The cold is coming. In fact, it’s already been here with that snow that had the audacity to stick around for longer than it should have. Mitten weather is on the way and it’s time to get serious about all this Hygge business. It’s time to pull out the thickest sweaters, most forgiving pants, and stretch on the slipper mukluks. Twin Cities restaurants know what’s up and have been hard at work designing cold-weather menus made for hunkering deep, deep down into those couches. These new dishes reach into our souls and deliver the darkest of desires. There will be butter, excessive use of the fries, torched sugar layers, and zero regrets.
Kabocha Miso Ramen at Zen Box Izakaya: Chef John Ng continues to pour out all of his artistry into weekly ramen specials and this one, running only through this weekend, is no exception. The chef posted this thirst trap pic of umami butter. That’s a log of butter jammed full of chicken skin and togarashi. The obscene bit is that this is only one part of the colossus of flavor he’s building for the weekend. Chicken and kabocha paitan is filled with pork shoulder, gobo, ajitama, umami butter pea sprouts, scallions, triple blended miso tare, chicken aroma oil, and Kezuri ramen noodles.
Pizza chili gooze from Wrecktangle Wrecktangle Pizza/Facebook
Pizza Chili from Wrecktangle Pizza: Home of the incredibly popular Detroit-style pizzas, with that crackling cheese edge crust like some kind of edible lace sent straight from heaven, is digging down deep for its latest addition. Pizza chili is a devil’s cauldron of tomatoes, ancho chiles, sausage, pepperoni, basil, and gooey strands of mozzarella for that chin-spanking goo factor. Served with focaccia for dipping.
Shrimp toast at Hai Hai Hai Hai/Facebook
Shrimp Toast at Hai Hai: Sometimes life feels like giving up. The food equivalent of that emotion is toast. When the week and beaten you into the toast zone, the best thing is to give in and get on: that means it’s shrimp toast for dinner. Hai Hai’s shrimp toast is all kinds of fatty crisp around the edges with that alluring dome of savory topped with hot jalepeno slices and snappy herbs. This dish alone is enough to restore hope that things can and do get better.
Raclette Poutine at The Gnome: This new restaurant in Cathedral Hill came up with the revolutionary idea to serve cheese for dipping into more molten cheese. It’s the kind of cholesterol-baiting dish that allows us to revel in the elation that there is no tomorrow and we’re never wearing elastic-free pants again. Poutine is served with jojo potato wedges, molten raclette cheese, and cheese curds with a little swimming hole filled with veal demi. Dunk the crusty-fried curds into that glorious ooze like a snowbank eating a mailbox. We’ll probably see the light again sometime in March and that’s okay.
Next up on the productivity list: digging all these goodies out of this ice cream Sweet Science/Facebook
Snickerdoodle ice cream at Sweet Science: Everyone knows that when you’re eating all your feelings, it’s best to pair those salty tears with something sweet: mostly ice cream. Sweet Science ice cream is scientifically engineered to create and ultra creamy scoop with a whole depth of flavors perfect for distractedly digging out and munching on while binge-watching the old Mary Berry episodes of the Great British Bake Off. These pints are filled with both candy bar bits and cookie flavors. There are peanuts, chocolate nubs, and rivulets of gooey caramel. Order for curbside takeout from Keg & Case.