Absinthe, a Strip Club, and Minnesota’s newest Celebrated Chef

ADD ABSINTHE TO YOUR GREEN LIST…March already, eh? And time to toast to the Irish and the green in you with a few good friends and an Irish toast like Erin Go Bragh. Surely that means a good Irish whiskey, maybe some green beer and for me, a sexy Black Velvet (1/2 Guinness and 1/2 champagne). If there’s a nip in the air, maybe an Irish coffee, too. This month another sexy green beverage has stolen my heart—more for the showmanship and presentation than the taste. You may have heard—yes, absinthe is back, after being banned almost 100 years ago in 1912. The mystery of the green fairy, made famous in France, has returned. Thanks to the curiosity of Executive Chef Matthew Forgarty, who heads up both Napa Valley Grille and the California Café at the Mall of America, absinthe was served just in time for Valentine’s Day, and it was a flaming delight.

Absinthe is best known for its popularity as an alcoholic beverage in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers whose romantic associations with the drink still linger in popular culture, (remember the movie Moulin Rouge?). But it got a bad wrap. Too much absinthe is blamed for irrational behavior like Van Gough slicing off his ear. It was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug, and the chemical thujone, present in small quantities in wormwood, was blamed for these alleged effects. It didn’t help that a man killed his family in Switzerland and was high on absinthe at the time, which provoked a petition to the Swiss government leading to the first prohibition of absinthe in Switzerland in 1906.

So, here we are more than 100 years later, and Fogarty wanted to play Cupid and add some romance and mystery to his February “Sensual Valentine Cooking Class” and for his Valentine dinner menu as well. He recalls, “I looked up some of the traditional foods and spices we consider aphrodisiacs—like oysters (which he wanted to offer) and discovered other flavors and foods I’d like to incorporate in my cooking class and Valentine menu with the likes of ginger, garlic, artichokes, saffron, chocolate—and strawberries of course—and anise.” He was also curious about what he had read about the return of mysterious absinthe and it’s anise flavors. He ordered a bottle of Lucid absinthe, the new French import in a seductive black bottle with green eyes, distributed here by Quality Wines and came up with a recipe for his Napa Valentine dinner (an Absinthe Oyster Dynamite with absinthe and ginger in the sauce) and a cocktail presentation for their California Café bar.

I sat in on the cooking class where he showed us the bottle and the classic drink they have called the Green Fairy and it is very sexy. They light up a sugar cube atop a slotted spoon, balanced over the rim of a small lowball glass. The showmanship is stunning! Then water is slowly dripped over the cube to douse the flames and further melt the cube, which is also dumped into the glass and muddled as the green liquor becomes cloudy. They then pour the “Green Fairy” into two smaller sipping glasses for a romantic cocktail for two. Chef Matthew adds, “The customers love to see it being made and the staff is having fun, too.” So, the Green Fairy will remain available at the Californian Café Bar on their Liquid Therapy Cocktail list. Try it; you’ll like it—especially if you like licorice. Just hold onto your ear.


TIP YOUR HAT TO TOWN TALK…Cuz they’re the talk-of-the-town with a brand new baby. Yesiree, the fun team at the Town Talk Diner on Lake Street in Minneapolis has not only added lunch to their menu, but they crossed the river to open their second operation called The Strip Club Meat & Fish. Partners Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson added chef partner J.D. Fratzke (formerly at Muffuletta in St.Paul) to the mix and it looks like another winner (see J.D.’s profile on page 12). I dropped in on a cold, snowy eve last month and could immediately feel the warm and inviting neighborhood vibe. Only problem, this ’hood is a stretch from my house. Niver and the gang have located in a historic corner storefront way up the hill above the East side of St.Paul in what they call Dayton’s Bluff.

Niver explained the property fell into their hands when the landlord approached them at Town Talk to see if they might like the spot. It had housed a former café, so a kitchen was available as well as small cozy counter under the balcony they now use as a bar. There’s even a curved metal staircase to the balcony where they added four tables and a fake fireplace to the back wall, which is actually a secret door that opens into their office. They also added a coat of rich black paint as the finishing touch on the back wall and—voila. The sexy Strip Club was born. Black tablecloths and glowing table lights make it a cozy supper club.

And the Menu? Well, besides burgers, soup and salad, some great small plates are offered from deviled eggs or walleye fritters (a little salty for our group) to a yummy seared slice of foie gras. The meat and fish choices like grilled New York strip steak (of course) and salmon offer a unique selection of sauces—all priced a la carte. You can opt for a pistachio butter to a bleu cheese and scallions to a Sicilian peppers and onions, or you can opt for more foie gras with port wine sauce as an elegant topper to your steak. If you love foie gras, then wow! You’ll be in heaven! Keep Charlie Trotter away from this place. One word of warning for bread lovers—they serve warm bread from Saint Agnes Baking Co. that is delicious and addictive.


CHEERS to CELEBRATED CHEF CHARLIE…I guess we could just call Charlie Torgerson Triple C or 3C for short this year because he was just named a “celebrated chef,” one of just five chefs so named each year across America by the National Pork Board. This is quite an honor! First of all, you have to know your way around the kitchen when working with recipes that feature “the other white meat,” cuz the pork council really cares about their pork.

The Celebrated Chefs program’s five distinguished chefs will act as spokespersons for the Pork Checkoff and Pork, The Other White Meat® all year long. More than 50 leading chefs are members of this expanding Celebrated Chef alumnae group. They tell me the Celebrated Chefs program is designed to keep pork at the forefront of the latest menu trends and connects some of the best chefs in the nation to pork—a top protein they are all passionate about. The chefs were selected for their culinary excellence, creativity and originality with pork in their menus and the 2008 Celebrated Chefs are comprised of both independent and chain operators.

Charlie had all the requirements nailed since he knows the pig on the hoof and in the pan from one end to the other. As a CIA grad back in 1985, he paid his dues and climbed the ropes for a decade from the famous Oyster Bar in New York City, to Café du Bec Fin in Greenwich, Conn., to his own operation, Charlie T’s Smokehouse in Fairbanks, Ala., where he honed his tastes and recipes for good barbecue. He returned to Minneapolis to raise his family in 1995 and his timing was perfect to plug into the rollout of Famous Dave’s for the next 10 years with his expertise in R&D and love for barbecue. He went on the Rib Fest circuit and helped Dave Anderson put together his super coffee table cookbook as well as coordinating the State Fair booth.

Charlie and his partner Randy Jernberg (their business is American Restaurant Consultants) went on to own and operate four Famous Dave’s franchises and the State Fair operation—where he has made a name for himself whipping up unusual pork cuts with witty names from the classic ribs and pulled pork to pig wings, and last year a pig’s knuckle sandwich. He even ventured into pickles with an old country favorite, Kool-Aid pickles on a stick. Charlie’s got a creative mind and a good sense of humor, so this gig should be a piece of cake—or should I say pork. Congrats!