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Ann Ahmed's journey to creating transportive, spontaneous restaurants
Ann Ahmed's journey to creating transportive, spontaneous restaurants

CBS News

time02-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • CBS News

Ann Ahmed's journey to creating transportive, spontaneous restaurants

Ever since she was little, Ann Ahmed would find herself spending late nights in the kitchen. Now a James Beard Award semifinalist with three restaurants across the Twin Cities metro, Ahmed draws from those moments — after her mother came home for work and the two of them spent time together in the kitchen — when cooking and creating. "That's where my passion or my calling was, really, to be in the kitchen," she said. Born in Laos, Ahmed moved to Minnesota when she was 5 years old. When she was in her teens, Ahmed's mother sent her to live with her grandmother. There too, she naturally found herself in the kitchen. "I wouldn't necessarily call them teachers," she said, laughing. Her mother and her grandmother were busy parents, just trying to get through the day. But eventually her grandmother caught the potential in her, and started to give her little tasks. "Watch me and you need to learn from it," her grandmother would tell her. That hands-on experience shaped Ahmed's cooking style. She describes herself as a tactile learner; she likes to see and smell and touch while she creates. Ann Ahmed at her restaurant, Gai Noi, in Loring Park, Minneapolis. WCCO "It was a lot of tasting, you know, because nothing was really written. I had to memorize the flavors and the taste and the texture and the way it looked," Ahmed said. And the homey environment that she grew up in has made its way into her restaurants. The foundation of all her cooking is a sort of memorable comfort: food that's meant to be remembered and shared amongst friends. "My dream was really big" Ahmed started her restaurant journey in 2005, with a spot called Lemon Grass in Brooklyn Park. It took her a long time to gather the courage to branch out and open a second spot. But 13 years later, she flipped an old Perkins in Golden Valley and turned it into a "sexy Asian restaurant in the suburbs." "Finally I get to open the restaurant of my dreams," she recalled. "Everything that I've ever fantasized about what my future restaurant would look like was everything that I put into Lat 14." She wanted it to be moody, to be romantic. She wanted to combine the flavors found on the 14th parallel: Filipino, Cambodian, Thai cuisines with her own Laotian roots. And then suddenly, as she says, "Khaluna came along." The pandemic had hit in March of 2020. A month prior, Ahmed had been on a chef's retreat in Laos, and she'd come back inspired and ready to create. But she and her family were forced inside, all while her mind was racing with ideas. Ahmed, her husband and two twin children would go on rides around the city, and her husband spotted the restaurant for sale on 40th Street and Lyndale Avenue. At first, she thought the building was ugly. But with some prodding from her husband Ahmed decided to check it out and she eventually put in an offer. "You know when you're stuck at home and all you could do is dream and fantasize. My dream was really big," she said. She dreamed of glamorous, tropical lounges in Asia. Luxurious, open air restaurants. If she was to build a restaurant during a global pandemic, she wanted it to be transportive. She wanted her guests to feel like they could have an escape. Khaluna, in south Minneapolis. WCCO Shortly after, it was Ahmed's husband who nudged her into making a third restaurant. He likes to look at property for fun, and noticed a two-story building for sale in Loring Park. "He likes to like manifest the idea of like 'what does my wife dream of? How can I make it a reality for her?' I love it," Ahmed said. It would be the largest location she'd open. With two stories, Ahmed was initially worried that the size of the building would swallow her. But she couldn't help but dream and think up ideas to fill the space, and she wanted to get people excited about eating out again. She named it "Gai Noi," which means "little chick." It's what she calls her playful location. The restaurant takes no reservations, and she wants it to capture the spontaneous feeling amongst friends to just go out and see where the night takes them. "I feel like people just want to be spontaneous. And just live life. Let's create a restaurant that just allows them to live," she said. A new venture Aside from her restaurant business, Ahmed has been working on a new passion project: group tours to her Laotian homeland. She's been leading classes for years at her restaurants, and saw there was a pattern amongst her guests. They wanted to learn more about her, learn more about Laos. "I feel like Minnesotans have always had that curiosity of like 'who are these Lao people? What does Laos look like?'" Ahmed explained. WCCO So she decided that one day, she'd lead a group there, show them around and take them to her favorite restaurants. Her first tour was in January of 2025. The group met artisans, learned about basket-weaving, textiles and about the country's spiritual history. Next year, she'll lead her second tour, and also take her restaurant staff, to help them gain a better understanding of the cuisine they work with. "I'm hoping that this trip, going to Laos will help them to slow down and to reflect and to really connect with everything that they've been doing here in Minnesota and to really kind of have it make sense for them on their own terms," Ahmed said. A future with "purpose" Ahmed doesn't know what the future will hold; there's no master plan of opening up more restaurants. She wants to be realistic, build her restaurants steadily. And she's conscious of what she's sacrificed in order to get her career where it is today. Ahmed was pregnant when she had her first restaurant, Lemon Grass. When the opportunity for Lat 14 came, her twins were still infants. A spread of food at Gai Noi, in Loring Park, Minneapolis WCCO "And so that being in the limelight really made me make a lot of difficult choices of like, what's going to come first? And I would have to say that I chose the restaurant first," she said. Now that her twins are 10 years old, she's cherishing her time with them. Her daughter has just started showing interest in cooking and taking on tasks in the kitchen. "I still want to respect my space as an individual, as a person. You know, before I'm a mom, I was myself. Before I was a wife, I was myself. And so that is a challenge I am always facing," Ahmed said. For now, she's taking it a step at a time; enjoying the communities she's built around each restaurant — in Loring Park, south Minneapolis and Golden Valley. If there's an opportunity though, she says she'd definitely entertain the idea, but only if it fits "my purpose."

It's a Ribbon Salad Summer
It's a Ribbon Salad Summer

Eater

time27-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Eater

It's a Ribbon Salad Summer

Last year was all about the dense bean salad. This year — I'm calling it — is the summer of the ribbon salad. Although peeling a carrot or zucchini into long strands isn't anything particularly new (hello, zoodles), Cassie Yeung, a TikTok creator and the author of the forthcoming cookbook Bad B*tch in the Kitch , is partially responsible for making this technique go viral with the ribbon carrot salad she first posted on TikTok this past April. Yeung's salad is simple enough. It pairs long and flexible strands of carrots with grated garlic, green onions, sesame seeds, and a dressing composed of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chile crisp. It's refreshing and light and has a slight pickle flavor, making it a perfect summer salad. 'I just didn't think that this was going to be something that blew up,' Yeung says. She was initially inspired by carrots from the farmers market, which she often peels into ribbons and adds to homemade poke bowls. The salad recipe is in her upcoming cookbook, so she's been testing and perfecting it for well over a year. 'I never really thought to film it and post it because, at the end of the day, it's [just] a carrot,' Yeung says. In fact, she debated even including the recipe in the cookbook because she felt it was too simple. 'But it makes [the virality] so much more exciting because it's such a simple ingredient,' she says. Yeung's initial carrot salad video has amassed 19 million views and over two million likes. She's also introduced riffs on the salad — one with red onions and dill, another with daikon that replicates banh mi pickles — and those videos have amassed over two million views. A slew of other creators have followed suit, crafting their own ribbon salads and tagging Yeung as their inspiration. Yeung believes her salad's virality is due in part to the accessibility of carrots, and in part to the presentation. 'It's just really playful,' Yeung says. 'It's almost like you're eating noodles. The way something is cut and prepared completely changes the experience for me.' The same is true in Lao cuisine, where Luang Prabang-style papaya salad cut into long ribbons completely differs from its Thai counterparts, which are typically shredded. The texture makes for a completely different dining experience. 'Luang Prabang was the royal capital of Laos up until 1975, so the cuisine is about taking simple things and making it elegant,' explains chef Ann Ahmed, the owner and operator of Gai Noi, a Laotian restaurant in Minneapolis. 'When I conceptualized Gai Noi, I knew the heart of it was Luang Prabang and the menu had to reflect that.' The Luang Prabang-style papaya salad on the Gai Noi menu begins with long strands of green papaya that is dressed in a mixture of lime juice, pounded chiles, fermented fish sauce, and pops of tomato. The flavor is spicy and savory and pungent, but the experience of eating it differs from a standard thum muk hoong because of the noodle-like strands of papaya. 'The style of ribbon holds more flavor because it has more surface space,' Ahmed says. 'The sauce sits in the curves. It's pretty genius.' Although papaya and carrots are great introductions to a ribbon salad, pretty much any long vegetable can be adapted for it, like zucchini and daikon. 'It's easy to do and it's all in the wrist,' Ahmed says. 'The thickness is what matters. Make sure you get a really good peeler.' Aside from swapping out the vegetable base, you can also completely customize the salad dressing to form new ribbon salads. 'The carrots become a vessel for any sauce you like,' Yeung says, noting she's experimented with a Mediterranean-style carrot salad and wants to attempt a kimchi version next. 'I think that a lot of cultures can intertwine their own flavors. That's the best part of it because at the end of the day, it's so simple — so you can really get creative with it.' See More: Cookbooks Eater at Home How to Cook What to Cook

Eat in on Valentine's Day with these recipes from top Minnesota chefs
Eat in on Valentine's Day with these recipes from top Minnesota chefs

Axios

time13-02-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Axios

Eat in on Valentine's Day with these recipes from top Minnesota chefs

If you haven't already made them, dinner reservations this Friday will be a hassle. Instead, consider staying in on Valentine's Day and cooking a meal together. State of play: Many of Minnesota's top chefs have shared recipes with cooking sites and local outlets over the years. We rounded up some yummy-sounding options from a few of the restaurateurs recently named semifinalists for this year's James Beard Awards. 🌶️ Ann Ahmed (Khâluna, Lat14, Gai Noi): Bucatini Talay, or pasta tossed in tom yum paste-laced sauce and topped with jumbo shrimp, via Food & Wine. Twin Cities Public Television also has her recipe for Laotian sticky rice. 🥩 Karyn Tomlinson (Myriel): Grandma's pot roast with onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, carrots and potatoes, via TPT. 🥣 Mateo Mackbee (Krewe): Maque choux, a creamy sweet corn-based dish flavored with onions and peppers and topped with andouille sausage or shrimp, via MidwestLiving. The Star Tribune also has Mackbee's red beans and rice recipe with a special twist: a smoked turkey leg. 🍠 Sean Sherman (Owamni): Maple-chili crisp to drizzle over roasted sweet potatoes via Food & Wine. 🍫 Diane Moua (Diane's Place): Frozen Meyer Lemon parfait with pistachio brittle via Artful Living. Go deeper: Our earlier list of recipes from local culinary luminaries Weigh in: Do you have a favorite recipe written (or inspired) by a local chef? Send it our way at [email protected].

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