The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

The tough economy has diners looking for ways to cut costs, and restaurateurs looking for ways to keep customer coming, especially on slower nights of the week.

Today only, the Dakota is offering its own version of a Black Friday special: if you buy a $100 gift certificate, instead of giving you one $20 bonus card, you'll get two. Check their website for details, or call 612-332-JAZZ.

Okay, I really intended to get this post up days ago, or at least sometime before Sunday (today), because today is the day of the weekly Kingfield Farmers Market, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. at 43rd and Nicollet Ave. S., but life got hectic, and I had to go to Chicago for a conference, and so here it is, 9:20 a.m. on a Sunday morning. So I'm going to do a quick post and then jump on my bike and ride over to the market for breakfast.

I've got a great week of eating ahead of me, and I hope some of you will be able to join me.

It's a slippery, messy business, kissing. Two tongues meetings in one person's mouth, touching and rolling and wrestling like snakes. The transfer of saliva. The hot, warm breath vaporous with what the kisser has most recently consumed.

Not only that, even strangers do it. People who've only just met in bars; partygoers on New Year's Eve; returning soldiers and can-can girls.

Some guys—and gals—get all the ink. If you are a devoted Twin Cities foodie, you know all about Tim (and Josh), Vincent, Alex, Stewart and Heidi, Lucia, Doug, J.P., Lenny, and Brenda—and you can pair them with their restaurants. Odds are pretty good that you have also heard of Tanya Siebenaler, Don Saunders, Scott Pampuch, Mike Phillips, and J.D. Fratzke.*

I had a lovely dinner last night at the Grand Café: cauliflower soup with a fig gastrique; pan-seared scallops with porcini-potato pave, and lean slices of medium rare bison (buffalo) top sirloin with lentils, bathed in a fig and port wine demi-glace. Then this morning, I happened to see the full-page ad in the New York Times for Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's

I don’t do ten best lists, but looking back over the last year, I can recall some memorable dining experiences. For now, at least, I am going to limit myself to the new places – the list will just get too long if I try to work in more than just a mention of old favorites like the Grand Café Vincent, and Atlas Grill.

Monday night is cheap date night at the Bryant Lake Bowl - two soups or salads, two entrees, a bottle of wine, and two lines of bowling for $28. And since New Years Eve happens to fall on a Monday, they are offering a Not So Cheap Date Night - the same deal for $32, but with better than usual entrees and wine, and tablecloths on the table. They don't take reservations for dinner, but you can guarantee yourself a seat if you reserve tickets for