Schneier

Lunch at noon; flight at five? Even if lunch takes three hours, I still have two hours to get to the airport and on my plane. Remember, I'm changing planes. I will already have my luggage there. I will already have my boarding pass. All I have to do is get through security. It will be more than enough time. Bruce

To be clear.... I have a reservation at the Fat Duck for Saturday lunch. I have already dined at Waterside Inn; I have never gone to Fat Duck. Bruce

I have bought and returned two digital cameras over the years, and have tried and discarded many more. I just bought a Canon Digital EOS Rebel, and I love it. It's a real camera: an autofocus SLR that takes real lenses and real flashes. And it has the one critical feature that is lacking in so many cameras: when you push the shutter, it takes the picture. Bruce

Peel and cut into chunks. Drizzle with oil, season, and roast. Yum. Bruce

Sounds right to me, too. I recently saw lemongrass growing by the roadside in the Seychelles, and it looked like the few outer rings of leaves were the tough ones. Bruce

As a security expert, I can unequivocally state that this security measure will do nothing to make the trains safer. It's what I call "security theatre"; designed to make people feel better and nothing more. Bruce

Thanks. Us, too.

Go to Point Loma Seafood for lunch. Take a taxi; what you save in food will more than pay for it. Bruce

Okay, I have a table for four at noon. Who's with me? Bruce

Where should I eat? Bruce

This (sadly) is our last review. It looks like the union rules that prohibit us from continuing to write for the newspaper are immutable. Bruce ***** Dining South: Italian Pie Shoppe offers a welcome break from national chains Karen Cooper and Bruce Schneier, Special to the Star Tribune March 17, 2004 We don't want to mention any names, but we're sick and tired of national chain pizza restaurants. Focus-group tested, centrally controlled menu items are average by design. Sure, the food looks fun on television, and even on the plate. But it's bland. It's mediocre. For national chains, the name of the game is to eschew any sense of place and to entice every consumer. A pizza chain might not offend anybody, but it won't delight anybody either. The Italian Pie Shoppe is not a national chain. It's local, with four restaurants in the Twin Cities. Two are owned by the same person, and two are franchises. We dined at the Yankee Doodle Square location in Eagan. You'll find some clunkers on the menu, but there are real delights as well. And you're guaranteed to get a meal that's more interesting than a pizza commercial. They serve pizzas, of course. You can order them thin crust, deep dish, or double crust and with a variety of toppings. One of our favorites was the vegetarian deep dish. Filled with lots of fresh broccoli, tomato, mushrooms, onions and zucchini, it was wonderful. We also liked the white pizza, one of the thin-crust options. This is a delicious cheese pizza with no tomato sauce, only the lightest taste of olive oil. This really shows off how good their pizza dough is. The other pizzas are good, too. But, we found the double-crust stuffed pizza a little undercooked, so be careful about that. The Italian Pie Shoppe also serves sandwiches. The calzone is a folded-over pizza crust stuffed with cheese, sauce and two pizza toppings of your choice. We thought this very tasty, although we're used to the sauce on the outside of the calzone. Similar is the stromboli, another pizza-crust sandwich with ham, salami, Swiss cheese, onions and olives. It's a great hot sandwich and much better than the Chicago torpedo sandwich. The ingredients are similar, but the torpedo comes with lettuce and tomato. We don't think lettuce is a good idea on a hot sandwich, and didn't care for the result. Look for the table card listing more sandwiches. We really liked the meatball sandwich, which comes with marinara sauce and cheese. The pasta dishes are all good and sometimes just delicious. We can recommend the baked pasta dishes, which come covered in sauce and cheese and then baked in a casserole pan. You'll get lots of garlic bread with these. The small dinner salad is uninspiring but fresh. The salad entré is better, with meat, cheese, green pepper and olives. Don't even bother with dessert; the two meager options were handed to us wrapped in cellophane. How about adding some ice cream to the menu? We know you've got a freezer back there. One last thing: If you go with a group, order Mr. B's Anti Vampire Buffalo Wings as an appetizer. These are not your standard hot wings. The sauce is heavily vinegary and seasoned with garlic and oregano. Zippy, but not too hot. Delicious. While not all the old-time decor in the dining room is authentically old stuff, quite a lot of it is. Look for the panoramic photograph of St. Paul. That's authentic Minnesota, just like the Italian Pie Shoppe. Location: 1438 Yankee Doodle Rd. in Yankee Doodle Square in Eagan. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday. 651-452-4525. Atmosphere: Family-friendly, old-timey. Service: No problems. Sound level: Not too noisy. Alcohol: Beer and wine. Prices: $6 to $9 per person. Smoking: Allowed in the secondary room until 4 p.m.; evenings are no-smoking. Children: Special menu available. Handicapped access: No ramps, but entry doesn't require steps.

Actually, the Fat Duck (or Waterside Inn, but I've already eaten there) is a fantastic suggestion for lunch. Are they open on Saturday for lunch? Bruce

I'm interested. How similar or differerent is it to St. John? Bruce

Heathrow. I'll take the train in. There'll be more than enough time. Bruce

I've seen it for sale in Asian markets in San Francisco, Toronto, and even here in Minneapolis. Poke around; you might be surprised. It won't be the freshest durian around, but it will be a durian. Bruce

I am changing planes in London on 3/27 (Saturday), and have a seven-hour layover. My first choice for lunch was St. John, but they aren't open on Saturday for lunch. My second choice was Gordon Ramsey, but they're not open at all on Saturday. I figured that before I continued along these lines, I would ask the assembled for advice. Where should I eat Saturday lunch? Price is not a consideration, but I don't need to go to an expensive resaurant. I am interested in a worthy food experience. Any suggestions? Anyone want to join me? Bruce

I've posted reviews of both Radius and No. 9 Park last year in this section. Bruce

It's for sale in many co-op grocery stores here in Minneapolis. The same brand I brought home from Argentina eight or so years ago. Bruce

I just love mangosteen. And soursop. Yum.

I will see if the Mix reviews are online anywhere. We've only written three so far. Bruce

Wow. Just wow. Bruce

Dining South: Tex-Mex delight in Apple Valley Karen Cooper and Bruce Schneier, Special to the Star Tribune March 3, 2004 There are two basic styles of Mexican restaurant. One is the more traditional variety. Think of small perfect tacos consisting of nothing but grilled pork and cilantro folded into a corn tortilla. The other style is sometimes called Tex-Mex: tacos filled with plenty of meat and cheese, served with rice and beans and sour cream and some iceberg lettuce. Expect every square inch of the large plate to be covered with food. El Tequila in Apple Valley is a Tex-Mex place. The combination plates provide nearly every possible permutation of enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, chalupas and more. We found the combinaciones pequeñas (small combinations) to be huge plates, and the combinaciones grandes only a bit larger. There's nothing special to recommend any of these dishes, but there's nothing wrong with them either. Remember, though, this is Tex-Mex. Don't order a tamale expecting to get cornmeal wrapped in a corn husk. These tamales are unwrapped in the kitchen and smothered in cheese and sauce before serving. We really liked their chile relleno, which is a green chili pepper stuffed with beef and cheese and then lightly battered and fried. It's not nearly as hot as you might think, and it's very flavorful. More interesting are the daily specials, which might be pork in a tomato pepper sauce, chicken in a mushroom sauce, or shrimp and rice. The broiled skirt steak we tried was a huge portion of good fresh beef with some onions and peppers served with the requisite refried beans. Avoid the chicken en mole. Mole is a traditional Mexican chocolate sauce. It's not sweet, and can be rich, complex and fabulous. Unfortunately, the version served here is bland and odd-tasting. El Tequila serves two interesting shrimp dishes. The first is camarones Guadalajara, which is shrimp wrapped in bacon and served with grilled onions and bell peppers. It is tasty, but even better is the camarones a la Diabla. That means shrimp of the devil, meaning in a hot pepper sauce. The server will ask whether you want it hot or medium. We ordered it hot, and it was scorchingly wonderful. Like almost everything else, this dish is served with rice and beans; these help cut the heat. Although the restaurant is not open for breakfast, it offers two traditional breakfast dishes. Our favorite is chorizo con huevos, which is scrambled eggs mixed with Mexican sausage. The other is the more traditional huevos rancheros, eggs over easy covered in spicy red sauce. Both come, of course, with rice and beans. There are some desserts. We liked the sopapilla, which is a fried tortilla topped with sugar, cinnamon, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Like so many family-owned restaurants in the southern suburbs, El Tequila is in a strip mall. The restaurant is small, but brightly colored and brightly lit. And there is another restaurant with the same name, owners, and menu, farther south, in Northfield. Location: 7538 149th St. W. Apple Valley, 952-432-1567 Hours: Mon. through Sun.: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Atmosphere: Brightly lit Service: Friendly and efficient Sound level: Not too noisy Alcohol: No, despite the name Prices: Entrees $7 $10 Smoking: No Children: Small $3.75 childrens menu Handicapped access: Yes

I'll do it now. And we're in Mix every issue now. Bruce

I agree; it's very annoying when it's too dark to read the menu. It happens to me rarely enough that I am still at the "use the table candle" stage, and not at the "walk into the kitchen with the menu and stand there" stage. Bruce

My favorite easy kale recipe is to wilt it and then add sauteed mushrooms and onions. Yum. Bruce