Eric Daeuber

Food Critic at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

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Articles

Daeuber: Spitfire delivers on smokehouse staples

3 weeks ago | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

The initial vibe at Spitfire is that of a mid-priced, sit-down family restaurant. The door greeters, in matching black uniforms, are pleasant. The atmosphere is comfortable. Booths stretch along windows and back toward the chickens spinning in the rotisserie roaster. After being seated, you’re left with a smile and a menu. It feels a little like the location of a chain family restaurant.
Jade Dragon is a fixture in the FM restaurant scene for a reason

1 month ago | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

I’ve been reviewing restaurants for the Forum since 2004 and of the first 25 I reviewed, only five are still serving. That doesn’t say much about those no longer with us. The rate at which restaurants close is no higher than that of any other small business. But it does say something about the ones still here. One of them is the Jade Dragon. It’s still in the same space and serving very much the same traditional dishes.
The key ingredient for authenticity in anything

2 months ago | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

I was in a noodle shop in Xian, a city of some 9 million people, a few years ago. It wasn’t a shop, really. It was more like an outdoor stand with a few tiny tables and even tinier chairs. I asked for something unique to Xian and the fellow behind the cart dished up a bowl of Biang Biang noodles. He said they were not common outside Xian. Why not? “It’s really hard to write Biang Biang in Chinese.” Apparently, it’s an enormously complicated character.
Rebecco's Taco Bar offers simple but impactful Mexican fare

Jan 16, 2025 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

WEST FARGO — Rebecco’s Taco Bar isn’t that, exactly. It has tacos, to be sure. But what’s unique about Rebecco’s is its menu. The Fargo area is awash with Mexican restaurants. That they come and go with some regularity is no surprise. And, while fans of Mexican food have their favorites, those not regular fans of the cuisine might struggle to tell the menus apart. There are quesadillas, burritos, tostadas and chimis. Some have their unique presentations and ingredients.
Review: Unexpected additions make eating at Mezzaluna a culinary adventure

Nov 22, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

WEST FARGO — Someone once said “all frisée are endives, but not all endives are frisée.” This cryptic little saying that doesn’t mean much to most people, says something about Mezzaluna’s entire menu whether a dish uses edive or not. Lots of restaurants use this shaggy lettuce as a garnish for its rough-shaped leaves and bitter taste.
Border Town Bar and Grill sticks to familiar fare

Oct 20, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

WEST FARGO — The bar and grill is a uniquely American institution. It’s not that other places in the world don’t have bars. Lots do, of course. And they have grills, too. But sticking the two terms together suggests something other than a drinking establishment that serves food — something that’s been around for as long as people have been eating and drinking. It gets attached to an approach to menu making and bar keeping that follows a pretty basic code: keep it simple and keep it familiar.
Review: Maxwells does fine dining in an unfussy yet stylized way

Sep 19, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

WEST FARGO — Fine dining is a strange category when it comes to dining experiences. It seems to promise a lot to diners, but it’s not always clear on what. Maxwells in West Fargo tries to navigate these expectations in a world of ultra casual fast food. Fine dining is characterized as expensive, which Maxwells certainly can be; sophisticated, which it is; and, well, the rest can be pretty vague. So allow me to fill it in.
Review: Community favorite El Vaqueros proves it has staying power

Aug 15, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

FARGO — Whenever I write about restaurants that specialize in ethnic cuisine in the Fargo and Moorhead area, the question of authenticity comes up. It’s complicated by the fact that, when having to prepare a menu, most restaurants recognize that some people are often sampling as much as they are dining. In other words, being unfamiliar with the offerings, they are trying to find something they like rather than ordering an example of something they like already.
Made from four ingredients, beer and its origins are more complex than the sum of its parts

Jul 11, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

MUNICH, Germany — German brewers have a saying, “Beer needs a home.” The word they use for “home” is “Heimat.” It’s a complicated concept that roles together your house, your lifestyle, and the strange feeling you get when you discover that you belong someplace, there, and only there. For Germans, this is all about the relationship between where you were born and who you are .
Review: Little Brother shines with a fusion menu featuring east Asian cuisine

Jun 20, 2024 | inforum.com | Eric Daeuber |Peking Duck

FARGO — Asian food in Fargo has demonstrated a gradual growth curve. Korean food comes and goes and, sometimes, as is the case of SOHO 23 , comes back again. At Little Brother, 117 Broadway N., Korean cuisine is central to the menu while being accessible to the American palate. The restaurant opened in 2022 in the heart of downtown, where it adds to the growing variety of world cuisines Fargoans can now enjoy.