The 5 best things our food writers ate in the Twin Cities this week

Giulia opened shortly before the pandemic, and though it kind of slipped under the radar, it managed to develop a solid reputation for pizza. A three-day ferment on the dough, coupled with a "low-and-slow" flame-licking in the fiery oven, gives the crust its signature slight sourdough tang.

Now, with the debut of brunch at Giulia, located in the former Midland Bank Building inside Emery hotel in downtown Minneapolis, there's a new pizza to add to its already accomplished list. The Breakfast ($20) tops a six-slice pie with pancetta, mozzarella, chives and three eggs served sunny-side up that get broken up by a pizza wheel tableside.

It's a decadent dish on a decadent new menu by chef Steven Brown that places an emphasis on sharing. There's a long list of appetizers "per la tavola," many of them sweet, that confirm this is weekend, leisure dining. Mascarpone-stuffed fried dough, aka Tiramisu Zeppole ($14), and delicate breaded and fried baby artichokes ($13) were other favorites sampled during last weekend's soft opening. Add an Aperol spritz or a fiercely spicy Bloody Mary (or a nice choice of spirit-free drinks) and let the weekend do its thing.

Brunch, which starts Jan. 14, is from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Lunch service begins Jan. 18, and will be served weekdays from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (Sharyn Jackson)

215 S. 4th St., Mpls., 612-215-5450, dinegiulia.com

Mario's is built for the neighborhood it serves. Not far from the University of St. Thomas, this small restaurant serves thick and bready pizzas and VW bus-sized hoagies crusted with sesame seeds. But the hearty carbs weren't what drew me to this vintage-style pizzeria — it was the wings.

Alabama white barbecue sauce is a tangy mayo-based sauce with just the right amount of heat. And when that vinegary kick hits just right, it's pure flavor alchemy. Unlike the more common barbecue sauces around here that are cherrywood-colored and sticky sweet-spicy, this is a salivation-inducing jangle of acid with tongue-warming spice and a gentle cool-down from the mayo. Mario's has all these flavors nailed down.

A basket of wings ($13) dressed in this zingy sauce is a good holdover while waiting on a pizza or sub, but the wings are just as good eaten greedily on their own, with a thick stack of napkins nearby. (Joy Summers)

232 N. Cleveland Av., St. Paul, 651-207-5252, mariosstp.com

With a spouse and a good friend who are Ukrainian, celebrating Ukrainian Christmas, which falls on Jan. 7, at Moscow on the Hill has become an annual tradition. We always order our usual dishes to share: The Siberian pelmeni, tender little orbs of beef and pork-filled dumplings, topped with a cumulus cloud of sour cream. "Grandma's" golubtsy, or stuffed cabbage, in tomato sauce. Beef Stroganoff over mashed potatoes that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Pickled vegetables and — always a must — herring. We're usually too stuffed to order dessert. But this year, we saved room.

Honey cake is the traditional Ukrainian Christmas dessert, and I typically make the same recipe I prepare for the Jewish high holidays, which yields a dense and delicious Bundt cake rich with honey, strong coffee, orange juice and spices. But Moscow on the Hill's honey cake was radically different, and we had to try it.

The Pushkin Torte ($9) layers eight thin sheets of airy chocolate cake with a whipped honey cream. It's closer to the multilayered Russian medovik, a cake that might have originated in 19th-century New Orleans for a visit from a Russian dignitary, and became popular in Soviet kitchens in the 1960s (if we're to believe the internet). Either way, the addition of chocolate was a bold — and brilliant — move for diners nostalgic for the home-baked version. My companions and I loved the surprisingly light work of art. We'll be saving room for it next year, too. (S.J.)

371 Selby Av., St. Paul, 651-291-1236, moscowonthehill.com

The first time I had Nikki Podgorski's Cambodian-style steak sauce, it was shortly after I nearly choked on a piece of food at a very fancy chef-collaboration dinner. Over the course of what was probably only a few seconds, my mind reeled through the obituary headlines and viral meme possibilities of being reduced to an urban legend thanks to one poorly prepped bite wedged in my windpipe.

Luckily, I had a few minutes and a lot of water to recover before the next course was served: Podgorski's buttery steak doused in an utterly scrumptious sauce. It tasted like a triumph of the human spirit, but I also wondered if it was just an overly dramatic food reporter who was just grateful her life was not distilled down to a really good punch line.

That is, until I tasted it again, and realized that this is the condiment I now want to douse all foods with from now on. The good news is that it's currently readily available at the Salsa Collaborative's winter residency at the Barrel Theory brewery in Lowertown (4-8 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., while supplies last).

The pop-up is a simple setup from Podgorski and her husband/co-chef Brian, with two meat options (pork and chicken), braised into oblivion and served in taco form ($15). The pork shoulder is topped with this singular, bright green condiment that's a combination of Cambodian steak sauce and chimichurri: herbaceousness blended with plenty of garlic, mingled with jazzy hits of chili. It is — even without the dramatics — divine. (J.S.)

Barrel Theory Beer Co., 248 E. 7th St., St. Paul, thesalsacollaborative.com.

A family with Chicago roots got tired of going back and forth to the Windy City just to pick up their favorite foods. Instead, they got to the bottom of their favorite dishes by studying the recipes with Chicago cooks, and are now offering their own versions of the classics in Minneapolis' Lyn-Lake neighborhood. Barring deep-dish pizza, the menu reads like a greatest hits record of Chicago food. There are hot dogs and Polish sausage, cold-cut hoagies (spelled hoagy here), Italian beef sandwiches, the signature sweet steak hoagy, poutine, and the beloved "mild sauce," which is a little like barbecue sauce and goes on fries and everything else.

But what got me excited as a kid in a candy store were the 40 or so flavors of popcorn. Only a few are on the menu at a time and flavors will cycle through, said Deven Spencer, the son of one of Chicago's Very Own's founders and the general manager.

Sure, there's caramel and cheddar, the Chicago mix everyone knows and loves. I went for the supremely munchable cheesy dill, which is tangy like a pickle, with a good coating of cheese powder that'll turn your fingers orange. (A medium bag was $8.50.) Right now you can try lemon pound cake, buffalo and taffy apple, among more classic flavors — or make a custom mix with all of them. I'm holding out for the day that peanut butter caramel and grape land on the menu; imagine PB&J popcorn! "We definitely get experimental back there," Spencer said. (S.J.)

700 W. Lake St., Mpls., 612-208-0354 (hoagy shop), 612-208-0054 (popcorn and cookie shop), chicagosveryown.co