Earlier this month we traveled to Saint Louis to visit family and friends.  While we were mostly “unplugged” from the net, thankfully we did have some connectivity via our cell phones.  As Jon was scanning through the emails coming in, he noticed an email from his absolute FAVORITE restaurant in the Twin Cities, Saffron Restaurant and Lounge!  Intrigued, he opened the email and to our delight discovered that we had been invited by the owners, Saed and Sameh Wadi, with an invitation to a private event to view their newly redecorated space and to experience the new menu that was to be released.

He immediately acknowledged the email with an affirmative attendance and then turned to me and said “you get to tell Carolyn that we won’t be able to attend the Twins game that we were scheduled to attend.  ”Upon our arrival back in the Twin Cities, we chose an early reservation (5:00pm) thinking that we could take our time at Saffron and still make it to the game.  That didn’t work out as well as we had hoped but the dining experience totally outweighed the loss of attending the game.

To begin: the décor.  The restaurant has made some noticeable changes to the space.  New tables, chairs, and chandeliers that have been placed beautifully throughout the space.  The Saffron logo is also painted onto the back wall behind the bar in a vibrant royal blue.

Once seated, we were greeted by both owners who thanked us for our willingness to participate and provide them with candid opinions on the food, presentation, service, etc.  Now, anyone familiar with us knows that we can be strongly opinionated when it comes to food – perhaps even too much so when given the opportunity.  Based on our conversations with the Saed and Sameh we knew that they were looking for an honest critique of the menu and service.

We began with drinks and appetizers; I had the Arrak and Roll, a faux citrus “arrak”, apricot liqueur, egg white and dry vermouth ($10.)  This was my favorite of the evening though having an entire slice of orange floating in the glass was a bit disconcerting.   Jon ordered the non-alcoholic Twist & Shout, a roasted lemonade with mint ($4.5).  Both were quite enjoyable but the lemonade in particular was extremely tart – but very pleasing to the palate.

Mezze-Tapas-Snacks (To Share)

Sultan Hummus:  a puree of chickpeas with tahini, lemon, garlic and Palestinian olive oil; served with a house cured bastirma (a dried beef, Turkish style) ($9). I could have easily enjoyed a plate of the bastirma by itself.  It was perfectly seasoned and house cured.

Fried Beef Kubbeh:  bulgur shell stuffed with spiced beef and pine nuts served with cucumber yogurt ($6).  This is not a new dish but the first time either of us has tried it.  I’m not sure how we missed it all these times, but it was truly an amazing dish.

Chicken & Porcini Mushroom Croquettes ($6) is Saffron’s take on the classic Spanish dish.  Again, amazing flavors with a fluffy cloud-like texture – definitely a MUST try!!

Octopus “A La Plancha”:  octopus cooked on a hot plate with toasted garlic, smoked paprika and sherry ($8).  This was an unexpected treat. It had some “tooth” but was not “tough”.  It had superb flavors and melded well with the Chicken & Porcini Mushroom Croquettes.

Marinated Olives and Pickles ($5):  This dish was less than stellar – it was rather heavy on the vinegar and lacking in other spices and flavors.  We put this in our notes with the hope that the recipe can be tweaked.  I’d like to hear too, if anyone had a different take on these.

Crispy Potato Chips:  Chips served with za’tar yogurt and spicy piquillio pepper sauce ($5).  Jon tends to be a chip snob – He tries chips everywhere we go.  His two favorites can be found at Buster’s (28^th Avenue South & 42^nd Street East) and The Citizen Café (38^th Street East & 24^th Avenue South).  According to Jon, the Saffron chips were good, but could have been cooked a little longer (He likes his chips very crisp).  Also the chips themselves could have used a little spice on them.  The dip, however, was awesome!!

Salads – Apps – Sides:

Quail:  stuffed with mirqaz sausage and served with a farro salad – another surprising dish.  The flavors were a mix of spicy sausage contrasting with the subtleties of the quail itself.  To lay it atop of the farro salad was brilliant ( $14).

Crispy Soft Shelled Crab with watermelon “curry” and cilantro:  All we can say is WOW!  Keep in mind that soft shelled crab is a seasonal offering and may not always be available.  It is a must-have when available.  The flavors and textures all blended into a heavenly delight of deliciousness, with the flavors swirling around from a multitude of spices as you’re savoring this dish ($14).

Entrées – Big Plates:

Whole Roasted Branzini:  A Mediterranean sea bass with crispy grape leaves, olive oil, lemon and herbs ($MP).  If you have any qualms about eating the whole fish then you might choose something else, as this dish comes out as the entire fish – head and all.  Not the most “appealing” presentation for Jon, but I did not find this bothersome at all.  The flavors and textures of the dish outweighed any presentation squeamishness whatsoever for him.

We chose to add the Grilled Sweet Corn (from the Salad-Apps-Sides) ($5) but were disappointed with the preparation and taste.  For me, it was grilled corn, meets State Fair and north Africa.  Mentioning this visual to Sameh, this was exactly the idea for which he had in mind.

Desserts:

Pineapple Semolina Cake with pineapple & yogurt sorbets and berries ($7).  Unfortunately, the cake was a little too dry.  Upon mentioning this to our waiter, he had Sameh taste it as well and he concurred.  I’m sure he’ll make this correction toot sweet.

The Blueberry & Peach Trifle with vanilla baked peaches and blueberry/hibiscus preserves layered with lemon cake and candied ginger ($7).  Traditionally, trifles are made with “day old” cake that may be a little dry.  That’s not a bad thing as the cake is then allowed to absorb the juice of maybe some berries or a simple syrup.   A little more of either will make this a perfect summer treat.

Chocolate Ganache Cake with the flavors of Arabic coffee ($8).  With an intense flavor of chocolate and coffee ice cream, this was definitely my favorite of the evening.

Service:

The servers did a great job of keeping us informed about the different foods; describing them, having a willingness to discuss their favorites, and offering suggestions for wine pairings.  Again, because this event was a trial run – there were some minor glitches but overall the staff made every effort to ensure we had a great experience.  This is one of the many reasons that Jon, in particular, enjoys going to Saffron.  Service has almost ALWAYS been spot on.  The servers are members of the staff who’ve been with the restaurant for some time; they remember your names; they remember the drinks you prefer; all of those little nuances that make the experience that much more enjoyable.

I encourage everyone to experience Saffron and their new menu and décor.  Though I personally will miss the white-tablecloths, the new Saffron is more causal but just as welcoming as always.  It’s a place to visit a couple of times a month, if not every week. It’s an easy stop before a Twins game, after work for a quick bite, or to enjoy a two hour dinner on a Saturday night.

Your culinary windows will be opened and the opportunity for Sameh Wadi to expand your palate will amaze you.  And I am quite certain that your front of the house experience will be just as perfect as it always is – especially knowing that Saed is directing traffic.  His warm smile, his gentle hand shake and his genuine love of people always makes one feel so at ease when coming to dine with them.

I hope you enjoy the entire experience as much as we did.  And oh by the way, I was able to catch the last inning of the game, which was the most exciting anyway as we hung on to the win.

Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, 123 North Third Street, Minneapolis, MN, 612.746.5533

We headed to Saint Louis for a weekend trip recently.  While in transit via Southwest Airlines, I had a few minutes to peruse the July issue of Food & Wine magazine.  Low and behold there was an article featuring their top chefs for 2011.  And one of them, Kevin Willmann, has a restaurant called Farmhaus not all that far from downtown Saint Louis.  I couldn’t let this opportunity pass, so I immediately made an 8:15pm Saturday reservation for four.

Shortly after the reservation, we posted our intent to go on Facebook.  Almost immediately, a farmer (and friend of our hosts for the weekend) wrote to say that he supplies the restaurant with their blackberries. Another friend wrote saying “Save room for dessert.”  Between the magazine article and their posts I was looking forward to a delightful evening.  Missing a turn, we arrived shortly after our reservation to a bustling, but cozy space with clean lines, an attentive waitstaff, and to my delight no blaring music.  We settled in and began looking at our menus with the urge to order one of everything.  Enjoying our beverages, our waiter let us know that the plates would come out from the kitchen as they were ready and they were meant to be shared.  In other words, what was to come from the kitchen would not be timed.

I’m not sure if it was audible to anyone else, but I heard myself say, “oi”.  Unless it is a Tapas bar, I find this restaurant format rarely works.  Either the portions are really too small to share or they are constructed in such a way that it makes it very difficult to divide without conquering, i.e. destroying.

Given this new revelation of sharing, we decided to each order a first course,  one of which was the “Summer Salad”.  It arrived in a mason jar on top of which was a hefty portion of Baetje Farm’s goat cheese.   At the table our waiter poured the contents onto a rectangular plate; a whimsical presentation for sure.  The jar was filled with grilled okra, yellow wax beans, grilled local corn, heirloom tomatoes, grilled torpedo onions, roasted carrots, shaved fennel, cucumber, thyme; all tossed with a sweet Moscat vin (“vin” equals their term for ‘vinaigrette’) and served with house made lavash. $11.

Then there were the Nachos, which were house made chips from local sweet potatoes, Salemville blue cheese, cherrywood smoked bacon lardons, and fire-roasted red pepper catsup, $8.  Unfortunately, they weren’t anything about which to write home.  I did however, twist Jon’s arm to order the Conch fritters with grilled corn, jalapeno and Sriracha mayo, $11.  They are light and fluffy and something that I could imagine eating in south Florida.

The best of the bunch however was the Roasted Mushroom Salad with locally foraged wild mushrooms, hearty Terra Bella Farms greens, Baetje Farms goat’s cheese, and toasted Missouri pecans, all tossed with a warm house bacon vin. $12.  Since I didn’t order this particular salad, I was sure happy that one of our dinner companions was willing to share.  It was so good, we almost ordered a second one!

Collectively we decided that we really shouldn’t order another round of first courses and decided to press on with our main courses.  These included Seared Scallops with Creamed Norma’s sweet corn, house bacon, butter poached chanterelle mushrooms. $18.  The scallops were one of those dishes that didn’t fare very well in the sharing department.  I’m afraid that by the time the plate got back around to Jon, who had ordered the dish, he found that there wasn’t much left.

Robb chose the Escolar with Chaumette Traminette, dill and butter poached, grilled Pacific Blue prawns, and roasted Weidner Farms yellow French beans.  I enjoyed the Keta River Salmon with spoonbread, creamed Keller Farms corn and tomato concassé.  The Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, that Greg ordered, with Sweet and Yukon Gold smashed potatoes, sous vide pearl onions, tomato merlot reduction, while delicious, seemed like a lost soul coming out of the kitchen as it did after three of us had finished our entrees.

Since the dessert menu was recited instead of written down, I’m relying on memory and a quick sms text to Robb to remember what it was we shared.  Between the two of us, we could only remember two of them.   The first was a Pecan Financier with mint ice cream and pecan croutons.   It was great fun seeing a “financier” in cylindrical shape, instead of the traditional barquette.  Even better, it had the same tender, buttery flavor as the traditional, which doesn’t always happen when you start futzing and changing things when baking.  The second was something that accompanied a berry compote.  It was less memorable, partly due to the fact that there were no blackberries.  The dessert we enjoyed the most was in the style of a  peanut butter cup.   It was a thin round chocolate shell filled with light peanut butter mousse sitting on top of a thick peanut butter bottom.  There’s a reason why peanut butter and chocolate are a classic combination — more often than not they work and in this case the flavors were perfect.

All in all everything that came out of the kitchen was beautiful to behold and delicious on the palette.  Also from everything that I have read Willmann takes seriously the notion of sourcing as much as possible locally, sans the fish and seafood, and that’s a beautiful thing.  My only negative of the evening was the lack of timing.  If everything is meant to be shared than give the appropriate time to allow each dish speak for itself.

Being from out of town and from what I have read, that there are a plethora of excellent restaurants in Saint Louis, I’d have to try some others before returning to Farmhaus.  However our hosts, who are local boys, would return for another visit.

Farmhaus, 3257 Ivanhoe Avenue, Saint Louis MO 63139 – 314.647.3800

I became familiar with E’toile Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin, many years ago.  At that time, chef/owner Odessa Piper taught cooking classes at Cooks of Crocus Hill.  Her passion for seeking out local ingredients was unbridled.  As the cooking school coordinator at the time, she’d have me foraging all over town (virtually, mind you until I found it) for a particular ingredient.  I came to appreciate her passion for seeking out what was local, sustainable, and when possible organic.

When a recent trip to Madison was confirmed, my first call was to E’toile for reservations.  This was based on the reputation of Chef Piper, though I knew she had retired several years ago.  Her chef de cuisine, Tory Miller, has now taken over the helm as both chef and co-owner of the restaurant.

We arrived on a crisp Friday evening, by walking a block from our hotel.  Having never been to the original E’toile, I have nothing to compare the new location to the former, but I must say that the current setting is lovely with its modern, yet comfortable setting.  Regardless of where you might sit, a view of the Wisconsin capitol, it’s beautiful architecture, and the square on which it sits is set before you.  For some reason I was intrigued by the gorgeous gray carpeting, embossed with what I imagined to be tree trunks and branches.  The tables, covered in white linen, were set comfortably close.  And, the balcony in the back allowed a view through the floor to ceiling windows at the front.

While we pursued the menu, I enjoyed an E’toile Kir made with their very own house-made currant syrup.  Jon savored “The Mitchell Report”, an aperitif of Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, house-made pear reduction and muddled sage.  Throwing caution to the wind, I decided on the five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, while Jon decided on three-courses from the menu.

On this particular night, the Amuse Bouche was a West Star Farm Salsify chowder, shiitake mushroom duxelle, with an Old Bay-seasoned oyster cracker. It was paired with a Marc Hebrart, Mareuil-sur-Ay Champagne.  My only complaint was that I could not have two servings.  Jon wouldn’t share!

I make a lot of crazy things at home, but it is very unlikely that I would ever make pork head cheese.  Since it was an option, I went for it and enjoyed immensely the Mangalitsa pork head cheese, with a sauce gribiche, mâche salad, and gaufrettes while sipping a 2009  Sinnean Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand.  My fork did wander over to Jon’s plate and his Shooting Star Farm French breakfast and beauty heart radish salad, with parsley leaves, and red onion, tossed in a lemon vinaigrette and served with a Capri Farm Five-Points Reserve Cheese.

Mid-course was upon us and to the delight of my my senses, I relished the Cocco bucatini all’Amatriciana, Maine lobster, house-cured pancetta, herb salad, with a sweet onion-tomato sauce.  This time the perfect pairing was a Jean Marc Boillot, Chataliene Vineyard, Rully, Burgundy France, 2008.  I offered to trade a morsel of what I was enjoying for a taste of Jon’s Blue Ribbon sunny-side-up duck egg, celery root-potato hash, smoked shallot puree, confit of chicken gizzards, with a spicy hollandaise.  Okay, so maybe it was two bites, just to get all the flavor components in my memory.   I’ve since  recreated this breakfast staple turned gourmet dinner delight at home.

Farm-raised daurade, scallion-potato cakes, Shooting Star bok choy, pea vine salad, summer truffle vinaigrette, with a sauce Choron was my “plat”.    Accompanying this deliciousness on a plate was a Bernabeleva “Navaherreros” (Grenache), Madrid Spain 2008.  Jon enjoyed his Fountain Prairie Fram dry-aged ribeye, “loaded” mashed potatoes, mushroom-broccoli ragout, horseradish-garlic compound butter, with a cabernet jus.  As good as his was, I think top scores went to my third course.

We shared a cheese course which included a Fantôme Farm “Moreso”, a Blue Mont Dairy “Earth Schmier” and a Hooks 15 Yr. Cheddar.  Somebody please tell me why we here in Minnesota cannot purchase these wonderful delights?  We are not that far from the border.

Last but not least, I enjoyed a Cordillera chocolate pâte, caramelized fennel, honey-citrus ice cream, cocoa biscotti with a “New York Malmsey” from The Rare Wine Company Historic Madeira Series.  Jon decided on the Door County Barnard cherry cake with maple creme anglaise, cherry-vanilla coulis, maple-cayenne tuile.

Everything about the evening was perfect from the moment we walked in the door.  The waitstaff was top-notch and the meal impeccable.  I could go on rhapsodically about the food, but the menu changes very often.  What we enjoyed would most likely not be available again, as the local availability of produce and other ingredients is always changing.   True to his reputation of  local sourcing, there was a Tory spotting the next morning during our wandering around the farmer’s market.  It was likely that he was picking out what was the freshest for the menu that evening.

To my pleasant surprise a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine featured E’toile, along with some of Chef Miller’s recipes and he philosophy of cooking.  If you are ever in Madison, WI, E’toile is a must stop. In the meantime check out the article.

Last spring, we were having dinner at Victory 44. Our waiter was touting this new restaurant concept of which he would be a part.  The name would be Travail.  I had some idea what the word travail meant, but looking it up in the dictionary confirmed my suspicions — travail: work, especially of a painful or laborious nature; toil.  (That sounds like restaurant work to me.)  The waiter went on to say that those cooking on the line would also be serving the food.  Forget the front of the house staff.  Who would know better what would be served than those cooking it?  I thought it seemed like an interesting concept.

Now the restaurant is open:  Travail Kitchen & Amusements and it’s been getting rave reviews.  I’ve seen it written, “best restaurant of the decade,” “ranked number 3 of restaurants in the Twin Cities, ” and “I’ve never had a better meal.”  With these accolades, I wondered why it had taken us so long to get up to Robbinsdale to check out this new wonder child of a place.  Four of us, finally made it and arrived on a recent Wednesday evening about 6:30 PM.  We had called ahead, but they don’t take reservations.  It’s come one, come all!

The half hour wait passed quickly as we were chatting amongst ourselves as well as conversing with two lovely ladies sitting near the door who were just finishing their dinner.  They live in the neighborhood and eat there quite often.  We finally made it to the top of the wait list and a high-top opened up.   We were escorted to the back of the dining room where we found several bean-bag toss games and what looked like a table-top shuffleboard game.  I guess that is the “Amusements” part of the name.

We pondered the menu on the chalkboard and my head was saying, “Okay get the fish and chips and a beer and get the heck out of here.”  Somehow my mouth spurted out, “let’s get the 10 course tasting menu!”  The other couple in our party decided on the tasting menu as well, so twenty plates were about to come out of the kitchen.  I would come to regret  that decision.  Once again I should have trusted my gut!

Unfortunately, our experience quickly plummeted, and it wasn’t necessarily due to what came out of the kitchen – well except for the 9th course.  The line cook/server was very good explaining to us in detail what we would be served.  When he finished giving us all the details, I asked him if he would mind repeating it as I couldn’t hear a word he said as the noise level was so loud.  Asking if the music could be turned down, he said, “Well not much as that is part of the shtick!”  I was about to spend upwards of $50 for a dinner that was going to make my stomach churn because of the noise.

For about half of the courses, the previous plates were not cleared before the new course came out.  Therefore the “waiter” would be holding the “new” course in one hand and would clear the dirty plates with the other hand.  It made for a very interesting juggling act.

The courses preceded, some faster than others.  As we were waiting between course eight and nine, I was watching the line and mentioned to Jon, that only one of the cooks is wearing a hat.  Shouldn’t every cook being wearing something on their head?   It was a fleeting thought and I let it go.

Course No. 9 arrived which was their version of steak and potatoes.  It was tasty enough, but as I was finishing the last bite — yes you guessed it, a strand of black hair was staring back me.  With my silver mane and Jon’s head being shaved, I knew it wasn’t ours.  When mentioning it to our server, his response was, “Well it’s not mine either ‘cause I’m not cooking this evening.”

In a nutshell, here’s my take on Travail Restaurants & Amusements.  If one, you like lot’s of noise with patrons yelling at each other to carry on a conversation and if one doesn’t mind having the back of the house, doing the job of the front of the house and if one wants to potentially drop a lot of dough for the experience, by all means check out Travail.  If I was to go back, I’d order the fish and chips and a beer, spend 45 minutes and be on my way.

If I want a to enjoy a relaxing tasting menu, whether it be 3 courses or 10, I’ll go to Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Vincent’s, a Restaurant, or the Corner Table. The reason is because the experience is also part of why I enjoy dining out.  As good as the food was at Travail, that  2½ hour experience is not one I’d want to repeat.

According to a website article from Southeast KSTP.com, there’s not a lot of amenities in Minneapolis east of Hiawatha and south of Lake Street.  I’m guessing the writer hasn’t spent much time in this part of town.  From the coordinates of the soon-to-be-opened Turtle Bread outpost, they didn’t realize that West River Road is only about 8 blocks east with walking and bike paths and Minnehaha Park just to the south.  Then there is one of the best movie theaters in town, the Riverview Theater, with the BEST popcorn, possibly the result of the real butter that they use (in abundance, depending on whose asking for it).

We also have the Riverview Wine Bar and the Longfellow Grill.  Just across the light rail tracks are Ted Cooks 19th Hole Barbeque, The Cardinal, and the Citizen Café restaurants.  I’m guessing light rail is one of the few amenities of which the author may have thought, since it’s also in this part of town.

Newest Turtle Bread Outpost

As mentioned earlier, the latest arrival in the Longfellow neighborhood will be another Turtle Bread.  The former Pizza Pie & I space at the intersection of 42nd Avenue and 34th Street has a new owner, Harvey McLain.  Walking past the storefront, now on an almost daily basis, the transformation is palpable.  Ripped awnings, gone.  Dingy red brick, gone — now painted a deep chocolate brown and brick details painted creamy white. Leaky roof, gone — replaced with a white roof for more energy efficiency.

While taking a tour of the space with Harvey, he pointed out that they will keep as much of the exposed brick and concrete inside the restaurant as possible, depending on its structural integrity.  The space is actually quite large with three distinct dining rooms.  The current plan is to also have the kitchen remain in the back and hopefully salvage the old pizza oven to fire up again.  He also mentioned that they have hired a chef, but I’ll let him make the announcement.  He’s got a delightful menu planned for the new space that will include burgers and will also venture into more substantial cuisine as well.  It will be a great addition to the neighborhood.

Friends arrived first and waved us down street-side, otherwise we would have driven right past our destination, the Bangkok Thai Deli.  This delightful little hole in the wall at 315 University Avenue West, Saint Paul MN, is a restaurant that is attached to a small grocery store.  Walking through the store, we made our way to a brightly light room with various sized tables and booths.  The four of us first sat at a booth, but were coaxed to move to a much larger table to handle all the anticipated plates that we were about to order.

A friendly waiter with a great sense of humor took our order and within what seemed like minutes, started bringing out the plates one after the other.  I thought to myself, “Did we really order all this food?  Who ordered all this food?  Oh wait, we did.”

First to come out was an order of piping hot egg rolls stuffed with sliver thread noodles, onions, carrots, cabbage, ground pork and ground chicken $3.  On its heels was the Hoi Jor, a combination of scallops, shrimp and pork, ground and formed into a pillow/fritter, lightly breaded and deep fried $7.

Shortly after the appetizers came the Bangkok Thai fried rice with pineapple and chicken $7, Shrimp Pad-Thai $9 a Green Curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, green curry paste, eggplant, sweet basil and beef $8 and the Papaya Salad $7.  I’m no wimp when it comes to heat, but wowzer, even the medium heat broke me out in a sweat!  However, me sweating should not come to a surprise of anyone.

After passing around the platters, probably one too many times, we all decided enough was enough and to go boxes were packed up with what would fit.  Before heading out though, Carolyn produced a little box of goodies.  Either the restaurant didn’t mind or we didn’t tell them, but four cupcakes emerged from Sweet Bakeshop.  They were a Tiramisu, Snowball, (i.e., coconut), Triple Chocolate, and Peanut Butter cup each sitting in their own little collar under the lid.  Candles were lit and Happy Birthday was sung, in harmony no less.  Each was somehow divided into threes and fours depending on who wanted to taste which flavor, with the Birthday girl choosing first of course.  Unfortunately, the little cakes were not quite as good tasting as they were good looking.  There are always more flavors though from which to choose at Sweet Bakeshop, 2042 Marshall Avenue, Saint Paul.

A visit to The Strip Club, Meat & Fish has been way overdue. We finally got our act together and headed over to East Saint Paul on a glorious, chilly Thursday evening to celebrate a birthday and finally check out JD’s place.  Large glass and wooden doors reveal a cozy, inviting space with high ceilings, black wooden tables, and a commanding bar taking center stage.  After a little hiccup about the reservations, we were seated at a comfortable table for four.

The dinner menu is divided into starters, small plates, sandwiches, and meat & fish.  With cocktails in hand, we perused the menu, one large enough to satisfy a variety of tastes.  And though the small print at the bottom states, “Vegetarians regarded with benevolent amusement,” the kitchen will accommodate a veggie palate.

I was eying the Caesar salad (with anchovies actually part of the description, no less), but I passed it up as the table was drooling over the array of small plates.  We ended up ordering Pommes ‘Freebase’ (French fries with Big Country cheddar sauce and chorizo) $9, Fried Oysters with parsley, capers and chili aioli $6.75, and The Devil’s Eggs with chili oil and curry $4.50.  All were delicious, but my favorite were the bivalves with their crunchy exterior and briny, tender centers, perfectly cooked, tasting of the sea and spiced with the aioli.

Though we could have enjoyed several more small plates, including Christian’s foie gras from Au Bon Canard, we opted to continue on with some meat and fish.  Two grilled New York Strips $32 were ordered with a couple of sauce accompaniments:  “Le Moulin Rouge,” Criminis in red wine rosemary sauce $6 and the “Bleu Movie,” a Northern Lights bleu and scallions $5.  Jon enjoyed the Fish du Jour (Market Price), which on this night was a seared halibut.  I, on the other hand, salivated on each bite of fork tender pork belly served over toasted cornbread, roasted Brussels sprouts, and chilies with a cherry/bacon BBQ sauce $22.  The sauce soaked the cornbread croutons ever so slightly and its sweetness cut the pungent sprouts to perfection.  It all came together beautifully and paired quite nicely with my glass of Tempranillo $6.

It didn’t take too much arm twisting to convince us that ordering the three desserts was a must.  They included a Lemon Panna Cotta with blackberries and fennel sauce, a melt-in-your-mouth rustic apple Crostata and a luscious, creamy Chocolate Tart with a sablé crust.  Other details about the desserts are a blur and asking for the details from my dining companions didn’t help either.  They were so good that we devoured them all in short order with nary a picture taken of any of them.  Not only the desserts, but the entire meal warrants a return visit in the not to distant future. The Strip Club, Meat & Fish is located at 378 Maria Avenue, Saint Paul MN.

Recently, three friends and I met at Piccolo, Doug Flicker’s new baby.  Or rather ,I suppose, his toddler in restaurant years, as it has now been open for several months at 43rd and Bryant, Minneapolis.  I’d heard mixed reviews, including one example where someone had an $8 meatball as part of their recent dinner.  Really, could that be true, I asked myself?

Then I started doing the math, dividing the cost of other multi-course meals I’ve enjoyed and an $8 meatball could be on par.  However, it better be an out-of-this-world sphere of ground beef!  From Flicker’s days at Auriga, I knew he and his team put out some fantastic food there, so I was eager to check it out his new place for myself and at the same time reminisce with my dining companions about our recent trip to France.

Kevin arrived first and, unbeknownst to me, was the only one that had been to Piccolo prior to our evening together.  He conveyed to us at the table that while he was waiting for us to arrive, he was chatting with the waitperson.  He asked if it would be possible to add one extra bite to the portions as four would be dining this evening.  He had enjoyed dinner before with 2 other friends and the portions were perfect for three.  We weren’t expecting something for nothing, he said.  However “out of the question” was the response given to him.  “Portions are not meant to be shared.”  Well, okay then!

Reflecting on it further, I would have never dreamed of asking any of the restaurants in France to accommodate such a request, so why would we expect it here?  The difference is that in France, it is drilled into your head that there are no substitutions and no changes to the menu. Here in States, we get what we want, when we want it, right?  I’m not inferring that this is a good philosophy and kudos for Flicker for sticking to his guns.  As so often is the case in a conversation, the delivery is paramount.  It wasn’t what the waiter said, it was how he said it.

As we were escorted to our table, it wasn’t until we marched through the kitchen that I realized there was a back dining room. That wasn’t an issue for me because: 1) you get to see how clean the kitchen is and 2) you might actually have the opportunity to say hello to the chef as you pass through on the way to your table.

Once seated, we began perusing the menu and the two wine lists.  I’m still not sure why there were two lists ,though from what I could tell, one had exorbitant and the other affordable prices.  In the end, we chose a Burgundian red from the affordable list.  Of the 17 choices on the menu we decided on 12, though we knew the upcoming portion sizes.  Reluctantly we decided to share each, as there were so many that looked tantalizingly delicious.

The first four plates to arrive included Spanish mojama with fried artichokes, radishes, black olive puree and arugula $10

Avocado with asparagus, cucumbers, hen of the wood mushrooms and pickled sunchokes $9

Roasted beets with strawberries, tomato washed pecorino and olive oil jelly $9

Bone marrow gnocchi with veal heart, Italian parsley puree and bread crumbs $11

Next were Ocean trout with English shell peas, sea beans and king crab stuffed pasta $12

Seared tuna with salt packed anchovies, Swiss chard, black olive puree and onion “tart tartin” $14

Berkshire pork jowls with plum confit, asparagus, green top radishes and whole grain mustard $12

Rabbit loin with pistachios, artichokes, smoked eggplant and bacon aigre doux $13

Callister Farms chicken with golden raisins, smoked bacon, wild mushrooms and purslane $13

Stone Bridge Farms veal with fava beans, potato and miso pave and white shoyu $14

Banana crostada with housemade ricotta and chocolate $7

Coconut cake with white chocolate, bergamot mascarpone and butter almond ice cream $7

We enjoyed a lively conversation about who’s taking French classes where, what was happening in each of our lives this summer, and favorite new restaurants we had tried recently.

What struck us as unnerving though was the attitude of the gentleman serving us at the table.  It was somewhere between arrogance and nonchalance.  Finally after the second round of plates, he decided to change our silverware and offered us new tasting plates.  My sense was that doing that seemed odd to him.  However, had I’d ordered four courses myself; it would have been natural to have new silverware for each course.  I’m not sure if that was an unfounded expectation on our part or not.

As an aside, I had a conversation with another friend who dined there recently and the experience she and her husband had with their wait staff was totally pleasant.  Maybe the poor guy was having a bad day — who knows?  Did it ruin the evening?  No.  The whole experience just made us all a little uncomfortable.  Maybe it was the sharing of each dish that threw him off.

As much as I wanted to taste all of the dishes, if there is a return visit, I’d opt out of sharing .  One bite is not enough to enjoy all the complex flavors on the plate.  I hope that Piccolo succeeds in the neighborhood and that folks will appreciate the craft that it takes to produce wonderful food both for the eyes and palate.  Good customer service takes energy and training as well, so I hope that our experience was just a fluke.

It was a long day at the Twin Cities Food & Wine Experience a couple of weekend ago. By that Sunday afternoon we were dragging our tails, when we happened to meet Nick, the Director of Sales and Marketing  for Seven.  We mentioned that we had never been to Seven before. As an excellent Marketing Director should, he mentioned that there was a $30 All-You-Can-Eat Sushi menu on Sunday evenings.

Knowing full well that there was no way I was going to cook that evening, we called Joe to ask if he wanted to join us somewhere for dinner that evening.  Well, wouldn’t you know, he had a hankering for sushi. We got Nick on the phone who called us back tout de suite with a reservation and a recommendation that Jenny be our server.

We arrived about 7:30 pm and climbed three flights of stairs to the Sushi Ultra-lounge. The décor was stylish, and it wasn’t noisy, other than the person unloading the dishwasher.  Jenny was a blast from her Esquivel glasses to her overwhelming enthusiasm about everything — including her Hello Kitty card holder.  And, her service was superb!

While perusing the menu, I started with a Pomegranate and Ginger Martini then moved on to a Peach Cosmo. For $30 apiece got ourselves seven large plates of sushi and gorged ourselves silly. But, try as we might, we just couldn’t finish it all. Highly recommended is the Seven roll:   tempura shrimp, cucumber, and tuna with Japanese mayo and unagi sauce.

The only complaint I have would be the music. One could actually hear it, since it was not crowded and/or noisy as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, like so many restaurants, they were playing funk. Maybe its just me, but in this case, Ohio Players and James Brown do not blend well with tai and unagi in my gastronomic opinion. It’s a tiny issue compared to all the positives.

We are actually contemplating calling Nick back to ask for a standing reservation on Sunday evenings — at least once a month.  It’s wonderful sushi, beautiful surroundings and a great value. And, what is also great is the fact that there’s complimentary valet parking.  Seven is located at 700 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis MN.

Of all the places in the world, who would have thought that one could find excellent sushi in Little Rock, Arkansas? To my pleasant surprise that’s just what happened on a recent but unexpected trip to Jon’s home state.

It had been a long week on the road via planes, trains and automobiles; eating way too much junk food. Jane and Michael Stern’s RoadFood.com couldn’t even provide us with relief by recommending any good diners between Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida nor between Little Rock, Arkansas and Shreveport, Louisiana.

Jon’s cousin, Sissy, suggested this place called Sushi Cafe. It not only serves sushi, but rib-eye steaks, rack of lamb, and burgers as well. I was a bit skeptical. We arrived about 8:00 pm and were greeted by a friendly enough fellow, standing outside, who welcomed us in and had a place for us at a booth. We even had a bird’s eye view of the sushi bar.

Given our state of mind, we immediately asked if the bartender knew how to make a Side Car. He had never heard of such a drink, but was willing to give it a shot as he had all the ingredients; Grand Marnier, Courvoisier, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and sugar (for the rim). Giving him the recipe, we sent him off to attempt this classic libation. Our attentive server came back moments later with a respectable rendition. It was tasty enough that I suggested that it should be added to their cocktail menu.

While we were enjoying our drinks and pondering the menu, we noticed a beautiful plate of food at the sushi bar. Our inquiry confirmed that the vision we had was indeed Tuna Tartare, or as the menu stated, Hawaiian Fusion Big Eye Tuna Tartare, $13. It looked too gorgeous not to order, so we did just that! Plus since I am teaching a Sake Pairing class coming up at the end of the month at Cooks of Crocus Hill, and one of the recipes will be a Tuna Tartare Napoleon, it was research.

Arriving at our table it was a beautiful sight to behold: exquisite in color and texture. However, with three of us having forks, it was devoured in short order. “Wait, wait, what was the sauce again?” I asked. Oh nertz, too late!

We are also suckers for soybeans; this time it was an order of Spicy Edamame, $5 with soy ginger, hot sauce and chili flakes. They were a spicy treat and another recipe I may have to add to my sake class.

The website of the Sushi Cafe touts over 180 menu creations and I believe it, reading over their extensive menu. We ended up ordering a variety of specialty maki rolls; including a Rainbow (California topped with tuna, salmon, snapper, and yellowtail), a Blue Dragon (coconut shrimp, cabstick, cream cheese, kiwi on top with a sweet chili vinaigrette), Kamikaze Roll (grilled eel, crabstick) and a Cowboy (mango, New York Strip). If the Kamikaze and Cowboy roll seem a little, sparse — it’s because I lost the maki menu and these two rolls are not on their website. I did email the cafe asking for the ingredient list, but never heard from them… sorry!

Anyway, my question is why did the tuna, salmon, snapper, etc., taste so good? It doesn’t seem possible that getting those fish in Little Rock can be any faster than getting them in Minneapolis. Regardless, every morsel was delicious and a welcome respite from funeral hot casserole (hot dish here in the north country). So if you ever find yourself in Little Rock, Arkansas and need your sushi fix, be sure to check out the Sushi Cafe. It Rocks! Sushi Cafe, 823 Kavanaugh Blvd, Little Rock, AR, 72207. (501.663.9888).