The 5 best things we ate in the Twin Cities area this week

It's the numbing, tingly burn that Szechuan fans really crave. Owner Jack Wang was steeped in the extraordinary flavors of China's Sichuan province when he and his mother moved to New York City's Chinatown for three years. It was there, watching his uncle prepare the food, that ignited the spark that would bring a fresh burn to Minnesota.

Wang grew up around food. His grandparents had a restaurant in St. Louis Park that served all the westernized Chinese dishes that Americans loved at the time: sweet and sour, General Tso's and so on — dishes that leaned toward the sweet and fried.

"But I love Szechuan food — it's just so bold," Wang said. His mother, Jessie Wong, opened Szechuan in Roseville in 2009, bringing that spice to the suburbs. In September, Wang stepped in to lead the restaurant, officially taking ownership. (Wong has focused her time on the North Loop outpost, Jun Szechuan Kitchen & Bar.)

Dan dan noodles are a common menu item, but the ones served at Szechuan are an exceptional tangle of that invigorating spice and the wonders of fresh dough. The noodles ($13) are hand-pulled — a much sought-after prize for noodle fiends — resulting in a satiating mix of tender yet and firm, with all the good textures for sweater-weather season. Served on top is a sauce of preserved pork, soul-deep soy sauce, sesame paste, pickled vegetables and that most glorious of spices: Szechuan peppercorns.

This dish is served as an appetizer, but I made a whole meal of my order, refusing to share much more than one bite with anyone in my family. (Joy Summers)

2193 N. Snelling Av., Roseville, 651-633-3113, szechuanmn.com

When pioneering organic restaurant the Good Earth closed this summer in Roseville, that left only one of the late-1970s-founded chain still standing: a restaurant and to-go kiosk at the Galleria in Edina.

And right there in the to-go case: a deep drum of the Good Earth's signature cashew chicken salad, still going strong almost 45 years after a former KFC franchisee decided health food was the future. The chicken salad sandwich has always been the big seller at the Good Earth, and here's why: chunks of baked chicken breast are mixed with mayo, lemon, parsley and celery, and finished with roasted cashews and shredded iceberg lettuce for crunch.

Everyone ahead of me in line ordered a container of the salad, but I went for a premade half-sandwich on dark wheat bread, which at $6 (or $9 for a whole sandwich) has to be one of the Galleria's best bargains. (Sharyn Jackson)

3460 W. 70th St., Edina, 952-925-1001, goodearthmn.com

I first encountered Bub's Aussie Pies at Target Field, where a stand debuted last year with two deeply comforting flavors of hand pies: chicken wild rice and sloppy joe. But it wasn't until a return trip from Wisconsin last weekend with two extremely hungry preschoolers that an emergency turn off I-94 resulted in a visit to the Australian Hot Pocket mother ship.

This Lake Elmo storefront has only one big communal table, and we made it work by sharing with a bunch of fully adorned Renaissance Festival attendees who had stopped in for dessert.

We ordered one of everything that was left; it was a heavily curtailed menu that I suppose we deserved, stopping in an hour before closing on a Sunday. The disappointment ended there. Each pie was a delight in its own way. The Pippin ($8) with its richly spiced chicken curry filling. The Joey ($7.50), a vegetarian spinach-feta pie that tasted like a Thanksgiving side dish. A mini "schoolhouse" chicken wild rice pie ($3.50) for the little one. And the cheese and bacon sausage roll (pictured, $6.50), which had an interior with the texture of a meatball and the taste of breakfast and was exactly what my famished 5-year-old needed. I highly recommend adding on a huge pile of hand-cut duck fat fries ($7) — you can get them sprinkled with "chicken salt."

We didn't order any "tuck-shop sweets," but fluffy slices of cake enrobed in chocolate or strawberry, a custard tart and a chocolate French silk pie for one looked like a lovely last word. (Sharyn Jackson)

9939 N. Hudson Blvd., Lake Elmo, 651-493-9528, bubsaussiepies.com

Even when the weather says otherwise, mornings feel like sunshine inside the just-opened outpost of La Boulangerie Marguerite in Northeast. The cafe brings all the flavors of its St. Paul location over the bridge and added even more seats to enjoy the baked goodies.

After months of planning and a few soft openings, the new cafe and bakery from François Kiemde and Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde is finally open. The cafe is right next to Anchor Fish and Chips in a part of town that's fast becoming a slice of food heaven. But there wasn't much for early morning eating — until now.

La Boulangerie Marguerite Northeast is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with an early riser's delight of croissants and other pastries. Midday there are sandwiches and soups served in bread bowls that I am definitely going back to try when the temps get chilly.

On this day I was thrilled to find a blueberry Danish, with twirls of laminated dough surrounding a tangy cheese center dotted with juicy berries. While seated in the black-and-white bistro setting, I eavesdropped on the neighbors, cradling cups of coffee, catching up on the area's news and calling out greetings to passersby. I'm sure I would have been welcome to join the conversation, but with my mouth so filled with buttery goodness, I just couldn't. (J.S.)

300 13th Av. NE., Mpls., 612-315-2919, la-marg.com

Almost every car ride with my toddler involves some attempted negotiation, on his part, to get us to drive him to the airport. Understandably so; what cooler place could there be to a 2-year-old than an open field where giant machines go up and down?

One particular afternoon, when his demands for "airport, Mommy, airport!" got especially belligerent, I caved to his whims, and took him right outside the airport, to the InterContinental hotel. With two restaurants on site, I could get a late lunch and he could bathe in the reverberations of takeoff.

I hadn't been to the hotel since it opened in 2018. But I had been to Bradstreet Craftshouse before, in other iterations. The early Twin Cities craft cocktail pioneer originated at the Graves 601 Hotel in Minneapolis before moving to the former Rye Deli and Auriga space in Lowry Hill, closing there in 2017.

This wasn't a happy hour kind of day for me, so I didn't sample the latest Bradstreet cocktails. But I did enjoy a couple selections from the "Snacks" list while my kid explored the wall of board games available to fiddle with on the checkerboard-inlaid table.

The house-made chips with pimento cheese ($11) was toddler-approved, and the pastrami sliders ($16) were mom-approved: Two squishy rye buns as lofty as one of Pharrell Williams' iconic Vivienne Westwood hats are loaded with strips of pastrami crisped up to an almost bacon-y degree that were coated in melted Swiss and slathered in smooth Dijon.

My only gripe would be the lack of windows onto the runway, which would have entertained the kid more than screens. But the hotel had plenty of nooks with airport views to explore after lunch. (S.J.)

5005 Glumack Drive, Mpls., 612-725-0500, intercontinentalmsp.com