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Photo by Robb Long
Troy Stark of Red’s Savoy Pizza.
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Flavor // By popular demand
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By Dylan Thomas
When Golooney’s East Coast Pizza Café closed shop in March, there were some who lamented the loss of their big, floppy New York-style slices.
For others, it was never about the pizza.
Golooney’s made one heck of a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. When local chain Red’s Savoy Pizza took over their corner storefront in the spring, it was one of a few menu items they could not, would not, change, co-owner Matt Ford said.
“We had a lot of people coming in talking about the Golooney’s Phillies,” Ford said.
Red’s Savoy Uptown calls it a Philly Steak and Cheese on their menu, putting the meat front and center. It’s as it should be: the juicy and well-seasoned rib eye is the essence of the sandwich.
The thin-sliced steak is chopped and fried on a griddle with peppers and onions. The whole mess is piled on a light and airy French roll, which does an excellent job of soaking up the juices while maintaining a crisp exterior.
There are a few choices to make when ordering this sandwich, the most important having to do with cheese: provolone or Ghel’s Philly Cheese.
This may pose a conundrum to foodies. Ghel’s Philly Cheese is a close approximation of Cheez Whiz, the gooey processed cheese spread that — while anathema to cheese connoisseurs — is totally authentic on a cheesesteak.
Hey, if you want a brie and asparagus sandwich, head to Surdyk’s. If you’re ordering the Philly at Red’s, go with Ghel’s.
(If it makes you feel any better, Ghel’s is based in Germanton, Wis. It’s good to eat local, right?)
Red’s Savoy also offers their Philly Steak and Cheese “OG style,” which means topped with lettuce, tomato, mayo, more onions, banana peppers and pepper relish. The peppers don’t make the cheesesteak spicy, exactly, but they do a wonderful job of cutting through the meat and cheese with their mild, vinegary bite.
Altogether it’s a big, messy, delicious sandwich. It’s more than a match for Red Savoy’s tissue-thin paper napkins, especially after the French roll has dissolved in steak juice.
But is it authentic?
Given the Southwest Journal’s relatively limited travel budget, we couldn’t do a side-by-side comparison with the best from The City of Brotherly Love. Anyway, a Philadelphian would probably tell you a true cheesesteak can only be served on this one special roll, from this one special bakery. Blah, blah, blah.
Still, if you can trust the rapturous online testimonials — a few dating from the Golooney’s days — it’s the best around these parts.
You don’t mess with success. When asked how Red’s version compared with Golooney’s, Ford replied: “It’s exactly the same.”
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Red’s Savoy Pizza
2329 Hennepin Ave. S.
377-3110
savoyuptown.com
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Art beat // Closing and opening
By Dylan Thomas
Art of This leaving current space, but won’t cease to existLYNDALE — A few weeks before they planned to shutter their Nicollet Avenue art space for good, John Marks and David Petersen of Art of This Gallery reflected on “Open Summer,” their ongoing, open door, last blast summer project. A free-for-all residency program that eventually enrolled 80-some artists, the slowly percolating “Open Summer” was building steam as it headed into its, and the gallery’s, grand finale at the end of August. And for all the potential pitfalls in telling some seven dozen people where the gallery key is hidden, about the worst thing that happened all summer was when someone spilled salsa in the refrigerator and never cleaned it up.
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On the mat // Green yogis in Linden Hills
By Sarah McKenzie
Devanadi Yoga, a new studio near Lake Harriet, is a trailblazer in the local yoga community. The small 525-square-foot studio, tucked behind the Bruley Center on West 43rd Street in Linden Hills, is the first yoga studio in the state to be certified by the Green Yoga Association for its environmentally friendly efforts. The studio’s green practices include using non-VOC paint, controlling the thermostat to keep the building energy efficient and encouraging students to walk, bus or bike to class. Tanya Boigenzahn Sowards, studio director/owner of Devanadi Yoga, said being green is “core value of the studio and it ties back to the yogic philosophy of doing no harm.” “Minneapolis frequently ranks as one of the top green
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Everyday gardener // Q&A
By Meleah Maynard
Struggling tomatoes, rain barrels and rootbound plantsEven though spring started in earnest in March this year, it still seems like summer is going by too fast. So, fast, in fact, my inbox has been a bit stuffed with questions. As always, I’ve replied directly to people who asked for help with various things. But here in the column I’m going to cover some of the questions that seem likely to be of interest to a lot of gardeners. By far, the questions I’m getting most are about tomatoes, so I’ll start there. Q: My tomato plants look good and have a lot of flowers, but I’m not getting a lot of fruit this year. What’s going on?A: It’s been too hot for tomatoes to set fruit
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Flavor // A smokin’ sensation on Nicollet
By Carla Waldemar
If you’re wondering what caused the traffic stand-still on South Nicollet the other evening, let’s just say I should have kept my window shut. When passing cars got a whiff of possibly the best aroma in the galaxy — I’m talking about barbecue, of course — they halted to demand, “Where’d you get that?” At C&G’s, of course. Greg Alford launched C&G’s Smoking Barbecue exactly a year ago; the anniversary balloons in the otherwise-Spartan, clean-as-a-whistle hole in the wall provided the only touch of whimsy in this serious business. Greg was born in Louisiana, which may explain his superior taste in food. He grew up in Detroit, one of 12 kids whose mamma set him to cooking when he was 5, he
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Wild city // Eating the yard
By Mary Jean Port
I love August. It is so lush. All summer, as I nurse the garden along, I anticipate these eating days. We now have too much of everything: tomatoes, green beans, heat, humidity, and also thunder, for those of us who have a dog frightened by it. I have been working our piece of ground for 14 years, and have good soil to show for it. Back when we first started, my husband was more of a lawn guy. He liked the idea of a garden, but drew a line in the grass with his toe. Don’t dig up anything beyond here, he said. So I dug my first of what are now 10 beds, and planted the pumpkin right on his line. The vines ran out of the garden and took over the whole backyard. My husband good-naturedly threw up his hands. We started with vegetables, and
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Kid rock
By Sam Lane
Twin Town Guitars hosts a camp that gives young musicians a chance to play and perform in a bandMore than 60 excited, camera-toting fans packed Cause Spirits and Soundbar on a warm August afternoon waiting for two headline bands to take the stage. The hotly anticipated musicians weren’t well known. They weren’t 20-somethings trying to strike a record deal. They weren’t middle-aged men trying to relive their youth. They were kids, ages 8–17, who spent prior weeks at Twin Town Guitars, 3400 Lyndale Ave. S., preparing for their first concert. In an economy where budget cuts deal constant blows to public school music programs, the owners of Twin Town have spent the last three summers providing a haven for aspiring
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