Browsing the blog archives for January, 2010

A New Chef

Imagine owning a restaurant and needing to hire a new chef. Ought to be an easy process in this restaurant-happy town, one would think.
Then again …
I recently was one of about 10 diners at a tasting menu by a chef hoping to land the Tosca job. It was a tremendously disappointing experience. Discussing it later, [...]

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Venus or Serena?

With all the hullabaloo surrounding its younger sister, Trattoria Tosca, it’s easy to overlook Café Levain.  But trust me, you’ll be sorry if you do.  It would be sort of like ignoring Venus to concentrate on Serena.
Here’s what you’d be missing:
Free wine. Good Lord! Fill out a form with your name and e-mail address and [...]

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Dinner Rush

It’s 5:45 on a beautiful, late spring Saturday afternoon and the hungry are beginning to stream into Trattoria Tosca, the newest dining jewel in the Linden Hills area. Joined at the hip with The Turtle Bread Company – a bakery and the first of Harvey McLain’s expanding culinary empire – Tosca has been a hit [...]

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Sancerre

I wouldn’t know the taste of a gooseberry if one jumped right into my mouth – but that’s what an old wine reference guide told me expect from a good Sancerre.  However, I’m getting ahead of myself.
I should start with a little background.  I was in Tosca the other night with a friend, polishing off [...]

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