs, simple as that. Our first year, people were like, ‘Wait, what? No cornbread, just a hot dog?’ and the second year, they moved on to ‘I don’t get it but it sounds good so I have to try.’ And now this year, we’ve already noticed we’re running out of hot dogs every other day. It’s awesome. I love it. They’re called Rippers, back east, which is where they started. It’s just a sliced up hot dog, we throw it in the deep frier for about a minute and a half and it gets very crispy on the outside and very juicy on the inside. So it’s definitely a bit distinctive. We don’t boil the dogs; they’re made fresh. But people are starting to catch on to them, which is great.

Another thing we’ve added on this year is chicken. We’ve never had chicken before. We brought that in, which we’re loving and our customers are loving. I don’t know why we didn’t do it earlier. It’s one of those, as soon as we tasted that first chicken taco, we thought, ‘Why didn’t we do this two years ago?’

What’s your favorite dish that you serve? I would have to say the Dirrty D, which is a deep-fried hot dog on a bun with pepperjack and cheddar cheese and then you’ve got spiced up pulled pork, bacon and rib-eye steak on top of the hot dog, with our signature polygamy sauce and blue cheese crumbles. It’s intense. It is spicy. It is good. It’s a $9 hot dog but you do get your $9 worth, for sure. Every time I try to eat it, I cannot do that last little bite. So it is a mouthful, especially if you get fries.

(credit: CBS)

Describe your truck in one word: Characteristic.

What’s your craziest story from working at a food truck? Do you have like a week? Because I have a lot of stories. (Laughs) Let’s see, Zombie Pub Crawl last year, my order taker got punched in the face. Just drunk people being stupid outside. We ran out of propane and had to run to Bobby and Steve’s and get their little temporary tanks. Because I wasn’t about to stop serving — there were too many zombies that day.

We did an incredible event our very first year with the Courage Center, which was hosted at the BMW Minnetonka. They actually had — I can’t remember the exact number — but it was 10-12 food trucks actually pulled into the service bay and parked indoors. It was a five-star cuisine event in recognition of Courage Center’s donations that year, all the benefactors, donors and all that. It was just a beautiful, beautiful event — you never would’ve thought it was a car dealership. It was gorgeous. It was incredible. We had so much fun. We still get approached about it. … That was just an incredible night that I will never forget.

We vended a three-day music festival last year. It was the first event that we had where we didn’t take the truck back to restock, to clean, all of that. We packed three days worth of food and could barely move around the truck. But it was incredible. We got to see Nas perform. It was an incredible event and I would totally do it again in a heartbeat.

We catered for an independent movie shoot earlier this year for nine days. Got to meet an Academy Award-winning actress through that, which I can’t say names. (Look for details on their Facebook page in the coming months.) Every day is something. Every day something happens and if it doesn’t, we start to worry. If our generator doesn’t die, if we don’t run out of propane, if something doesn’t work, you know, every day we have to adapt to something new. But that’s fun. I love a challenge. And what better challenge than “oh no, it’s not going to work like that today. You’re going to have to find a different way to do it.” We have fixed things with duct tape and a twist tie. But pretty much we make do with what we have and then have a good story to tell afterwards.

What’s one thing you want people to know about your food truck? If you come to us, have fun. If you come to our truck, have fun. We sing. We dance. … We like to have fun. We like to know our customers have fun and we like to have fun together. So when you come to us, expect to have a little fun and some good food.

Catch the Food Truck Feature every week, in the Curiocity column. Know of a food truck you think should be featured? Let us know by leaving a comment below or tweeting your suggestion to @SaraPelissero!

If there’s one person that’s critical about the work that Chef Isaac Becker has done over the years, it’s probably Isaac Becker.

The James Beard Award-winning owner of 112 Eatery, Bar La Grassa and Burch seems like he’d have plenty to gloat about but he said he’s a bit more “glass half empty” about his success.

And perhaps that’s what keeps the chef so focused. He’s not going to pull out every trick in the book to knock your socks off and he won’t take any time to pat himself on the back, but what he will do is one of the reasons he’s accomplished so much in this industry.

His focus has been and will continue to be on the customer — ensuring those that choose to dine with him and his staff have an experience they’ll enjoy.

It’s what made somewhat simple choices — late night dining, fun and comforting food — award-winning and highly desirable to Twin Cities diners.

As we learned in Part 1 of our chef’s profile, Becker started in this business at a young age and never really intended to make a lifelong career out of it. Three restaurants later, he and his wife (and co-owner) are enjoying the ride of a lifetime.

In Part 2, Chef Becker chats about that momentous moment when he won his James Beard Award and we find out about his love of ramen noodles, among other guilty pleasures.

——-

You’ve talked about staying inspired and getting ideas through an array of cookbooks and reading. Do you have any go-to cookbooks? What kinds of cookbooks do you gravitate towards?
A lot of times the book I dig through depends on what I’m looking for, like if I’m looking for vegetables. I’ve been pouring over “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. It’s great. I don’t really have any books that I go to every time anymore. The ones I did have I’ve gone back to so many times I’ve worn them out.

What else motivates you as a chef?
What’s interesting is that, we’re opening Burch so I have to be here a lot. Being in the restaurant all the time in a way is an inspiration because you’re just here so much that your world has become the food and what you’re doing. Whereas, when things get easier at your restaurant and you can move away from them, it becomes hard to create and inspire because you’re not there as much. I think that’s part of the reason I wanted to do this restaurant (Burch) because I kind of started feeling like, well, it’s getting too easy for me to not spend a lot of time at the restaurants. The guys that are running them are doing such a good job and are very talented and it’s tempting not to go home early if you can, or come in later if you can and no one’s going to tell you otherwise. So for here, being in this again, I mean the intensity of this is inspiring in and of itself.

(credit: CBS)

You met your wife at D’Amico Cucina when you were on the line and she was waiting tables. Do your kids have any interest in the restaurant business?
I don’t know. My oldest now, he’s 16, he’s like me. He loves music; he plays four different instruments and I think he’s kind of getting more curious to what’s going on. You know, we never made him work here or anything like that. So I don’t know. We’ll see. Maybe when he gets into college or gets a job. I’m not sure I want him to be in the restaurant business, you know. Late nights.

When you opened La Grassa, after successfully opening 112, were you more confident going into that venture that it’d be a success?
No, I never feel like I’ve got it figured out. I don’t ever think, “meh, check it off the list.” There’s always something that I’m freaking out about. It’s funny because I’m kind of a negative person by nature so I can dwell on negatives. If something good happens, it’s like “yay” but then I go right back to … I wish I could be as happy when something good happens that I am mad when something bad happens. But I never feel like “mission accomplished” ever. Never.

But what about the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest.
That was good. That was a happy day. That was great. That was a lot of fun.

What was that experience like?
It was great. It was one of the best things that’s ever happened in my life. I’ve never won anything. To win something like that, it was incredible. It’s like, it’s hard to describe the stress, I mean, I sound like I’m whining but I was nominated four years in a row. By the third year, I kind of wanted to win. I didn’t win the third year – Alex (Roberts) won and I love Alex but I didn’t win. The fourth year, there’s nothing that tells you “you’re the guy, you’re the winner,” there’s no reason why you’d think it’s yours.

They say, “OK, Midwest” and then they list off the names of the chefs and restaurants and there’s five or six of them. But you know, the one guy – I can’t remember his name – but they said his name and there’s this big roar in the crowd. Then they said my name and it was dead silence. No one knows who I am, you know. And I was like, “Uhhh, he’s going to win. Listen to that crowd.” And then they called my name and it was just like, I swear I thought I was in a dream. I grabbed Nancy and we walked across the stage and I remember thinking, “What if they change their mind?” (Laughs) Besides the joy of winning, it was like the biggest relief for me to just get that out of my system.

And to be recognized for a restaurant that you put so much hard work into and that’s flourishing …
Yeah, it’s great. I can’t pretend that it’s not. It’s been great for the restaurant. I feel like it legitimized me a little more in some people’s eyes. It’s for sure a highlight.

(credit: CBS)

So moving on to a lighter side. What would you say is your biggest guilty pleasure food?
Ooh, I got a couple. I really like ramen noodles. I like those. They’re really cheap. Also Kowalski’s has this chicken cashew wrap that I get every once in a while because I can eat it in my car. I can’t resist a couple of hot pizza rolls when my son and his friends are having them.

When you and your wife are at home, what do you like to cook for your family or friends?
I cook for my kids and my wife, we cook, but we don’t entertain very much. My wife is actually the better cook in the house. She makes great lasagna, great meatballs, tacos – she makes things the kids really love. Mine are so … I have a hard time because there’s only a few things that I make that they like and they barely like them at all.

When you’re out of the kitchen, what’s your favorite pastime?
Nothing. I used to like golfing but I don’t golf anymore.

I think I read this already but are sardines the one ingredient that you would prefer never to work with again? Or something else?
Well I haven’t had a fresh sardine that I’ve liked yet. I know that they’re … chefs like them and foodies like them but I haven’t had a good one. Maybe the ones I’ve had aren’t fresh but I don’t like them. I would try them again if I knew exactly when they got out of the water and got to me but I just haven’t had one that I’ve liked. I’d never say that I refuse to work with it but I’d want to know some specifics.

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to?
I’ve really been focusing on vegetables lately. I really like the process of curing them with salts and eating them kind of raw but salted.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” what would it be?
Probably steak. Red wine and steak.

Where are some of your favorite places to dine?
We go to Quang probably once a week. It’s kind of embarrassing how much we go there. We have lunch at Lucia’s. I like Bachelor Farmer. We don’t go out a ton, we go to lunch a lot. That’s probably about it.

What are your thoughts on the Twin Cities restaurant scene? How have you seen it evolve?
I think more than anything, there’s just a lot more choices. There’s a larger quantity because the choices in the early 90s when I started working, there was maybe three or four restaurants that were big.

When you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for, in the culinary world?
I guess an honest chef. Someone that’s cooking for the right reasons, cooking to make food that tastes good that customers will enjoy. Not trying to impress … I guess just honesty. Being an honest chef. I feel like there’s a tendency with some cooks who make things that aren’t concerned with the enjoyment of the customers. They’re just concerned with “look what I can do,” they’re thinking about them, not the customer. I think it should always be, the eating and dining experience should always be about the customer. This new thing with who’s the chef, what’s he doing, all that is … when I started cooking, no one could give a rip who the chef was. Within the industry, people knew who certain people were, who the chefs were but the diners and customers didn’t care what the guy cooking’s name was or where in New York he worked. I’m tired of that. I think that we should go back to that. We should care what the customer’s experience is. When I go out to dinner, I don’t care who the chef is. I’m not there for that. That’s not why I got into this. I guess I’d like to be known as someone who got into this because I wanted to be, because I wanted to cook and make good food and not because I wanted to be a famous chef.

Click here for Part 1 of our chef chat with Isaac Becker. For more information on his restaurants, click on the following links: 112 Eatery | Bar La Grassa | Burch

Minneapolis native Danny McHugh will be among the rock concert cast otherwise known as “Rock of Ages,” which kicks off Friday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

McHugh is no stranger to the Minnesota theater scene — he’s been in everything from CATS to Jesus Christ Superstar at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

Now, he’s living in the 80s, covered in acid wash and ready to rock the Minneapolis stage.

McHugh chatted with us about the tour, coming home and what it’s like starring in a show — and touring — with his sister.

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Tell us a little about Rock of Ages – and the character you play.

Its a jukebox musical featuring the best rock songs of the 1980s. These are the songs that everyone knows all the words to when they come on at a bar or at karaoke. I play a character named Joey Primo, who becomes the lead singer of a made-up monster rock band called Arsenal. He’s an exaggerated amalgamation of the lead singers of all the best 80s rock bands.

You’re originally from Minneapolis, what’s the best part of coming home to perform?

Being on tour can be tough because you’re away from your friends and family for months at a time. On our time off from the show, I’ll come home and tell people about what I’m doing and what show I’m in. This will be the first time that the people I care about will get to actually experience it for themselves and I’m very excited to share it with them.

You had experiences on local stages before making it big, what were some of your favorite memories from working in the local theater community?

When I was 19, I took a year off from college when I booked my first professional gig at Chanhassen Dinner Theater. The show was “Cats” and it was a huge eight-month contract. I took the gig because I wanted to know if I really wanted/could be a performer for a living. I was so happy to find that the Twin Cities theater community is full of talented, hard working and dedicated actors that really inspired me. With a lot of great real world experience, I was very excited to go back to school for more training and get back out in the professional world as soon as possible.

(credit: Scott Suchman)

With a show like this, which is basically a big rock concert, how difficult is it to approach each night, each city with the same level of energy?

Our on-stage band is so incredible, all I need is to hear the opening guitar riff and my energy level is all set for the show. It really helps pump me up. Also, the energy from the audience is a major help on those two-show days at the end of the week.

You star alongside your sister in this show. What’s it like to tour together? Do you enjoy having a sibling along for the ride?

It’s been really great! Fortunately, both of us have been working since we each graduated college, but our jobs have taken us all over the world and away from each other. This is a rare opportunity to be able to be employed and be in the same place.

Since the “Rock of Ages” movie came out, have the audiences changed or grown at all? Have you noticed a larger interest?

I think the movie and the stage show are two separate entities. The tie that binds is the great music, but for me, you can’t quite beat the energy of a live show where audience interaction is paramount. Our audiences have remained pretty much the same throughout because I think if you’d be a fan of the movie, (and at its heart, the music), then you’d love the stage show.

What is the best part of being in this cast?

Getting paid to see the country while doing something I love, and sharing the stage with my little sister!

You’ll have a short run when you’’re home in Minneapolis, what pitch would you give to get audiences to come see the show?

It’s rock concert with comedy, dancing and a big heart.

Rock of Ages will be in Minneapolis from May 17-19 for five shows. Tickets ($34-$94) are still available. For ticket info. or more information, click here.

The campy and delightful Tony Award-winning musical, “Anything Goes” opened Tuesday night at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in its first visit to the Twin Cities.

Sprinkled with the iconic music and comedy of Mr. Cole Porter, this upbeat production shows when it comes to love, there’s nothing better than a little mistaken identity and good ol’ fashioned blackmail.

Edward Staudenmayer, who plays Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, is a veteran of the stage. Having performed on Broadway (in Wonderland and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) before hitting the road for a number of touring productions, Staudenmayer said this is the best tour he’s been a part of in his entire career.

We spoke with Staudenmayer before the big opening night about the show and his visit to the Twin Cities.

——-

For those not familiar, tell us a little about the show.

It takes place on an ocean liner heading from New York to London in 1934 and it’s really a comedy of errors of sorts, a big farce. There’s a young man and he’s fallen in love with a debutant and he’s a stock broker working for a rich tycoon, and he sees this woman that he’s fallen in love with — she’s about to get married to a British lord — so he smuggles himself aboard the ship and pursues her and tries to win her. In the process, there’s all these different love triangles. Also on board is one of his dear friends, Reno Sweeney, who’s a night club singer/evangelist. And there’s also a gangster, public enemy no. 13 is on board. So there’s a big farce and lot of love interests that happen and people pretending to be things they’re not. It’s a silly little romp on the high seas.

You play Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. What’s he like?

I’m a British lord and it’s set in 1934. I’m a guy who is trying to get married. It’s something I need to do for my family, it’s a bribe. I love everything about the United States and I have met this young debutant who is a great choice for me and seems like she’d be a great lady of the house. So our plan is to take the boat back to England and get married. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with somebody else but the situation has her mother involved and her father has passed, they lost money in the stock market — in the big crash — so they’re trying to maintain their family’s wealth, so they’re hitching her up to this rich, wealthy British lord, which is me. So it’s a matter of society and it’s kind of a little “Downton Abbey” with the arrangements and marriages that are made to keep the wealthy, wealthy. But she’s in love with this up-and-coming stock broker.

But it’s all campy and funny, right?

Oh yes, it’s told through this really funny farce. This great book has been revamped and rewritten but it’s also amazing how this old piece from 1934 and how much it’s maintained in the show. And the writers often try to write it with that 1934 mentality. So one of the major things we have going for us is the incredible score by Cole Porter — the most fantastic lyrics that were ever written. It’s just so bubbly and fresh and funny and witty. And some of the things that he rhymes, there’s no finer songs than when Cole Porter’s writing the songs and the music. Just a bubbly glass of champagne, that’s the whole show. It’s got that kind of uplifting, fun, frothy feel the whole night.

And a lot of the tunes will be familiar to the audience, like “I Get a Kick out of You,” “You’re the Top,” and of course, “Anything Goes.” But there’s also a bit of an introduction to some of his lesser-known songs, as well?

Yeah, my song for instance is not a really famous Cole Porter song but it’s so delightful and fun and there’s a great dance involved with it. It’s a big surprise. I don’t want to give away too much but my character makes a big change and it’s one of the big show-stoppers of the evening.

Speaking of dancing, there’s quite a bit of tap dancing in this production. How long did it take to learn the choreography?

Well, we rehearsed for four weeks in the city. I believe the ensemble cast members came in earlier so I think I rehearsed for three weeks, they rehearsed four weeks. They came in to learn the really lengthy long tap numbers and other dances too, so they had an extra week of rehearsals before I came in as one of the principal actors. So yeah, it took a while. It was a process. You learn a little bit day-by-day and then you work on something else and you go back to it and add something else. The choreography is just so inventive and fun and such a joy to do.

(credit: Submitted)

What about the cast in this show? What’s it like working with everyone?

Well, we’re led by Broadway veteran Rachel York, who I’ve been a fan of, just forever. She’s truly a star — beautiful, sings like an angel, funny as can be. And as far as our cast, we are so fortunate — and it’s funny because one of the Chicago papers mentioned this in their review — that you’re not going to see a touring production that has a line-up like the characters we have in our bullpen. We have some of the finest character actors working in the business. So it’s so fun to do the play because everyone is such a pro and at the top of their game. Even people in the understudy roles, they have major careers of their own … we’re so lucky. I think the show was so good in New York and then when auditions came around for the tour and to work with our director Kathy Marshall and to be a part of this production, we all jumped at the chance. So we have really terrific pros in this production.

How familiar were you with the show before auditioning?

You know, I had done a production of it when I was still in college. I was in the ensemble. I played a sailor. So I knew it and I liked the show but I didn’t know that it could be as good and as funny and fresh as this production. I think it’s because of our wonderful director/choreographer Kathy Marshall.

I know you’ve done work on Broadway as well as other touring shows. What are some of the major differences or the pros and cons for you?

Well it’s really nice to be able to be home and not have to move around every few weeks with a show so it’s nice to have that. And Broadway means a lot, it’s like the top of our game — it’s the top place to be. But I’ve never had so much fun on a tour as I am on this production. I have a wonderful part, I have a wonderful leading lady that I get to fall in love with every night, I get to be a part of this wonderful production that I’ve been talking about.

I drive myself and I’m traveling with my little dog and we are driving across the country, and I’m really getting to see our country, which is really a neat way to experience it. So most of my days off aren’t really off. I spent all day yesterday getting here from Chicago but it was gorgeous. I don’t think I’d ever really visit the Wisconsin Dells, you know, it’s just not a place I would ever really think of going but it was absolutely gorgeous. And I got to experience it and see it and it was lovely. I feel really blessed about this tour. It’s nice to be home and cozy at home but I have a little piece of home, my dog, so every morning when I get to snuggle with him, it makes it fun. I’m looking out at my gorgeous view of St. Paul and I’ve never really spent time in St. Paul, so it’s great. We went to the river today, we went to the ballpark — we go to just about every ballpark in the country now. We should write a book. So I’m having a very positive experience with this because you know, touring can be hard — you’re away from your friends and family but this has been the best tour I’ve ever done.

I really hope that people spread the word about this show and they sell tickets and come. Because everybody who comes to see the show, they’re really blown away. I don’t think they realizes how much fun they were going to have. You know, this old revival, this old, classic show that everybody kind of knows, but they really haven’t seen a production of this caliber in a very long time. There was a big revival in 1987 but then the tour didn’t really happen and fizzled out. So the places we go, the people are so pleasantly surprised. We hear all the time from house managers at theaters, the audience members go up to them and say, ‘Thank you so much, this is the best show that we’ve seen here in years.’ Of all the touring shows they’ve seen, this is the one they love the most. It’s exciting to be a part of that.

“Anything Goes” runs through May 12 at the Ordway. For tickets or more information, click here.

These days, Isaac Becker may be the proud owner to three outstanding Twin Cities restaurants, but there was a time, years ago, when his culinary career took a backseat to his dreams of becoming — wait for it — a rockstar.

Chef Becker admits, when he initially got into the restaurant biz, it was merely just a job he could get and as soon as he left one kitchen, he swore he’d never enter another.

Back then, he was busy playing gigs as the drummer of his up-and-coming band and never gave cooking much thought. After the band changed direction, and admittedly, lost some of its appeal, Chef Becker focused on the job that already built up the majority of his résumé and tried a new approach — working for restaurants where he really liked the food.

What started as just a “day job” quickly turned into a passion with inspiration to do more — and that motivation hasn’t slowed down since.

This James Beard award-winning chef now owns 112 Eatery, Bar La Grassa and Burch Steak and Pizza Bar, with his wife, Nancy St. Pierre.

I met up with the chef at his latest creation, Burch, to talk about his early beginnings and what’s coming next.

——-

How old were you when you began cooking?
I guess I was 18.

Where did that interest in cooking come from?
It was just a job. A job I could get. At that time, I wasn’t really thinking about my future as a chef or anything like that. It was just the only job I could get, so I took it.

Did you come from a family of cooks?
No. I think I do have a little bit of foundation from my mom and my dad. We went to New York and we went out to eat a lot. My mom, when she was in college and I was a kid, she was a server downtown, at one of the fine dining restaurants downtown in the 70s. She would tell me about things and a couple of times I ate there but no one’s really a cook in my family.

You started in this business at a very young age. When did you know you wanted to go into the culinary world?
For a while, I had a string of kitchen cook jobs and every time I got out of one, I’d swear I’d never get another job in a kitchen again. But after about three years, that was a job I could get because I had experience. So I kind of stuck to it. There was a place called Lowry’s, which is now Rye. It had just opened up and my girlfriend and I were eating there and I thought, “you know, I should get a job working at a restaurant that I like to eat at, where I like the food.” So I applied there and they really took a chance on me and gave me a job because I didn’t really have any experience. And I worked there for five years. While I was there, I was in a band and my goal was to succeed in music. But I also enjoyed the work and the craft of cooking. After being at Lowry’s for about five years, I realized I liked it. So I quit and got a job at D’Amico Cucina. That’s where I really felt like I was inspired. That’s when I knew I wanted to stick with it.

What was your band called?
Uncle Big Dad. (laughs)

So, were you lead vocalist or?
No, I was the drummer.

At what point did you move away from the band and focus more on cooking?
Well the band, we were pretty popular for a while but then we kind of changed our style and we got less popular and it became a lot less fun and we weren’t making any money and I just, I got kind of sick of it.

(credit: CBS)

Do you still dabble in music at all?
I play my drums a little bit but not really.

When you first started with the D’Amico family, what was it that made you inspired?
In those days, D’Amico Cucina was – at least to the people I knew in the business – the premiere fine dining restaurant in town. I was pretty young, I was in my early, early 20s but it was the kind of restaurant that you were even intimidated to go eat at. I just felt like, it was a challenge for me to even try to get a job there. And actually, the only reason I got a job was because I had a connection.

Is that when you first met Jay Sparks? I hear you two had an interesting first meeting.
Yeah. I had two interviews – one at a steak house in town, maybe Ruth’s Chris? And I had an interview at Cucina. Well I got the names of the chefs mixed up. So I went to Ruth’s Chris and they weren’t interested in hiring me and it didn’t seem like a good fit for me. The same afternoon I went to Cucina and rang the back door. Jay answered the door and I didn’t know who he was and I said, “Is the chef here?” And he said, “I’m the chef.” And I said, “Well, I’m looking for Steve Smith.” And he said, “Well, I’m the chef.” And I said, “Well, I’m looking for Chef Steve Smith.” And he got kind of mad and was like, “No, I’m the chef.” And finally, I was like, “OK, OK.” And that was how that interview started.

And then he took me to his office. And Jay’s a great guy, I love him but his interview style is kind of odd. He was like, “Well, do you like tomatoes?” And I said, “Kinda.” And then he said, “Do you like anchovies?” And I said, “No, not really.” So he said, “Well, we don’t really need anybody.”

I was friends with the Schutte family, who used to own The 510, and I was telling my friend Brad Schutte about this terrible interview I just had with Jay and he was like, “Oh, I’ll have my mom call him” or he said he’d do something. The next day I got a call back from the sous chef, who happened to be Tim McKee and he said, “We’ve got a job for you.” And Jay’s never said, I don’t know, he acts like he doesn’t remember. He’s never really said if the Schutte’s called him or not. But I think it’s a pretty strange coincidence.

You worked at a number of well-respected restaurants before opening your own. What did your experiences working within the D’Amico family or working at Lowry’s teach you about owning a restaurant?
I was the head chef at the Campiello on Lake Street and I was the head chef at the Campiello in Eden Prairie and then I was the head chef, opening chef at Café/Bar Lurcat and I helped open the Café Lurcat in Naples, Florida … they’re pretty big operations and they were busy when I worked at them. I learned and I really got practice on how to be proactive, how to react to things, how to make decisions fast, get better at making decisions that are best for your restaurant. And they seem like simple things, but not always. Plus, they’re really demanding across the board – they’re demanding with the food, they’re demanding with the service, they’re demanding with the business, the numbers. So a lot of experience with having to meet every month with the owners and having to explain what your numbers were, why they were the way they were – whether they were good or bad, you had to tell them why. So you had to know what was going on.

So by the time when I got to the 112, that was, in a lot of ways, really easy because it was tiny compared to any restaurants I’d worked at before. Everything was on a much smaller scale. I had to physically work hard and put in a lot of hours, but the management part and the business, financial side was pretty simple.

(credit: CBS)

What was your inspiration with 112? What did you want it to be?
Back then – well, now I have two restaurants that are concepts – but back then, I was really tired of concepts. In fact, the name of the restaurant was going to be “Concept Eatery,” to kind of flip my nose at all the concepts in town. My wife said that’s stupid. But the “Concept Eatery” is our LLC name. I just really wanted a restaurant – I mean, I’ve said this a million times but – just a place where I would want to go. And there wasn’t anything – one of my best experiences was going to the Blue Ribbon (in New York).

When I worked for the D’Amico’s, we did a James Beard out there and when we were done, you know, it was late. It was 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. The people who actually lived in New York and worked the event with us said, “Let’s go to the Blue Ribbon.” All the chefs go to the Blue Ribbon. This was in 1996 or 97. We went there and it was the funnest, coolest thing that I’ve ever done. We were there until almost 4 a.m., eating oysters and having a great time. There was nothing in Minneapolis that was open past 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. So I really wanted to have a full menu of what I think is interesting food until 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning. That’s what inspired me to do what I did at 112.

With 112, you went from making food that you found interesting and would want to eat and to owning one of the most popular and highly acclaimed restaurants in the Twin Cities – and beyond. Did you know it would be as successful as it is?
No. I didn’t think anything I was doing was that special. To me, it’s like, being able to get foie gras, sweetbreads, lobster sometimes, the things on my menu were things that you can only get at fine dining restaurants so I guess one of my things was that I wanted to give that to everybody, at a reasonable price and in a more casual, relaxed atmosphere. Not a place where you’re scared, intimidated or go broke at. But no, I never thought that it was going to be that big of a deal. I wanted people to like it and I wanted to be able to survive, make a living, but that was my only goals – have it be a working business and stay afloat.

After a few years, you opened Bar La Grassa. What was behind that decision – and what was your inspiration?
The pasta bar and actually the name La Grassa was actually something that Nancy and I had talked about for years. But 112 was too small. The kitchen was too small, the menu at La Grassa couldn’t be done at the kitchen we had at 112. Pasta’s probably my favorite food – I have a ton of experience with it between all my years at D’Amico’s. When I was approached to do the project, one of our partners said, “we need a concept, do you have one?” and I rattled it off, the whole La Grassa thing I pitched in about 10 minutes because it was something that was already built in my mind for years. So then when we pitched it to investors, it was the same thing. I had this complete plan – down to what the dishes were going to be, the menu layout, everything was already done in my head. That was kind of easy in that way because I already knew exactly what I wanted. There were other challenges in terms of executing a menu that big, big restaurant, lot of customers, but the concept was done. That was cool. I was happy about that. But then all of a sudden I’m doing a concept when all I’ve done is poo-pooing concepts. Now I’ve got a giant one.

When you have a menu that big like the menu at Bar La Grassa, was there anything you left off the list?
Yeah, there were. But there were other things that made it that I didn’t know about. Eric Sather, who’s the head chef over there – actually, I had Daniel del Prado, who’s the head chef (at Burch) was the sous chef there when we opened and those two guys are very talented. So I had my ideas and my menu items and the outline of what I wanted to make, those guys, when I’d show up to work and they’d have something else to show me. It was great. It all worked out really well. Since then, once I left 112, I really had to rely on the chefs that are operating the restaurants to … it was more of a collaboration than it used to be. I used to be very controlling as far as 112 went for a long time, but then when I left I couldn’t really keep that control because I wasn’t there enough.

At one point, you mentioned you and Nancy talked about opening a restaurant in another state. What made you want to open all of your restaurants in Minnesota?
To me, you know, everyone thinks about trying to get richer once in a while and La Grassa, to me, could be a kind of place that you could franchise. It’s accessible, it’s affordable, we have a working system … so we thought let’s try one in state and see how it goes. I don’t know how you do that (franchise). So we went to California and luckily the place we wanted – we would’ve signed on that first trip to California had the place that we wanted, had that deal worked. That deal didn’t work when we were out there so we came back. Meanwhile our youngest son was having problems at school, he was only in second grade so not big problems, but you know, we got terrified. Because I’m not Jean-Georges. I can’t just show up a couple weeks out of the year, look around and go back to my home. I would have to basically move out there. And then we did the cost analysis of what that means for all of us, flying back and forth. All of that. We got scared. So that’s why we stayed. And then this space (Burch) became available.

(credit: CBS)

Didn’t Nancy say after La Grassa that she didn’t want to do another one?
Yeah and you know, they’re hard on us. They’re hard on our family. They’re really hard. Opening restaurants is really hard. We’re still in the process (with Burch). And we have kids and they need to be cared for but while this location was here, none of us could resist it – including Nancy. This place is what started the “why we did the restaurant.”

What was the thought process for Burch? What did you want to do with it?
Well, I didn’t know. We walked through here with Ryan (Burnet, a partner in Bar La Grassa and Burch) and Nancy and the realtor, the broker and then we walked across the street to the ice cream store and we started to talk about ideas for a restaurant. I didn’t really have one but Ryan said, “Well, you know, when my friends eat at La Grassa one of the things they always talk about is how much they like the steak. So would you consider doing a steak restaurant?” And it was like, yeah, perfect – that’s a great idea. So that’s how that happened.

Nancy and I, Ryan and his wife Amber did some traveling in the last couple of years – we looked at the space in 2011, so we’ve it a long time and kind of worked through what we wanted it to be. The basement was part of the lease and that was kind of a scary thing for me for a couple things – I don’t love craft drinks, I mean, I like a good cocktail but I don’t have experience with it, I’m a pretty narrow, I like a certain kind of drinks and I didn’t want to get into a whole business with drinks that might take too long, I don’t know. But I also didn’t know how we were going to have a bar, and what was going to attract you to go to it if we didn’t have something, you know, there’s no windows on it. So we were in California and we ate at Laconda and those people own four or five restaurants in San Francisco and while we were eating at Laconda, right next door was Laconda Pizza. So we were sitting there watching people going in and out of their pizza place and they were the same owners and once again, Ryan said, ‘Why can’t we do that? Why can’t we do something else?’ And that’s how that came about.

So is this it or do you think there’s another restaurant in your future?
I don’t know. I think this is it. I mean, this is still, there’s a lot of work to be done. Restaurants don’t really mature for at least two years I feel like so I don’t know how I’m going to feel in two years. I keep saying I’d like to do something smaller but that’s complicated for other reasons.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chef chat with Isaac Becker. For more information on his restaurants, click on the following links: 112 Eatery | Bar La Grassa | Burch

The challenge? Create an unforgettable meal with the mystery ingredients hidden inside a wooden basket before time runs out.

But this isn’t your usual episode of “Chopped” – this is “Chopped: All-Stars,” which means the stakes and the talent are even higher.

Four celebrity chefs walked into the “Chopped” kitchen ready to compete on an episode that would later be known as “Mega Chefs” – among them was a star chef with Minnesota roots.

Chef Gavin Kaysen admits, when he initially got the call to be on the show, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to compete. He didn’t have a charity that he really felt compelled to fight for – that is, until he met John and Emily.

Julian’s Story

John Golden and Emily Eaton were your typical Minnesotan family. They had two boys, including a healthy and happy 4-year-old named Julian. In 2011, after Eaton said she noticed some random bruising on Julian’s body, they took him to the doctor. Before they could process what was happening, Julian was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He started chemotherapy the next day.

“The chemo did its job. It killed off the leukemia blasts in his blood cells but it also killed off his white blood cells,” Eaton said.

(credit: Submitted)

Without his white blood cells and other parts of the blood, Julian’s body couldn’t fight off infections.

“Just 13 days after he was diagnosed, he died of infection that his body couldn’t fight,” she said. “It obviously turned our world upside down.”

Emily and John said though they were hurting, they were determined to move forward with a positive outlook, and find a way to share their story in a way that could help others.

After struggling to find a coping method that worked for her, Eaton started a blog called “Creating New Normal,” as a way to share her story through words she couldn’t always say out loud. Golden devoted himself to helping the Children’s Cancer Research Fund – helping improve their website through his company and creating a run in his son’s honor (Joggers for Julian) that beat out the competition in both fundraising and participation.

“So we’ve been trying to do things to help support any mission that would help other parents not go through or at least diminish the experience like we had with Julian,” Golden said.

A Chance Meeting

Through a series of fateful connections, Eaton’s father – who knew Chef Gavin’s father through business – walked into Kaysen’s restaurant in New York City one day, hoping for a favor.

Knowing everything that his family, and especially John and Emily, had gone through after Julian’s passing, he wanted to do something special for them. Golden loves to cook and both he and Eaton have a passion for food. And he knew Kaysen had Minnesota roots. So he asked him if he’d ever be interested in visiting with John and Emily the next time he was in town.

(credit: Submitted)

After hearing Julian’s story, Kaysen was immediately touched. He donated money to Julian’s memorial fund and flew back to Minneapolis, where he went to John and Emily’s home and spent the day cooking a big meal with John for all of their family and friends.

About six months later, Kaysen got a call to be on the next season of “Chopped: All Stars.” He called John and Emily and asked if he could tell Julian’s story.

“We were just thrilled,” Golden said.

The Battle Begins

Chef Gavin Kaysen was no stranger to food competitions. The 2008’s recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Award and chef of Café Boulud competed on Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef” and appeared as a guest judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” But this time it was different – it wasn’t about the pride of winning, it was about Julian.

Kaysen was raised in Bloomington, Minn. until he was 19 in the home where his parents still live today. He worked at the local Subway – yes, as a sandwich artist – before he got connected in the restaurant world and started his path to culinary greatness.

“My first actual real, true job was actually wrapping ham at HoneyBaked Ham for the holidays. From there, I worked at a TCBY Yogurt and from there I went to Subway,” he said.

Like many chefs, Kaysen said he grew up enjoying cooking, especially baking with his grandmother.
“She passed away a couple of years ago but I still have her rolling pin that we used. I still have her recipes on the little note cards, too,” he said.

Kaysen said he enjoyed food and was always around it, but nothing too fancy – “going to Red Lobster was a special occasion” – but it wasn’t until he got to California, and discovered where food came from that he really found his passion.

It’s that same passion and dedication that Kaysen brought to the “Chopped” kitchen.

It was almost a year ago now that he spent 14 hours filming what would be “Chopped: All-Stars, Mega Chefs.” Kaysen said before going into the competition, he knew who he was up against – esteemed pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner, “Top Chef All-Stars” winner and molecular gastronomy expert Richard Blais and star of “Chuck’s Day Off,” French-Canadian chef Chuck Hughes.

(credit: Food Network)

He’d have to win through three courses in order to have a chance to battle for the $50,000 grand prize — $50,000 that would go straight to Children’s Cancer Research Fund for Julian.

“I’ll tell you, it was an extremely intense two episodes to film – nothing to do with food, but everything to do with emotion. It was pretty incredible,” he said. “I mean, watching a guy film you and interview you and you’re talking about (Julian’s) story and you see a tear come down the guy’s eye, and he’s still filming you, it’s pretty gripping.”

Beyond packing any kitchen tools and essentials, Kaysen took a special book with him to film the “Chopped: All-Stars” finale. It was one of Julian’s that he received from the family when he went to their home to cook that great big meal. In the corner of the inside cover, there’s a message that reads, “Happy 3rd Birthday Julian!”

“I just wanted to have (the book) there,” Kaysen said. “That’s what’s always inspired me about (John and Emily) – how they’ve been able to take that loss and turn it into such an incredible gain.”

The show itself was hard – emotions aside, this wasn’t going to be an easy competition.

“It’s hard because it’s all real. When they give you 20 minutes for an appetizer, that’s all they give you. And you have no idea what’s inside those baskets. They actually cover the basket with a black towel when you walk on the set,” he said. “You have no idea until you open it.”

In the first basket, Kaysen said he was thrown for a loop when it came to the bright pink cream soda beverage.

“I’ve never seen pink cream soda and it was extremely sweet,” he said. “It was like drinking cotton candy. It was disgusting.”

(credit: Food Network)

Kaysen kept things simple but elevated, bringing his French influences and 4-star flavor to the table. Eventually, he found himself facing Chef Richard Blais in the final round … where he had to deal with sponge cakes, or “Twinkies.”

“They’re so disgusting,” he said. “I took out the frosting and I put it in the oven for 15 minutes … and it didn’t even turn brown. You put a piece of bread in the oven for that long and it’d be black. But this didn’t even turn brown. I was like, ‘Uh, ok.’”

He said he tried four different ideas before he found one that worked. With tomatoes as another “non-dessert” ingredient, there was plenty of pressure to create a cohesive dish.

Blais’ final course was up first. A few judges commented that they wished it was more of a simple, clean dessert. That’s when Kaysen couldn’t help but smile.

“I was like, ‘Thank God you said that because it’s coming next,’” he said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m bringing it.”

After an exhausting and emotionally draining battle, Kaysen won and became that much closer to $50,000 for Julian.

The Next Chapter

The final showdown takes place this Sunday, when Kaysen will face Food Network’s Sunny Anderson, “Chopped” judge Scott Conant and celebrity contestant (and boxing champ) Laila Ali.

Although he knows the outcome, the only thing he’d say is, “it’s intense.”

“Laila Ali is one intense figure,” he said. “I mean, listen, I know Sunny and I know Scott. … But Laila, I’d never met before. I went into the make-up room in the morning and she was getting done up next to me and we introduced each other. And she said, ‘so what do you do?’ And I explained myself. And I asked her what she did and she explained herself … and my jaw dropped and I was like, ‘Oh my God, Ali’s daughter.’ Talk about the worst person to play a mind game with, Muhammad Ali’s daughter.”

John Golden and Emily Eaton will watch the finale this Sunday at Kaysen’s parents’ home in Bloomington. And while they don’t know who the winner will be, in a way, it doesn’t matter.

“We’re just thrilled that Gavin is talking about Children’s Cancer Research Fund on a national level,” Eaton said. “It’s so exciting to be generating this kind of buzz to this organization.”

In the end, that’s been Kaysen’s goal all along – to tell Julian’s story and bring more awareness to those that are fighting every single day.

“I was telling the judges during the show … as chefs, we always try to think about what we can do to create a legacy – because, quite frankly, we’re a little egotistical (laughs) – so we always think of how we’ll be remembered as a chef,” Kaysen said. “What blows me away is that there’s this little boy who was only 4 years old, and to me, he’ll have a bigger legacy than all of us will, put together. Because his lasts forever and it has a meaning that is so pure, so defined and so real that you can’t create that.”

The “Chopped: All-Stars” finale airs at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 5 on the Food Network. For more information about Chef Gavin Kaysen, click here. To learn more about Julian’s story – and how you can help and donate to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, click here.

As a reward for surviving the latest April snow, and dodging the ever-dripping canopies of a lost spring, Minneapolis audiences were treated to a sugary sweet performance of a Disney classic at the Orpheum Theatre Tuesday night.

In the tale of “Mary Poppins” — one I’ll fully admit I’d forgotten over the years — a pair of seemingly unruly children and their tired and slightly misguided parents seem at their wits end. Another nanny has left, following a string of hired help before her.

But the winds, they are a’changin’ and soon enough, a bit of magic enters their lives and turns the dark and dreary Cherry Tree Lane into a runway for fairy tales.

(credit: Jeremy Daniel)

Mary Poppins, played effortlessly by Madeline Trumble, seems to have an aura about her as soon as she floats onto the stage. Her poise and signature movements are reminiscent of the iconic role perfected by Julie Andrews, with just a touch more sass for good measure.

The children Jane (Alexa Shae Niziak) and Michael (Eli Tokash) often steal the show with their well-timed humor and highly impressive vocal performances. Not to mention, they’re both ridiculously adorable.

And not since the days of Dick Van Dyke has a man covered in soot been nearly as charming as Con O’Shea-Creal. O’Shea-Creal’s portrayal of the lovable chimney sweep Burt is touching, adorkable (yes, adorkable) and at times, mind-blowing and gravity defining. (Just wait until Act 2.)

If the incredible talent weren’t enough, the stage itself is its own moving character — complete with seamless transitions inside the Banks’ residence and day trips to worlds beyond your wildest imagination.

A few transitions even led to audience applause — based solely off the true enchantment that was unfolding before us. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to step inside a Disney film, this could be your closest chance.

The story itself is tried and true — a magical nanny helps save a family by showing them what they needed all along. Still, the intimate lessons learned along the way are the ones that certainly strike a chord, even today.

At the guidance of Miss Poppins, the children learn not to judge others and discover the importance of love and value. In an opposite approach, George Banks (Chris Hoch) — the stern father who puts work before family, is taught to live more like the child he never got to be and reassess his goals and priorities.

The songs are a combination of the classics we’ve all grown up with — “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “Spoonful of Sugar” and others, plus a few new songs that fit perfectly in the score. The cheery, upbeat tune “Practically Perfect” is a standout in the mix of new tracks, as is the achingly beautiful “Being Mrs. Banks.”

From beginning to end, it doesn’t take magical fairy dust or even a spoonful of sugar to see the broad appeal of this production and be engulfed in the incredible entertainment that Mary Poppins creates.

“Mary Poppins” runs through Sunday, April 28 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. For tickets or more information, click here.

Elizabeth Ann Berg was born in Eagan but grew up in Mendota Heights. She attended St. Paul Academy and participated in several theater productions in Minnesota, before hitting the road in a national Broadway tour.

Now she’s living her dream — with a spoonful of sugar.

Q: Do you still have family in the Twin Cities area?

A: Yes. My whole family.

Q: So what will it be like to come back home and be able to perform in front of everyone?

A: It is a dream come true. I feel like I’m going to be emotional all week. I’m so excited. My parents and my sister and brother have always been extremely supportive but to be able to come back and actually show them that what they’ve supported me in, I’m actually making a living at and I’m enjoying. And my voice teachers, and all my acting teachers, for them to see me, it’s really going to be thrilling.

Q: You spent time at The Children’s Theater Company, MacPhail Center for the Performing Arts, etc. Have you alerted everyone you’re coming?

A: Oh yes. I’m having coffee with all of them and they’re coming to see the show. It’s going to be so great.

Q: “Mary Poppins” is such a classic. What were your first memories of the show?

A: I think my first memory, other than when I saw the movie as a child, it was when my sister took me to see the Broadway show, “Mary Poppins.” And I didn’t want to go at first but she was like, ‘It’s so great. I saw it in Minnesota when it was here the first time. You have to see it.’ And the second I saw it, I loved it. And I actually auditioned for the show a week later. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Wow, this is so beautiful and unexpected.’

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Q: What did you think when you saw the movie?

A: I loved the movie. My parents raised me on the movie.

Q: How does the musical production compare to the film?

A: This production is a combination of the film and the book, that the film was based on. You’ll see a lot of the same songs, the same dance numbers, same characters, but you’ll also be introduced to new and exciting characters and some new songs. So it’s kind of like a jazzed up version of the movie.

Q: What’s it like being part of this cast?

A: It’s really wonderful. I’ve been a part of the cast since the very beginning. I started the first day of rehearsal, the first day of the tour and I have made some life-long friends. I’ve gotten to know some actors young and old that have really helped me grow as a performer and just as a person. Working together 24/7, touring together, I think we all make each other better people.

Q: As far as the music goes, are there any surprises?

A: Well people can definitely look forward to some Disney magic — it’s very unexpected, it’s very exciting and it’s one of the most thrilling parts of the show. We have a big number “Step In Time,” which I’m sure everyone is familiar with — the chimney sweep tap number — and there’s a big moment in “Step In Time” where you should be on the edge of your seat waiting for. Very exciting.

Q: When you get back into town, will you visit any of your local stomping grounds? What do you like to revisit?

A: I always miss — I have a silly thing. I just love being home, my home is one of my favorite places, but I love going to classes at CorePower Yoga on Grand Avenue and then going across the street and going to Cafe Latte. I think Cafe Latte has the best cheesecake in America. I’ve tried a lot of food around the country, and I’m telling you, Minnesota has some of the best places to eat, especially Cafe Latte for bread and chocolate. Those chocolate croissants, phew.

Q: How long have you been on tour?

A: I’ve been on the road for about a year and four months now. I started Dec. 19, 2011.

Q: What’s it like traveling on tour, across the country?

A: It’s amazing. I’ve seen things that I would never see in “normal life.” I’ve seen some really fascinating museums. I love being able to tell people about the cities I’ve seen, if they’re going on a business trip or to see family, I can recommend places and yoga studios across the country, which have been very fascinating. It’s just been amazing. It’s kind of surreal to think about. Sometimes I have to pinch myself from time to time and realize how lucky I am to be able to do all these things at such a young age — and be able to perform on top of that.

Q: Anything else you want to mention?

A: I can’t say enough about how excited I am to come back home and just to be in Minnesota. I think people in Minnesota will really appreciate the show. I know that when I was growing up, I was surrounded by people who really appreciated the art. I’m really excited to be able to share that with what I consider my people. I’m just so excited to be on that stage. It’s a dream come true!

“Mary Poppins” runs at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis from April 23 to April 28. For tickets or more information, click here.

It’s taken Butcher and the Boar’s Jack Riebel 30 years of cooking, but he finally feels like he’s arrived.

As we discussed in Part 1 of our chef chat, Riebel climbed the ranks, beginning as a smoothie maker and breakfast cook at age 16 to become a highly successful executive chef and owner — and yes, a James Beard Award nominee.

But it’s the humble beginnings the chef had that helps keep things in perspective.

After spending a few years as a breakfast line cook, Chef Jack wanted a change. At 20 or so, he became a salad chef and helped prepare the happy hour bar for the Embassy Suites Hotel.

“I basically did, like, your Taco Tuesdays,” he said, with a laugh.

He met other chefs at the hotel who were graduates of the cooking program at St. Paul Technical College and decided to enroll.

He was accepted and attended for a year but never graduated. Instead, he left the program and put his efforts behind opening the new Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, after one of his instructors suggested he go ask for a job.

“The funny thing was you’re in school and it’s cool but I was learning so much every day working in this brand new hotel and it was awesome,” Riebel said. “I probably should’ve paid more attention than I did.”

After the Radisson, it was another opening — or re-opening — of the Nicollet Island Inn, then a quick jump to Goodfellas, where he was basically hired on the spot. He spent about a decade as Goodfellas’ executive sous chef, before heading out to La Belle Vie and eventually, to become executive chef at the Dakota Jazz Club.

Now, with his own restaurant having celebrated its first year — and a successful one at that — Chef Jack said he couldn’t be prouder.

Butcher and Boar received plenty of accolades since its first day, being hailed as one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities and earning nationwide recognition. But that’s certainly not why Chef Jack executed his vision the way he did.

Our chef chat continues …

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When you were developing Butcher and the Boar, did you ever think these kinds of awards (Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef Midwest, etc.) would result?

Well, you know, I think if your motivation is always to win awards, you’re never going to make it. I think the underpinning for a lot of restaurant entrepreneurs or owners is that you’re opening up a restaurant but really, you’re opening up a business. And it’s a tough business. It’s a nickel-and-dime business. You have to be prepared to work really hard and model what you’re doing. To achieve awards means you have to be operating at a very good level, but it also means you have to be very consistent. I think if I say anything to my guys every day, it’s ‘consistent, consistent, consistent.’ You have to want to cook the same thing 40 times every day, you know, for six months until you find something new to cook.

Now, we’re in a modern era where there’s tasting menu format only and cool boutique restaurants and awesome, creative guys like Doug Flicker that change their menu once a week but that’s a very small percentage of the cooking world. I mean, you think about the guy down the street at Bruegger’s Bagels that’s making that same bagel every day — but it’s not great if he doesn’t make it the same way. I think it’s hard for people to understand. It’s a little bit misleading in the time and place that we live because it’s so much of it is glamorized. It’s got this really white collar, celebrity appeal but in reality, it’s a very blue collar, grinding job. It’s not glamorous to sit in a hot line, getting beat up for five hours of service for $12 an hour. And that’s the high end, that’s Minnesota — you go to other cities and you’re not making that kind of money.

When you were initially putting this concept together, is this what you were hoping it would be?

When I was approached to do this job, I was at the Dakota and I was asked to help consult on it. And consulting meant that it was really going to be just a hot dog stand — I use the word stand — a hot dog stand with like tap beers and bourbon. They wanted it very bare bones. I met with my two operating partners over a month in August in 2011 and after a month, they asked me to become a partner. They wanted me to kind of drive the concept in a little different direction and I think they saw what I was capable of, and they knew what I could do. We’ve been compared to some other restaurants — and I don’t really think anything’s original, ever — but what we did is make an effort to be really unique. From the design to the food. And is it familiar food? To some respect, but also from the menu design on down, it’s very different. And that was the thing that we really wanted to achieve — was to be different in this market.
You know, there’s already house of steak, house of charcuterie, houses of meat, we wanted to be all those things but we wanted to have our own voice. I think anytime you can (knocks on wood) be lucky as we are to open up with great success and still maintain that voice and that level of creativity, I think it’s super awesome.

When you were first leaving the Dakota and approached to do this project, was that scary at all for you? Or were you ready?

I think I’d run my course at Dakota. I mean, Dakota was a great job and I met a lot of cool people there — we brought a lot of them over here in the last year, obviously I’m a huge music fan and Dakota is in the top clubs in America, bar none. I’ve been to a lot of them. Is it the best club? Out of any given night, whatever performance could make it the best club. Seeing Prince at the Dakota two months ago made it the best club of all time, right? So that’s relative. Inherently, there’s challenges whenever you’re at a show club but for me, my time was up there, it was time to go. Life is making opportunity. When the opportunity came up, I just took advantage of it. Was it the right thing? How do you ever know if it’s the right thing? But if you don’t take a chance, then you’re never going to get there.

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So let’s focus on your life outside the restaurant. When you’re at home, what do you like to cook for yourself or for friends and family?

Well the one thing we’ve tried to do recently, and it’s kind of funny, it’s like an English or Irish thing but we’re trying to have proper Sunday suppers. So we’re doing things on Sunday like a roast, or a pot of stew or chili, something then that also translates to food for the week. We’re really trying, my wife and I, along with some friends, we’re trying to make a concerted effort to really take Sundays to have that downtime and be creative and have fun. Last Sunday it was a mustard and honey-glazed salmon and I made this great oxtail-braised vegetables and it was really good. We’re just trying to take those moments to cook. Cooking is my vocation but it’s also my avocation. I really love to cook and at the end of the day, when you become an owner and a bigger piece of the puzzle, you have less time for that front-line cooking, which I miss. At the end of the day, I’m just a line cook that got lucky.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure food?

It’s hard for me. I’m not a food snob, or at least I like to think I’m not, but I don’t eat fast food, I don’t eat in bars, I don’t eat hamburgers, I really don’t eat anything in a bun. I just don’t. Even the sausages here, we didn’t put them in a bun, we put them on a plate with a fork and knife. One part of the idea, like back to the design portion of the restaurant, I think we realized that anytime you put something in a bun, immediately, it’s just for you. It’s your sandwich, it’s your hot dog and we really wanted this to be a communal dining experience, where people bought stuff and shared it. I thought as soon as you use a fork and a knife, it’s way more transferable, than putting it in a bun. Maybe that’s just me but I like a fork and a knife. Do I eat with my hands? Plenty. I eat my salad with my fingers. But yeah, I’m not a chicken wing guy. And it’s not that I’m opposed to it, but if I’m going to eat like that, I’m generally doing that at home. I can roast a chicken, I’m a chef, right?

So guilty pleasure would be, if it’s a junk food thing, I love the Chicago popcorn mix, with the cheese and the caramel, like at Candyland. If I buy a can, I’ll eat the whole damn thing. So I don’t buy it often. Peanut M&M’s are on my list. As a chef, I’m really a texture guy. So like, M&M’s don’t do it for me but put a peanut in there and to me, it’s a whole new thing. Same thing with the popcorn — it’s cheesy, it’s sweet, it’s crunchy, it’s got everything all in one. As far as cheater food goes, I don’t have a microwave but I have a toaster oven, so anything I can put on a corn tortilla and toast at like, midnight, is generally what I’m eating with a beer at 12 o’clock. Frozen pizza, I do eat frozen pizza. It’s terrible.

Any particular brand of pizza?

Jack’s. They’re five for $10. And I like the crust when you cook it really hot and you can put whatever you want on it — you gotta jazz it up.

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Is there an ingredient that you would prefer never to work with?

I don’t like raw broccoli. And durian fruit I can swallow, it’s just not my favorite. It’s interesting. Also one of my pet peeves in cooking — I hate scallions that are cut more than a day in advance. They just smell gassy. And I feel like durian fruit reminds me of that same gassy smell of scallions. I know it’s sulfur or whatever, but yeah, it’s just something about it. It’s a savory fruit and I think that’s what throws me off. I want to bite into it and I want it to be like jack fruit, but in reality it tastes like … raw scallion. So yeah, something happens to me there.

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to?

I’m very seasonal. People’s bodies crave it. When you’re in Minnesota and that first cold weather hits, it’s like man, I need something hot and sticky and thick. I grew up with wild rice soup that you could stick a spoon in and it’d stick straight up. But you don’t want to eat that in March. Right now, I think I’m digging tropical fruit. I love pineapple, I love mangos, papaya. I’m looking forward to berries and ramps and some other cool things. Minnesota morel mushrooms, that’s what everybody wants.

When you’re out of both kitchens, what’s your favorite pastime?

I recently got back into bike riding, which I really enjoy. For many years when I was a chef, I played basketball but once I started at La Belle Vie, I quit playing. But I played for 25 years. I love jazz music. When I took the job at the Dakota, I was actually a member. I used to drive from La Belle Vie on my off nights and try to catch a show. I’m really into dogs. I have two but I’m really into training dogs.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” what would it be?

Sweet breads. Love sweet breads. Fried.

Where are some of your favorite places to dine?

Well, the greatest meal I’ve ever had in my entire life was at L’Astrance in Paris. The best meal I’ve ever had in America was at Eleven Madison Park (New York), I did lunch with my wife and that was amazing. Twin Cities best meals? All the chefs are going to get mad. Doug Flicker made a tasting menu for me and Tim (McKee) and Bill (Summerville) at Auriga. I think that was the best tasting menu I’ve ever had in Minnesota, with the exception of Steven Brown and Peter Rocher at Levain. I had a meal at Levain that was actually better than anything I had in New York, on that particular trip. I love Steven Brown, I think Doug Flicker is a genius. I love Sameh Wadi, I know he gets a lot of love but I think he should get more. I really love brunch at Haute Dish. Sorry Landon, I like brunch better than dinner. But he cooks it. I think that’s why I like it, he puts his soul into it. It’s hard because I don’t get out much. One of my favorite restaurants that I continually go to is probably Meritage because it’s the only place where I can get oysters and champagne. I like Chinese food at Hong Kong Noodle. I’m kind of finicky. I like weird things. I’m quirky.

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You and other chefs you mentioned have done some friendly competitions in the past. Would you ever consider going on reality cooking shows, like Chopped or Top Chef?

It’s funny that you should ask that because I have a video audition into Top Chef right now. They called me about a month ago and asked me to submit an application. I said I would. I don’t know if I’ll do it. I love Chopped — it’s my favorite show. It appeals to everything I like about the competitive side of cooking. Cooking is always a competition. There’s a lot of ego involved in what we do but you just have to cage it, it has to be healthy. If you were to talk to any great chef, they all play to win. It’s a very competitive industry that we’re in. It’s even a competitive environment in the kitchen working with other chefs. So I really enjoy competition.

For your next venture, you’ll be helping with the a restaurant for the former Joe’s Garage spot in Loring Park. What can you tell us about that?

Well, everyone knows Joe’s Garage is closed in Loring Park and we will be consulting that restaurant and doing that. I will be a contracted and consulting chef for a period of time. So along with Joe, who owns it obviously, and our two management partners here, we will be consulting on the project. They came to me and asked if I would be interested and I said yes. It’s a little precarious in the sense that we’re only a year old here and we still have a lot to do, places to go but you never know what the next opportunity will bring. It’s an opportunity to be involved in something that’s new and exciting.

Any clues on the menu or what the vision will be?

Well I know some stuff but I’m not supposed to say. We want to create another environment where people feel relaxed, it’s casual, it’s fun. I don’t think it needs to be a destination restaurant, I’ll say. It needs to be a place where you call me and say, ‘Hey Jack, meet me for a beer and some snacks, we’re going here. By the way we’ve got a 150-seat rooftop patio that’s awesome.’ I think that being said, it will definitely be a more casual approach than Butcher and the Boar. … Joe’s is almost like an institution. I don’t think you want to go too far from what it’s always been. But it’s also been 25 years. It’s time for some new paint. That’s the approach I want to take to it. I don’t want to lose the idea of what Joe’s is, I just want to bring it up to more of a current standard.

When you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for, in the culinary world?

That’s a tough question. I just want to be known as the guy that made people great food. At the end of the day, it’s always about cooking. We, chefs, — speaking for myself, maybe others — tend to get lost in other things that aren’t as important. It’s harder in my role here than it’s ever been as a chef being a partner because you’re involved in a lot of things. Like today it’s 4 p.m. and in my world, in my life, I’d rather be cooking in the kitchen. At the end of the day, I just want to be a great cook. If I can have some success in doing things along the way, those are all perks to me. I don’t think your motivation will ever be that you’re going to get up in the morning and start cooking because you want to be a TV celebrity, the next Top Chef or the next James Beard guy. I think you really get rewarded if you work hard and just do the best you can.

Read Part 1 of our chef chat with Jack Riebel. For more information on Butcher and the Boar, click here.

You can take the chef off the line, but you can’t take the line cook out of the chef.

Butcher and the Boar’s Jack Riebel is in the midst of celebrating 30 years of cooking and while he’s worked just about every position over the course of his career – breakfast cook, smoothie maker, salad cook, executive chef – he said working the line is where he loves to be. It’s what reminds him why he got into this crazy business in the first place.

Not that he’s complaining but with a highly successful restaurant, another project in the works and a Best Chef Midwest nomination under his belt, there’s not a whole lot of time for Chef Jack to work said line.

The last year has certainly been a milestone to his three decades in the kitchen. Butcher and the Boar earned Star Tribune’s title of Restaurant of the Year, landed on several lists touting the establishment as one of the country’s best and both the restaurant and its chef received plenty of attention from the James Beard Foundation.

Still, you wouldn’t know it in talking with Chef Jack — the man who says when it comes down to it, he’s more excited by the work of his team than individual awards. And while he’s truly honored to be recognized for all the hard work he’s put in over the years, at the core, he’s just doing what he loves — and wouldn’t imagine it any other way.

We sat down to chat with the chef about when it all began.

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How old were you when you began cooking?

At my first actual job cooking for pay, I was 16 years old, as a breakfast cook. That’s where I got my 30 years from – I turn 46 this year. Last year marked 30 years of cooking.

Do you ever miss cooking breakfast?

It’s funny that you should say that because a lot of people question, like, short-order cooks. But to me, it’s the hardest, it’s where you learn how to be a good line cook. You have to be really organized, you have to be on top of things, you have to be fast and you’re actually cooking some pretty critical things – egg cookery can be challenging but also you’re trying to time your pancakes and your toast and everything else.

My opinion is, if guys come in looking for jobs and they’re like, ‘Well, I cooked breakfast for two years,’ it’s like, ‘hired.’ Can you make 600 eggs the right way every Sunday? Then you can work for me. But people don’t really think about it like that. So yes I do – ultimately line cooking is a blast, it’s why I love to cook. It’s an adrenaline rush, it’s fun and obviously, when you get to the level that I’m at today, there’s a lot more at play. You’re doing administrative work, you’re doing all these different things. At the end of the day, you don’t always get the time out to cook as much. So I take advantage of cooking at home for that reason. Some of my favorite days are when, you know, ‘Chef, can you cover a station on the line tonight?’ I mean, sign me up. I’m doing that today, actually.

Did you come from a family of cooks?

Well, you know it’s ironic and I say this with a ‘Hey mom, I love you,’ but my mom was maybe not the best cook but you know, the five things that she maybe did cook were really good. But she was a very experimental cook. Growing up in my house also included you having to cook. You didn’t have to cook or do dishes in the same day but you had to do one or the other. So two days a week, I would usually cook some horrid thing. If it wasn’t breakfast for dinner, it’d be some horrid thing. So the joke is, she suffered through a lot of bad food to make really good food.

When did you know you wanted to go into the culinary world?

Yeah, I don’t know. How do you ever really know? You know, when you’re young and you’re in kitchens, it’s really kind of exciting. It’s really fun just to see the process and the energy and to be near the creativity. There’s a lot of things that were really appealing. I think once I found a place that had something I liked to do, I just kind of went with it. I wasn’t a very good student, so I ended up not doing very well in school, although I did make it to culinary school.

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What inspires your cooking? What is it about being a chef that motivates you?

I take inspiration from everything. If I were to give you a fair assessment, I’m a very tactile person. I don’t really work well with a blank piece of paper. I need to go to the market and smell it, taste it. I like to travel all over the world and taste different cuisine, taste different cultures and I think it’s the time that you spend away from what you do day-to-day that allow you to step into something else.

For me, I take that opportunity to take in different things, so I like to read a lot. I’m an avid cookbook collector. I probably have about 600 cookbooks. I like them old, new, that’s what I read. I also really like cultures, I like to travel. I really have a strong affinity for the Vietnamese food that’s in the Twin Cities – I think it’s one of the most understated. We have great pho. You can go all over the country but it’s really good here. I love Thai cuisine, so I like things that are outside my day-to-day box. I want to eat and experience different cultures, different foods and use that as inspiration for my own cooking.

In addition to that, I’m a huge jazz music fan. I love jazz music. So I think creativity ebbs and flows – you don’t just turn it on. It’s a pursuit, in pursuit of creating things, creative ideas will come to you. Ultimately, I think, when you’re a young kid like me and you drop out of high school and you become a very much working kid, 16, you know — both my parents are very, very educated, everybody in my family went to college except for me. My mom has accomplished a ton in her life so my ultimate goal was that I needed to achieve as much as I could. So today, you know, knock on wood, I feel like I’ve arrived, if that makes sense.

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Do you have a go-to cookbook?

Gosh, you know, that’s really funny. So the very first cookbook I got was the first real, kind of, color-picture, coffee-table star chef cookbook. It was 19- it’s out of print now but I think it was published in 1980 or 1982, called “New American Classics” by Jeremiah Tower. By that time, he just finished being the chef at Chez Panisse and had just opened up his own restaurant, Stars. Today, I can still reference that book because what he was doing still has relevancy, even 33 years later. That’s one of my go-to’s.

I gotta be honest, I think “Joy of Cooking” – everyone says to me, ‘What’s the first book I should get?’ and I always say to them, “Joy of Cooking” and they think I’m crazy but what I like about it is that if I need a base line recipe for a simple biscuit, I can go there and get something that works and I can translate it if I want but I know it’s going to work when I make it. So I can always pass that off to a cook if I need something on the fly. It sounds crazy, but after 75 years of testing every recipe, more than once, it works well. The thing with a lot of star chef cookbooks is, they’re great, but the recipes aren’t always complete, the methods aren’t and those cookbooks aren’t for everybody. Because you have to be able, no pun intended, to read between the lines.

Have you ever thought about writing your own cookbook?

A lot of people tell me I should do that. It might be fun, you know, let’s see where it goes. Right now, I’m plenty busy but I guess the idea of it is kind of interesting.

Congratulations on the James Beard Award nomination, by the way. I hear you were walking your dog with your wife when you found out? What was your initial reaction?

Yeah, well my phone was just buzzing and buzzing and buzzing and I try to take an hour and a half every morning to myself – and that hour and a half is usually between like 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. to walk the dogs, ride my bike, whatever I need to do to get ready for the day. And so we’re walking the dogs and I generally try to ignore my phone for that period of time but after like four or five text alerts, I opened it up and there was all these congratulation notices. Pretty cool. I feel really lucky to … I’ve been working in this town for a long time and I’ve worked in other cities but I’ve never lived anywhere else and I think it’s really cool that I have this spectrum of friends that are really broad in all areas of the industry. It’s really cool to get recognition for your 30 years of hard cooking. It’s kind of the ultimate peer recognition.

What is that like for you to receive such an honor for your work?

For me, the thing that I really was the most proud of – and I mean, Best Chef Midwest is awesome and I’m going to go to New York and have a blast – but being mentioned in the top 25 best new restaurants in America, as a semifinalist, was maybe more rewarding for me. Because that’s not just me, that’s the accumulation of our team, what we’ve done here and a testament to all of the people that helped make it happen. I think whenever you can put together a group of people and you have that cohesion, you can make great things happen. I thought that was awesome.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chef chat with Jack Riebel. For more information on Butcher and the Boar, click here.

Nothing says baseball season quite like a new list of ballpark eats. Well OK, at least for me, anyway.

Since the beginning of Target Field’s short but grand history, they’ve been excellent at adding in new, local foods every year.

While last year’s offerings included a mega meatball, garlic fries and healthier offerings from LeeAnn Chin, this year we’re welcoming food truck fare and a Minnesota favorite.

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The new line-up includes Mac’s Fish and Chips (St. Paul, Minn.), Sheboygan Sausage Co. (Alexandria, Minn.), Panino’s baked sandwiches (North Oaks, Minn.) and Andrew Zimmern’s AZ Canteen Food Truck creations (Minneapolis).

Another newcomer this year will be something called the Twins Territory Market in Section 112, where fans looking for healthier menu items and those with dietary restrictions or food allergies will have an array of options.

Roots for the Home Team will expand its services at Target Field, bringing fresh, locally grown produce to the ballpark on Saturdays and Sundays starting June 1.

Papa John’s Pizza will be featured at Frankie V’s concession stands and Kemps is making a return with their fan favorite (and my personal fave) the malt cup!

(credit: CBS)

Of course, the old standbys will also make a return, maintaining the Target Field signature menu of Kramarczuk’s sausages, the Murray’s Steak Sandwich, the Valentini’s Mega Meatball, the El Burrito Mercado’s Walk A Taco and Loon Café Chili.

Here’s where you can find the new stuff:

AZ Canteen
Where: Section 120
What: Canteen Burger, a lamb/goat blend fully dressed with house-made chips, plus other specialties from the food truck.

Mac’s Fish and Chips
Where: Section 133 (The State Fair Stand)
What: St. Paul’s classic fish and chips, with fresh battered walleye.

Panino’s Baked Sandwiches
Where: All Frankie V’s Concessions
What: Buffalo Chicken Panino, made with chicken, celery, Swiss cheese and Panino’s own Buffalo sauce and the Spaghetti Pie Panino, stuffed with spaghetti noodles, meatball and mozzarella cheese, then smothered in pasta sauce.

Sheboygan Sausage Co.
Where: Several concession stands
What: Four varieties of sausage — the Italian, Polish, bratwurst and cheddar bratwurst.

Check out what our Twins bloggers picked as their favorites from the new foods here.

Gallery: New Foods At Target Field

Thankfully, an annual tradition will open Sunday, sure to yank us out of our winter fatigue and give us hope that spring — indeed — is here.

For nearly 50 years, Macy’s eighth floor has been transformed into a giant, gorgeous blossoming garden for the annual flower show. This year, with the help of Bachman’s, the theme “A Painted Garden” comes to life through the majestic colors and inspirations of Asia.

The Flower Show opens Sunday, March 24 and runs through Sunday, April 7 at the downtown Minneapolis Macy’s eighth floor auditorium.

To help guide you through this year’s display, here’s a few fun facts about “The Painted Garden:”

– The show is made up of 10 gardens, reflecting the culture and beauty of Asia.

– The signature centerpiece is a 10-foot elephant, which is covered with a floral blanket made of strawflowers, buttonflowers, yarrow, lavender and more. The flowers were hand-glued to create multi-colored patterns and detailing.

(credit: CBS)

– Macy’s artists painted four Hawthorn shrubs that were then grown in Bachman’s greenhouses. The paint is made of an organic soy protein base, specially selected for this show.

– Approximately 24 truckloads of plants, flowers and soil make up this year’s flower show. In total, there are roughly 120 varieties of flowers and plants.

– Construction began in January and required 3,000 hours of labor to complete, including local electricians, florists, landscapers, artists, carpenters and visual specialists.

– It takes a full — full – nine days to plant the Flower Show display.

– It takes four days to uninstall it.

– Some flowers, including amaryllis, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips need to be replaced half way through the show to keep them looking fresh.

– Several of the plants, trees and shrubs do not naturally bloom at this time of year. They are grown specially in Bachman’s growing range where they can take up to seven weeks to bloom.

– More than 65,000 people come to the Flower Show during its two-week run.

– The soundtrack for the Flower Show is custom-made locally in the Twin Cities and used in all five flower shows across the United States.

Gallery: Macy’s Flower Show

The Macy’s Flower Show is free to the public and open during regular store hours. For more information about the show, click here.

For those that have seen Shakespeare plays before or those looking to experience them for the first time, one thing’s guaranteed: You’ve never seen Shakespeare like this.

The British Shakespeare company, Propeller, has arrived in the Twin Cities to perform “Twelfth Night” and “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Guthrie Theater, bringing a new approach and contemporary interpretation.

The 14-member, all-male acting troupe keeps a sharp, rigorous focus on the Shakespeare text, zeroing in on the words of these iconic pieces and finding ways to take a fresh approach on stage for their ever-changing audiences.

This is the company’s first time in the Twin Cities and so far, they said it’s been an impressive stay.

“The Guthrie is a remarkable building and the Wurtele Thrust Stage, it’s a heck of a thing to work with because we have not been using a thrust for the whole tour, so this is our first proper thrust stage that we’ve worked with,” said Propeller cast member Joseph Chance. “The audience has been incredibly supportive here, which is good.”

The Guthrie’s thrust, which features audience seating around three sides of the stage, took some adjustment for Propeller’s artistic director — and not a lot of time to get things set. But having toured internationally for the better part of its 15-year history, it’s something they’ve become accustomed to.

For Chance, and fellow Propeller cast member Christopher Heyward, this marks their first year in the touring company — and a transitional one, at that.

This is the largest influx of new actors the company has ever seen. Of their 14 members, seven are new and seven are veterans. In typical years, it’s more like two or three that are newcomers.

“There’s only been 57 actors who’ve ever been in Propeller in those 15 years, which is really unusual. So it’s exciting to be part of,” Chance said. “It gives you a sense of family. People kind of commonly say there’s a band of brothers’ feel to what we do and there is. It’s kind of a bit like being part of a sports team.”

(credit: Manuel Harlan)

Propeller started 15 years ago as something of a trial run — Artistic Director Ed Hall thought it might be interesting to bring Shakespeare to the theater but with an all-male company.

“It just so happens to be that it’s a bunch of guys and that’s how its worked,” Heyward said. “It seems to work well and the audience enjoys it and it just so happens that that’s how it used to be, back in the day. It’s just grown out of an experiment.”

Heyward said the group also produces what they call “pocket shows” — hour-long versions of some of Shakespeare’s best work, like Henry V. These are then taken to schools to get kids interested in Shakespeare.

“It’s still the Propeller style, still the Propeller ethos, there’s nothing kind of dumbed down,” he said. “The whole ethos of Propeller is that it’s text first, it’s all about the language, making sure that’s spoken properly and then, you know, you can have fun on top of that.”

Heyward said learning Shakespeare to such a detailed and accurate degree is certainly an ongoing process.

“It takes a long time and in rehearsal — we spend five weeks rehearsing a show — and in that time, the majority of it is spent on the text-work, making sure certain words are really hit out. ‘Cause if you don’t hit them out, the audience really isn’t going to know what’s going on,” he said.

Still, growing up with rich Shakespeare history, these actors have a bit of an advantage on the material.

“I was very familiar with Shakespeare,” Heyward said. “But then it’s rammed down our throats. We learn it, we study it at school and everything but it’s a lot different from studying something and watching it.”

Being part of an all-male company also means several actors get to try their hands at female roles. Chance, who plays Viola in “Twelfth Night” said it adds an entertaining dynamic to their work.

“There’s a direct physicality which is great fun to play. We have to build a kind of style, I suppose, of storytelling, which involves imagination,” he said. “We deliberately say, ‘this is theater.’ You know, we’re not going absolute naturalism here. We are men playing women. And in my case, I’m a man, playing a woman, who then plays a man. So in that multi-layered effect, you get this kind of imaginative journey. … Theatrically, that’s really good stuff. And the audience gets excited.”

It’s a unique experience — and one Heyward says is certainly one-of-a-kind.

“No one does Shakespeare like Propeller, no one does. We know because we see everyone do Shakespeare in England and no one does it like Propeller,” he said. “If you come and see a Shakespeare play by Propeller, you’ll never forget it.”

Propeller’s “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Twelfth Night” will be performed at the Guthrie Theater until April 6. For more information, and to get tickets, click here.

The 2005 Tony-award winner for Best Musical heads to the Orpheum Theatre in a limited run this weekend, bringing the cult classic to life for all who want to eat ham and jam and Spam a lot.

The stage show claims to “lovingly rip off” the international classic, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” highlighting its most quotable lines and adding a musical layer with equally hilarious songs and dance numbers.

To get the inside scoop of the touring production — and to find out how they perform such high comedy without laughing hysterically — we turned to cast member Thomas DeMarcus, who plays a number of roles in the musical. (We’ll leave the viewing audience to try and guess which ones.)

How familiar were you with Monty Python before being cast in “Spamalot?”

I’d say I was very familiar as I was a huge fan of “Holy Grail” when I was working at a Blockbuster Video in high school. Every now and then, the employees could decide what movies to watch in the store and I would always choose “Clue” or “Holy Grail.”

When I went to college, I watched some of the TV series and it’s some of the most clever wordplay. If you see “The Argument Clinic” sketch, it is such a simple back-and-forth, but it’s amazingly clear and brilliant. The Pythons were great about that.

There isn’t a lot of excess material so each scene plays incredibly fast and yet a lot of their stuff is so memorable. Since being cast in the show, I’ve tried to get my hands on anything they did as a group. Their Hollywood Bowl video was a masterpiece … I would have loved to have seen them all in one place live.

(credit: Scott Suchman)

What was your first reaction after seeing the film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail?”

I loved it. Immediately. It was very different and I thought it was bold to let basically six people do most of the characters in one movie. And I recall some of the fun was figuring out who was who. The constant questioning of King Arthur’s royal-ness and power by these eccentric characters he meets along the way is fairly timeless. Dennis’ entire scene is about how insane the idea that “wielding supreme executive power just because some watery-tart threw a sword.” It’s commenting on England’s history with a humorous snark that somehow remains classy.

On a different note, I thought the “galloping” was so smart. King Arthur miming riding a horse through the English countryside searching for a grail, while Patsy just clicks two halves of a coconut together. That’s stupid-genius. My first show ever was a production of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” and our two princes did that fake gallop while their stewards were right behind them with coconuts. It was a simple nod, but of course it got a laugh every night. Everyone is influenced by Python. Everyone steals from Python. That’s how you know they were trailblazers.

The movie — and the stage show — are super quotable. Do you have a favorite line?

As the Arthur and the knights come upon Camelot, everyone looks at the castle with such awe and amazement, and the movie cuts to the small snippet of “Knights of the Round Table” and then it cuts back to the knights outside the castle and Arthur says, “On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place,” and then everyone gallops off. I wish we could somehow sneak that line into the show, but we get interrupted by God.

In the show, my favorite line is hard to narrow down and probably changes on a nightly basis, but when the Knights of Ni arrive for the first time, Arthur whispers to Patsy that anyone who hears their words seldom lives to tell the tale, and Patsy replies with a simple, “Oh, great.”

For those not familiar, how does Spamalot differ from the film? Tell us a little more about the songs in the show.

The biggest difference is certainly the songs. There are a few holdovers from the movie like, the minstrels’ “Bravely Bold Sir Robin” and a little bit of “Knights of the Round Table” that made it to the musical.

(credit: Scott Suchman)

“Always Look on the Bright Side” is in the show, but the original song was from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” movie, but it works perfectly for Patsy to sing to King Arthur. And while the Lady of the Lake is mentioned briefly in the movie, she has become a complete character with many brilliant moments. She has a lovely duet with Galahad mocking those cheesy, over-the-top ballads from other musicals called, “The Song That Goes Like This,” which is so inherently “Python” that I’m shocked it never existed before the musical.

My favorite song in the show is, “Find Your Grail,” when the Lady of the Lake shows Arthur and his knights how to start his quest for the grail. The choreography is ridiculous but it’s such an energizing song to perform because of the message.

What is it like having to juggle a number of roles — and different genders — in one production?

I have a background in improv and sketch comedy so it’s fun for me to wear many different hats over the course of one evening. I prefer character-acting and it’s fun to develop voices, physical characteristics and personalities for each person. And Monty Python definitely created a great foundation to work with.

I’ve been using my Mrs. Galahad voice since high school and it’s so much fun to have an excuse to use it in this show. I also wear the most ridiculous facial hair and I defy the audience to be able to tell which characters I play without looking at the program. We travel with the world’s best crew who keep everything running smoothly backstage because it is utter chaos with 20 of us running around looking for the right shoe or correct mustache in the dark.

The actual “juggling” is fairly straight forward because you could be wearing a costume for all of five seconds and then the audience never sees it again. The show is so fast-paced that it becomes second-nature how to handle everything with a clear head.

With a show like Spamalot, I would imagine it might be difficult not to break character and laugh during certain scenes. What’s this cast like? Do you try to make each other laugh on stage?

This cast — wow — I cannot say enough about the together-ness of this bunch. We’ve lived together for the better part of two years and some of us for three years. Everyone puts their heart into each performance and it’s exciting being a part of such a company. That being said, after 400-plus performances, there will obviously be slip-ups and yes, times where people break character.

There’s a time when the Knights who say Ni are onstage that King Ni can improvise a line and usually, he makes it city-specific when he can, but sometimes he comes up with these insane references that no one is ready for and it just starts a small wave. Sometimes the problem with stage-giggles is that they are very hard to get rid of. Fortunately, I’ve kept my composure … I’m such a professional.

On the other hand, there are times when our faces and reactions get slightly sillier or we try and find new bits or different line-readings onstage. I hate to call out the unprofessional behavior of all of us, but one day in the dressing room, we discovered that it was Christopher Walken’s birthday and so some of the knights decided to say just one word during the show in our best/worst Christopher Walken voice. We all knew it was coming, but you had to wisely choose the spot you were going to use it. That may seem like a ridiculous game … and, yeah … it was.

(credit: Scott Suchman)

You’ll be coming to the home of SPAM. Are you super excited? Have you been to Minnesota before?

I’ve been to Duluth and Grand Rapids but haven’t really spent enough time there and I’ve been to the Minneapolis airport a few times for layovers. Growing up, randomly, I was a fan of the Minnesota Twins and still have their pennant on my wall in my bedroom at my parents’ house.

I wish I could get to Austin and see the Spam Museum, just because I’ve spent three years of my life being surrounded by cans of this stuff and I’d like to see the gift shop (I have an obsession with collecting magnets). We were in Lincoln, Nebraska a few years ago near where the Hormel plant is located and some of Hormel company came to the show and passed out “Spam Cookbooks,” which I have and will be putting to use when I get back to New York. I cannot wait for Minneapolis. I need someone to give me restaurant advice!

This musical has such a loyal following. What has it been like to be part of the touring production?

I’ve been doing this show for three years now and it never ceases to amaze me what kinds of extremely loyal fans Monty Python has. The first year, one of the characters I played was Brother Maynard who comes in for two minutes and blesses a hand grenade so the knights can befall the killer rabbit. Two minutes, tops. This is not a major character whatsoever and yet, when I left the theater one night to head out after the show, I was greeted at the stage door by someone dressed as Brother Maynard just looking for an autograph and a picture.

I’ve never been in a show like this and it may never happen again. I am extremely humbled to have a small, small, small part in the lifeline of Monty Python. When I come out as “The Black Knight” and simply utter, “None shall pass!” sometimes I get this wild applause from the audience because they know what’s coming. I know they aren’t clapping for me, but it still makes me feel like a rock star.

The fans have been incredible. They’ll quote lines right back to us during the scenes. They’ll whistle during “Bright Side.” We sell coconuts at the merchandise stand and every now and then you can hear someone galloping in the audience.

Spamalot runs from Friday to Saturday, March 15-16, at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Tickets range from $34 to $94. For tickets or more information, click here.

I started doing music interviews in June of 2011 and — amazingly enough — started with Mark Foster of Foster The People. Since then, I’ve interviewed great acts, including Wesley Shultz of The Lumineers, Ann Wilson of Heart, Stephen Marley of … Stephen Marley and many more.

Now, they’ve been great and they’re big-selling national acts, but something needs to change. I need to get local.

So, I’m making a big push for Minnesota-based bands and figured my first featured band, Roster McCabe, would provide a great first example: a successful local band that’s well-respected, talented and on the upswing.

I’m currently on the search for more Minnesota musicians of a variety of backgrounds, and I’d like your feedback, too. Do you know any lesser-known acts that attract followers, but just haven’t had the chance at getting some press? Let me know in the comments below or e-mail me.

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In the meantime, enjoy the Roster McCabe feature below:

(credit: RosterMcCabe.com)

Roster McCabe jams, but they’re not quite a jam band. They rock out, but they’re not quite a rock band. They, in fact, prefer to be called “electrorock.” Whatever you call them, what they most want to accomplish is quite simple: get people dancing.

By blending rock, reggae, funk, fusion and a myriad of other styles — all while channeling uplifting, inspiring, hopeful, look-up-to-the-stars-and-smile-type lyrics — Roster McCabe really does get people moving.

Since they began nearly eight years ago, Roster has expanded its reach, branching out from the Twin Cities and is now touring across the greater Midwest, from Montana to Kentucky.

Before a show in Indiana, we caught up with front-man Alex Steele, who took some time to talk about the band’s rise in the Minneapolis music scene, what they’re up to now and their true hopes/dreams as a band. (Make sure you stay til the end — there’s a sweet video you don’t want to miss.)

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What’s up, man? Where do I find you today?

Hello! We’re in Evansville, Indiana … in the middle of a 10-day run and playing shows every night. Right now, we’re at a place called Lamasco. It’s pretty fun, man, it’s a big college town and they’re really supportive of the local music scene. It’s kinda like a little oasis in the Midwest.

I see you’ve played in Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, South/North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois in basically the last month, how do you guys do it? Do you guys ever just simply get too fatigued to tour?

It’s tough, man. It’s not easy uprooting everything all the time and living out of suitcase.

The best way I can say it is, that you definitely have to find a balance, especially having been on the road for so long. You start to understand your limits. We try to eat healthy, you know, stay healthy, get the rest when we can and it kind of helps to be extroverted as far as drawing energy from other people, drawing energy from the crowd.

Since the band started, how has touring evolved for you guys over the years?

(Touring) has changed quite a bit. The vehicles have changed around a couple times. Our touring route definitely has changed. You take a look at what you’re doing and try to be more efficient. You find out places that hit and you find out those that don’t. Obviously, expanding is one of those things you do as a business or as a band – reaching new markets. So now, we play the greater part of the Midwest, from Colorado to Ohio and as far south as Arkansas and Kentucky.

Back to the beginning, can you give me a little back story as to how the group formed?

At first, it was something just to blow off some steam. It was just a fun thing. When we were getting done (with college), Mike Daum, the lead guitarist, had a job he hated (laughs), you know, and went so he could basically have money so we could play music. Drew (Preiner) and I were finishing school and we were like, ‘We can make this our job and not have to do anything else.’ That’s when we started the full band project and looked to fill the roles of drums and bass and actually consider ourselves a legit band and go for a career, you know?

I hear that you guys consider yourself a rock band with a variety of sounds. Is this a result of your individual interests or are you all kind of scatterbrained stylistically?

(Laughs) That’s a good way to put it! You know, I think it’s a little bit of both, maybe? We call ourselves electrorock, and that’s more to explain the tonality of it.

We definitely do come from a long back story of different interests. I guess we kind of influence each other. We try everything. If a certain style fits a groove/fits what we’re working with, we’ll definitely give it shot.

I’m gonna give you a classic question: As a vocalist, who are your inspirations? As a keyboardist?

I can give you a lot of classic answers, too. (Laughs) There’s a lot of Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, my dad’s from Jamaica, so I grew up listening to a lot of reggae, like Beres Hammond. My mom’s straight Midwest, so I grew up with a lot of Elvis Costello, Elton John. After that, I was trying to immolate dude’s like Carl Thomas, Maxwell, Music Soulchild, you know, R&B legends … De’Angelo, Babyface (Laughs) – not proud to admit that one! (Laughs)

As far as piano playing, I definitely consider myself a choir-nerd-gone-piano-player. I’ll listen to Elton John, Chris Martin. I’m in love with Ben Folds, that dude’s a beast.

How does your songwriting process usually go – or does it vary from song to song? Lyrics or music first? Do you guys just start jammin’?

You know, I get a lot of hooks just from conversations with people. I’ll be like, ‘Dude, that’s a good hook’ and I’ll put that one in the bank. Then, I’ll just sit and geek out on my computer and just try to put some chord progressions out that feel good and every once and a while, I’ll go to my bank of hooks and lyrical content and see if they match the vibe of the songs.

In your song, Spark A Light, you sing, “we try to spark a light of guidance, and hope that someone finds it, so this calling won’t be lost.” What kinds of guidance/messages would you like listeners to receive from your music?

We’re getting deep! (Laughs) One of the biggest things that I try to stress is the ability of unity and community, solid wavelengths between people as far as thought and action. That’s a big one – especially in that song.

It’s not so much that I’m trying to preach about one thing or another, just belief, faith and hope in each other.

You guys are obviously big in the Minnesota/Minneapolis music scene. Were there any local bands you guys looked up to as you were beginning to gig around town?

When I first started playing shows in Minneapolis, I mean, obviously I idolized dudes like Morris Day & The Time and Prince, who blew up … a lot of great bands that came out of Minneapolis. We used to play a lot of shows with this band called Catchpenny back in the day, they were kind of a alt-rock band … Hyentyte, Nathan Miller and the Unstoppable Company, and Fat Maw Rooney … those are kind of the dudes we looked up to.

How have you guys taken advantage of new media? What websites/social networks are you guys most involved in? I know you guys are experimenting with the name-your-price for songs on your website (in the spirit of Radiohead) — how has that gone?

We try to stay up on it as much as we can. It’s just, man, we’ve hit this critical mass point now where it’s like everybody wants a piece of that. There’s so many different versions of Facebook, of Twitter, of Instagram, of all those things.

We try to find the most efficient ones to get our message across and get our information out to people … you know, staying active. It’s a cool way to meet people, the Internet. Staying up with it, I guess is the best thing you can do.

For a lot of musicians, it’s not even about getting money from their music, it’s more about touring where they get their revenue from.

Yeah, it’s almost like it has reverted back to the days of the traveling minstrels (Laughs). That’s our only option now, you know? You can’t get $10 for every album and nobody’s distributing our music anymore. You gotta take it in your own hands pretty much and (touring) is the ways to do it — get people out to your shows.

Big question: What ultimate goals do you guys have as a band?

I’d be lying if I said I wanted to stop before I got to the top, you know what I mean? I want to play for as many people as I possibly can. But as idealistic as that sounds, we have a plan to sustain a career in music and that’s what’s most important. We all want to be able to play, and continue to play, for as long as possible because we’re musicians, that’s just who we are.

Lastly, what lesser known songs of yours would you recommend to music fans just getting into your music?

We’ve been going through some changes as a band recently, and I’m glad we’re now finally understanding our bands strengths and weaknesses. We’ve been able to fully realize our band’s sound and what we want to do with it. The songs that really represent that are songs from the new album … There’s a song called, “Take A Breath” and that’s really dancy and really fun, and there’s a lot of really cool elements in it. There’s also a song called, “Nothing to Lose,” which is a personal mantra of mine. We’re definitely starting a new phase, and era, of Roster and hopefully we’ll be able to play something new at Cabooze. We have a lot of new things coming out and I believe they represent how we feel about ourselves as artists and as a band.

Video: Roster McCabe’s hit Stargazer

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Roster McCabe plays The Cabooze on Friday, April 19. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the show begins at 9:30 p.m. Click here for ticket information. Also, click here for updated tour information.

When La Belle Vie turns 15 this month, the man responsible for a significant portion of its success will also be the man “stuck” back in the kitchen.

Chef de Cuisine Mike DeCamp said in last week’s Chef’s Profile that while the celebration on March 24 is another day of work for him, it’ll certainly be a blast to have his former colleagues and friends under one roof.

Having led the kitchen for all of its seven years downtown and a few years during its Stillwater era, it seems DeCamp’s hard work is certainly paying off. Beyond being a semifinalist on the list of James Beard Award nominations, he’s also in the running for Food & Wine’s “The People’s Best New Chef.”

But we wanted to get to know the chef behind all the accolades — the one who loves spending time with his daughter, the potato chip addict and the man with the fierce beard.

(credit: CBS)

You’re known as “Young Chef” both on twitter and in the kitchen. Where did that nickname come from?

I started working for Tim (McKee) in ’97. I was 17 so that’s kind of where it came from. I was the youngest person in the kitchen for a lot of years, so that’s just kind of where it came from. At Cucina, I got the nickname and it’s just stuck ever since. I’m not so young any more but “Middle-Aged Chef” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

I have to ask, when did you start growing the beard?

Ohh, I don’t know. I don’t remember. When I was in Chicago, I always kind of had this but when I went to work at this hotel, in 2002, no facial hair allowed. So I didn’t really like that so much but I had to do it, because it was my job. In 2004, I moved back and then … it just happened from there. I guess there’s not too many people that look like me.

How did you first meet Tim and how has your relationship evolved over the years?

I met Tim after I worked in Wayzata. A guy I worked with, he went to work at Cucina. A bunch of people left Cucina, D’Amico Cucina — it’s not around anymore — a bunch of people left and I think I was the only one that applied. So I, luckily enough, got the job and that was kind of it. I did a good job and I kept doing a good job so they kept me around for a while and then (La Belle Vie in) Stillwater happened and that’s it, really. That’s how I met him.

Tim is probably my best friend. He was the best man at my wedding. It’s great. We have a unique working relationship. We complement each other. We have kind of different styles, yet not too different styles. I try to cook to the style of the restaurant. This is his and Bill’s (Summerville) vision of a restaurant, so I can’t necessarily do everything that I want to do but it’s good for us to meld together. We both have ideas, they come together and we kind of decide on something. It’s great — it’s a great relationship. He’s one of the smartest food people that I’ve ever met. So it’s great to have, I hate to call him a resource, but it’s great to have a resource like him around, just someone to talk to about things or whatever. It’s great.

(credit: CBS)

When you’re at home and away from the restaurant, which I can imagine isn’t a whole lot, do you like to cook at home? What do you like to cook for your family?

You know, not a lot. We don’t actually cook a lot at home, I mean my wife works — sometimes we have the same days off, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes when I get done with work, she’s getting done around the same time so we make a lot of one-pot meals, stir fries and stuff like that. Just put rice in the rice cooker and make stir fry. We make easy stuff. It ends up being very delicious. She’s a great cook, too. She was a cook before and now she’s in the front of the house. She cooks quite a bit more than me at home, to be true. A couple of weekends ago, my daughter likes steamed buns so we made a bunch of steamed buns and stuff like that. That’s the biggest thing we’ve made that’s not a one-pot in quite some time.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure food?

Well, they’re all guilty pleasures, I guess, aren’t they? … I’m kind of a potato chip guy. I generally try all of the new flavors I can find. I try to track different things down. Any kind of salty, I’m serious, Cheetos, Fritos, anything that comes in a bag or a tube, I think I’m good with. I eat all that stuff. I shouldn’t be saying that. I like Macaroni and Cheese. I grew up on that, you know. I like the Deluxe, though. I don’t like the powder so much. That’s the only thing that’s changed since I was a kid. Not one thing, really. I enjoy ice cream. But I think the potato chips gotta take it, anything like that.

Is there an ingredient that you would prefer never to work with?

I’m trying to think of a good one. … No, there’s some gross things that I think I’ve had in the past but I can’t think of anything that I don’t want to work with, really. … No, I can’t. I’ve had plenty of bad things. I’ve had some clams that are pretty bad but … I wish I could think of something. I like everything.

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to? Right now, anyway?

Right now, smoked things, kind of. I know that’s not an ingredient. Smoke is more of a flavor than an ingredient. But I’d say yes, big on smoked things right now. Smoked things, pickled things, a lot of … I’m mostly Norwegian, that’s my background, my lineage and kind of a lot of those flavors, not that I grew up with them, but they’re there. Pickled things and smoked things and Rye — I almost said we drink a lot of Rye, which we do but we’re cooking with a decent amount of rye, we add rye in with flour to add another flavor, buttermilk. We’re not a Nordic restaurant but we add a lot of those flavors. That’s kind of what we’re working with now. None of it has to do with the new Nordic revolution that’s going on, it just kind of worked its way in there for some reason.

(credit: CBS)

When you’re out of the kitchen, what’s your favorite pastime?

Well, my daughter’s my favorite pastime. That’s kind of a canned answer but she’s fun to be around. She’s 9, well, she’s going to be 9 in June. So it’s a great time. She’s great. She likes playing video games and stuff right now. My favorite pastime just is reading. I also enjoy movies but I haven’t seen a movie in the past nine months. Reading, that’s just my thing.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” what would it be?

Whatever. As long as I had friends around. As long as my friends were there, whatever’s fine. Maybe tacos. Just regular old tacos, maybe some carnitas or whatever. If I had to pick a meal before my time was done, with my friends, some tacos would be good.

Where are some of your favorite places to dine?

Piccolo — that’s probably my favorite. Tilia. They’re my two favorites right now. Right now I’m big on Parlour. Jesse Held, the bartender, is a friend and I’m enjoying it over there, plus it’s close to my house. I love going to Holy Land. Tilia and Piccolo are more, ‘I’m off with my wife and we’re going to go somewhere.’ But those are my favorite places. I like hole-in-the-wall places. The Global Market is pretty good, anything kind of in that area. I’ve been to great Mexican places around there.

When you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for in the culinary world?

Well right now I’m kind of known as the guy who worked for Tim for forever. Hopefully someday, my own place. Just being one of the best places in the cities. I guess, always having maintained that sort of standard. If we’re the standard where everyone goes for fine dining in the cities, if I move on, that’s what I would like to continue on. I always try to do the best job I could. That would be great.

Read Part 1 of our Chef’s Profile with Mike DeCamp. The 15th Anniversary party for La Belle Vie is on Sunday, March 24. Tickets are $150. For more information on the birthday party, call the restaurant at 612-874-6440. For more information on La Belle Vie, click here.

From the creator of the hit TV drama, “Brothers & Sisters,” comes a play about a family trying to heal the wounds of a difficult tragedy.

Those wounds become reopened when daughter Brooke returns home for the holidays with a big surprise — a memoir about the family.

Leading the cast is a Guthrie favorite, Sally Wingert. Her portrayal of family matriarch Polly Wyeth has been hailed as both dynamic and emotional, a guiding light to an all-star cast and a dazzling dramedy.

We sat down to chat with the “Meryl Streep” of the Twin Cities about the new show and more.

Tell us a little about your character Polly. What is she like?

What is she like? Oh boy. She is really bright, well-educated, sassy, sometimes chilly Republican matriarch. She comes from Texas but has lived in California with her husband, who been a movie actor as well as an ambassador. And they are dinner companions of the Reagans and move in that circle. So she’s powerful and slightly, controlling … which I would know nothing about. (Laughs)

And then the daughter comes home for Christmas and wants to write a memoir …

Both the children converge on the house on Christmas Eve. So the play takes place all in one day on Christmas Eve. And their daughter Brooke lives on the East Coast, about as far away as you could get from somebody in Palm Springs, is an author and her second book, which she’s just about ready to publish, is a memoir. Polly and Lyman, her husband, feel that the memoir will reopen wounds and open closet doors that maybe they think should be kept shut, of family history.

Plus, with friends like the Reagans … there’s a lot of interesting stories, I’m sure.

Exactly. I don’t think she’s trying to exploit the political sort of machinations there but I think she’s really trying to heal herself from a tragedy that occurred to the whole family. Their first-born child Henry committed suicide when Brooke was a young girl, a teenage girl and it scarred her in a way that she’s trying to recover from — and this memoir is part of that recovery. It sounds very dark but actually, it’s not a dark play.

There’s also a lot of comedy?

Yes, a lot of comedy. Both Polly and her sister who lives with them are movie screenwriters. They’re fairly pithy and fun. And the kids are certainly sharp and funny. It’s written by Jon Robin Baitz, who is the man who creates “Brothers & Sisters.” Great show, with that great dialogue. It’s similar in the way that that TV show was funny and yet, it was also moving. I think “Other Desert Cities” is similar in that way.

You mentioned that it all takes place on one day. Is that a challenge to be in a show without scene changes, where all the focus and attention is completely on the characters and the dialogue?

It is all about the characters and the dialogue. We’re on a beautiful set. But we all liken it to being at one of those places where we’re standing at the station, the train pulls up, we get on that train and it just moves like a juggernaut. So it’s really fun. I can’t tell you how fun this play is for our cast to do. My fellow cast members are really extraordinary. We just have a gas doing it together. The audiences have been really warm, so it’s been fun.

(credit: Michael Brosilow)

It seems like the audiences have responded so well and there’s a lot of things in this play that people can relate to. What kind of feedback have you been getting?

I think that is so true. I’ve had a lot of feedback from audience members saying that they related to the play — you know, part of the play takes place during 2004 during the Iraq War. It harkens back to issues of Vietnam and people of my generation that remember sitting around dinner tables with parents arguing about the war, all of that comes back up again. It’s topical in that way.

Obviously, you’ve had a wonderful career — more than 75 productions at the Guthrie alone.

Over, way over. I’m ancient. That only happens when you get so dang old. (Laughs)

Are there certain roles that stick out for you? Certain moments that will always be highlighted for you?

My favorite role will always be the next one I’m doing. Always. I’m always excited to have a job and get to work on that stage. But there have been roles in the past. I’m on the Proscenium and one of my favorite Proscenium shows from the new building is a “Third” — I played a professor, Laurie Jameson, and just had a gas doing that, it was really fun and the audiences responded well to her. I also up in the studio did “Happy Days,” which is a Samuel Beckett play, very challenging and I had a great time with that. You know, the main stage, there’s just too many to even pick a favorite because as soon as I do, I go ‘ But what about that one?’ But most recently, I did “Arsenic and Old Lace” and it just reminded me how fabulous those American classic, handsome, sort of three-act plays are. So fun to do on that stage for our audiences who seem to respond well to them.

Is there anything you haven’t tapped yet that you’d love to do?

I would love to do more in the Shakespeare canon. I’d love to do more Chekhov. It’s really easy to get excited about anything that’s coming up. I’m going to do a play next called “The Primrose Path,” which is by Crispin Whittell. It’s going to be directed by Roger Rees, who when I was a little girl, I watched him do “Nicholas Nickleby” on PBS and it was kind of life-changing for me as an actor — and to get to be in a room and have him direct us is going to be … That play promises to also be funny and moving, which is kind of the best of both worlds, I think. You get to feel it all.

Before we go, what would you say as a final pitch to get people to come and see “Other Desert Cities,” if they haven’t already?

I’ve had people tell me that it’s one of the most provocative and moving shows they’ve seen in recent years, on any stage. It’s a hot ticket right now. I have to say that my fellow actors are fantastic, including Michelle Barber and David Brinkley, who are other local actors here that many people know from Chanhassen as well as many other area theaters. We have two out of town actors, Christian Conn and Kelly McAndrew, and I’m just going to cry when they leave our state. They’re too fantastic. So I’m begging — c’mon out, we’ve only got a few weeks left.

“Other Desert Cities” runs through March 24 at the Guthrie Theater. For more information and tickets, click here.

You could say he’s a dime a dozen.

From the incredible kitchen at La Belle Vie, Chef de Cuisine Mike DeCamp leans on years of experience and a natural talent over the now-typical route of culinary school or collegiate courses. He quickly climbed the ranks, learning from chef mentors and plenty of reading that kept both his enthusiasm and his cooking at its peak.

Starting his first restaurant job in his early teens, DeCamp earned the nickname “Young Chef” – a moniker he still uses today (see Twitter).

Now, as La Belle Vie celebrates 15 years of impeccable service, DeCamp is scratching his head, wondering how the time flew by.

We sat down to chat with the chef about his recent James Beard semifinalist nomination, the restaurant’s anniversary and how his journey began.

How old were you when you began cooking?

When I first started cooking, I was 13 at a pizza place in Medicine Lake. Well, I mean, I started cooking when I was a kid with my great-grandma but not very fancy or anything like that. The pizza place is what really made me enjoy it.

Is that when you knew you wanted to go into the culinary world?

Yeah, kinda. When I was 16, I was working at a place in Wayzata called Chez Foley. It’s not there anymore but I worked with a guy and he kind of showed me that food can be more interesting than just home stuff. So that was kind of the time when it all clicked.

(credit: CBS)

What made you want to do this full time?

Well, it was kind of all I had ever done. So I really didn’t know any different than this. And it seemed fun. So what could be more fun than just making food all the time. That’s what made me enjoy it at first and eventually, I just fell in love with it.

You mentioned your great-grandmother, did you come from a family of cooks?

Not really. Whenever I say her, I know that everybody pictures that I used to make this or make that with her — we made pies. You know, great-grandmother home-style stuff. Nothing fancy, but you know, she enjoyed it and I enjoyed doing it with her. It was just something we did together. I think that’s how grandmothers and great-grandmothers babysat their grandkids — by cooking with them.

What would you say was your first memorable meal or a meal that stuck out for you?

That’s a terrible question. (Laughs) No, it’s a good question, it’s just terrible to try and narrow it down to one. There’s been so many. When I went to Charlie Trotters that was my first … and for many people, I think that would be the answer, too. I went to Charlie Trotters and that was my first really grand restaurant that I’d been at. A lot of times, it’s more the company that makes the meal, as opposed to just the food. My bachelor party, Tim (McKee) and all of my close friends went down to New Orleans and my favorite meal I think we had there was at a place called Cochon, it’s one of Donald Link’s restaurants.

Not long after that I got married and then on our honeymoon, we went to Napa. Meadowood was also another really fantastic meal. So I think those would be my three most memorable meals of my life.

Tell us a little about your training and education that led to your position now.

Just in the kitchen. I didn’t go to school for cooking — well, for anything, I guess. Just coming up through kitchens, working with Tim, reading on my own, I guess teaching myself and working for people like Tim and the guy I worked for in Chicago. Just learning on the job, basically. Tim and I joke, there’s not too many of us left anymore that didn’t go to school. Everyone who works here now, has gone to school. And then everybody who works everywhere, pretty much, has gone to school. We’re a dying breed, I guess you could say.

What inspires your cooking?

You know, I’ve been asked that question a lot these last couple of days. Everything. Everything does. I read a lot so it all kind of does. Everything influences my cooking — I read interior design magazines and I get ideas from that to you know, we don’t do it here but right now I’m reading a book on Vietnamese home cooking by the guy from The Slanted Door in California. Everything does. Just because we don’t do it here, doesn’t mean I can’t get influenced by that stuff. It’s a pretty general answer and I apologize for that but everything does — the seasons, everything. At least for me, personally.

What is it about being a chef that motivates you? Pushes you to continue challenging yourself?

There’s an argument to be had that La Belle Vie is one of the best restaurants in the state — and that’s pretty good motivation to stay there. There’s nowhere to go but down from there, pretty much. That’s plenty good motivation for me. I want to make sure we stay where we are and maintain where we’ve built ourselves up to.

Speaking of accolades, congratulations again on the James Beard Award semifinalist nomination.

Thank you. It was a big surprise, too. Big surprise.

Where were you when you found out? What was your initial reaction?

I was in my car, reading twitter when I found out. Rick Nelson (Star Tribune) had posted on Twitter that I was on the list but then I looked on the list, and turns out there was a mistake on it. They put Tim (McKee) when it should’ve been me, since he’s not actually eligible for the award. So it was a little bit like, ‘Well, am I or not?’ But then Tim called Rick and it all got sorted out. I actually got a call from the Beard House apologizing for the typo. It was exciting and it felt great and then I saw the list and it felt like, ‘Oh.’ First thing in the morning is when everyone was looking at it so they saw Tim again instead of me. But you know, no big deal. As everyone says, it’s an honor to be on there and it truly is. And now I can actually say that.

Is that added pressure for you at all?

No, not really. I think we put enough pressure on ourselves around here that it’s not added. Like I said, it was a bit of a surprise. It’s great to be on there but we’re just going to keep doing what we do. No changes or anything.

(credit: CBS)

It seems like every year the nominations come out, there are more chefs, more restaurants from the Twin Cities being recognized. What’s your take on the way our local food scene is growing?

It’s fantastic. The food scene is fantastic — it always has been. I mean, forever. As long as I can remember, it’s been fantastic. There’s less restaurants like us, at La Belle Vie — we’re kind of the one fine dining restaurant left, which is good for us. I never want to be in a city that doesn’t have a restaurant like this, that special occasion that you want to come and get pampered completely restaurant — that’s what we are. As far as everything else goes, I like that places like Butcher and the Boar, more casual-type places, are opening. It keeps growing every month. It seems like more restaurants are opening every month. I’m glad to see that. It means we have a strong community that everyone wants to go out and eat in those restaurants, otherwise they wouldn’t be opening more and more restaurants every month. It’s fantastic.

Living in Minnesota, it seems like everyone grew up with some sort of food deal. There’s a lot more small farms here than I think there are in a lot of other parts of the country. I can think of a lot of people who work here who have some sort of a small farm-ish thing in their family. I think there’s a lot more of that in Minnesota, and in Wisconsin, too, than in anywhere else. I mean, Iowa has giant farms, Nebraska, California. Here we have small farms, which is kind of nice. To be certain, there are plenty of small farms throughout the country but I think maybe we have more small farms here.

La Belle Vie is celebrating 15 years this month. What’s it like to be part of that great history?

Well, and I’ve been part of it for most of it, too. I opened it in Stillwater, too. It’s awesome to be turning 15. A lot of restaurants don’t make it that far. I think it’s just a testament to the dining public, like we were just talking about. They want us around and we’re going to continue to keep doing what we do. Obviously they like us for it — we keep doing it and they keep coming. So it’s just fantastic. Fifteen years is great. It’s flew by, though, too, I gotta tell you.

Does it feel like 15?

Not really. I mean, I was there and then I left, I came back, I left, I came back. I’ve been here the whole time at this one. But it’s been seven years in this location, which it doesn’t seem like it’s been seven years. That’s for sure.

So tell us about the big shindig. What all do you have planned for the anniversary party on March 24?

Well, we’re having a lot of guest chefs that have been through the kitchen. Jack (Riebel, Butcher & the Boar) will be here, Tyge Nelson (Chino Latino), Shawn Smalley (Smalley’s Caribbean Barbeque & Pirate Bar), Matt Bickford (Icehouse and Be’Wiched), Jamie Malone (Sea Change), from their respective restaurants. But we’ll be having a caviar bar in the dining room. They’ll each get a chance to man the caviar bar and hang out with guests. It’ll be fun. They get to have fun. I get to work. But somebody’s gotta make sure everything’s going OK. Michelle Gayer (The Salty Tart) and Adrianne Odom (Parasole Restaurants) will also be here doing some pastries and stuff like that. It’ll be a fun night.

What will it be like to have everyone under one roof?

It will be great. Not all of us worked together at all of the same times but we all know each other. At one point or another, we all worked together, kind of. It will be great. They’re all great friends of mine. Matt Bickford, Tyge Nelson and Shawn Smalley were all in my wedding. We’re all really good friends. It will be great. It’s like hanging out with friends. I have to work, of course, but it’ll be nice to have them all around. I see them all far too infrequently.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chat with Mike DeCamp. The 15th Anniversary party for La Belle Vie is on Sunday, March 24. Tickets are $150. For more information on the birthday party, call the restaurant at 612-874-6440. For more information on La Belle Vie, click here.

Sure, the dishes might not have been the most inventive — or healthy — but the passion was there and it was a spark that carried him to culinary greatness.

Fast forward to today, Crary is the executive chef of 41 Ocean, an exclusive, members-only club in Santa Monica, and was named the “Fan Favorite” of Season 9′s “Top Chef.”

Lucky for us, Crary’s adventures have taken him to Minnesota for the week to take part in a series of cooking demonstrations at the Home and Garden Show.

Before the chef brings his healthy meals to the Minneapolis Convention Center, we sat down to talk about where it all began, the surprising outlier on his resume and of course, the big finale of “Top Chef.”

Well, first of all, welcome to Minneapolis. I saw you dined at Butcher and the Boar last night? What did you think?

It was awesome. It was really, really good. They sent out so much food — I was disgustingly full but I couldn’t stop eating.

Yeah, it’s definitely one of the best new restaurants we have here so great choice. So tomorrow, you’ll be at the Home and Garden Show. What will you be discussing? And what can fans expect?

So tomorrow, I’m going to be doing some healthy dishes. That’s my whole vision on life — healthy eating out, trying to have a healthy lifestyle, so I’ll be doing a couple variations of healthy dishes that people can enjoy and make.

We watched you this morning teach our Chris Stanford how to make an omelet in a healthy way. What’s your best advice when cooking to keep the flavor but cut out unnecessary fat or calories?

That’s a good question. I usually cut out a lot of dairy. So I get rid of dairy, sugars, of course, flour — you know all the things people say you should, it’s best to get rid of those. Within moderation, I think that’s fine.

What do you enjoy cooking?

I dunno. I get that question all the time. I’m really into lamb belly right now. Lamb neck. Just odd cuts of meat.

So where did this love of cooking begin for you? You mentioned you were cooking before you even learned how to drive?

Probably when I was around 12. I started making these crazy tater tot casseroles with hamburger, tater tots and cheese. I mean, it was ridiculous but c’mon I was 12. My mother couldn’t cook but some of my extended family could, so I would go hang with them.

How old were you when you got into the restaurant scene?

I started at a local restaurant when I was like 15-16 years old. And I just kind of fell in love with it. I took Home Ec in high school and then decided it was something I wanted to do with the rest of my life so I went into culinary school right after high school. Moved from Ohio to Virginia when I was 18, all by myself.

So cooking really has been your entire life.

Yeah, I’ve only had one other job.

What was the other job?

It’s horrible. I was a Marlboro Man. They would send out like groups of six people to … they’d get addresses and things from people, you’d scan their ID to get their address if they were a smoker, and then you’d give them a free lighter or whatever. So I did that. It paid really well and it was just part time on the weekends. I got to travel around and go to different nightclubs. So yeah, I mean four or five nightclubs a night to talk to girls and it paid really well? Great. I’ll do it.

Obviously most people remember you from “Top Chef.” So much so that you earned the honor of Fan Favorite. Did you think you’d get Fan Favorite?

I was trying to really hard. I wanted to be badly. I didn’t win anything from the show, so I wanted to get something. And actually, Fan Favorite from the show this season is ending shortly.

Yeah, the finale is upon us. And you’ve been blogging and live tweeting for the show. What did you think of this season?

I think they had it a little easy. I think our season, they were trying to prove a point — everything is bigger and badder in Texas. Traveling around and the challenges were ridiculous. So I think they had it a little easy. They stayed in one location the whole time, until the finale, which, every finale is in a different location.

So we’re down to the two women — Kristen Kish and Brooke Williamson. Do you have a favorite? Who are you rooting for?

I’ve really liked Kristen from the beginning. I think everyone has. I was actually just on Twitter doing some stuff and I was looking at her Twitter followers compared to Brooke’s and she’s almost doubled Brooke’s, which is like 10,000. More than I have. Yeah, I mean, I think everyone as a whole really liked her. And it was really good for ratings when she got eliminated and then made her way back.

Do you know who wins?

Yeah, I have it. I have it on my phone.

You do? Oh wow. OK, well … I don’t want to know. (Laughs) So anyway, obviously we all see the edited version, but what’s it really like being on “Top Chef?”

It’s crazy. It’s nothing like what you see on the show. For each 45-min. episode or whatever it is, it probably takes like 100 hours of shooting, er 50-60 hours. Like the one that I was eliminated on, I was awake for 42 hours straight. And you would never know.

Wow. So when the drama comes out, it’s almost understandable.

Yeah, I mean, we are going to understand it. But for the people watching it, it’s like ‘Well, how can Sarah be so mean to Beverly?’ And it’s like, you weren’t there. You don’t know. She drove everyone crazy.

Do you still keep in touch with everyone from your season?

Yeah, everyone. Just a few months ago I did a little tour, went to Chicago, New York, went and saw my family in Ohio, rented a car, drove to Kentucky, hung out with Ed. Ed’s been out to L.A. a few times. I’ve seen everybody.

Do you think the show changed the way you cook now?

I definitely learned a lot. There’s 15 amazing chefs there that all have something to learn from. If you don’t go into it wanting to learn more and to become a better chef, I think you went in for the wrong reasons. But yeah, I’m definitely a different chef now.

And your life in general, how has that changed?

I mean, a little bit. I just opened my restaurant a few weeks ago and then just traveling, starting a new shoe line for chef shoes. I went to Thailand. So much.

Is there one thing that “Top Chef” viewers don’t know about the show?

I think a lot of people think it’s kind of fake and set up and you know the challenges ahead of time but it’s all real. We really have to think that fast about what you’re going to do, it’s like, ‘OK, go.’ We have to come up with all our ideas and people think we get to use recipes — there’s no recipes, there’s no magazines, there’s no books, no radio, TV, no internet. We’re completely secluded from the outside world.

And are you really going right up until that timer goes off and everyone throws their hands up?

Yeah. All the cooking stuff is as you see it. Live pretty much. There’s never, “OK, stop, can I go back and do that again?” Once the timer starts, it’s not stopping.

OK, I have to ask. Since you know the winner, do you think it’s the right choice? Just tell me that.

(Laughs) I can’t tell you because I already told you who I think should win. You’ll just have to watch and find out.

You can see Chef Chris at the Home and Garden Show on Thursday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. He’ll be doing a cooking demonstration at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. For tickets or more information, click here.

(credit: James Beard Foundation)

We’ve all known the kind of stellar restaurants and chefs we’ve been blessed with here in the Twin Cities. But as the semifinalist list for the 2013 James Beard Awards prove, the rest of the country is taking notice.

Twin Cities restaurants and chefs are represented in nine categories, including several under the umbrella of Best Chef: Midwest.

Here’s the full list of Twin Cities restaurants and chefs:

Best New Restaurant
Butcher & the Boar

Outstanding Bar Program
Marvel Bar

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Steve Horton, Rustica Bakery

Outstanding Chef
Tim McKee, La Belle Vie

Outstanding Restaurant
Lucia’s

Outstanding Restaurateur
Kim Bartmann of Barbette, Bryant-Lake Bowl, Red Stag Supperclub, Pat’s Tap, Tiny Diner

Outstanding Service
Sapor Cafe and Bar

Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional
Eric Seed, Haus Alpenz, Edina

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Jamie Malone, Sea Change

Best Chef: Midwest
Doug Flicker, Piccolo
Steven Brown, Tilia
Michelle Gayer, Salty Tart
Mike DeCamp, La Belle Vie
Jack Riebel, Butcher & the Boar
Lenny Russo, Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge
James Winberg, Mike Brown, and Bob Gerken, Travail Kitchen and Amusements

The James Beard Award nominees will be announced on March 18. The full list of semifinalists can be found here.

Beckel spent a large portion of his life in corporate America, where he learned the ins and outs of finance and business.

He grew up with a mother who had a keen sense of fashion and inspired (or at least turned the heads) of everyone she met. It stuck with Beckel and though it took a few decades, he said his passion for fashion eventually became realized.

On Nov. 11, when he was in his 40s, he launched Primeau (pronounced Pre-moh) — a collection of designs that are true pieces of art with a classic appeal and timeless style. No surprise, the business shares the same moniker as his mother’s maiden name — a tribute to the woman who inspired it all, and who passed away 27 years ago to breast cancer.

February is Go Red month to raise awareness about heart disease and this Sunday, there will be a Red Dress Collection runway show to benefit the American Heart Association.

Our own Amelia Santaniello will be among the 15 women selected to be part of the show and her dress will be made by Richard Beckel.

We chatted with the designer about his collection, his dress for Amelia and the journey he’s taken to finally live his dream.

(credit: CBS)

Where did your love of fashion begin?

I have to say that my love of fashion began early, early on. My sense of style and my love of fashion was inspired by my mother, of course. She grew up in Detroit during the golden age. She lived in New York in the 40s and she had a very chic, metropolitan style. She met my father through her cousin and she was transplanted to rural Minnesota, after they fell in love and got married. It was kind of like “Green Acres,” really. She decorated, for lack of a better word, our small town home with a metropolitan flair. She would show up at PTA meetings in a designer turban and fox-fur trimmed suits.

And of course, people thought she was very eccentric — which she was, totally, in Minnesota that’s rather rare. But they recognized that she had a high style and a sense of energy that was very special. One of the things she instilled in me was quality versus quantity. She had a very small but very fashionable wardrobe and she built off that. So she would buy a few high quality pieces every season. She would buy Oscar de la Renta, she’d buy Chanel, Nipon in addition to Dior, and she loved Schiaparelli, that was one of her favorite designers. It was very edgy. All of these I think reflect timeless fashion and very high quality. … She only invested in things that she knew could reflect her personal style and that she could wear for years. That influenced me. And that really is the basis for Primeau. My tagline is “artful style and timeless designs.”

You started your career in fashion after two decades in the corporate world. What was the final tipping point for you – what finally made you decide to devote all your time to fashion?

I loved and valued my business experience with Ameriprise. It was an exceptional experience. When I first joined, 20 years ago, it was IDS and I worked in many divisions of the business from adviser support to compliance and even technology implementation, which was my last position. Pretty amazing for a right-brain creator to survive in that but Ameriprise actually encourages that. They have a lot of creative people working for them and it’s a wonderful work environment. They value us for the skills that we bring and the drive for excellent service. While I was doing this, my creative ambition wasn’t really fully realized or used so I always had this desire to give fashion design, which is my first love, a go. Just as a silly joke, I suggested to my leaders that I could design a corporate uniform, just so I could use those talents and it was really funny.

All joking aside, it wasn’t as much of a tipping point as it was reaching a point where I’m confident in my ability to enter the design market. You know, the Twin Cities and other major metropolitan cities have a lot of women who invest in high-end bridal, day wear, special occasion, but they leave the city — they go to Chicago or even Europe to buy it. I would like to be part of a local option that people could investigate or seek out for high fashion style and they’ll also get a person experience because I’m right here.

(credit: Brio Art)

Who inspires you as a designer?

Christian Dior — he started his company when he was 42. And what an impact he had on the entire world — not just on the fashion world but the entire world. He actually only designed for 10 years and then he died of a heart attack. But what an incredible influence he had on all modern fashion.

In addition, of course, it’s also the women I’m designing for. I love to see the transformation and the confidence and energy they feel when a person is wearing something that reflects their personality and fits great — and is made well.

(credit: Brio Art)

Of the many pieces you’ve done, are there any that you’re particularly proud of?

Well, that’s a great question. When I launched the company in November, we started out the runway show with a gown that I designed in 1986, when I was a teenager for Miss Austin. The reason we did that is we wanted to give an example of what artful style and timeless design is all about. (That gown) is as current today as it was back then. It does show what Primeau is all about. It was interesting, because after the show I had so many people say that was their favorite piece and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, is that funny?’

And then, of course, there’s the wedding gown. We ended the show in a traditional French manner, with a wedding gown. The wedding gown was designed for my niece and is very special. I thought that it was very meaningful to end the runway show with my niece’s wedding gown, as a tribute to her grandmother, my mother. That is something that I think my mother would’ve loved.

(credit: CBS)

You’re designing a dress for our own Amelia Santaniello, what was your process? How did you approach the design?

She is so amazing. I absolutely love working with her. She’s beautiful, she’s very personable and she exudes a very special confidence and style. I was inspired by her personality. When we met for a design consultation, I had some ideas but then after we started talking, and I actually began looking for fabrics, I wanted something that reflects her personality and her beauty. I found a fabulous painterly rose pattern fabric from Switzerland and it looks Japanese to me in its painterly style and I thought, wouldn’t it be lovely to design an elegant and fitted gown that had some Japanese-inspired adornments. That’s all I’m going to say. My mother always said, “a dress should never wear the woman, a woman should wear the dress.” That’s something I always try to keep in mind when I design. I don’t want a dress that makes such a statement that you don’t even notice the woman. So I just want to design pieces that actually reflect the personality of the woman.

Who would be your dream client to design for?

I gotta say, I was very excited to design for Amelia. … As far as a design client, I love designing for all women. But I have to say, I love Nicole Kidman, I love Meryl Streep, I love Angelina Jolie. I think they’d all be knockouts in Primeau.

Watch the story on Amelia’s Dress

Amelia will model her Red Dress in the collection’s runway show on Feb. 17. The fashion show starts at 6 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m. For ticket information or more about the event, click here.

For more information about Primeau or Richard Beckel’s work, check out his website.

For a woman who cooks a lot of delicate, perfectly prepared fish with elegant details, she sure loves her greasy cheeseburgers.

Chef de Cuisine Jamie Malone opened up about her late-night cravings (and also last meal desires) in the second portion of our two-part interview. Last week, we learned how it all began for the St. Paul native — and where she draws her inspirations from.

But this week, we wanted to know more about the chef’s preferences — ingredients she likes, what her typical day is like and what she does in the little spare time that she has.

When you’re at home, what do you like to cook for yourself or for friends and family?

Nothing. (Laughs) In the past two years, I’ve probably cooked at home like twice. I’m so busy. But before I had this job and actually had time – pasta. Making pasta is like the best thing in the world. Or baking bread. Stuff you just use your hands and you don’t think about it.

(credit: CBS)

What’s a typical day for you?

Usually I come in around 10 a.m. and check in with the lunch cooks. We have a clipboard that the closing chef or sous chef will fill out for the opener, so I’ll go through that and see what kind of notes they leave me, respond to those. And then just do a walk around the restaurant, see what needs taking care of in the cooler or whatever. Little things like that. Then I check reservations for birthdays, anniversaries, or anything special, if people leave little notes we try to do something for them. And then emails, and then I cook lunch. Then fish comes in and I butcher fish for a couple hours, we have a meeting at 2:30 p.m., then all the night time cooks start coming in, so I just check in with them, make sure they’re supported and have everything they need for good service. Maybe more fish butchering and then around 4 p.m. we roll pasta. Me and the sous chefs do all the pasta because I’m kind of anal about it. Then at 5 p.m., everyone changes into their new apron and we just wait for service. From like 5:15 p.m. to 7 p.m., it’s crazy – super busy with pre-show. At a normal restaurant, it sort of trickles in and that’s sort of your easy time so we’re ready at 5 p.m. And then at 7 p.m., the whole dining room empties and we have this nice, easy break so everyone regroups and then we do the second turn – the real restaurant turn, as they call it. But yeah, then I do orders, call in orders, and then get ready, set up for the next day.

What’s it like being a restaurant inside a theater?

It’s super challenging. But I appreciate it. I think the further you push yourself, the better you’re going to be. We don’t let it be something we compromise for – we don’t try to make easier food because of it or par-cook anything or take those short cuts. We just think, what can we do to accomplish the same thing we would if we didn’t have to do this, and make it happen. And we do – I think we do, at least, pretty well. It feels good to be able to do that. If I ever do move on, it’ll probably be easier having that under my belt.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure food?

Cheeseburgers. No doubt, cheeseburgers.

Any in particular?

I think Eli’s makes a really good burger. 112 Eatery makes a pretty good burger. And the greasiest, like Flameburger Cheeseburger, at 3 in the morning. That’s my true guilty pleasure.

Is there an ingredient that you would prefer never to work with?

I don’t like swordfish. I hate swordfish. I’m not a fan. I just think it’s so boring. It’s a boring fish. Everyone in the kitchen knows I hate swordfish.

(credit: Submitted)

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to?

Yeah, uni, the sea urchin that we have on (the menu) right now, I’m just blown away by it. I think it’s awesome. Oysters, I think are the most perfect thing in the whole world. If I could only eat one thing forever, it’d be oysters. I really like abalone, too. I’m really into abalone.

When you’re out of the kitchen, what’s your favorite pastime?

Going out to eat. That’s kind of it. Eating, reading, it’s pretty simple.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” what would it be?

Cheeseburger. No doubt. It’d have to be a cheeseburger, fries, tons of ketchup and red wine.

Where are some of your favorite places to dine?

In town, I really like Tilia. I mean, a lot of it is places that I can go late night. So Tilia, 112. I had an awesome meal at Meritage a couple months ago, like super awesome. I love La Belle Vie, of course. Peninsula, the Malaysian place is super good. Pizzeria Lola is awesome, just firing on all cylinders.

What are your thoughts on the Twin Cities restaurant scene?

We’re doing a really good job. Seriously. We have a lot of people in town that are just doing some really cool stuff and I’m excited to see where it goes. I think our community is supporting us so we’ll continue to grow. I was just in New York for a week earlier in the month, and everything I ate, I ate all these perfect meals but there’s nothing that people are doing in New York that’s less exciting or inspired than what we’re doing in Minneapolis. We’re just doing it on a smaller scale and we don’t have those cool little microcosms of ethnic restaurants like they do, but as far as fine dining goes and as far as people are opening up their own independent restaurants, I think we’re good.

When you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for, in the culinary world?

I guess I don’t think about that. I don’t know. I don’t hope to be known, but just to have a good team around me, be able to enjoy what I do all the time.

Click here for Part 1 of our chat with Jamie Malone. For more information on Sea Change, click here.

So it’s with great curiosity and even greater hope that we welcome a new sushi spot to the hub-bub of the IDS Crystal Court.

One Two Three Sushi is a new take on the typical raw fish counter. In a similar process to Subway or Chipotle, this sushi spot offers customizable rolls where the diner chooses their ingredients and it’s made right before their eyes.

Nay Lin and Nay Hla, founders of Sushi Avenue, Inc., (that brought us the award-winning Masu Sushi and Robata) are behind this latest concept — hoping to fill the void in custom-order skyway sushi.

Brent Sokup, director of operations, said the idea is to bridge the gap between the sit-down restaurant and the stagnant sushi counter.

“It’s very much customizable,” he said. “The guest will be able to choose all of their own ingredients to put into the roll.”

(credit: CBS)

Upon entering the establishment, guests move along a service line, choosing brown or white rice, a large selection of seafood, meats, vegetables and other toppings before choosing a specialty sauce. The custom rolls are $7.99.

“Any dietary restrictions, any personal preferences can be met since they’ll be able to pick what they want in their sushi,” Sokup said.

For the less adventurous, classic rolls — shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, California, etc. — can be purchased for $7.99 and will also be made-to-order.

Sokup said they will offer a grab-and-go case for lunchgoers in a hurry but even those cases will be made right before the rush, keeping the rolls as fresh as possible.

(credit: CBS)

According to Sokup, it’s the opposite of stale, plastic tray sushi and will be the highest quality sushi in the skyway system.

“We use really fresh, high quality ingredients and premium fish, lobster, soft shell crab, yellowfin tuna, a lot of real crab, snow crab leg,” he said.

Beyond the sushi, they also offer Ramen noodles for $8.99 and steamed buns for $5.99. In case you are unfamiliar, and in that case — shame on you, the noodles selection includes the incredible pork belly ramen, which is one of my personal favorites off the Masu menu.

Looking for a perfect combo? One Two Three Sushi offers an upgrade with a beverage and edamame to any roll, ramen or steamed buns for $1.99.

(credit: CBS)

The spot itself takes some of the clean lines and bright colors of Masu, with the same design partners of Shea, Inc., in its flagship store on the second level of the IDS. The 736-square-foot space has 16 seats, or bar tops, for dining in — but puts most of the emphasis on carry out.

“We have a similar feel and a similar menu items but it’s not an extension of Masu — more of another opportunity for quick-serve Japanese cuisine,” Sokup said. “We want to aim for the high quality in regards to what Masu does in a quick-service environment.”

One Two Three Sushi will open in the IDS on Wednesday, Feb. 13 in downtown Minneapolis.

For more information, check out their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.

Well, mission accomplished, boys.

“The Book of Mormon” is inappropriate, X-rated and uses language that your elderly aunt Betty would certainly get the soap bar out for but the payoff is huge. Every joke throws a punch, every moment keeps you smiling and just when you think they’ve gone far enough, they sprint past the line of social decency.

From the brilliant minds of Trey Parker, Matt Stone (“South Park”) and Robert Lopez (“Avenue Q”), this musical is supremely genius. It’s not only funny, it’s smart and though packed with vulgarity, it has a strange but genuine heart.

The story itself tells a tale of a hopeful, eager young elder on his way to begin his Mormon duties and spread the word of the book. When he finds himself paired with a seemingly unworthy companion and sent to the polar opposite of his dream location, both his faith and his sanity is tested.

(credit: Joan Marcus)

As Elder Price, Mark Evans is perfect. His spot-on vocals are second only to his convincing portrayal of an exemplary Mormon mold that loses his way and is forced to throw tradition to the wayside to find what truly matters.

Christopher John O’Neill, who is a newcomer to the Broadway world, absolutely nails the character of Elder Cunningham. His comedic timing and insecure, naive demeanor matches perfectly alongside his far more confident companion. Think Zach Galifianakis with more Star Wars memorabilia.

The true brilliance of the storyline happens when these squeaky clean kids from Salt Lake City are thrown into the desperate, unholy pits of the African underworld — where AIDS is more common than clean water.

And yes, they sing about it — and not in a whiny ‘Rent’ way but in a seemingly impossible, yet hilariously, jubilant way that will forever tarnish the way you hear songs from “The Lion King.”

The stark contrast between this clean, white shirt world and their new insects-in-genitalia world gives infinite possibilities to both comedy and self-exploration.

Truly, the only negative that can be said about this show is that the jokes are almost too plentiful — while laughing at one as it’s landing, you’re sure to miss the next one that’s right on its heels.

(credit: Joan Marcus)

Still, that’s hardly a complaint for a show that pushes the boundaries and goes, truly, where no musical has gone before. It’s no simple feat taking subjects as scary as religion, poverty and disease and turning them into punchlines and over-the-top songs, especially in a purposeful way. There’s a very small space between funny offensive and just offensive — yet somehow, “The Book of Mormon” snuggled right in and made this space their home.

In the same respect of a South Park episode, no one is spared from insult — and in the same way, it evens the playing field where if you haven’t been insulted, you feel left out.

Beyond the humor, the staging is exciting, the choreography is always entertaining and the scene changes — from a mud hut in Africa to the pits of hell — are flawless. The songs are catchy and will immediately be implanted but like many lines of the show, should not be uttered aloud in your cubicle.

And though the show puts everyone through the ringer, at the end of the day, there’s an incredible heart and the realization that there’s good in everyone, even if it takes an extra step of soul searching or a divergence off your righteous path to find it.

They came to our door, asking for just a moment of our time to tell us about a book — a book that would change our lives. Who knew that once we said yes, they’d actually deliver on their promise.

“The Book of Mormon” runs through Feb. 17. Tickets are extremely limited but a number can be won through the Hennepin Theatre Trust lottery. For more information about the show or the ticket lottery, click here.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they ask themselves the million-dollar question: “If I had all the money in the world, what would I do?”

For Chef Jamie Malone, that question came up while working at her family’s bead shop — and the answer took her career in a new direction.

Malone, a St. Paul native, said she’s always had a passion for cooking but it wasn’t until she answered that question that she realized, even with millions of dollars, she wanted to be a line cook.

Soon after, Malone quickly climbed the ranks, working hard, putting in the hours and finding herself among the top chefs of the Twin Cities. As Chef de Cuisine of Sea Change, she’s turning seafood into works of art — and receiving high accolades for doing so.

Though you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. She’s a quiet, reserved chef, who admits she has insecurities and doesn’t hide the fact that her mentor, Chef Tim McKee, still makes her a bit nervous.

We sat down to chat with the chef about where it all began and how she’s embracing her nerdy tendencies.

When did you know you wanted to go into the culinary world?

I think probably from my dad. He wasn’t a cook but he cooked at home a lot. And that’s something that we did together a lot. And then I forgot about it for a while until I got married and I started cooking for my husband. And then all I could think about was what I’m going to make for dinner. I’ve always run restaurants, and worked in restaurants, so it all kind of came together probably when I was about 22.

What was your first memorable meal?

Oh wow. That’s really hard to think about. I think probably, it’s not one specific meal but being a kid and doing holidays, like going out with your family. It was a special time because you’re going out with your family and family friends and it’s dark out so it feels like it’s late at night and I think that’s when I mostly fell in love with restaurants. So that’s a big point for me.

Was there a moment when you realized, “This is what I want to do for a living?”

Yeah, I was running a bead store with my mom and sister, that we owned together and I had already decided I didn’t want to do that anymore. I enjoyed it, but I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore. It’s kind of cheesy, but I asked myself that question, ‘If you had millions of dollars, what would you do?’ And I thought, oh, well, I’d just become a cook – a line cook. Sounds pretty awesome. It was just out of the blue.

(credit: Submitted)

Tell us a little about your training and education that led to your position now.

I went to Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights, and then I interned with Tim (McKee) at La Belle Vie, they didn’t have anything open but Bill Fairbanks, the sous chef at the time, recommended I call Steven Brown and ask for a job at Porter and Frye, so I did. When I left Porter and Frye, I went to open Barrio, when Tim was still a part of Barrio. So I kind of rekindled that connection and I’ve been with Tim pretty much ever since then.

From that first time that you met Tim to now, what’s that relationship been like?

It evolves. It’s definitely changed since I been in this position. Tim, just, he makes me nervous. (Laughs) I mean, it’s Tim. He’s the guy. Less nervous now, though. I’m gaining more confidence around him. It definitely evolves to more of a … I mean, he’s always been a mentor but I’m a lot more comfortable asking him for things when I need him. Things like that.

What inspires your cooking? What is it that motivates you?

I’m inspired by things that I enjoy. I just try to think upon experiences that I have loved – or that I love – and try to instill that in a guest and enrich it. Like the idea of smelling something in spring and thinking how can I incorporate that into a broth or put it over a fish. Things like that are pretty inspirational to me. I’m visually inspired, too, definitely by things I see.

The menu at Sea Change obviously has a heavy emphasis on seafood. Is that something you grew up enjoying?

My dad cooked a lot of fish, yeah, which was like scary for everyone who came over for dinner because we lived in Minnesota and it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re having salmon loaf.”

And the menu has also been hailed as one of the best for seafood — what is your thought process and approach to bringing new items to the menu?

Reading, a ton. A ton of reading. Whenever I can, I travel and eat, which my company really supports – which is awesome, I’m super lucky. Talking to other chefs. Not being afraid of other ingredients, trying to source them. But mainly, reading and connecting with other chefs is the best way to do that.

What is that like for you to receive such praise?

I feel this constant sense of responsibility towards it.

You’ve been described as a food nerd before – what do you think that mean?

Maybe not really a food nerd, just a nerd. A book nerd. A science nerd. It’s like all these things that I really like to read about and learn about can all pertain to food. I’m so lucky because maybe I don’t feel like thinking about food but I can learn about the science of food or the culture, the art, all that stuff. Yeah, I mean, I just like reading and learning and understanding things.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chat with Jamie Malone. For more information on Sea Change, click here.

Meet Jeff Rector.

He’s been working at professional rodeos for roughly half of his life as a pick-up man — a man on horseback who helps get a competitive rider from a bucking horse to safety.

As a pick-up man, Rector is putting Minnesota on the map. He’s known as the sport’s one — and only — African-American pick-up man and thanks to his new wife, he calls Chanhassen home.

(credit: Submitted)

“It’s pretty cool because when I ride in an arena I know a lot of people are looking at me because it’s like, ‘Whoa, there’s a black guy,’ you know what I mean?” Rector said, with a laugh. “It’s kind of cool because I gain a lot of respect in fans and people really admire that. I’ve been able to cross the border, break through and make it happen. I think it helps me because I stand out more than the average pick-up man. There’s white pick-up men all over, but when they see me I’m kind of different. It’s definitely been a good thing.”

Rector was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri where he first found his love of horses. He said he fell in love while watch Westerns on TV and dreaming of the day he’d have a horse all his own.

That day came in the eighth grade when his family bought him his first horse. They kept the horse at a facility in town that just so happened to have an annual Fourth of July rodeo.

“To make a long story short, I ended up meeting the producers of the rodeo as a little kid, just tagging along, kind of getting in the way, learning,” he said. “They actually ended up watching me and knowing I was kind of decent with the horses and they asked if I wanted to come work for them.”

Rector worked there for a few summers but the itch to work the rodeos — and not just in between them — soon became apparent.

(credit: Submitted)

“I thought, ‘man, I bet I could do that,’” he said. “One thing led to another and I tried it a few times and I was pretty good at it. It just took off from there.”

Rector received his professional card enabling him to work in professional rodeos in 1995 and he hasn’t looked back since.

At 36, Rector said it’s a dream come true.

“It was just the coolest thing ever to actually be in an arena, in front of people and doing something that you’re good at,” he said.

Sure, there’s a certain level of danger that comes with the job but Rector said it’s not nearly as dangerous as riding bulls. Still, he’s seen his share of dislocated fingers, bruises, cuts and scrapes.

“There’s definitely an element of danger but you’re going into a rodeo arena. No matter what you’re doing … there’s an element of danger,” he said. “But that’s the adrenaline rush, too.”

With 18 years under his belt, Rector said he’s still got his eyes set on one goal — to be the first African-American pick-up man to work the National Finals Rodeo.

“That’s my ultimate goal,” he said. “That’s what I’m shooting for.”

Until then, Rector will be working at this weekend’s World’s Toughest Rodeo at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul — a rodeo he says won’t disappoint.

“It’s a blast. It’ll be a packed house,” he said. “They always have a great crowd here, a lot of action. They always have great cowboys and really good bucking stock.”

The World’s Toughest Rodeo is this Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Tickets are between $17 and $80. For more information, or to purchase tickets, click here.

(credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The sound and scent of skin getting freshly inked will be in the air at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis this weekend.

The Minneapolis Tattoo Arts Convention will be holding court there, as throngs of tattoo artists, vendors, enthusiasts and willing human canvasses alike all descend on the city.

This year will mark the event’s fourth year in the city, though as the video clip below shows, it’s hardly like the Twin Cities metro area is brand new to the idea of body art. Thirty five years ago, Minnesota’s then-governor Rudy Perpich declared Jan. 28 to be “Tattoo Art Appreciation Day.” (Hat tip to MN 70s.)

This year, the convention is headlined by coast-to-coast superstars of the tattoo scene: Megan Massacre, one of the artists featured in TLC’s reality TV series “NY Ink,” and Amy Nicoletto, who represents the west coast in “LA Ink.” They will be just two among the estimated 300 artists on hand during the weekend.

Also on hand to provide a freakier form of entertainment will be The Enigma and Serana Rose, both of whom know how to hang a picture from the inside of their noses. (Hint: They use nails.) There are also seminars, cutting-edge vendors and contests for participating artists. There’s also always the opportunity to get a little ink done while you’re in attendance.

Ticket prices are $20 per day or $40 for the weekend.

WCCO.COM contacted some of the artists scheduled to attend the convention this year to get their thoughts on what are some of the hottest ink trends of the new year, why it seems everyone and their grandmother are getting tatted these days, and, most importantly, does it hurt?

Scroll down to also see a collection of images from the artists we talked with.

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What are some of the hottest trends for tats in 2013, be they styles or designs?

Jason Walstrom, Sea Wolf Tattoo Company (Minneapolis): Styles come and go in tattooing as with many things in popular culture. Currently I cannot pin point a specific trend in tattooing, but what I personally am most excited about is the resurgence of a more classic, refined traditional look that tattooing had in the beginning of its history in western culture. Folky, Americana, and Patriotic designs taken from early wartime tattoo flash and given a fresh, cleaned up look.

Megan Hoogland, Mecca Tattoo (Mankato): Lettering! I’m also starting to see a lot more large scale first-time tattoos.

Adam Underwood, Mutiny Tattoo & Piercing (Minneapolis): I really think that western traditional tattooing is starting to make a big comeback. A lot of people refer to them as “Old School” or “Sailor Tattoos” but it’s not necessarily that. It has more to do with bold imagery, and designs that are meant to be tattoos. The iconography with traditional tattooing has changed quite a bit over the years, but the methods of bold lines, bright colors, and heavy black shading is still the same. It makes for a tattoo that will stand the test of time. It’s the root of tattooing, and it’s nice that more and more people are asking for them these days.

CM Rutledge, Beloved Studios (St. Paul): I believe the trend of vibrant, bright, rich and exciting work is what people are looking for today. Not to mention, people are looking for fairly sizeable tattoos to add to their collection.

Brandon Heffron, Beloved Studios (St. Paul): We try to not go trendy at Beloved Studios. But if I had to say animals and flowers are pretty popular. I guess you can’t go wrong with nature.

Jerome James, The Canvas Tattoo Studio (Eagan/Eden Prairie/Prior Lake): I believe the reasons behind the huge interest in tattoos today is due to all of the TV programs now out, and a whole new younger generation of people growing up in this age! It definitely has opened everyone’s eyes to the true art and reasons behind each tattoo. The old stereo types of tattoos are starting to disappear.

What do you think accounts for the huge surge in tattoos’ popularity in recent years?

Heffron: The advancement in quality art. The possibilities of what can be done on skin. Popularity in the mainstream (TV), social media, etc.

Hoogland: I think the TV shows have helped dismiss a lot of public uncertainty, though most of my clients come from referrals or the customer researching artists on the Internet.

Rutledge: I’m sure that the vast amounts of tattoo based television shows available have quite a bit to do with the surge in popularity, however, I believe too that tattoos are being seen as more of actual pieces of art rather than something used to rebel against mainstream society. People of all walks of life and ages are being tattooed. For instance, I once tattooed a 92-year-old lady and it was her FIRST TATTOO!! I’ve also tattooed lawyers, engineers and other very successful people that you may not expect to fit the “standard mold” of tattoo collectors.

Have there been any major innovations in tattoo technology you’re excited about?

Heffron: The machines are always improving. The pigments we are using these days are better. Everything seems to be improving.

Rutledge: Both tattoo machines and tattoo pigments have come such a long way even over the last 20 years. The thing I’m most excited about are the advances in tattoo machine technology, allowing them to be lighter in weight, smoother operating, as well as safer to use.

Hoogland: I think reputable artists sharing information has been huge in making everyone better as a whole.

If you could work on any celebrity, who would you choose and what would you tattoo on them?

Hoogland: Any of them. It seems like celebrities have the worst looking tattoos, so some cover ups may be in order.

Does it hurt?

Hoogland: Of course.

Rutledge: When I’m applying a tattoo on someone, I don’t ever feel a thing!! (Insert sarcasm.) A tattoo basically feels similar to scratching a sunburn. Much of the intensity of that however depends on a person’s own pain tolerance.

Heffron: It only hurts if you let it hurt. A lot of it depends on where it is on the body you’re getting tattooed. The ribs, stomach, behind the knees, the upper underarm are some of the more painful areas. I have some clients that can fall asleep while getting work done.

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Tattoo Artists’ Gallery

Brandon Heffron

(credit: Brandon Heffron/Beloved Studios)

(credit: Brandon Heffron/Beloved Studios)

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Megan Hoogland

(credit: Megan Hoogland)

(credit: Megan Hoogland)

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Jerome James

(credit: Jerome James/The Canvas Tattoo)

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CM Rutledge

(credit: CM Rutledge/Beloved Studios)

(credit: CM Rutledge/Beloved Studios)

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Adam Underwood

(credit: Adam Underwood/Mutiny Tattoo & Piercing

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Jason Walstrom

(credit: Jason Walstrom/SeaWolf Tattoo)

(credit: Jason Walstrom/SeaWolf Tattoo)

Steven Brown has proven that simple ingredients and an easy approach — both in the kitchen and out — can make for some extraordinary results.

As partner and executive culinary director of the sensational Tilia, he took a modest motto — “Good food tastes good” — and turned it into an award-winning restaurant that’s been recognized on a national level.

In a similar way, his approach to discussing the things most important to him — his family, his staff and the food he creates — starts simple but is backed with enough passion and conviction that it turns almost poetic.

When you’re at home, what do you like to cook for yourself or for friends and family?

The most recent thing I made was probably French toast for my daughter. I have this really old hand-crank egg beater that ironically belonged to my mother – she got it as a wedding gift in 1960. And I used to make stuff with it when I was a kid. I don’t know how I ended up with it but my daughter loves it. She couldn’t decide what she wanted so I said, ‘Well I’ll just start making something and you come downstairs.’ She’s six. And she could hear the (imitates egg beater) and she said, ‘I know what you’re making!’ We had a big laugh. It was fun. You know, we live in a great neighborhood. We live in Linden Hills, too, and there’s a lot of great people on my block. We just had a Halloween party thing and I made some turkey chili. I generally make pretty simple stuff. … I kind of figured out a long time ago, right when I first started cooking, I would be at home and I would want to make something like I would in a restaurant. But what I realized is, I don’t have a walk-in cooler the size of Toledo and boxes of fresh herbs and demi-glace and all these things at my disposal. So I really learned to cook things that hopefully have a lot of flavor, but not necessarily restaurant-type food. That’s a pretty big undertaking.

I have some friends who now live in San Francisco, and I met them because they were customers in a restaurant that I worked at, but he was an architect and she worked at Best Buy and for them, they would spend all day Saturday shopping and making and have dinner on Sunday night. They would have all these super high-end cookbooks and would make all these recipes but it was like a two-day process to make dinner for them. For them, that was relaxation.

There’s a dish that we serve here since we opened that’s shrimp with a kind of spicy scampi sauce but my wife was complaining one weekend that we didn’t have anything to eat so I made this and it’s got fermented Chinese black beans and garlic and ginger, Yuzu lemon juice and some peas. It sounds kind of strange but that’s what I found on our freezer and refrigerator and anyway, she was surprised that it was really good. And I thought it was pretty good, too, so we serve it here.

(credit: CBS)

When you’re out of the kitchen, what do you enjoy doing? What’s your favorite pastime?

My favorite pastime? Well, I don’t have a ton of free time right now but I really enjoy my family, my daughter, like I said she’s six and we try to do fun things for her. We went to Pizzeria Lola on Sunday and had a great time, you know, played tic-tac-toe and coloring and making alphabet letters with Goldfish. I have a couple of old cars that I like to mess around with – it was actually such a nice day that I decided to take my old convertible out. I just got it out of storage after a long time – 10 years. But you gotta make hay while the sun shines.

Where are some of your favorite places to dine?

Well, I love Piccolo. I keep thinking I want to go there. I think Restaurant Alma is fantastic. I like a lot of, kind of, more humble places, I guess. I’ve long been a fan of Pho 79, they have these little some kind of Vietnamese-spiced meat that’s rubbed with coriander and garlic and ginger and they wrap them in grape leaves and grill it – I love those. Every time I go there, I have to have those. I think those are all wonderful, wonderful things. We live not too far from Barrio in Edina so we like going there quite a bit. I like to patronize places where my friends work at – we just went to Union, a couple of friends are working there, decided to go see that, see what becomes of it.

What are your thoughts on the Twin Cities restaurant scene?

I’ve never really lived anywhere else. In my early 30s, I had a chance to move to New York – and I thought I was too old. (Laughs) If I only would’ve seen myself now. But yeah, like a lot of cities, it’s come a long way. One of my heroes in town is Larry D’Amico. I just love him and I think their restaurants are fantastic. The adjunct to that is that their employees stay with them a long time, which I think is really admirable. They obviously must be doing something right. Larry likes to joke, when D’Amico Cucina opened, there was no fancy food – there were steak places and Italian food was white sauce and red sauce. So that transformation has taken a number of years, but I think it’s great. I think we certainly have nothing to be ashamed of – I think there’s a lot of great places and it continues to get better. I think for a long time, there was maybe just a handful of places, and like I said, that sort of democratization of good food has really kind of come and gone down the pipe, so you can get really good places. Have you been to Ngon Bistro in St. Paul? I think that’s a fantastic place to go – again someone taking a food they know and love, and sort of applying that contemporary idea of locally sourcing, and getting local ingredients and applying that. It’s pretty awesome.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure food?

My biggest guilty pleasure food? Well. We made Chick-fil-A’s the other night here and we were making biscuits for Sunday brunch, deep-fried chicken with pickle mayo and BBQ sauce and cheese on it. I have to say it was pretty delicious. I don’t know if that was a guilty pleasure or not, but it was definitely pleasurable.

Is there an ingredient that you would prefer never to work with again?

I don’t know if there’s an ingredient that I would never work with again. I’ve certainly had some experiences. Once we got these lamb brains and let’s just say it was arduous to extract the lamb brains from the lamb. It was for Alex Robert’s 30th birthday and to be frank, I don’t know what we were thinking but we made these lamb brain ravioli’s and, I don’t know if it’s my biggest culinary regret but it’s one of them. Occasionally I’ll see Alex and we’ll have a laugh over that.

(credit: Tilia)

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to?

Yeah, I mean, I like seafood. Growing up in the Midwest, I worked full time in a restaurant and we would have 13, 14 different kinds of fish every day, fresh fish, ocean fish. When you butcher a cow, it’s all kind of a cow, but it’s just amazing to me that you can open up this fish and it’s bright pink or this one is pure white, or just absolutely deep red. I just think that’s amazing. It’s really pretty astounding to me. I love it.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” what would it be?

A last meal, I don’t know but Doug Flicker would cook it. … I would probably request some sort of comfort food from Mr. Flicker. My mother used to make this no-crust coconut pie and I loved that. In fact, she used to make two, one just for my father and one for the rest of my family. It’s been years since I had it and I hold it with great review. I would want that for dessert.

When you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for, in the culinary world?

That I inspired other people and that I was a good mentor and friend. I think, like I was saying before, I just told the staff the other day, you know, we probably spend more time with each other than we spend with our families and I’ve worked at a lot of restaurant, opened a lot of restaurant and closed a few, had a lot of laughs and shed a couple of tears, but the thing that I keep coming back to is the people that I worked with. I remember the bar, I remember the food, I remember the customers and all that stuff but really, right at the heart and soul is the staff and the things that you share, the jokes that you make, the things you go through together. It’s pretty solidly awesome. This is an interesting business and you really do work with people, you know. I really like that.

Read Part 1 of our chat with Steven Brown here. For more information on Tilia, check out their website.

A new collaborative partnership between Hennepin Theatre Trust — and their marketing prowess — and a favorite local theater company, Theater Latté Da, takes the best of our Twin Cities talent and brings it to a larger spectrum.

To kick off this venture, which has been dubbed Broadway Re-Imagined, the artistic team chose Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida” to bring theater-goers into this new era.

The production, which ran on Broadway for four years, is the story of forbidden love, oppression and hope. It bring the audience from a contemporary setting to ancient Egypt and then bounces between the two worlds.

Inspired by the Giuseppi Verdi opera, the production now playing at the Pantages Theatre features a wealth of local talent, under the helm of extraordinary direction.

For more about this powerful tale and the beginning of Broadway Re-Imagined, we sat down with Director Peter Rothstein and lead actress Austene Van, who plays Aida.

This has been a partnership that’s been brewing between Hennepin Theatre Trust and Theater Latte Da for quite some time, and now it’s finally become a reality — and no doubt, an added pressure for success. What’s it like to see it come to fruition?

Rothstein: We’ve been working with Hennepin Theatre Trust now for five years, on our holiday show “All Is Calm,” we’ve just realized over these past five years, we speak a very similar language, we share passions and they have, you know, they’re experts in marketing to this community and building a really enthusiastic audience. And Theater Latte Da has slowly been building an audience for more adventurous musical theater. And now to bring the two of them together, just I think allows both our organizations to really flourish. It gives local artists an opportunity to work in these beautiful, historic theaters that we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to, but also puts local talent in front of local audiences — and that’s pretty thrilling.

(credit: Michal Daniel)

Being able to show off our local talent in front of those larger, local audiences, what’s that been like for both of you?

Van: For me, I am just always proud of our theater community — I think we have a strong theater community here and an amazing wealth of talent in the Twin Cities. We have about 70-something professional theaters here and this is what we do. What’s really wonderful about the Twin Cities, I think, is that it’s a wonderful, a nurturing place to develop your craft. The arts are supported by individuals and organizations but also there’s, I don’t know what to really call it, but there’s almost a family sense where there seems to be enough to go around, so everyone is in support of everyone else and encouraging. I think sometimes theaters think it’s necessary to get talent from other sources, other places, New York, Chicago, but it does your heart good to know that folks have confidence, like Peter, in the talent that’s here in the Twin Cities.

Why start with Aida? How was that chosen as the first production of this partnership?

Rothstein: Well I think we were looking for a title that spoke to audiences that have been attending theater on Hennepin Avenue, and huge hits that have been on Hennepin Avenue. I’ve been to ‘Lion King,’ with an Elton John score, ‘Billy Elliot,’ another great Elton John score, as well as Tim Rice’s ‘Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and ‘Avita,’ and his great, great cannon. So we were looking for a title that local audiences, especially that Broadway-going audience have had a good experience with. But also, there hasn’t been a major revival of ‘Aida.’ It was a big success on Broadway but it hasn’t been a major revival so it felt like a show that was right for bringing back. Also, it just provides a wealth of different skills that I think we have in town — there’s a rock band on stage, they’re not traditional musical theater players, they come from the rock band world. Putting together with actors and students from the university who are dance majors. We have circus artists in the show, we have people where music is their focus, or acting is their focus. So there’s all these skills that get to come together, which is why I love working in musical theater because it’s such a great fusion of a lot of different art forms. As well as designers, who we haven’t even mentioned — the fashion design in the show, and scenic design, lighting design and sound. So bringing those all together is really thrilling and I think ‘Aida’ is a great fusion of bringing all those things together in a pretty thrilling theatrical event.

(credit: Michal Daniel)

What was your approach to taking something set in ancient Egypt but with a contemporary score — and contemporary movement?

Rothstein: I always think the balance of content and form is really fascinating, and what often I ask the design process is if these characters were left to their own devices, what tools would they have to tell their story? So, the tools of ancient Egypt and the tools of the Nubian characters are different — they express themselves differently, they dress themselves differently, their relationship to the Earth is different, their relationship between royalty and people is different in those cultures, so some of that is looking at historical references and a fun part of the process has been, OK, the score is very contemporary, it’s very pop, it’s very Elton John. And so to keep a foot in the contemporary world. The production begins and ends in an art museum in modern times, but we decided we would have that museum be kind of omnipresent, that we would always have one foot in the now. That while the clothes are influenced by African fashion and what we know of ancient Egyptian fashion, there’s also this constant foot in today. It’s almost like if a rock band today decided to tell a story about ancient Egypt, what would they dress like? What would they look like? So that’s been fun to make those two worlds coexist.

Austene, you play the title role of Aida. What about her character and what about the show made you want to be part of this production?

Van: Easy. Peter Rothstein. I didn’t really know, I mean, I’d heard about ‘Aida’ and I’d seen clips of it but I’d never been to Broadway to see the show and when it came into town, I never did see it. I got a call to audition and found out that Peter Rothstein was directing — and I became a fan of Peter when I saw him direct, ‘Once On This Island’ and it was absolutely gorgeous. I put it out there and I said, ‘Some day, some day (looks up) are you listening? (laughs) I would like to work with this man.’ So I wasn’t quite prepared for the audition but I came in anyway because I just wanted to see about it. But the night before I came in, I was started to gather some information about it and it was just beautiful and fascinating, and the Nubians and the Egyptians and the story about love and war and not being able to be together and slavery and oppression, I found that fascinating. And then I found out about everything — the cast, who was in the band, who was doing the costumes, who was doing the set and I said, ‘This is going to be that show that you want to be a part of, that’s going to make memories and it’s going to really move people.’ I think everything about it, Michael Ferrell’s choreography — I’ve worked with him in the past and he’s just so wonderful and soulful — so everything about it, drew me to it and made me want to do it.

(credit: Michal Daniel)

Tell us more about your character — and how the themes of this musical relate to issues we’re still working on today.

Van: My character is called Aida and she’s a Nubian princess but she’s been captured by the Egyptians. The Egyptians are, of course, taking the Nubians into slavery, and taking the land and plundering and taking the people and oppressing them. She does not want anyone to know who she is, because she’ll be killed. She feels like she has led her people or at least her friends into slavery. She falls in love with an Egyptian captain and he falls in love with her. So there’s this forbidden love — she’s betraying her people by being in love with a captor, an oppressor. So I think that even still, today, we’re still kind of taken slave to who we think we should be with and how we think we should walk in the world. I don’t think we’re yet as free as we want to be to love people for who they are. I also think it’s very fascinating how the different cultures — the Nubians and the Egyptians — treat women. Amneris and Aida are both powerful women but they’re viewed differently — it seems like the Nubians don’t mind a woman who’s more physically powerful and more physically earthy, and able to lead in a different type of way. It seems like the way the Egyptians are portrayed in this story, a woman, her power is different in the sense that it’s more based on beauty and she’s more of a puppet — they don’t mind her leading but you’re going to lead this way … you don’t have to know this, you don’t have to know that, you just have to be beautiful. I think that as much progress as we’ve made, I think women still fight who and how to be in this world and how to wear your power and how to present your power and still be OK with your femininity.

The show opened on Saturday. What was it like performing in front of this new audience?

Van: It was energizing, it was amazing. When you’re in rehearsals, you know how you feel when performing with the other cast members and the rest of the creative team but it does something to you when you know that the story and the message, the things that we’re doing on stage and the things that we’ve created, and the vision that Peter has, when the beauty and the magic is touching people, and they’re responding audibly or you hear them sniffling or crying, or they stand up, it’s an amazing feeling. You feel so honored to be part of a vehicle that actually goes into people. It makes them think, it changes them somehow.

Rothstein: We did a couple of preview performances, which are really a huge part of the process for me. I always say I don’t hear a show until I hear it communally, until I hear it in a room full of people. And we had a lot of young people in those first two audiences and their energy was just palpable. The curtain went up and you could just feel the electricity in the room. Every performance so far, by the time Austene takes the stage, everyone is on their feet, standing ovation, every performance.

“Aida” runs through Jan. 27 at the Pantages Theatre. Tickets are $24 to $59. For more information or to buy tickets, click here.

For Steven Brown, it all began with Betty Crocker. That iconic red-and-white cookbook started the spark that eventually spun into being named “one of the best cooking talents this town has ever produced.”

But for Brown, it’s all just part of his enjoyment of making good food in a comfortable, neighborhood environment.

As partner and executive culinary director of Tilia, Brown lead his team with the idea that what he enjoys in a dining experience, might just be what others enjoy, too. After winning the 2012 Charlie Award for Outstanding Restaurant, being named 2012′s Best Chef and Best Restaurant from City Pages and Restaurant of the Year by the Star Tribune in 2011 (plus, the list goes on and on), it’s quite apparent that Brown’s assumption was dead on.

We recently chatted with the chef about his early beginnings, what motivates his cooking and how he responds to this kind of high praise.

When did you know you wanted to go into the culinary world?

Well, I guess the culinary world, as I knew it, probably started as a wee kid. I was the middle child and I have two sisters, and there was a period in between when I was home with my mom, when my older sister was at school and my younger sister was yet to be born. So my mom would probably, maybe other people from my era and maybe even others might remember, you know the Betty Crocker cookbook, with the red-and-white gingham cover? I was pretty fascinated with that. I wanted to make all the exotic sounding things. I think culminating from when I graduated from the eighth grade, my grandmother gave me this thing called the Fry Daddy, which was this pot kind of thing that made French fries and donuts. Shortly around that time, you know, I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and it was very tourist-oriented in the summertime so at that time it was common for high school, junior high kids to get jobs cooking in restaurants.

So I think when I was 12, I started busing tables and by the time I was 13, I graduated to cooking. I used to wash dishes and I would wash the dishes as fast as I possibly could so I could go up on the line and drop French fries, things like that. And then by the time I was 16 or so, my father, my family has a business, so I went to work for my father and my culinary career was over but I was always very interested in cooking and food, even when I was in college, I had a roommate – you know Bob Quist, he runs the Kelley Farm.

But anyway, we kind of had a deal where we would do the cooking and our other two roommates would do the dishes. We were the only college kids that went to school and rented a meat locker. I don’t know how serious we were, but we were definitely interested. Bob used to make bread every Saturday morning and we had a lot of fun. I remember calling my mom to ask how to cook lamb, but it didn’t turn out very well – a little muttony, I think. But I was always interested in trying different things.

When I graduated from college, it was sort of grad school or die and I ended up getting a job waiting tables at a restaurant, because my roommate was making twice as much money as me and working half as many hours. So I thought, ‘Well, you know, I’ll do that for a while.’ Didn’t take too long for me to kind of gravitate towards the kitchen and after a couple of years, I started thinking, maybe I want to do this as a profession.

It was about that time that I met Doug Flicker, and he really inspired me. He was the first person that I had met who was like, he was almost monastic about his — if you asked him about music, he’d be like, ‘I don’t listen to music, I cook.’ And I was like, ‘Whoa, pretty heavy.’ But he was very committed. I think when I worked with him and Lenny Russo was the chef at the place I was working at, he really endued me with this idea that I could actually have a career in cooking, as opposed to doing something that, I dunno, I think my original goal was that I just wanted to make my girlfriend dinner.

So then I just kind of bounced around and worked in different restaurants and very, very fortunately met a lot, not only Doug Flicker, but a lot of really cool people. One of my best friends is Ed Carew and he worked in New York City, went to the culinary institute, worked for Tom Colicchio. … You know, your network sort of grows and I enjoyed doing it. Met a lot of people, got to travel a little bit, it was great.

(credit: Tilia)

You mentioned your mother was your initial influence in cooking, do you come from a family of people who enjoy cooking?

You know, I don’t think my mother would ever think of herself as a professional cook. But I think she does certain things really, really well. My parents came to visit me one time and my dad was like, ‘I’ve never seen so many restaurants in my whole life.’ There were three restaurants in the town I grew up in, and the rest of them closed at 8 p.m. I think very fortunately the whole food movement started happening around the same time. … I think more and more people started to think of cooking as a professional career. Obviously now, it’s, you know.

Yeah, now there’s about 100 different TV shows about it.

Yeah, what did someone say about it? “When did cooking become a competitive sport?” But yeah, I think there’s definitely good things and bad things that come with it. But it’s clearly viable. My grandmother wanted me to be an architect and she was disappointed in some ways that I was a cook. She was like, ‘Well, at least, I guess people always need to eat. So you can always find work.’

Looking back, what was your first memorable meal?

I remember really well my older sister and I stealing away and making cinnamon toast on my mother’s green shag carpet in front of the television on Saturday morning. I dunno, I think that tasted pretty good. I remember that quite well. I remember lots of foods – I remember the first time I had cilantro. I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Montana and I was like, ‘Ooh, that’s exotic.’ (Laughs) I think that I’ve always been very curious about food and different cultures and different types and styles of making foods. I’m not afraid to try anything, I guess.

What inspires your cooking? What is it about being a chef that motivates you?

We have kind of our saying that, ‘good food tastes good’ and I think the root of that is being tangibly sourced. So a lot of it depends on what we can get and when we can get it. At Tilia, in particularly, we want to keep the value aspect, front and center. We don’t cook a lot of exotic things – foie gras and lobster. We’ve had all of those things here but it’s not something that we make a feature out of. The more idea is to have a real, friendly casual neighborhood environment. We want to offer some of the foods that you would get with a ‘fine dining’ experience but without all the pomp and circumstance.

I sort of realized a number of years ago really who I am and what I like. I like all these foods but I’m kind of a Midwestern kid, so I like things better when they’re more comfortable when I dine out. I like those experiences but it’s not what I would do every day. Our goal is to have a place where people can go every day. I have a saying that I co-opted from a place that I used to frequent years ago, ‘Where regulars feel special and special people feel regular.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do every day – whether that’s with the food or the service or the beverage program, it informs our other stuff. I think that also goes back to being intelligently resourced.

(credit: Tilia)

You have a menu and an ideology for your restaurant that you really believe in and it seems you’ve made everyone else a believer, too. What is it like for you to receive such high praise?

I guess maybe that’s part of it – when you’re genuine and sincere about things, I think it translates. I used to have a friend who called it honest cooking versus precious cooking. He talked about being honest with the food and honest about who you are — and I don’t mean honest like not lying, but I think sometimes people feel like it has to be this little moment … but in fact, I think that this is a more, not just here, but a general trend where people are really starting to discover that there’s appeal to making an ultimate hamburger and there’s many, many very humble foods that can be elevated to great status. That doesn’t mean that we put foie gras on a hamburger – that just means we are again intelligently thinking of the process and thinking about the steps that we take to make it the best that we can. Hopefully that translates into something that’s memorable to our guests.

Before you opened Tilia, did you have any idea that it would be as successful as it is?

No, in a lot of ways I was a little beat up when I thought about doing this. I thought long and hard about maybe doing something else. I talked to a friend about maybe opening a food distribution company but I always, I think after cooking in restaurants and working in restaurants, it is kind of the holy grail to open your own place. This space became available and it was kind of funny, a couple of people called me to say, ‘You know, Rice Paper is moving. You should go check out this spot in Linden Hills.’ The first time I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ the second time I was like, ‘Well, so what’s this lady’s phone number?’ Then I came in and looked at the place, and that siren call sort of pulled me back so I talked it over with my wife, and I lashed myself to the pole and gave it a go.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chat with Steven Brown. For more information on Tilia, click here.

This, in a nutshell, describes the fabulous musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which heads to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis Jan. 8-13.

With a ridiculous amount of costumes and no doubt, some perfectly placed double-sided tape, this is a show you won’t want to miss. But don’t just take our word for it, read about the show from one of our own.

David Koch, a graduate of Edina High School, is part of this stellar touring cast and tells us, it’s hard work to look this good — both on stage and behind the scenes.

So let’s start off by learning a little more about this show. Tell us what Priscilla Queen of the Desert is all about.

Basically, Priscilla is about three fabulous drag queens taking a journey across the Australian outback. The show is filled with over 500 costumes and lots of classic dance hits. But I think the show is really about differences between people, acceptance of our shared differences and the love of our families and friends.

(credit: Hennepin Theatre Trust)

I see there is quite a bit of sequins and glitter in this show. And its won awards for those intricate designs. Tell us more about the costumes. How many do you change into?

The costumes in this show are nothing short of spectacular. Our tech rehearsals have been like musical theater show and tell. Someone puts on their next costume and yells, “look what I’m wearing!” I have 11 costumes in Priscilla from a cowboy, a miner and an Indian, to a showgirl with a 5-foot headdress. The part of Bernadette, which I cover, has 15 costumes and 11 pairs of shoes. So, the costume changes are just as important as what you do on stage.

How long did it take you to get used to dancing in those costumes – and in those heels, specifically?

Well I have had to negotiate a dress that is tight at the knees with a 5-foot hoop at the bottom, and also a 6-foot Indian headdress that doesn’t want to stay on my head. Not to mention, the three-and-a-half-inch heels, which were not meant for a 12W men’s foot. I have a new found appreciation for women dancing in heels!

I hear you were raised in Edina and went to Edina High School? Do you still have family here? What is it like coming back home to perform?

Yes, I was raised in Edina. I love coming back to the Twin Cities. I love showing off my hometown to the people in the shows I’m in. My parents still live in the same house and I have been back to visit Edina High School. They have really wonderful theater department now, which I am a little envious of. We didn’t have much theater when I went to school, but we did have a really great choir program. I was in “The Music Man” when I was in ninth grade and loved it. Because of the hard work of two teachers, Bob Peterson and Tom Amundson, I have a career in theater. I’m not sure I ever told them that. So if they read this, thank you!

You also performed at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

I got my Equity card doing “West Side Story” after a couple of years doing community theater in the Twin Cities. I did five shows at the old Chimera Theater in St. Paul, and several productions at the Minnesota Opera. It was a great place to learn with lots of opportunities.

(credit: Joan Marcus)

The music in this show includes a lot of dance favorites, like “I Will Survive” and “It’s Raining Men.” What is it like performing these iconic hits – and what else can you tell us about the music in this show?

At the top of the show, it is really exciting backstage. We are all wearing these glorious costumes and ready to enter for the first song, “It’s Raining Men” sung by the three “Divas.” First of all, these three women have such amazing voices, it’s hard not to get excited. Second, these are songs I grew up with. I’d say I used to sing them, but I really just sang the choruses. It’s kind of funny how many words I didn’t know or would make up. All of the songs are so infectious you can’t help but love to sing them. Anyone who enjoyed the fabulous disco hits of the 70s is bound to smile throughout this fun show.

You’ve performed in several shows on Broadway, and a number of touring productions. What has been a few highlights of your career thus far?

One of the biggest highlights of my career would be the pre-Broadway production of “Kiss Of The Spider Woman.” It was my first big job in New York. It was the only show produced by New Musicals, which was to be a place to develop new shows before bringing them to Broadway and the critics. The musical was by Kander and Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret), directed by Hal Prince and choreographed by Susan Strohman. It was an idyllic summer. Everyone was relaxed and playful without the pressure of the looming critics. Also Fred Ebb was an amazing storyteller. For me, it was before the “Business” of Show Business became a reality.

Another highlight would have to be playing the director Roger Debris in “The Producers.” To be able to make people laugh is an amazing feeling. At one performance, a man actually fell out of his seat. You’ve gotta love that.

What’s one thing that people should know about this show – that they might not know?

I think this show is a different kind of story about one individual’s search for acceptance. Most stories are about a child looking for acceptance from their parent. “Priscilla” is about a parent worried about acceptance from a child. And how being true to one’s self is really the way to a happy life. Beneath the sequins, the high heels and the colorful costumes, “Priscilla” has a beautiful story that will touch your heart.

“Priscilla Queen of the Desert” runs from Jan. 8-13 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Tickets are $39 to $99 and are currently available. For tickets, performances and more information, click here.

Still, 2012 was quite the year in our local arts and entertainment scene – we were roasted by Jeffrey Ross, we welcomed a fleet of new food trucks, got glamorous at Glamorama and were mooned by Madge herself. Here are just a few memorable quotes from the year that was …

Jan. 26, 2012
Curiocity: Jeffrey Ross Ready To Roast Minneapolis

Jeffrey Ross on his next target:
“Well, I always say I’m most excited about who’s next because the writing and the preparation for the roasts are so much fun. But I guess I would say, in this case, the good people of Minneapolis … that’s my next victim. I lost my virginity in St. Louis Park so I feel a special connection to the area and I’m going to come fully loaded with jokes.”

May 2, 2012
Curiocity: Marilu Henner’s Wild Ride On Memory Lane

Marilu Henner on her incredible memory and how she helped writers on the show ‘Unforgettable’:
“I start watching it and the first thing is, a character says to Poppy’s character, Carrie, ‘Hey Carrie, show em that thing you do: March 27, 1998,’ so I’m thinking March 27, 1998, that was a Friday, I flew back from New York to Los Angeles, the night before I went to dinner at Picholine restaurant, I had the oysters and the white peppercorn soup, you know, I’m thinking this and all of a sudden she goes, ‘It was a Tuesday,’” Henner said. “And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, no! It was a Friday, it wasn’t a Tuesday!’”

May 23, 2012
Curiocity: Interview With Ann Wilson Of ‘Heart’

Ann Wilson on being a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
“I’m not sitting on a hot stove waiting, you know, to be inducted, because they seem to have a little bit of a … I mean, there’s a woman deficit in the rock hall. But having said that, it’s incredible acknowledgment for your work. And I think if that ever happened, it’d be really amazing to be acknowledged that way. It’s just an amazing deal.”

June 14, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth on which character that she’s played she relates to the most … Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies), April Rhodes (Glee) or Carlene Cockburn (GCB):
“Oh man. It’s sort of a sad trilogy of all three. Probably I’m most like Olive. I mean I would say I relate to her character, I always want to figure things out and she wasn’t a very good waitress, she wanted to be included, she was in love with a man she couldn’t have, more realistic issues. However, Carlene, I’m pretty sure I’m related to her and April Rhodes, you know, there’s a very fun part of her that just lets go and I have that too. So I don’t know, I guess an amalgam of all three of them.”

(credit: CBS)

June 20, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Motion City Soundtrack On River’s Edge

Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack on the craziest thing to happen to them while on tour:
“We did a 360 with a van and trailer once on some ice at 75 mph. It induced a panic attack that continues to this day whenever I am in a vehicle driving during winter weather.”

June 29, 2012
Curiocity: Friday Food Truck Feature — SushiFix

Enkhbileg “Billy” Tserenbat of the new SushiFix Food Truck, on how he names his rolls:
“One small example, the roll we call 2-14, last year on Valentine’s Day I created that one and I have an accent so it’s really hard for me to say “Valentine” every other day so I said, you know what I’m going to call it 2-14 and people can figure it out.”

(credit: CBS)

July 24, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Chef Marcus Samuelsson On New Memoir

Chef Marcus Samuelsson on writing a memoir of his life:
“I’m constantly evolving and trying to get better and ‘Yes, Chef’ was a time for me to reflect on where I am, at the moment. It was five years in the making and I didn’t get it on the first try — writing a book is like composing a dish. At first you put things on a plate, then afterwards you decide what you want to add or take away from it. In the end it has to be yummy and delicious.”

Aug. 1, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Karmin Before Glamorama Debut

Nick Noonan on planning a wedding while touring:
“That’s right, next question please. (Laughs) I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Uh, my mom asks that questions about every 13 seconds. (Mimicking mom) “Hello Nick? Are you eating? Are you planning a wedding? What’s going on?” But we have not planned a second one yet — we had the first one planned, which was obviously postponed, and that was supposed to be on 9-10-11. And everyone’s saying, now you have to do 10-11-12. And that’s coming up quicker than we had anticipated.”

Sept. 7, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With John O’Hurley, ‘Chicago’s’ Billy Flynn

John O’Hurley on still being recognized as “J. Peterman” from “Seinfeld:”
“I don’t mind it at all. I do many other things outside that character but I like the idea of the idiosyncrasies of Peterman has kind of made him an advertising hero over the years and I owe a lot to that and I’m very grateful for it. The P.S. of the story is that the year after Seinfeld ended, I bought the J. Peterman company with the real J. Peterman. We own the company together so I don’t mind the Peterman mention at all. It keeps the brand alive.”

(credit: AZ Canteen)

Sept. 28, 2012
Curiocity: Friday Featured Food Truck — AZ Canteen

Andrew Zimmerman on naming his new food truck:
“I’ve always loved the idea and concept of a “Canteen” — growing up in NYC in the 60s, I’d see small canteens working the construction sites, pouring hot coffee and making egg sandwiches. I saw expanded ideas of the same concept in Los Angeles. We worked through a list of three dozen names, and kept coming back to AZ Canteen. Luckily, it wasn’t already taken by another food truck or restaurant in Arizona. Everything with the letters AZ seems to reside there.”

Oct. 18, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Joshua Radin

Joshua Radin on performing at Ellen DeGeneres’ wedding:
“It was amazing and surreal. I mean, it’s not like we were friends or something. I’m just a fan and apparently, she was just a fan. So it was really cool. There was all 20 people in her living room, so it was about as intimate as possible. It was just family … and me. (laughs) I played about six of my songs and her and Portia just sat right in front of me on the couch and looked at each other and cried. It was emotional.”

Oct. 31, 2012
Curiocity: Local Celebs’ Best Halloween Costumes

Justin Morneau on his favorite Halloween costume of all time:
“Halloween’s my favorite. Favorite time of the year other than Christmas. The most memorable one I’ve had is when I played in the Arizona Fall League. Rob Bowen and I were teammates and we dressed up as scarecrows and we sat outside the entrance of the clubhouse, put masks on and we had a little sign that said ‘Happy Halloween from the Arizona Fall League.’ And then, as people were walking in to the clubhouse, we’d jump up and scare them. It was hilarious. It was the old trick that you do where you put the candy bowl in the scarecrow’s lap and then when the kids go to get the candy, you jump up and scare the kids but we actually did it to grown men. We actually had a couple of guys try to punch us because they were so scared.”

(credit: CBS)

Nov. 4, 2012
Curiocity: Madonna Returns To St. Paul With A ‘Gang Bang’
A clip from our review of Madonna’s concert:
“I love her for her energy and ability, but hate her for her arms and toned abs. … ‘I made it through the wilderness’ might stand as the signpost refrain of the evening, as the newly twice-divorced 54-year-old, having invited the audience to take a look at the bruises on her backside, climbed atop a piano and slowly, deliberately savored the bitter ironies within the lyrics of ‘Like a Virgin.’”

Nov. 7, 2012
Curiocity Interview: Lawrence Gowan Of ‘Styx’

Lawrence Gowan, of Styx, shares his thoughts on Cartman’s version of ‘Come Sail Away’ on South Park:
“That, to me, is the definitive version. We’re always trying to get it as good as that. I can never be Cartman, but I can dream. (Laughs)”

Nov. 12, 2012
Curiocity Interview: Ketch Secor Of ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’

Ketch Secor, of ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’, on his influences:
“Your native son, Bob Dylan. Certainly, Bob Dylan … Bob Dylan … Bob Dylan. More than anything else. More than any book or song or story or play. The work and the recorded work of Bob Dylan. It’s the most profound influence on me. And then the other people that really influenced me tend to be the same people who influenced Bob Dylan.”

Nov. 14, 2012
Curiocity: Q&A With Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman on what writing her album taught her about herself, and the public end of her engagement to singer Jason Mraz:
“I thought my life was gonna go one way, and when it fell apart, I was devastated. But looking back, I realized I would have been settling. Settling for someone who didn’t really know how to love me the way I felt like I deserved to be loved, because they were still trying to figure out how to love themselves. That’s something you can’t change. Everyone has to figure that one out on their own.”

Dec. 11, 2012
Curiocity: A Chef’s Profile Of Doug Flicker, Part 2

Doug Flicker on cooking with pork:
“Everything just gets a little better with a little pork fat in there.”

Happy Holidays to all of our readers! Thanks for your support this year. We’ll see you in 2013!

(credit: Carol Rosegg)

There’s a scene near the end of the show where Frank William Abagnale, Jr. (played by Stephen Anthony) looks completely puzzled.

The man whose been chasing him for years, Agent Carl Hanratty (Merritt David Janes), has just made him an offer — go to prison for years of fraud and cashing millions of dollars of forged checks and when you’re released, come work for the FBI.

In one small moment, the entire story comes full circle. The life of Frank Abagnale, Jr. is perhaps the most shocking upon realizing its truth. While most of us were learning to drive and thinking about college, Frank was ditching his pilot uniform for a doctor’s lab coat, while shoving millions in counterfeit money into an empty suitcase.

In order to translate this incredible story to the stage, Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman created a brilliant adaptation. Where the movie picks up years later during Frank’s appearance on the 1977 game show “To Tell The Truth,” the musical takes it a step further — allowing Frank to tell his incredible tale through his very own TV show.

Frank’s show has everything you’d imagine a young, imaginative, attention-seeking teenager to have — backup dancers, girls in skimpy costumes, plenty of flashing lights and his very own on-stage big, brass band.

(credit: Carol Rosegg)

The story starts with Frank’s picture-perfect life — a mother and father who seem to be the definition of true love, a gorgeous, well-furnished home and a future that seemingly beams of fortune and success.

When that picture starts to crumble — his father loses a loan and discovers his business practices are being investigated by the IRS, his mother’s eye starts to wander and Frank is forced into public schooling — the door for mischief and excitement swings wide open.

There’s a new level of difficulty that inevitably comes from translating a story from a well-known (and well-loved) movie to a stage show with musical numbers. But what this show does well is keep those translations as literal as possible.

Songs like “The Pinstripes Are All That They See” or “Butter Outta Cream” are inspired by direct and memorable quotes from the movie and the staging throughout the show brings many of its ever-changing scenes to life.

As both an added bonus and a bit of a strike against the show, Abagnale Jr. breaks character occasionally to narrate his thought process and give a bit of background to his many schemes and plots. While it’s a welcomed and fun dialogue — which you don’t get in the film — it also slows the storyline and takes away from the tempo of the chase, something that was highly successful in the movie.

Still, Antony’s portrayal of Frank Abagnale, Jr. is upbeat and light-hearted when it needs to be, but takes a turn into the lonely realities of a scared, young man when the truth comes knocking. He’s both utterly adorable and yet, one of the most sympathetic master criminals to date.

(credit: Carol Rosegg)

His counterpoint, Janes’ Carl Hanratty, at times, steals the show with his unyielding determination that casts a shadow over his own lonesome tendencies. Plus, Janes’ rendition of “Don’t Break the Rules” could undoubtedly be the musical number of the night.

Other highlights include Aubrey Mae Davis’ Brenda, as a wide-eyed lovestruck woman unknowingly caught in a tangle of lies and struggling to find her own way out. Her song, “Fly, Fly Away” is emotionally charged and perfectly performed.

Dominic Fortuna, as Frank Abagnale, Sr., reminded me a bit more of Tony Danza than Christopher Walken (who played the part in the film) but was top-notch in the part of a struggling father trying to mask his shortcomings and hold tight to his pride.

Though the true star of the show is Mr. Frank Abagnale, Jr. himself — who performed the greatest encore through a Q&A with the audience following Tuesday’s premiere.

His life is beyond belief and as is true in this performance, the best stories are those that you simply can’t make up.

Q&A With Stephen Anthony (Frank Abagnale, Jr.)

“Catch Me If You Can” runs from tonight until Sunday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Tickets are $34 to $79. Runtime: Two hours, 30 minutes including one intermission. For more information, click here.

WCCO-TV’s Jason DeRusha Interviews The Cast

(credit: CBS)

Last week’s Part 1 of our profile of Doug Flicker focused on his humble beginnings and the journey that led him to this point in his career — running a restaurant that’s been given a perfect score by a number of critics.

Though, as he explained, with great praise and trust comes equal pressure and responsibility. Still, Flicker said it’s a fantastic ride to be on, and more than enough inspiration to continue challenging himself in the kitchen.

This week, we wanted to focus on the man behind the chef’s jacket.

When you’re at home, what do you like to cook for yourself or for friends and family?

A lot of one-pot meals. I try to get, at least on one of my days off, I try to eat both meals out. Just because, as a reward and also to see what’s going on around town or just to put myself on the other side of the fence, from the kitchen. So, there’s a big difference between what I do professionally and what I do personally — what I do here versus what I eat at home. Two totally different things.

By the time I get home, I want something simple that I don’t have to think about and I don’t want to spend another hour putting something together and eating a tiny, little portion. You know, Heggies frozen pizzas are fantastic. Best frozen pizzas ever. Sometimes it’s leftovers. The perception that I would go home and try to recreate what I do here … It’s just a lot of eggs, normal stuff.

You mentioned dining out. Where do you like to go? Where are your favorite restaurants?

Right now I’m going through a Reuben phase, so Cecil’s Deli is a fantastic place, Tilia, Matt’s Bar for a Jucy Lucy, The Nook for a Juicy Lucy, you know, a lot of things like that. Pho, it always kind of goes in little streaks where you become obsessed about one food style and then I hit that a lot and then switch it with the seasons.

Coming from your perspective, what are your thoughts on the Twin Cities food scene?

I think it’s really healthy right now. I think it’s healthier than it has been in a very long time. As annoyed as I get sometimes with food trucks, I think it’s a fantastic sign. I think the restaurants that are open late at night, feeding people late at night is another good sign of the health of the city. You know, we’ve got, I think, a really nice influx of people that move here to cook and not just because a spouse moved here or a girlfriend worked here. The quality of resumes coming through town is really, really nice. Again, people are so excited about food now, and supporting restaurants and experiencing restaurants, that it really is a golden age for the cities.

What would you say is your biggest guilty pleasure food?

I would have to say biggest guilty pleasure would have to be Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It’s one of those things that my mom fed me as a kid that I grew up with. Like, Heggies Pizzas, I mean, it’s a quality frozen pizza so I can’t feel guilty about it. Slim Jims and you know, Velveeta – Velveeta is a perfect cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich, so I can’t feel guilty about it. If the word guilty has to come in, then yeah, the macaroni and cheese.

Is there an ingredient that you would prefer never to work with?

I would say balsamic vinegar. Because I think at this point and time, it’s crept so far into mainstream that when people go out, they assume every restaurant has it. So I just kind of push back against that. It’s one of those things that as a pure product, quality balsamic is fantastic. But the onslaught of cheap imitations that call themselves balsamic are so horrible. And yeah, it’s just that assumption that every restaurant would have it.

On the flip side, is there an ingredient you find yourself constantly drawn to?

I would say any sort of pork fat or pork product. Lardos, jowls, bellies. You know, we play that game of what could you live without — if you had to live without either flour or pork, what would it be? Or this or that? Sugar or salt? And I think pork products, I could give up beef, I could give up any of those, but the pork product is so versatile that I think I would have a hard time either not living with it or cooking without it. Everything just gets a little better with a little pork fat in there.

When you’re out of both kitchens, what’s your favorite pastime?

You know, I really like the dog park with my dog. It’s a great place to think, especially Minnehaha, with the falls and it’s so large. You know, movies, eating out in restaurants, stuff like that. I’m pretty mainstream.

If you had to choose a “Last Meal,” you’re on your death bed, what would it be?

It would be some sort of dumpling. It would probably be some sort of dim sum if I had to. If I had to experience one last meal, it would be around a Lazy Susan with carts coming by, just dropping dumplings and anything like that, in front of me that I could just cover with soy sauce and eat.

Why that?

I don’t know, it’s so much like a pasta, a stuffed pasta. There’s just something about meat inside a dough that really hits home. So yeah, I think the dim sum-ish style, it’s such an onslaught of food that comes at you at one time, I love it.

You said “Top Chef” helped put chefs in the spotlight. Are there other cooking shows that you watch? Any that you would ever consider competing on?

You know, I’ve done a couple of the “Top Chef/Chopped”-style competitions and I really enjoyed doing them. I really enjoy the kind of grabbing the basket and figuring out from that, what you can do. I think that fits my cooking style really well. The sense of creativity and trying to create things. So yeah, any sort of competition like that, I’m definitely down for.

Is there a food trend that you’re sick of — or that you’d like to see go away?

I think there’s a, it’s not necessarily a food trend, but it’s food-related, where I think people tend to over-react to things they read or hear on the news and I think they tend to demonize things. So right now I think people demonize flour and gluten. I’ve talked to so many people who claim to be gluten intolerant and yet, I mean, no one’s ever told them that.

I think it’s the same thing with farm fish or factory this or factory that. I think it’s anytime that people don’t do their research or read up on what’s true — and then come in. Another food trend would be saying they’re allergic to something when they don’t like it. “Well, I’m allergic to this,” but then it’s like, “well, it’s in this, this and this” and then they’re like, “well, I can have a little bit.” Or the vegans that will have a little bit of ice cream at the end of a meal or a bite of this or that. That’s the most annoying food trend. The desire or need to label yourself or to stand in a certain camp, be it– I’m a vegetarian, I’m a pescatarian, I’m a vegan that does this or that. “I’m a vegan that eats dairy products.” Well, then you’re not a vegan.

Finally, when you look back on your career, what do you hope to be known for, in the culinary world?

I want to be known for the company I’ve kept — I mean, obviously I want to be known for being a good cook and having a restaurants where people have memories from, be it anniversaries, or I met there. You know, the people that I’ve worked with or have had the pleasure of working with and to watch them go out. I mean, part of me just wants to be forgotten as soon as I’m gone, you know what I mean?

A Chef’s Profile Of Doug Flicker, Part 1

Doug Flicker is chef and owner of Piccolo in Minneapolis. For more information about his restaurant, click here.

There’s the moment when New York newcomer Buddy the Elf is hit, without notice, by a bright yellow taxi cab or the moment he “accidentally” gets drunk in an Empire State Building mail room. Or who can forget when Buddy eats cotton balls, as if they were marshmallows, during a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, none of these classic scenes are featured in the musical.

But what has been removed has been replaced with a bit more cheer, a bit more holiday pizazz. And of course, loads of feel-good songs.

It’s best, I think, to go into this stage adaptation as a separate adventure — instead of waiting for the moments from the movie, enjoy the family fun as it unfolds.

The basic storyline remains the same — Buddy, an orphaned child, wanders into Santa’s bag, is raised by elves, eventually discovers the truth and heads to New York City to find his birth father.

Like the film, the musical is presented as a story, this time told by Santa. As the story of Buddy is read, the scene changes and festive displays come to life.

The music, by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, is certainly the best way to spread Christmas cheer but somewhat forgettable once the holiday season has concluded. Though I can guarantee you’ll have “The Story of Buddy the Elf” in your head the entire car ride home.

Buddy, played by Matt Kopec, is a bit more Jack McBrayer than Will Ferrell but his vocal chops are something to behold. In the same way as Kenneth Parnell, Kopec’s beaming “Buddy” smile is irresistible and contagious.

His love story with Jovie (played by Kate Hennies), his brief co-worker who’s less than thrilled about the holidays, has a bit more play in the musical — and their song, “A Christmas Song” is highly adorable.

There’s a few other notable changes — Gimble’s is turned into a Macy’s, Miles “the angry elf” Finch is replaced with a mention of “famed” children’s book writer Chris Smith (and subsequent word play ensues), Walter Hobbs’ assistant Deb has a much larger and, ahem, bustier, role and Buddy dances with a group of fake santas.

Though, fear not, Buddy still eats his legendary spaghetti and maple syrup, Jovie and Buddy turn a stage into an ice rink in order to skate around Rockefeller Center and yes, Buddy enjoys a turn — or eight — inside a revolving door.

The musical is filled with warm-fuzzy moments, family values and encouragement for us all to immerse ourselves in elf culture — and stop acting like a Cotton-Headed-Ninny-Muggins.

For a show that will certainly put you in the holiday spirit, “Elf” is the perfect plan. The sparkle-jolly-twinkle-jingley themes matched with the entertaining talent on stage is enough to banish the ba-humbug out of anyone.

“Elf” runs until Dec. 30 at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are between $27-$120 and are available by clicking here.

The incredible tale of one Frank Abagnale, Jr. is truly too crazy to believe. From becoming a world-class con man starting at age 16 to becoming a consultant for the FBI, the man’s life story is better than most fictional novels. Now, he spends his days helping the FBI spot fraud and con artists, using his inside knowledge.

In 2002, “Catch Me If You Can” hit the silver screen, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a young, fresh faced Abagnale, Jr. The movie was an instant hit and it was only a matter of time before someone took the show on stage.

In 2011, “Catch Me If You Can, The Musical” debuted on Broadway and has been touring the country ever since. The show stops in Minneapolis on Tuesday but before we saddle up for the ride of a lifetime, we wanted to check in with the show’s star to see what tricks he has up his sleeve. Here’s our interview with Stephen Anthony, who plays Frank Abagnale, Jr.

Tell us a little about the show.

It’s the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a con man, who ran away from home when he was 16 in search of love and a glamorous life, good times and really, just in search of adventure. He just gets into a whole bunch of trouble along the way and somehow it all works out until it catches up with him. In the end, it turns into this story of owning up to your actions and family — and having to decide what’s really important to you. So it becomes a really great life lesson at the end.

As far as comparing it to the movie, it really holds true to the story, it really honors the true story of Frank Abagnale, but I think it’s more fun for an audience. I mean, I think the movie’s incredible – I watched the movie an infinite amount as part of my research. But I think getting to see it live, the audience has no choice but to identify a little more with the con man and the audience gets to see, they’re one step ahead, almost like they’re helping me plot it. They’re apart of all my mischief. And they get to have all the good times, they get to live the glamorous life with me and I think they have a really great time.

The music is all new for the musical, too – what can you tell us about it?

Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the music, the same writers of Hairspray and the TV show Smash. And they did just an incredible job. The band is on stage with us through the whole show and I can’t imagine it any other way because it’s just so tied to the way we’re telling the story, which is this exciting, 60s, hullabaloo-type spectacular and the music is like that. The music is exciting and fun. Big brass band. There’s pop music, rock’n roll, R&B, a little swing influence in there and at the same time, it’s so fun and the audience is tapping their feet along to it, there’s also this rich, emotional music in it. When my love interest in the show, Brenda, sings her song, “Fly, Fly Away,” everybody backstage crowds around and listens because it’s such a beautiful song and such an emotional power ballad. There’s a few of those in the show, a few big, belty, exciting numbers.

(credit: Carol Rosegg)

You mentioned watching the movie several times while doing your research, how much did you take from Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Frank and how much did you make the character your own?

Well, I mean, I think his work in the show, in the movie, is so phenomenal so I wanted to honor that, but it was more important to me to honor what I felt about the true story – I took more from the book that Frank Abagnale, himself, wrote. And then at a certain point, it’s an actor’s challenged to take everything you’ve learned and completely forget about it and point it on your own body. I think the only way that I differ is, I think I bring a little more mischief to it. A little more of the sneaky kid who thinks he’s getting away with it. But of course, Leonardo DiCaprio, what shoes to fill – and Aaron Tveit, who played the role on Broadway – both did such an amazing job. I think it’s a balance of bringing my own personality and my own fun to it and you know, borrowing the energy that I really loved from both of them.

When you were doing your research, since this is a true story, what surprised you the most about Frank Abagnale, Jr.?

I think the coolest thing to learn for me, no. 1 is the person he is today. He’s still serving the country and traveling and doing talks about preventing fraud and protecting your country from things like that. He still feels so bad about what he did, so he’s got this strong sense of morality, despite everything that he did. And then, sort of going back in time and going along with that, he wasn’t a criminal mastermind. He didn’t think of himself as this mastermind, he was just a kid and everything sort of fell into place. So as opposed to playing a methodical genius, I get to play this sense of wonderment that it all happened and I get to share with the audience my own wonderment over how it happened, how everything fell into place. When I suddenly get the idea to pretend to be a pilot, I think the audience gets the idea right before I get it – almost with me. That surprises me the most is that, I don’t have to work too hard at most of it – it’s all just fun. In my research, I was looking up how to make licenses and how to do all this counterfeit but in reality, it all just fell into place and that’s been really fun for me to play with. Once I get away with it on stage, I realize, I’m really good at it and then it’s just a matter of playing and keeping the fun alive.

(credit: Hennepin Theatre Trust)

I hear the real Frank Abagnale, Jr. pops up every now and then to watch the show and speak to the audience, have you had the chance to meet him? What was that like?

Of course I have, which has been incredible. What better inspiration and motivation to tell this incredible story than having the man there himself. And he loves the show. He’s said great things about it afterwards.

So before we let you go, what’s one last pitch you would give to audiences to come out and see this show?

I mean, they’re just going to have a great time. I think it’s a story that audiences want to live out themselves – it’s everybody’s dream I think, to live without responsibility and go out and have an adventure. And you get to do that in this show and have a great time doing it. I think people are surprised by how much they’re moved by it at the end of the show and they’re surprised when the end of the show brings them to tears because they’ve just been laughing and having a great time for two hours. I think it’s really surprising to people that it’s so moving at the end.

“Catch Me If You Can” start Tuesday, Dec. 11 and runs through Dec. 16. Tickets are between $34 and $79 and are on sale now. The show is two hours and 30 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission. For more information, click here.

Fresh off the honor of being named Outstanding Chef at the 2012 Charlie Awards, Doug Flicker still maintains his humble demeanor as his rise to one of Minneapolis’ best chefs continues.

As the chef of Piccolo, Flicker has taken his creative prowess and turned it into a culinary experience unlike any other. He opened the doors to his dream restaurant in January 2010, after 10 long, but rewarding, years at Auriga — and the period of soul-searching that followed.

He credits Bravo’s popular reality TV series, “Top Chef” for helping him get to this point — and for putting chefs in the national spotlight.

Flicker said his career has been the culmination of a lot of hard work, a few good breaks, and overall, a completely wild ride.

In the first of this two-part series, we chatted with the chef about his work, how he got to this point and what motivated him to open Piccolo.

So chef, let’s start at the beginning. When did you know you wanted to go into the culinary world?

You know, I was finishing up high school with absolutely no clue of what I wanted to do, no direction, no drive. There was a restaurant that was here in St. Paul that opened called Alfredo’s that opened a branch near where I grew up in Rochester. My sister started dating the chef, so he started showing up in a white jacket and he kind of nudged me and opened a couple of doors for me. So I kind of think that was a start. Also, the Vietnamese immigration into the Rochester area started and I started working with a woman who opened a Vietnamese restaurant in Rochester. It was this brand new world of flavors and things like that, so those two things kind of colliding opened this brand new world for me.

From there, at the time there weren’t culinary institutes — there wasn’t a Le Cordon Bleu, there wasn’t an A.I. — there was a St. Paul Tech and a Hennepin Tech, so those were the two routes that he went. Steven was a St. Paul Tech graduate, so he introduced me to that program. At the same time, the D’Amico’s just came to town and just started their catering company. Right when I was wrapping up school, they opened a restaurant called Cucina and brought me on there. So that was the big break and that was the foundation of what I do now and why I do it.

(credit: CBS)

Thinking back, what would you say was your first memorable meal?

There’s been a couple and for various reasons. I think Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago with my wife for my birthday was one of my first true introductions to fine dining. After we were married we went to Spain and ate at a restaurant called Arzak, in 2000. And that was another, like, I will never forget that meal in the sense that it was such a brand new world. With Charlie Trotter’s and stuff, I’d seen the book so I was kind of aware of the movement. Spain and Arzak was just like stepping onto another planet.

What inspires your cooking?

I think there are various things. What inspires me is change and pushing myself and the restaurant and the people around me and the envelope, to some extent. I think that trickles down to pride, fear and just a desire to do something that’s not the same thing over and over and over again. I feel that if I don’t do that, I fall behind, pride in trying to come up with things that other people aren’t doing or in a way they haven’t done it. That’s lots of complicated reasons behind that. But really, just basically the desire to push things forward, constantly reinvent myself or the restaurant or make things relevant.

Your menu at Piccolo is one of the most unique in the Twin Cities — what was your thought process and approach?

Piccolo was kind of the result of my previous restaurant before Auriga failed. So, Auriga was 10 amazing, difficult years. You never know what you have until you lose it. So when that restaurant closed, I spent about two years doing the soul searching — what I thought I did wrong, what I wanted to change, what mistakes were made and what I could do to be better. So I think the biggest thing is trying to figure out what exactly it is that I wanted to do, what would make me happy, cooking-wise, for the next 10 years. And then how to avoid some of the financial mistakes that I made before.

So on the financial point — finding a 36-seat restaurant in a location that had dirt cheap rent was that step. And then I kind of took away the things that I really did not like before. And that was having to do categories — soups, salads, entrees. At the last year or so at Auriga, we created a category of amuse-bouches, which were $2 to $3, $4 plates, very tiny. A lot of restaurants will give them out as a treat, but because they’re giving them away, they tend not to be very interesting. So I think that was a premonition of what was to come with being able to focus and do cool things and still charge people for them.

I think that lead into the Piccolo-menu format where there are as few boundaries and things to hole me into a certain category. So what I want to do is take three seven-course tasting menus, combine them and allow people to order however they want, whenever they want and not have those structures of a traditional restaurant.

(credit: CBS)

And the name Piccolo? Where did that come from?

It came from, I would like to say there’s a romantic story behind it. But I like the way the word sounds, Piccolo is small, so it somehow subconsciously crept into plate size and restaurant size. With Cucina being my first real restaurant job, I have a very soft spot in my heart for Italian restaurants, Italian motorcycles, it all seemed to click.

How did you come up with the dishes on your menu?

First of all, it’s always an evolution. When Piccolo opened we had a concept of what we were going to do as far as, the portion sizes were going to be small, we were going to get rid of all the added things I don’t think a dish needs, appetizers. It’s small courses in a menu that are the most unique and interesting, so we kind of took that approach to it.

I wanted to work with ingredients that I’ve either never worked with before or the way that I am now. So that was kind of the driving force. We went with the offal — picked up pig’s feet, pig tails, cheeks, tongues, hearts and all of a sudden, there was nothing off the table. We dove into all the things that traditionally we’ve never been able to work with before. So then you identify the product that you’re going to use, identify the way that you’re going to cook it and how to present it, and how we were going to do it differently. That still is sort of the driving force.

I think I’m starting to run out of different animal’s cheeks, tails and bellies to use so then you kind of go back and take a look at what you’ve done before and with the knowledge you have now, how can you take what you did before to the next step?

How does it feel to present a menu in Minnesota that might make people a little timid at first — and then really knock their socks off?

I think so much of it is gaining trust. If you can get people to trust and take that first step, it’s the risk in the reward. If they dig into a dish that they’re apprehensive about, and then realize that it’s good or that it’s not … the reward and the sensation to that is really good. And then they’ll take the next step with you and the next step, the next step and so forth.

I really think a defining moment for us was when Anthony Bourdain came and included us in his show and then said really, really kind words about us. I think that silenced a lot of people and really gave us the momentum to push forward, at an accelerated rate.

You’re known as one of the best chefs in the Twin Cities and you have a restaurant that’s been called the best. What is that like for you?

It’s exciting, it’s overwhelming. It’s more pressure — the pressure to perform and continue to push things forward and discover the next thing and to come up with a better dish. It’s a lot of pressure, it’s exciting and it’s fantastic. It’s fantastic, it really is.

A Chef’s Profile Of Doug Flicker, Part 2

Check back next week for Part 2 of our interview with Doug Flicker. For more on Piccolo, check out the website.

(credit: Target)

When Target collaborated with Missoni to offer customers a piece of Italian-designed clothing at a fraction of the price, the website crashed and store shelves were bare in a matter of hours. So what will happen when the bulls-eye company partners with a name like Neiman Marcus?

We’ll soon find out.

The new line — seen in multiple TV ads and fashion blogs — boasts designs from Jason Wu, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs and more. And it’s not just clothing — the collection features dog accessories, kitchen tools and even a bicycle.

For a scoop on the new goods, before they hit stores this Saturday (Dec. 1), we turned to Target spokesperson Erica Winkels. See the full Q&A below.

How did this partnership come to fruition?
Target and Neiman Marcus have discussed the idea of working together for years, and we’ve been looking for the right opportunity to collaborate. Earlier this year, Neiman Marcus reached out to Target to discuss the idea of a holiday partnership, and we both saw the potential to do something remarkable by joining our two brands. The entire process has been highly collaborative, and our focus has been on creating a collection that will offer all of our guests something special this holiday season.

Why Neiman Marcus?
For decades, Target and Neiman Marcus have shared a commitment to incredible design and innovative retail experiences. By partnering together, we’re able to harness the power of both of our brands to offer customers something truly unforgettable this holiday season. Our partnership with this talented roster of designers provides our guests the opportunity to give or receive gifts from coveted designer’s labels at incredibly affordable prices. We believe this surprising and unprecedented partnership will serve as a unique point of differentiation, offering guests another compelling reason to choose Target and Neiman Marcus for their holiday shopping.

(credit: Target)

Tell us about the line – what can shoppers expect?
The designers we’re working with have created a collection that’s certain to wow, and with more than 50 gifting products, there’s something for everyone this holiday season. The collection spans multiple categories including fashion and accessories for women, men and kids; home goods; stationery; sporting goods; pet accessories; and accessories for electronics. The Target + Neiman Marcus collection provides exceptional quality and attention to detail at an unparalleled value, with prices ranging from $7.99 to $499.99 and most items less than $60.

With a name like Neiman Marcus, shoppers tend to think of high-end fashion – and high-end prices. How will this line cater to the Target shopper?
Target is committed to offering our guests exceptional value, which we see as a balance of quality, design and affordability. The Target + Neiman Marcus collection features more than 50 products at a variety of affordable price points, so regardless of their budget, our guests can find gifting options to give and receive this holiday season. Finally, while Target and Neiman Marcus may serve different audiences, many shoppers choose to shop at both retailers, mixing high with low, and we think they’ll be wowed to see the results of our two brands coming together for the holiday season. We think this collection has far-reaching appeal and will resonate with consumers who shop at Target, Neiman Marcus or both.

What do you anticipate will be the hot sellers?
Each piece in this collection is unique and reflects the specific aesthetic and personality of its designer, so it’s hard to choose favorites. We’re thrilled to offer consumers this eclectic mix of product from such a talented roster of designers, and no matter their interests or tastes, we’re confident guests will find a piece from this collection that they have to have (or give) this holiday season.

Check out the complete collection in our gallery.