The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

I never thought I’d get excited about olives, but a recent visit to Celio, the new casual Italian place on the same block as Nye’s in Minneapolis, changed that.

The marinated olives and mozzarella ($7), an appetizer served in a glass clamp jar, showcased a broad range — sweet, briny green Castelvetranos, smoked kalamata olives and citrusy Taggiasca black olives. The olives are tempered with mild, creamy ciliegine mozzarella, citrusy orange rinds, Mediterranean herbs, all marinated in olive oil. Each bite and ingredient combination yielded differently delicious flavor notes, proving, at least to this former non-believer, that olives can be anything but boring with careful curation.

The dish is all part of the revamped concept and food offerings in the former Sonder Shaker space after the owners decided it was time for a reset. The space has been given an overhaul with fresh paint, fixtures, artwork and plenty of greenery for a casual modern Italian feel. Meanwhile, the change from global to Italian cuisine allows chef Nate Docken to lean into his background. When designing the menu, Docken knew he wanted to offer some type of antipasti, but didn’t want the same old, same old. “We wanted a fun bar snack for people to enjoy with their wine,” he said.

It’s a bright start to any meal when here. The tuffoli pasta with braised short rib ragu in which Docken swaps traditional Parmigiano for more mild caciocavallo cheese was a great follow-up. (Nancy Ngo)

130 E. Hennepin Av., celio-ne.com

For someone who loves “The Golden Girls” as much as I do, it’s a little bit of a shocker when I admit that I don’t really care for cheesecake. But neither did Bea Arthur, so the story goes, and I’m glad to be in her company.

The tang and density of cream cheese is just not my thing in a dessert. But Mike Willenbring’s version at his restaurant Manger in Bayport might just ignite in me a Blanche Devereaux-level passion for cheesecake.

The chef/owner of this lovely little bistro takes inspiration from Normandy, France, an area known for its Camembert. Willenbring loves the not-too-sweet cheese-based desserts there, and decided to make one of his own. He passed on Camembert for “slightly less stinky and a bit more approachable” Brie, incorporating it at a 50-50 ratio to regular cream cheese. The result is the lightest, fluffiest cheesecake I’ve encountered. And while he holds back on the sweetness in the filling, he goes all out on a brown butter graham cracker crust, plus a simple, housemade caramel sauce that tumbles down the edges of the slice like a bronze waterfall.

Willenbring likes to experiment with other desserts that push the boundaries of savoriness. On my recent visit, there was a special of foie gras mousse that ... wasn’t for everyone at my table. (I’d love it as an appetizer!) But the cheesecake ($12)? It’s “our bestselling dessert by a mile, even when we put foie gras mousse on as a special,” he laughed. “Go figure.” (Sharyn Jackson)

320 5th Av. N., Bayport, mangerrestaurant.com

We’ve had our eye on this restaurant at the Hastings Golf Club since they posted about their brilliant wintertime special, the MiniSota Sampler: a flight of Tater Tot hot dish, chicken pot pie and meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

While it’s no longer hot dish season, both from a weather and menu standpoint, it is patio season. And it’s always burger season. This doozy is a thick patty topped with melty cheddar cheese, bacon, housemade tater topper, a smoky tomato drizzle and tots ($18). The burger was cooked to order (medium), the bacon not too crisp but not too chewy, the sauces complemented each bite and it’s squishable to make eating manageable.

It’s also shareable, which we did so we could try the inventive Public House nachos ($16). This version uses house potato chips as a base for pulled pork, queso, coleslaw and a heavy drizzle of barbecue sauce. It was among the several dishes we were eager to try. And while we’re not wishing summer away before it even starts, we’ll definitely be watching for that comfort food sampler when the cool weather returns. (Nicole Hvidsten)

2015 Westview Drive, Hastings, hastingspublichouse.com

When I went to Wandering Leaf Brewing Co. in St. Paul last weekend, I had just one lunch idea in mind: Soul Lao, which shares a foyer with the plant-filled brewery. But when I saw La Choza’s food truck parked out by the patio, I knew it had to be a two-lunch kind of day.

Since last summer, La Choza has been parking at breweries around the Twin Cities, though the idea had much longer roots. Chef and co-owner Raúl Saldivar worked in traditional sushi restaurants for 14 years, and would riff at home on a different kind of sushi that incorporated flavors from his native Jolalpan, Puebla in Mexico. He and his wife and co-owner, Denise Carranza, started making their creations for friends, and catered one of their kids’ birthday parties in 2022. Everyone loved it. “That’s when we decided to save up our money for our food truck and bring that Mexican fusion of sushi and tacos,” Carranza said. “It was a dream we saw so far away, but with efforts and sacrifices, we made it, and now we’re here working hard like any other Mexican.”

The many rolls are playful and some involve cooked proteins, or come fried on the outside. First, I tried tuna poke ($18), which was filled with a jalapeño crab mix and cream cheese, deep fried, then topped with cubes of tuna and avocado. But I fell in love with one of Saldivar and Carranza’s first ever creations, the mango Tajín roll ($16), with a shrimp tempura and spicy crab filling, topped with tiny cubes of diced mango and sprinkled with Tajín chile lime seasoning for a bright burst of puckery sweetness. For the record, the tacos I saw other people ordering looked and smelled fantastic, too.

“We create the food with people in mind, how we would like them to see our food,” Carranza said. Mission accomplished. (S.J.)

Follow La Choza at lachozamn.com and find their schedule on social media, instagram.com/lachozamn.

While my coworker was seeking out new wave sushi this past week, I headed for the traditional route. For me, Miyoko Omori’s Sakura restaurant sets the standard for classic sushi and quality ingredients, and I often recommend it to others as a great baseline. So when I was in downtown St. Paul recently for a show, a pit stop was in order.

Sakura is also the place where I fell in love with one particular dish, the spicy tuna roll ($12.50), some two decades ago.

Ever since, I’ve been in pursuit of the best spicy tuna roll in the Twin Cities and all roads lead me back to Sakura. Diced, high-quality, sashimi-grade tuna gets mixed with sliced green onions, sesame oil and a house sriracha mayo. The mixture then gets rolled with cucumber, leaf lettuce and vinegary-sushi rice in nori for beautiful bright and balanced bites. It’s the benchmark for how this classic roll should be done. I guess some things never change for the better. (N.N.)

350 Saint Peter St., sakurastpaul.com