The Rake Magazine

Maybe it's because they're just too McSkinny in Japan.
Maybe it's because they have a history of readily accepting improbable, huge monsters.
Maybe it's because they love restaurants with a toilet theme.

Whatever it is, Japan is getting the Mega Mac.

If that freaks you, wait until you find out what the hell Grimace actually is.

Today is my birthday.

Looking back, the past year held various cooking victories: the ice cream follies of the summer (basil/lemon, chocolate/zinfandel, strawberry/balsamic, Guiness, sake/cucumber sorbet)...a few good looking loaves of ciabatta, and one really ugly but tasty boule ... the perfect Stephanie pizza (pesto, prosciutto, arugula, and egg cracked on top) ... a five layer cake that looked exactly like a giant Crabby Patty ... oh there must be more.

There have been some failures as well, like Thanksgiving dinner. I never told you about that? Huh.

But tonight nobody has to cook, and everybody has been asking where I want to spend my birthday dinner.

There are so many great options. I'd love a quiet evening at Restaurant Alma, so simply elegant. And if I hadn't had sushi on Friday, I would be parked at BaGu Sushi, my new raw fish favorite. We could jazz it up and go to The Oceanaire, because three dozen oysters for three dozen years would seem quite appropriate to me. If it were just me, I'd snag a seat at the 112 Eatery bar and selfishly order for three.

But it's not just me. It is the six-pack that comprises my family and it is a Monday and it is freakin' cold outside (as it always is). So it may not be fancy, or cutting edge, but we are heading to the LT tonight, where a worthy and luscious double California cheeseburger will grace my little paper plate. Topped off with softy fries and 1919 Rootbeer from the tap, this soul satisfying meal will happily kick-off the next 364.

Dirty Little Secret #62: I am obsessed with the hunt for the Winter Carnival medallion.

Yeah, I know.

My family doesn't even really understand the extent. Sure, they've seen me on the computer noodling out the clues, looking through maps and aerial shots of Ramsey County parks, I can't hide that. But I've been sneaky in other areas; they have no idea that while they toil at work/school, I've been out, digging.

They'll forgive me if I find the puck, if I come home with some shiny loot and cash, right? Not that I need to be forgiven, I am not alone in this.

But it's an historic year and exciting year, so why not come clean? The Infamous Jake found the original 07 med in record time, and a second hunt is already underway. Whether you love/hate the Cooler Crew, give away your clues on the discussion boards or only in person in the park, have been hunting since you were born or just joining the fray, we all have one thing in common: baby, it's cold outside and we're just a little nuttier for it.

So, my fellow seekers, I'll be at Central tonight (shunning the Como, too obvious) packing my thermos three:

Kid Friendly Cocoa

The Velvet Vulcan
Schokinag Extreme Dark cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cumin, and Amaretto.

The Medallionator (in homage)
Schokinag Milk Chocolate, espresso shots, vanilla vodka, Bailey's Irish Cream.

Come find me if you need a bump.

So ... now Auriga has announced that it will close this weekend after ten years.

I really like the food at Auriga. I think it's fresh, exciting and I think they believe in the perfect bite. One of my favorite meals was during a late night stop-in during a snow storm. We ordered some stuff, a couple of plates we were going to share, and the kitchen mistakenly sent out the wrong dishes. The mistake was a blessing, the plates set upon our table were the ones the chef had made himself, for his own dinner. No way were we giving them back, they were better than what we ordered, simpler yet spicier.

So now they're done and I have to wonder why? Isn't that area a gold mine? Aren't there large houses with rich, hungry people stowed inside, just waiting for someone to pamper and feed them? Isn't there a continual influx of freshly graduated twenty-somethings hoping to expand their minds and palates?

Did they do everything they could? Did they cultivate their local regulars? Did they create new regulars by recognizing and winning over first-time guests? Did they explore the natural allliance with the Walker? Did they advertise? Did they let people outside their neighborhood know where they were?

Or were they just done?

So by now you know that Five has closed its doors permanently. So has Levain. Two foodie institutions gone, but why?

Some people might take this opportunity to wax rhapsodic on the state of the scene, and apply huge, sweeping generalizations about what society is up to, just so that they can be The Expert, the One Who Gets It.

But that bugs me. Because there's so much more than a quick bite going on here.

To say that people are still eating out but "avoiding the trendy and the tres innovative" and then list a few recent closings is like licking the icing off a cupcake and then denouncing it for having no substance.

In at least four of the five restaurants listed after the above statement, there were some SERIOUS leadership issues that largely contributed to their demise. The people running the restaurant, not the people eating in the restaurant are the ones to blame when it closes. Why can't people get that through their head?

There are plenty of people in these cities who look for the trendy and the innovative, but yes, you have to actually WORK at making sure they return!

The restaurant business is a cycle, the ones who have a good sense of self (leadership) and an even better sense of the guest (service) are the ones who will survive the dips. The ones who care mostly for their reputations or their personal cash-flow have lost sight of being humble in the eyes of the eater, and thereby successful.