Jason's Deli, 11995 Singletree Lane, Eden Prairie, MN

Knowing I was required to attend an editors' management meeting at my company's Minnesota HQ in Eden Prairie the afternoon of Wed., March 30, I decided to seek out a second reason for crossing to the other side of Minneapolis for the day, and a friend agreed to meet me for an early dinner. She had offered two Eden Prairie suggestions, and I couldn't remember the name of the first place for longer than 10 seconds after hearing the second name, Jason's Deli.

From the moment I heard that name March 29, part of me kept thinking "Reuben, Reuben, Reuben." After browsing through a menu in this restaurant that is designed in colors of brown, green and burnt orange, I asked what was good there, and my companion recommended the Reuben among other dishes.

I then awaited a sandwich stacked high with corned beef on a great rye bread. My friend said she was impressed that I would eat sauerkraut. Shucks, it's nothing, really. Anyone could do it.

Each sandwich at Jason's is served with chips, and I was pleasantly surprised to find my Reuben came with old-fashioned ripple chips; they haven't yet buckled to the pressures of the kettle chip world.

The meal ended with complimentary soft-serve vanilla ice cream. I was forewarned there was something different about this ice cream, and I was being quizzed. I answered and asked: "It's missing something?" "What?" No clue.

The ice cream at Jason's Deli, it turns out, has no high-fructose corn syrup. That's almost too healthful, but it's all really good.

Sushi Tango, 8362 Tamarack Village, Woodbury, MN

"Do you like sushi?" That was one question from the person to my left as we were in a packed movie auditorium waiting for a screening of "The King's Speech" three weeks ago. I replied that I had very little experience with sushi, but that I also owned a $50 gift certificate from Sushi Tango-Woodbury that I'd bought at a discount during a silent auction last summer. We agreed to make use of that $50 together. (Full disclosure: I wasn't speaking with a stranger. My movie neighbor and I were also at the theater together.)
During our time at Sushi Tango on Saturday, March 19, my companion described herself as "wet behind the ears" on sushi yet also said she'd eaten sushi five or six other times. Thus, she was prepared to lead me through the menu and recommended we share a Caterpillar roll (that included smoked eel with cucumber and avocado) and edamame (boiled soybeans that you eat by pushing them through their pod and into your mouth). A second bowl is presented at Sushi Tango for your discarded bean pods.
Our shared orders also included miso soup, other sushi rolls with salmon and striped bass, and bulgogi (a Korean marinated beef dish).
My companion asked whether there was anything we'd -- or she'd -- selected that I wouldn't order again. We did order a California roll (crab, cucumber, avocado), which was familiar from some Chinese-American buffets -- you may have seen California rolls near the chicken nuggets or red Jell-O squares. For the sake of being adventurous, whether the next sushi trip is back to Sushi Tango or elsewhere, I'd probably look for something other than California rolls.
Servers were pleasant, and their selection of recorded music was fun in the way it included some of the best hits of Eddie Rabbitt and Ronnie Milsap. If there was any Juice Newton to be heard later, it was drowned out by the noise of other patrons (many of Asian descent, a good sign for Sushi Tango's quality) as the dining room filled to near-capacity as our visit extended closer to the regular dinner hour. My companion barely seemed to notice any of the music, as she was plenty entertained by watching me try to eat with chopsticks (for the first time in several years).

My Sausage Sister & Me, Food Building, Minnesota State Fairgrounds

As a second trip to this year's Minnesota State Fair no longer seems feasible for Thurs., Sept. 2, or any other remaining date, I write this post Wed., Sept. 1, with comments on just one new Fair food to share. (Fingers are crossed that wine-based ice cream will still be sold in the Ag building next year!)

The "My Sausage Sister & Me" booth in the fairgrounds' Food Building (see http://www.sausagesisters.com/ for more) has added cheese-&-sausage-stuffed jalapenos to its menu. Anything there would have been new to me, though, as my Sat., Aug. 28, visit to the Sausage Sisters' stand was my first.

Each of three peppers ($5.00 for the tray) is stuffed mostly with cheese and about a marble's worth of sausage. A piece of bacon is wrapped around the roasted pepper and each stuffed jalapeno is kept together with a toothpick.

If you closed your eyes for any reason, you would certainly still know after biting the first pepper that you were eating a jalapeno. That rush wears off within seconds, and I found it worked best to bascially inhale the rest of the pepper without wasting much thought.

As I finished my first, walking past a table of strangers, a guy asked me where I'd bought them. I told him, but then offered him a pepper right from my tray. He said he'd buy his own, which forced me to eat both of the others despite my dominant-yet-delicate, Swedish-Danish-Norwegian blood.

Don't stop while eating, and you'll feel no pain. But wait a minute after eating your final bite, and the real fun will hit your throat for another 30-60 seconds.

Maybe I could've and should've put off buying that blackberry malt from Minnesota's dairy farmers (near the encased butter heads) until after the jalapenos, but it's in my State Fair contract that I always visit the Dairy Building first, and rules are rules.

Instead of more ice cream, I followed my peppers with 33 ounces of Sierra Mist from a stand that sells Pepsi products and only Pepsi products (no food) for $2.25 in the Food Building. I went back to that stand for a refill for just $1.25 more. So, I had 66 ounces of pop -- not soda -- with ice for $3.50. It beat the heat. You couldn't beat the price.

Orient Buffet & Grill, 16314 County Road 30, Maple Grove

I was thinking Chinese for lunch one day last week, and I was open to a buffet or sit-down service. Through a search I learned about the Orient Buffet & Grill in Maple Grove, near I-94. It seemed like a reasonably straight shot from my Osseo office, and so I went.

A Mongolian grill option helps to set any Asian buffet restaurant above the rest, and that was my first station stop at this restaurant after ordering iced tea from a server. I piled raw beef, chicken, broccoli, carrot and pea pods with some noodles on a plate. A worker was ready to grill my creation, and asked how much spice I wanted. I said medium, and she added garlic, ginger, chile, oyster sauce and one or two other condiments to my meats and vegetables. Though my past preference for hot foods has led people such as my own parents to question my Scandinavian heritage, I found my prepared plate of Mongolian stir-fry to be plenty hot for me -- maybe even too much. If I go back, I may go mild.

It was, however, the highlight of my lunch. When a person's favorite offerings from an Asian buffet include cooked green beans and sliced raw cucumber, there's really nothing special there. With a $1 tip for the stir-fry chef, you can leave the Orient Buffet & Grill for less than $10 ... but for a better overall experience for the same amount of money, my next Asian buffet lunch will be at my more usual spot of the Panda Garden Buffet, 8089 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Park.

Duffy's Bar & Grill, 337 Central Ave., Osseo

Only one week back in town after a vacation, I decided to stay in downtown Osseo -- location of my home away from home, the Sun Newspapers building -- for my next Neat Eats entry.

My work home has been in Osseo since April 2008, and early on I was charmed by the town's main drag (Central Avenue) and vowed to make short time in visiting each of the fun-looking, non-chain and locally owned bars and restaurants that lined the street. In 2+ years I've enjoyed a few meals -- and sometimes just beer and popcorn -- with coworkers at Dick's Bar & Grill, 205 Central Ave., and I've eaten a gyro or two from the Olympia Cafe, 247 Central Ave. -- but before Friday, July 30, I had never walked as far north away from the newspaper office as Duffy's Bar & Grill, 337 Central Ave.

Inside, I parked myself at a high-topped table and was greeted quickly by a server. She recited a list of specials and after she mentioned a Philly burger with fries, available for less than $6.00, I didn't give much consideration to anything else on the regular menu though I did scan one before she returned for my order.

The burger and fries were fine, nothing spectacular, though cheese, onion and green pepper are always welcome on top of hot ground beef. What made it better was the news that with each lunch entree purchased, a glass of refillable pop comes free. (Go often enough to buy 10 lunches, and the 11th is free.)

When I return, I may have to go at a different time of day to take advantage of Duffy's happy hour domestic tap beer special -- 24 ounces, $2.50. Regular entertainment through the week includes "Bargo" on Tuesday nights and karaoke Saturdays, with something called "Larryoke" Fridays. One can only guess that would involve karaoke hosted by a guy named Larry -- cheesy for some, but I enjoy that kind of atmosphere. And on an upcoming working weekend, I might have to visit Duffy's for breakfast, served 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays.

Comparing Dick's with Duffy's in downtown Osseo, I like the former's layout and seating plan a little more and Dick's also has an asset in an outdoor patio. But everything considered, Duffy's deserves a second visit. Better to have that option (closer to the office!) than Applebee's and all of the other chain restaurants in nearby Maple Grove.

St. Croix Cafe, 103 S. Washington, St. Croix Falls, WI

For my inaugural Neat Eats breakfast post, I drove Friday morning, July 23, to a restaurant I walked past the previous Saturday night as a Wannigan Days parade participant -- crossed the St. Croix River from St. Croix Falls, WI, to Taylors Falls, MN, on foot, I did.

The aptly named St. Croix Cafe can be found across the town's main drag from a tavern where you literally enter through the corner of its building. (How cool is that? Perhaps a future place, new to me, to check out for this blog.)

Among the cafe menu's breakfast options, a selection of "Platters" caught my eye and I went with ordering the Denver Platter that came with ham, onion & green pepper (as you'd expect) along with two eggs served any style -- basted, for me -- with a pile of fried taters (hash browns or American fries, your choice) and toasted HOUSE-MADE BREAD! White, whole wheat or marble rye? I can get white or wheat anywhere. Bring on the rye!

I turned to a daily Sudoku puzzle in a paper I'd brought with me, and as I started to fill out the five-star grid and sipped from a coffee mug (with a pot left on the table), I scanned the narrow room to count 10 tables for customers and another eight stools set around an L-shaped counter. A true diner! But in how many small-town restaurants would you expect to find any copy of the satirical tabloid The Onion, hmm? I spotted a copy at a nearby table , picked it up (though I'd certainly seen the same edition elsewhere) and found it marked "St. Croix Cafe Copy." The issue wasn't current; its print date was April 22 of this year. Then again, a front-page fake story about Vice President Biden getting a lifetime ban from all Dave & Buster's adult amusement centers has a certain timeless quality, don't you think?

My breakfast was served. There was a lot of food (good thing, for $8.00 -- coffee was just $1.25) and every bit of it seemed to hit the spot; in fact, if one spot got covered by what I ate early on, then what followed must have found a new spot because I never tired of eating it. Packets of Smuckers jam and jelly were available on the table, but it seemed wrong to think of using any on the awesome homemade marble rye toast.

The next time I need to drive Hwy. 8 to somewhere in Wisconsin, I may have to time my drive around another stop at the St. Croix Cafe.

Grand Ole Creamery, 750 Grand Ave., St. Paul

I knew, going into vacation last week, that I wanted to continue an annual tradition of representing my company at the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce summer picnic planned for Thurs., July 22, at Central Park in Roseville. So I went that day knowing I couldn't count the event as somewhere new to eat for a report on this blog, but I hoped to find something else after the picnic -- where my presence was definitely productive as I met with an area architect who wanted to pitch a story about her second career of teaching art to senior citizens (including one 100-year-old).

Members and guests at the chamber picnic enjoyed hamburgers, bratwurst and house-made potato chips from Sarna's Classic Grill in Columbia Heights, and sliced watermelon. (Wouldn't be a chamber picnic without that!) But there was really no dessert. True, watermelon is a dessert at times, but on that day it was unmistakably a side dish.

So I left the Roseville park and stopped at the SuperAmerica near County Road B at Lexington Ave., to find (in a phone book) a relatively close ice cream shoppe to check out before heading out of the metro. I drove a few miles south to the Grand Ole Creamery, near Dale Street on St. Paul's Grand Avenue.

Did I need ice cream on that day? Well, no, but in a huge, HUGE two-scoop serving in a waffle "bowl" I ordered one scoop banana ice cream and one scoop red raspberry. Certainly the fruit-flavored choices (over various chocolate, caramel and marshmallow options) gave the impression I was still health-conscious? The house-made ice cream was as rich as you would want it to be, and at the Grand Ole Creamery you will find that a two-scoop serving may literally overflow out of a waffle bowl. Some little drips from my top scoop fell on the table and I simply wiped them up, but when a bigger chunk (a near-boulder, really) fell from the mountain, I pretended that the five-second rule also applied to food that falls onto newsprint -- I was reading that week's edition of The Onion while eating. Did I take the handful of banana ice cream and toss it in my mouth? Heavens no! What kind of pig do you take me for? I merely placed the little lump of lusciousness back atop the mountain and continued to eat.

With tax, my stop on Grand Avenue cost me $6.50 (high, maybe, for people used to paying $1 or $2 for cones at other places). But, compared with the $5 I spent at Target Field the previous day on a waffle cone filled -- barely -- with chocolate-vanilla twist soft-serve that was nothing better than what you'd get at an OCB, $6.50 for two scoops of homemade ice cream that would choke a snowman seemed fair in the end.