The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

Lucia’s, the restaurant that pioneered farm-to-table dining in Uptown Minneapolis, closed seven years ago this week. But its legacy lives on, and not just in the culinary realm, but also in personal relationships.

It was at Lucia’s that Heather Asbury, a longtime manager, met her best friend Cia Nypower, a chef. Now based in New Orleans, Nypower operates a food truck, Hatch + Harvest, which celebrates the food of the southwestern U.S. where she grew up — namely, the Hatch green chile. As the owner of Heather’s, the all-day restaurant that just opened its second location in Minnetonka, Asbury wanted something on the menu that would pay homage to her best friend.

“I told her, ‘When I open this restaurant, I’m going to have a nod to you on the menu,’ ” Asbury said.

Asbury tasked her head chef Wilson Lucero to create a Heather’s version of Nypower’s food truck’s green chile chicken egg rolls, and the $14 appetizer has already become a staple. The fried rollups of (not spicy) chiles, chicken and cheese come with a cool corn salad and poblano crema on the side. It’s one of several new appetizers at the Minnetonka location, which Asbury says has been busy since day one, both inside and out. (Sharyn Jackson)

5445 Eden Prairie Road, Minnetonka, heathersmtka.com

There’s a French Dip that I still dream about, knowing I’m never going to get to eat it again. It was the one from the Frontier in Grand Rapids, Minn., rich beef positively soused in juices, barely clinging to French bread that made a precarious journey from plate to mouth. It was near the flower shop my mom owned, both long since closed. Despite a deep love of that roast beef sandwich, few others compare. Until I came across the Payne Avenue Dip ($17), an occasional special at Brunson’s Pub.

Owner Thomas LaFleche mentioned that it’s been a while since chef Torrance Beavers brought this bad boy back to the menu and, whenever he does, there is a cult-like following of fans that show up just to order it. The item is currently back on special and will be available through Oct. 22.

At Brunson’s, brisket is braised into hunks and tendrils, then piled onto a hoagie roll with sweet/hot pepperoncini, a generous amount of pickled onions and a layer of Swiss cheese that melts into all those meaty nooks and crannies. Finished with a swipe of garlic aioli and served alongside a pool of jus for dipping, it is a glory of a sandwich. Another one that I’ll surely dream about once it’s gone. (Joy Summers)

956 Payne Av., St. Paul, brunsonspub.com

Sublime. It’s just not a word I call to mind often with so many other colorful descriptors at the ready, but that was the only word echoing through my brain at the end of our multi-course tasting menu ($89) at Joan’s in the Park. My husband had made the dinner reservation — something I rarely give up the reins on. After arranging for a sitter, he escorted me to this low-lit, cozy restaurant with just 40 seats and insisted that this food writer take the night off.

Chef Susan Dunlop and Joan Schmitt met and fell in love while working in hospitality and soon began dreaming of opening a restaurant. In 2011, they made the dream a reality, back when the idea of a fine-dining destination in this St. Paul neighborhood seemed like a gamble. Thirteen years later, dining here feels special: a small room built for intimacy and a tasting menu that unfurls at a pace that encourages conversation with service tailored to each table’s needs.

The four-course menu allows diners to choose among three options for each course. We readily swapped and shared most plates, until one. Mid-conversation, I halted, held my hand up and closed my eyes to concentrate on the synesthesia experience of savoring the poached shrimp. Plump morsels burst into luscious cream, fleeting in richness before being chased away by gentle citrus tang and a subtle snap of anise from fennel sliced as thin as my promise not to write about the food I ate that night.

Dunlop said it was inspired by a trip the couple took to Italy, where she tasted a similar dish. To master the technique of texture and flavor, she challenged herself until, it was — and is — just right. (J.S.)

631 S. Snelling Av., St. Paul; joansinthepark.com

Every time Shaz Khan and Antonio Gambino open another Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, they add a specialty pizza that diners can only find at that location. For their first Minneapolis branch, which opened in early September, that exclusive pizza is called the Michelangelo, a nod to the pizzeria that previously occupied the space on 50th Street near Xerxes Avenue.

As a chef, Gambino likes to play around with and combine untraditional ingredients. That’s apparent with the Michelangelo ($19), in which he brings salt, sweet and heat via bacon, caramelized onions and jalapeños in this 12-inch pie. The pizza artist then tempers it with a pistachio cream sauce and a brush of Tono’s signature hot honey. All of this is held together on a nicely charred, bubbly crust (the dough recipe passed on from Gambino’s Sicilian family) cooked at high temperatures in an Italian brick oven.

The duo, who opened their original location in Maplewood in 2019, show no signs of slowing down. In addition to their seven current locations, Khan, co-founder and president, said that an outpost of their fast-casual concept is slated to open in Inver Grove Heights at the end of the month. Meanwhile, an Apple Valley branch should roll out before year’s end. (Nancy Ngo)

3002 W. 50th St., Mpls, tonomn.com

The family that owns Margie’s Kitchen + Cocktails in Andover continues reimagining the suburban food scene with the new Grackle. This lively lunch and dinner spot in Maple Grove takes over a former Wahlburgers, sits across from a TGI Fridays, and brings some nice local and scratch-made touches to the strip mall wonderland that is this north metro suburb. The menu of crowd-pleasers largely follows in Margie’s footsteps, minus pizza (there’s no wood-burning oven here). It’s pared down in other ways, too.

“We wanted it to be less Cheesecake Factory,” said Becky Ahlstrom, who owns Grackle and Margie’s with husband Justin Ahlstrom. That meant a more tightly curated selection, with some unexpected Mexican and Ecuadorian touches from the chefs.

While there are a few only-in-Maple-Grove items on the menu, many dishes are customer favorites from Margie’s, including the wild rice burger. The rice gives this housemade veggie patty some tasty textural pops, something a topper of crispy onions carries even further. It’s adorned with melted cheddar, truffle aioli and microgreens from Fiddlehead Farm, and comes with fries (the good, hand-cut kind) for $17.

The mango cheesecake ($12), by the way, is a tropical party of a dessert, and we were lucky enough to get the invite. In just this one way, maybe being a “cheesecake factory” isn’t such a bad thing. (S.J.)

11852 Elm Creek Blvd. N., Maple Grove, gracklegrove.com