Scottyfitzg

I guess I mean to say authentic and simple. I'd like someplace I can get a great tamale or burrito.

I'm looking for a great, and I mean great Mexican restaurant in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I want the kind of place where one finds Mexican Americans in the front of the house eating and not just in the back cooking. I'm willing to travel as well so if it turns out that the best burrito in the Twin Cities is in Anoka (yeah right) I'll not be deterred.

"It is.....they have to submit menu's for 3 different ingredients" So they have a darn good idea of what they're going to do. They just have a lot of prep work to do before hand 'cause they have to essentially prepare 15 dishes: 5 or so for each possible ingredient. Either way it's not anywhere near as impromptu as the show wuold have people believe. Fine with me, I'll still tune in every once in a while, I just wish they made Alton Brown say "Ah, kukisan!" before he interjected anything.

What I find most insulting about Iron Chef is the ridiculous notion that the secret ingredients are actually kept a secret to the chefs. Give me a break. Who is going to believe that they create 4 or 5 different dishes without even taking the time to discuss what they're going to make with their sous chefs?

I went to LBV just before Christmas and I have to say I was a little disappointed. It's probably my fault however as I had allowed my expectations to grow exponentially. as I anticipated going there. We ate in the dining room and it was absolutely gorgeous. At this point I don't even really remember much of what I actually ate except that I remember it being excellent. I guess I was mostly disappointed that one is not able to do the tasting menu unless the entire table is going to do so as well. I was told this was necessitated by the "scheduling" of the dishes. If my less adventurous dining mates are willing to watch me eat 6 or 8 courses with their own meals mixed in I'm not sure why the kitchen couldn't accomodate me. The service left a little to be desired. We were promised little amuse bouches which never arrived and my girlfriend had order her tenderloin medium (shame on her) and it arrived clearly rare. Our waiter was really condescending as well which bugged me to no end. He treated us as though we had wandered in off the street mistaking LBV for Dixies. Overall I'd say I enjoyed La Belle Vie but I kept thinking about Rick Nelson (I think it was him) saying in his Star Tribune review that he'd rather be eating a cheeseburger at 112 and I was right there with him.