A Vicki McKenna Sighting

Sort of, anyway. You'll have to read on to get the explanation.

I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday, so before I lose track of time again: I got shanghaied into attending a blogger luncheon at a Kurdish restaurant called Babani's yesterday (yes, they twisted my arm; yes, that’s both a brunch and a lunch in the same day; no, I didn’t feel hungry again until about 10 pm).

Ed Morrissey of HotAir was the host (I also met blogger Ed Driscoll there). But the real treat (other than the food) was this:


The gentleman on the right is Rodwan Nacshebandi, the restaurateur, who with his family emigrated from Mosul to Turkey in 1989, and from there to the U.S. a few years later. The gentleman on the left is Lt. Col. Joe Repya, who introduced Mr. Nacshebandi to us and told us his story. They only recently were able to return to Mosul to visit relatives they hadn't seen in two decades.

Madison-area readers might recognize Col. Repya’s name: he is a frequent guest on the Vicki McKenna show. Hey, Vicki, he says hi!

They served us a “sampling” of Kurdish foods:


Yeah. If that’s a “sampling,” I’d hate to see a full course. Does it look good? Because it was. The tamale-looking things are rice and sauce wrapped in…cabbage, I think. Not sure. The best part was the brown half-circle you see: kind of a pirogi, cut in half, with meat inside and a spicy red sauce.

Just incredible food. Yeah, I ate the whole thing.

The restaurant is called Babani’s, located at 544 St. Peter Street. If you’re ever in St. Paul, do yourself a favor and go.