The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

This one comes with a side of food news: It's the last call for the Crooked Spoon food truck before it permanently rolls into the sunset. We recently landed at the Grand Marais spot — known for its elevated soups, sandwiches and burgers — on our way back from the Gunflint Trail. The food truck has run seasonally since November 2020, after a fire destroyed the original brick-and-mortar location. And, after 18 years, owner Sara Hingos said they plan to close the lunch spot permanently after service on Oct. 19, timing it with MEA weekend, with plans for another food venture.

Ordering off the signature chalkboard menu, the above par American burger ($16) with a grass-fed patty, lettuce, tomatoes with a creamy, tangy house sauce did not disappoint. But the show stealer was the grilled chicken sandwich ($16). The chicken breast marinated in garlic and fresh herbs was intensely flavorful and tender, not dry, despite getting a wonderfully heavy char with deep grill marks. The sandwich is given further royal treatment with a bacon-feta mayo, heirloom tomatoes and Revol Greens bibb lettuce on a butter-toasted bun.

Up next, Hingos said Crooked Spoon will concentrate on its line of frozen soups that they've been offering the last few winters with pickups in Grand Marais, Duluth, St. Cloud and the Twin Cities. "Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support over the last 18 years. There are so many customers, who have become friends," she said. "Those relationships are so cherished."

At a young age, I was fully indoctrinated by the beefy snobbery of my extended family. Steaks are traditionally cut to thumb-height thickness and ordered medium rare. Burgers should be so large that each bite required a little jaw hinge priming before digging in. However, a lifetime of learning has brought me to a much better understanding and appreciation for the skinny, smashed burger. It's the most popular form of ground beef delivery these days, so maybe a love for them isn't newsworthy. But a new variety that brings personality and verve to the conversation reminds me why I changed my mind in the first place.

Chef-owner TJ Lauthe's burger at So & So's food trailer, in residency at Sociable Cider Werks, offers a glorious entry into the burger arena because it packs so much into every element ($14). The beef is thin, griddled and juicy, but the shredded lettuce, juicy tomato, gooshy burger sauce, melted cheese and thick-cut bacon make each bite on a buttery, toasted bun a whole balanced meal. It's a burger that's extraordinary in its simplicity: every ingredient retains its flavor and adds something to the conversation. If you somehow weren't already a member of the skinny burger appreciation club, this burger will do it.

Nine months after opening, it can still be difficult to snag a primetime dinner reservation at the lovely Bûcheron . Fortunately, the handsome bar at this snug corner spot is always available for walk-ins. And while you can get the full French-American menu there, chef Adam Ritter just added a bar menu to sweeten the deal for spontaneous diners. There are only three items on the menu, but they add to the already robust offering of elegant snacks on the main menu. You could easily build a date-night meal around a glass of champagne, a petit plateau of fresh shellfish and one or two of these new bar noshes.

Cheese curds ($9) were the most intriguing. How exactly does a fine-dining establishment take on the State Fair staple? With a breadcrumb coating and slivers of basil leaves and peppers and sweet tomato jam on the side, that's how. For anchovy lovers, there is a tartine ($8). But if you want to really see how the kitchen shines, get the beef cheek pastrami sandwich ($12). It looks like a slider but will fill you like a main course, with a mountain of smoky pastrami that almost takes on the essence of bacon after a run-in with a griddle. Red wine aioli and sauerkraut from kohlrabi, fermented in house, balances that intensity. It's meaty, messy, and a little rougher around the edges than rest of the Bûcheron menu, yet feels right at home. ()

Standing along Raymond Avenue in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, I alternately admired the bustling activity on the street and a nearby mural. The stretch between University Avenue and W. Territorial Road is lined with several independent businesses and has been a charming spot for years. Now included is the new Hey Bear, a breakfast and lunch cafe.

Hey Bear takes the place of Foxy Falafel, but it's still a cozy cafe built for quick service. The menu is mostly sandwiches, including a signature breakfast sandwich ($7.50). A crispy biscuit was stacked with creamy, fluffy scrambled eggs, a square of cheese and a peppery sausage patty with a hint of sage. It was a wholly satisfying and transportable little breakfast sandwich.

While the cafe has seats inside, walking around is the way to go. This block sports Roundtable Coffee Works, Herbst Farm Stand (Herbst Eatery's daytime farm shop) and the original Keys Cafe. There's a whole early morning food crawl just waiting to happen here. What a lovely excuse for a little weekday hooky.

Since the sad fate of Wuollet's across the street , downtown Wayzata has been without an all-purpose bakery. Enter the Thirsty Whale Bakery. The pocket-sized north Minneapolis bakery — which came back from the brink after it, too, closed and then was rescued by new owner YoYo Donuts — has just opened a second and much larger location in the western 'burbs.

Thirsty Whale Bakery takes over the former Penny's Coffee location, giving fans of its beloved doughnuts a place to sit and eat them for the first time, in a relaxed and stylish cafe. The bakery case also has room for pies, breads, muffins and cupcakes, and there's a creative espresso menu, too.

Best of all, Thirsty Whale now has ice cream ($4.49, single scoop). The flavors are all made at YoYo's Walker, Minn., production facility, and there are some unique ones (grilled peach and balsamic vinegar, for starters). But when I think of Thirsty Whale, I always think of doughnuts, and the maple bacon ice cream sounded like a riff on their maple bacon long John. It was all that and more, the almost caramel-y base with chewy chunks of bacon for a salty edge was a cool and creamy scoop that could suffice for an after-school treat — or a one-of-a-kind breakfast.