Restaurant news: Chef brings home the bacon, Lake Street Taco Tour and cooking for Hillary Clinton

June 24, 2015 at 7:58PM
Chef Thomas Boemer at Corner Table in Minneapolis June 7, 2013. (Courtney Perry/Special to the Star Tribune)
Boemer (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It's Boemer for the win

Never has the hashtag #bringhomethebacon flashed through Twitter with more accuracy. Congratulations to Thomas Boemer, chef/co-owner of Corner Table (4537 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., cornertablerestaurant.com) and Revival (4257 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., revivalmpls.com), who was crowned "King of Porc" at the Cochon 555 finals, a pork-centric culinary showdown held last week in Aspen, Colo. Boemer, who won the regional contest in March, was up against nine chefs from around the country.

Tacos, tacos, everywhere

On Saturday, take the second annual Lake Street Taco Tour. Nine restaurants — Manny's Tortas, La Mexicana Super Mercado, A la Salsa, La Loma Tamales, Tacos Pineda Plus, Tinto Cocina + Cantina, Taco Taxi, La Alborada Market and Taqueria Los Ocampo — are taking part in the family-friendly event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes free tours and lots of low-cost eating. The tour is set up for walkers, bikers, drivers and also includes a free shuttle service. Find out more at tacotouronlakestreet.com.

Meanwhile, in Uptown

Sunday is the day when thousands of food-truck fans — and 60 (yes, sixty) food trucks — will descend upon Hennepin Avenue between Lake and 31st streets for the Uptown Food Truck Fair.

The event ($2 entrance fee) runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and includes beer from Lucid Brewing, wine from Surdyk's Liquor & Cheese Shop and live music.

Cooking for the candidate

When Hillary Clinton dropped into Minneapolis on Tuesday for a fundraiser at the Lowry Hill residence of Ellen Goldberg Luger, Spoonriver (750 S. 2nd St., Mpls., spoonriver.com) chef/owner Brenda Langton was doing the cooking.

The menu? "A Bristol Bay crab salad, farmers market vegetable-chèvre crepes, a beautiful Thai chicken and coconut salad in little choux puffs," she said. "And our coconut brownies, they're killer, and our fabulous organic carrot cake."

This wasn't Langton's first brush with political fame. She once cooked for President George H.W. Bush, following his term in office. "I'm a Democrat, so that wasn't anywhere near as exciting as meeting Hillary," Langton said with a laugh. "I'm still just giddy over it. I'm a huge Hillary fan."

Rick Nelson

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