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

SPECIAL EVENT
IWPS Showdown Slam

Photo of Maud Hixson by Brooks Peterson

PERFORMANCE
Sample Night Live

The menu for the second seating last Monday was considerably more elaborate than the first.

For the 4:30 seating, diners were served chicken Alfredo, vegetable soup, fresh fruit and cookies.

Being that my dining out budget is somewhat less than it was when I was reviewing for the Star Tribune, I have gotten pickier about where I eat, and how much I spend. Seems like I am not the only one who feels that way - with the economy going south and food prices going up, restaurants have had to hustle to get customers to come through their doors. The happy hour special is the time-honored way to fill the seats, always with the hope that after a drink or two, you'll decide to stick around for dinner and a few more drinks.

Here's what happened. Mitch Omer -- one of my dearest friends in this world -- showed up at my house on Thanksgiving with a red-lined version of Andrew Zimmern's December column, livid about some of the things it contained. Mitch railed. I defended Andrew on many points. We got into a bit of a tiff, which we worked out in about 30 seconds over a nice Cabernet. Then we moved on.

Truth to tell, I'm not a big fan of these end-of-year Top Ten lists. They tend, I think, to be both subjective and showy: meaning listmakers record either what's obscurely relevant to them or what will demonstrate their great intellect and breadth of knowledge, or both.