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HOT DOG FROM HELL
Wherein we order a $135, six-foot long hot dog in the name of … science? Let’s say science.
By Eli Radtke

Jump on over to the Heavy Table’s website for this (paywall-free) story about what happens when you order and earnestly intend to eat a $135, six-foot long, six-inch tall hotdog with piles of extra trimmings. From the article:

Once the pork and mac were piled high, it was SMOTHERED in crispy fried onions, topped off with fresh-cut jalapeños, and then nearly an entire squeeze bottle of chipotle mayo was emptied over the top. If that wasn’t enough, one side of this 6-foot-long plank was filled close to overflowing with French fries, and the other was lined with 38 jalapeño poppers. In total, this dog came out of the kitchen weighing an estimated 28 pounds.
Once it was ready, I looked it over, doing some quick math in my head and asked Chef JC if it was actually 10,000 calories.
“Hell no,” he laughed. “It’s way more than that.”

CHOCOLATE JOURNEY
St. Croix Chocolate Company's Earth Day box is a dizzying trip through rare, complex, and compelling flavors.
By James Norton

There's a lot of power in a guided tasting. Try a single type of something exquisite - a wine, a coffee, a Scotch - and you've tasted something good. Try four varieties, or a half-dozen, or eight of them, and you've built up a library of flavors and insights that support and contextualize each other. It's a move from merely "liking" something toward coming to understand it.

The beauty of the St. Croix Chocolate Company Earth Day collection is that it's effectively a guided tasting in a box. The attractively designed box contains 4 (for $33) or 8 (for $56) large chocolate frogs made from some of the world's finest and rarest small-batch and single-origin cacao - most of it certified organic and/or Fair Trade and/or woman-owned.

Each frog is accompanied by a two-sided card - one side with the name of the cacao variety and notes on how it's made, and who it's made by; the other with tasting notes and the cacao percentage (which ranges from 55-70%).

The point of the box is twofold - it highlights the threat to cacao (scientists say it could be functionally extinct by 2050 due to climate change, floods, crop disease, deforestation and other threats), and it educates the taster on how damned interesting and delicious chocolate can be when you taste it in its most sophisticated expressions.

If you're a chocolate person or have a chocolate person in your life, this is a legitimately unique opportunity to really lean into the flavor nerd side of this remarkable food. My own brief tasting notes follow - they're not particularly authoritative, but they might give you a sense of what you'll taste and experience if you give this box a try.

I found Maya Mountain (70% cacao) to be bright and almost blueberry-like.

Itakuja (55%) tasted funky, mellow, earthy, and vanilla-forward. Alto el Sol (65%) was flinty and nutty with a lingering hint of mint, while Chiapas y Tabasco (66%) had a floral, roasty, spicy thing going on. Dak Lak (70%) led with bright pineapple citrus and Oko-Caribe (68%) conjured up brownies with notes of orange, cherry, and coconut. Los Rios (70%) had a light tropical tropical thing going on, with an orchid-like undertone and a hint of apple.

Finally, Maracaibo (65%) was my favorite, with beautifully complementary notes of orange, coffee, and plum.

Chocolate Tasting Journey in a Box by St. Croix Chocolate Company

THE TAP

The Tap is the Heavy Table’s ongoing biweekly account of noteworthy Minnesota restaurant openings, closings, and future openings. Please send any tips to editor@heavytable.com. All dates are approximate based on best information available; opening dates, in particular, tend to shift around a lot.

NOW OPEN (Up to 3 Months)

Karol Coffee Company, 1503 Hamline Avenue North, Saint Paul ■ Fresh, locally roasted coffee and specialty drinks anchor the menu at this shop, which is named for Pope John Paul II. Soft opening March 25 (6:30am-2pm), grand opening March 29 (8am-4pm).

Tres Bandidos Asadero Grill, 143 Snelling Ave. North, Saint Paul ■ Carnita, barbacoa, and rotisserie chicken are the titular bandits that give this restaurant by the owners of Taco Libre its name. Plated meals with slow cooked meats are the foundation of its menu, and it may open for breakfast in the near future. Opened April 1, 2025.

Khue’s Kitchen, 693 Raymond Ave., St. Paul ■ Khue’s Kitchen Chef/Owner Eric Pham is the grandson of Lung Tran, who opened the locally legendary Quang on Nicollet Avenue. Opened March 6, 2025 after a fire-related delay. Profiled in the April 11, 2025 edition of the Tap.

Cafe Yoto, 548 North Washington Ave., Minneapolis ■ A casual, counter service-driven Kado No Mise spinoff by Chef Yo Hasegawa, riffing on that restaurant’s internal pop-up concept Yo Monday Cafe. Opened March 4, 2025. Reviewed in the March 28, 2025 edition of the Tap.

Papá Chuy’s Bakery, 2409 Lyndale Ave. South, Minneapolis ■ The former Vegan East cafe location is now a Mexican panaderia. Opened February 26, 2025.

Hikari Hand Roll Bar, Eat Street Crossing, 2819 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis ■ The rapidly evolving Eat Street Crossing food hall turns over another space as a sushi hand roll spot opens up. Opened January 31, 2025.

EGGFLIP/SUSHIFLIP, The Market at Malcolm Yards, 501 30th Ave SE, Minneapolis ■ Korean-inspired egg dishes and sushi anchor the menu at this new restaurant under the roof of the Market at Malcolm Yards. The egg dishes skew rich and meaty, the sushi side of things includes poke bowls and plenty of sauced up and modernized roll options. Opened January 20, 2025.

Las Delicias de Frida, 2904 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis ■ Tortas, tacos, ice cream, paletas, and more, from the same owners as the nearby and delightful Iconos Gastro Cantina. Opened January 17, 2025.

CLOSED AND CLOSING (Up to 3 Months)

Lago Tacos (Lyndale) ■ This Lyndale Avenue gringo taco mainstay is moving to Saint Louis Park. Closing in May.

The Sonder Shaker ■ This remarkably good (but almost aggressively low-key) joint is calling it quits. The owners plan to reinvent it as an Italian restaurant (name to-be-determined) in early May, as per Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. Closing April 19.

Cafe Ceres (all four locations) ■ A statement sent to staff cited a desire by the Daniel del Prado group to leave “the cafe space” and focus on restaurants. A Southwest Voices story about the closing notes that 30 Cafe Ceres baristas voted to unionize in August of 2024. Closing April 13.

Herbie Butcher’s Fried Chicken ■ The vegan fried “chicken” joint by the owners of Herbivorous Butcher lasted four years, a solid run for an untested concept. It closed March 30, but production of the team’s vegan chicken for wholesalers will continue.

Iron Door Pub ■ A mainstay of the Lyn-Lake intersection for nearly 10 years, the generally reliably busy Iron Door Pub shut its doors citing decreasing foot traffic. Closed March 23.

Saint Dinette ■ The Saint Paul stalwart Saint Dinette, a Tim Niver joint much loved for its sense of hospitality and warmth, has closed. Its sister restaurant Mucci’s will remain open. Closed March 22.

Casablanca Restaurant and Lounge ■ The ongoing Lyndale Avenue restaurant toll continues with the quiet closure this month of Casablanca, which we reviewed (not terribly favorably) in our Lyndale Avenue Checklist series. Closed March.

The Dock ■ This Stillwater, Minn. mainstay for waterside patio dining is calling it quits after a (mostly uninterrupted) run since the late ‘80s. Closed February 23.

Dark Horse ■ The popular, eclectic Saint Paul eatery called it quits after nearly a decade of service. Its closure comes during a rough time in the culinary history of Lowertown, which is also losing Saint Dinette. Closed February 14.

Terzo ■ Flooding did extensive damage to Terzo (part of the restaurant group with Broders’ Cucina and Broders’ Pasta Bar), shutting it down for the foreseeable future. Closed February 13.

Revival (all locations) ■ The upscale fried chicken / smoked meats mini-empire of Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone closed overnight, leaving more than 100 people unemployed and changing the face of local casual independent dining. Closed January 20.

UPCOMING (Most Imminent to Furthest Out)

Animales BBQ and Burger Co., 241 Fremont Ave. North, Minneapolis ■ The two well-regarded Jon Wipfli food trucks, Animales BBQ and Animales Burger Co., will unite in a bricks-and-mortar effort located in the former Royal Foundry Distillery in the Harrison neighborhood of Minneapolis. Opening 2025.

Pizza Karma (Dinkytown), 409 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis ■ The well-regarded Indian-meets-pizza chain that has racked up a series of suburban locations is moving into the heart of the metro with a new shop in Dinkytown, Minneapolis. Opening March 2025.

Big Star Tipsy Taco Bar, 2501 Marshall Street, NE, Minneapolis ■ The sprawling, Ferris wheel- and mini golf-bedecked site of the former Betty Danger’s will become a Tex-Mex and barbecue spot with a special emphasis on cocktails. Owners include Joe Radaich, formerly a partner at the Como Tap in Minneapolis. Opening late spring 2025.

Ledger & Ladle, 16 NE 3rd Street, Grand Rapids, Minn. ■ An ambitious new restaurant coming to Grand Rapids, Minnesota by Eric Halverson, who did some strong work at Rapids Brewing Company. Opening 2025.

Silverbird Roasting Co., 4237 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis ■ The former Kruse Markit space will be taken over by a cafe run in part by Tony Querio, who is a U.S. Coffee Roasting champion and the former head roaster for Spyhouse. Opening midsummer.

Liliana, 10060 City Walk Drive, Woodbury, Minn. ■ Italian-inspired small plates are coming to Woodbury via the owners of Estelle and Mario’s. As per the Star Tribune, the restaurant’s kitchen will be headed up by Kenzie Edinger, who had a good run at Saint Dinette. Opening midsummer.

Ate Ate Ate, 1178 Burnsville Center, Burnsville, Minn. ■ Yet another Asian-focused food hall is coming to the metro, anchored by the Asian food store Ensom Market. The spot is giving some Market at Malcolm Yards vibes. As per the press release: “The 13,320 square foot location will be home to a diverse roster of nine food vendors, plus a bar and beer pull wall, an event space, and regular entertainment offerings.” The project is spearheaded by Akhtar Nawab, a Michelin-awarded chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Opening delayed, possibly early 2025.

ŠHOTÁ Indigenous BBQ by Owamni, 2601 Franklin Ave., Minneapolis ■ Sean Sherman is branching out from Owamni - in a big way - this summer by opening a combination restaurant, commissary kitchen, and office headquarters in the former Seward Co-op Creamy space on Franklin Avenue. The restaurant, ŠHOTÁ, will focus on Indigenous barbecue concepts, which means (in part) pre-colonial meats such as venison, turkey, and bison taking the place of mainstays such as pork, chicken, and beef. Profiled in the January 10, 2025 edition of the Churn. Opening summer 2025.

Tim McKee Restaurants at The West Hotel, 167 N. First St., Minneapolis ■ A basque-inspired charcoal-driven restaurant and a Mediterranean bakery will be part of a new North Loop hotel in the former Commutator Building operated by Salt Hotels. Opening 2025.

The Market at Malcolm Yards Food Hall (Second Location) ■ The rampantly popular Malcolm Yards food hall is set to open in the not-so-distant future at a soon-to-be-disclosed location in St. Louis Park.

AUTHENTICALLY COMPLICATED
The Jook Sing pop-up riffs on nostalgia, comfort food, and Chinese-American identity.
By Stacy Brooks

Some of the dishes at Jook Sing are familiar staples, like orange chicken. Others are completely novel, like mapo hotdish. What ties them together is how deeply they reflect the identities of the pop-up restaurant’s co-owners, Chefs Mike Yuen and Tony Gao.

Gao (above left) and Yuen (above right) met while working at Union Hmong Kitchen in 2021. “We connected over growing up Chinese American,” says Gao. “To talk in-depth about specific experiences and share that kind of identity was really awesome.”

“We instantly hit it off and we would sit at the bar, three, four, or five nights a week, just kind of bullshitting, honestly, about one day trying to do American Chinese food,” continues Yuen. “This past summer, the stars aligned and we took the jump.”

In addition to their professional experience (Yuen has worked at the Lexington and Lat14, Gao’s resume includes Birchwood Cafe, Saturday Dumpling Co., and Wise Acre Eatery), both chefs have family ties to the restaurant industry. Yuen’s father’s family opened two Chinese restaurants in Chicago after immigrating in the 1960s. “As a kid, my dad was like, you're gonna be a lawyer or a doctor or whatever, but I fell into cooking,” he says with a laugh.

Gao’s parents, who immigrated in the 1990s, owned Canton Garden in Robbinsdale. “[Growing up in a Chinese restaurant], before school, you’re working. After school, you're working. So as a kid, I said I was never doing restaurant stuff, I was never being in a kitchen again,” he says. “I went off to college, picked a different career, and did a desk job for five or six years. And I just found myself slowly going back to cooking—I just really loved it and I loved food.”

The pop-up’s name is a nod to Yuen and Gao’s shared Chinese American identity. Jook sing is a Cantonese term that literally translates to “bamboo rod.” Since bamboo is compartmentalized, water can’t flow through it—a metaphor for how the children of Chinese immigrants aren’t fully part of Chinese or American culture, but rather hold both identities as a third culture.

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“When my parents would take me back to China for a month during summer breaks, I was always known as the American kid, even though I'm Chinese,” says Gao. “And then at school [in the U.S.], everyone sees you as the Chinese kid.”

“Very similarly, I grew up on the Southside of Chicago,” Yuen explains. “We would spend some time in Chinatown, but for the most part, my siblings and I were the only Asian Americans in our neighborhood. In school, I was the only Asian kid, and then when I went to Chinatown, I felt like the only white kid. It doesn’t help that I’m also half [Chinese],” he says, alluding to his biracial identity.

Jook Sing, Behind the Scenes at Khue’s…

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