8th- pizza n pasta, shakopee
10th- samba taste of brazil, hopkins
15th- restaurant alma, minneapolis
25th- subo, minneapolis
26th- panino brothers, apple valley

8th- pizza n pasta, shakopee (b-)

normally i'd do something else for dinner (like bring my own, especially since it seems i just had this) but since i was called in as a last minute thing to work and others were in the dinnerless situation i was, we ended up getting the 18" pizza and splitting it. i had part of the veggie pleaser ("mushrooms, green & black olives, onions, green peppers, topped with cheddar cheese") half. the other was the hawaiian pleaser ("pepperoni, canadian bacon, pineapple & extra cheese").

with discount, it was half off $20.29 plus tax- not a bad deal for dinner for four. and they deliver. it still was pretty good. not great, but adequate. i think it works better in a smaller size and when warmer, but hey, sometimes convenience is king. and for pizza (and for the area), it's far from the worst option.

neither here nor there... after last month it feels odd that i haven't eated out in over a week. it was deliberate, but still...

10th- samba taste of brazil, hopkins (b-)

this is where gusto cafe and wine bar used to be. they have brightened it up some (brighter paint and more lights, perhaps) and have soft brazilian music playing in the background, and have a mostly brazilian menu.

my dish- the bacalhau ("shredded cod fish sautéed with onions, served with mashed potatoes," $15.95) was a bit unbalanced as a plate, as two-thirds of the plate was starches (note plural). i was quite surprised when my plate was put down and there was a large pile of rice on in. i don't recall that being listed on the menu in the description for the dish or as a general entree bonus, it for sure isn't in the online menu.

not that it was bad, but it should've been either all rice or all potatoes. well, all rice as it was better than the potatoes, which served mainly as a background note for the fish and onions. the cod and onions were quite tasty together, but it also could've used an acid note, for my taste. for the price of the dish there wasn't a lot of cod.

my dining companion went with the churrasco ("barbecued top sirloin, pork and sausages, served with rice, farofa, beans & vinaigrette," $18.95- farofa is a ground, toasted manioc root). perhaps the closest thing you could get to the meat parade at the only other brazilian sort of restaurant i recall going to. they pronounced it good. the farofa was nice mixed in with the rice and added an interesting texture/flavor when served with the rest of the items there. this one was worth the price for sure.

service was ok- the only problems being it was hard to hear the server as the place got busier. the water refill rate was acceptable, as was wait time. all in all it was decent enough but i wouldn't pay that much money again for what was mostly onion, rice and potatoes (with a bit of cod). and their menu features a lot of things i can't or don't eat (plus the italian items they have on the menu... perhaps for the previous crowd). so i wouldn't avoid it, but i'm not beelining there any time soon.

like gusto, the place does bring something different to the area, and there's not so many authentically brazilian places to eat in the cities and it's good that a locally-owned place opened up there. the store part of the place moved from minnetonka (i think it was) off shady oak. i should've taken a better look at those. anyway, it'll be interesting to see how it fares in the future.

15th- restaurant alma, minneapolis (a+)

i do realize it was a long weekend stayaction, but i was putting too much 'stay' into it. being that i think i have been at home for many many years (well, at least since some time on saturday), i decided if i made myself restaurant reservations i would get out of the house, fighting the powerful force of intertia. and where better than alma, a place that i mean to get to a lot more than i actually do? and it was so very very worth it.

after getting a glass of the moscato d'asti (forgot what kind, $11) i opted for the three course tasting menu for $45. some of the items were retooled items that i had in the past, and i only opted for one sort of repeat. i will throw in the prices of the items as listed on the menu if you don't wish to go the prix fixe route.

to start i had a taste of the some squid and chickpea salad with black kale, and sofrito (and a bit of uneaten spanish chorizo) which as far as i can tell was for solo diners only (all the single diners, all the single diners...)- i didn't see anyone else get that particular thing sent out ($11 if you get the full portion). the squid done by someone who knew what they were doing (read: not chewy).

and i'm just going to say this once, but it goes for every dish today- someone thought a lot about how these flavors went together. because as good as everything was by itself, the more elements you could fit on the fork at once, the better the dishes were.

the repeat dish of a sort that i got was the warm corn crepe with spicy chard, guajillo sauce, sour cream ($10). either the chard was less bitter than i had last time, my palate has changed, or with the exclusion of potato and pickled onion it all worked for me. perhaps because the crepe was less sweet, too, and didn't compete against the bitter.

and next i had one of those dishes that if someone tried to taste, i would seriously consider stabbing them with a fork so i could eat it all by myself. and not share. and since most of the things on that list contain foie gras, that's a high compliment indeed. and now i also have something (at least for now) that is a tiny bit of truffle butter away from being as good as the d'amico cucina take on it... the egg and ricotta raviolo with braised leeks, brown butter, fresh herbs ($13) was beautiful. smelled good, tasted better, the yolk has a perfect ooze rate.... and they make the ricotta in house.

it was so rich and lovely, if you aren't that hungry i'd recommend getting a salad and this, along with some of their tasty warm bread (white and a multigrain), maybe a bit of cheese of the dessert menu, and calling it a night. i used the bread to pretty much wipe every single plate extremely clean.

and as resonably sized the breast of pheasant with the legs done in smoked confit and mixed with lentils along with yet more of the swiss chard, sauteed in this case ($28) was, it took me a while to finish it after the rich ravioli. this dish i think benefitted the most from the mixing of flavors and ended up as a pretty top notch winter entree. proving you can still be local, organic, etc. in winter and still be viable and top drawer.

the last bits of dinner were a very freshing tiny scoop of lemon-thyme sorbet served with a wee little spoon, and a house-made caramel with the check.

perfect team effort in service, down to someone who was not my main server noticing my table was a bit wobbly as they passed by and going ahead and fixing it. so i'm saying... water never empty, i didn't have to ask for more bread, they asked me, they checked in with every course, the table was cleared quickly but not too quickly.

so if i were you i'd go soon, while they still have that ravoilio on the menu. well, you can go after too, but you probably want to try that.

25th- subo, minneapolis (d)

the place, with the addition of the bar and some paint and fixtures, looks not much like it did when it was hell's kitchen. but it's interesting to look at. which is probably one of the few nice things i can say about it after this visit.

this place doesn't really think about the details. and that pretty much made it so i won't be back. first off, they had a group event in the back, making the bar more crowded than usual. did they staff up even though they knew the group would be there? not at all. this made my wait for a beverage order during happy hour 25 minutes. you'd think it would be in the best interest of the place to make sure everyone has a drink and food quickly, so they may order more during happy hour.

i got the cocktail of the day ($3 at happy hour), having had a sip of someone else's at some point during that time. theirs had an intersting note of chili that kind of lingered. my drink was not as complex, it tasted more like a wine cooler. they did have some interesting looking drinks on their regular drink menu, one of them being their take on a kir royale, a subo royale ($8), an attractive drink with 'brut sparkling (wine), soho Liquor, wild hibiscus flowers marinated in lychee syrup and unpasteurized sake.' the flowers float in the drink. way girly and nice.

the happy hour menu was short on options for me (and if you're a vegetarian, i wouldn't go here for happy hour at all). i opted for one chicken skewer ($1.75) that was overcooked (with what appeared to be a bit of chimichurri with it) and edamame ($3) that was... edamame. if something other than salt was used, it didn't stand out a lot. other than the plaintain chips (more on those below), my only other option was a bowl of white rice. what says 'happy hour' more than a bowl of rice? um... almost everything.

there was also some cooling off of the food after it was served, as it took several minutes to get plates, utensils, and napkins over our way. and we had to ask for them. i am guessing that didn't help the chicken any.

the group split a large bowl of the plantain crisps with four sauces- supposedly 'spicy' lemon creme fraiche, curried tomato aioli, salt and vinegar, and sweet chili sauce. lack of detail- the dips for the chips were served in wee bowls that the chips didn't fit in, and there were no utensils served with anything that you could use to get the dips out of narrow bowls. the more liquid ones you could spill on your chips. and the amount, compared with the chips, was negligible. of what we managed to get out, the chili sauce was the best of the lot. the chips weren't that bad either.

at least it took less time for the food to start coming to the table (about 15 minutes) than it did to get the drink order in. and after a long while i did get water refills, but after all the ice melted the water tasted odd. and i can't recall ever noticing water tasting like anything but water, even in nearby restaurants. so... that was weird.

also weird- they charged happy hour prices (as it was happy hour) for everything except my edamame. bad restaurant karma, go.

due to the nature of the event (a going-away happy hour), crap service (f grade to me), and by and large average food (even the people who had the 'pork candy' weren't enthralled with it, but found it pretty good), i'll agree with a friend of mine who said it sounded more like a sad hour than a happy hour.

26th- panino brothers, apple valley (b-)

a few days back, i was thinking that it could be completely brilliant if i could take the truffled poutine from the strip club, add some foie, and make some sort of sandwich out of it on really good bread with a bit of butter on it... thus having all of my favorite foods (cheese, bread, fries, butter, foie...) in one handy package.

apparently someone behind this place had a similar idea and really loves pasta alfredo and bread. here it comes to life in the form of the 'fredo pie' panino, essentially alfredo sauce and noodles, cheese, and your choice of protein (grilled chicken, crab or shrimp) or veg in it ($9.29).

this is one of the two panino (think flatbread sort of a wrap versus a grilled sandwich) we split at this relatively new place, and it was the better of the two. probably because there's few things that aren't improved with even a fair alfredo. to have noodles in the sandwich were a bit odd, but hey, it's unique. i had to try it. it was worth trying once just because of the concept, and i would recommend it to others just because of that.

i will admit i chose the other sandwich because of the name, 'the appolonia.' even though i'm pretty sure ms. kotero had nothing to do with it. especially as it's spelled differently. but still.

the sandwich had a bit too grilled chicken, not quite enough cheese (the menu states swiss and mozzarella as the types), some lettuce, sad winter tomato that should've been left off, and somewhat pointless ranch dressing ($7.49). both this and the fredo would've been better baked a bit more, the flatbread tasted a shade underdone. one or two of the otherwise ok fries ($1.50) were underdone also.

service was not bad, not good. in the tolerable range. the place didn't look much like a hotel restaurant either, and i mean that as a compliment. though it is in a bit of an odd place. and some of the prices for things were high (not so many fries for the price, and a glass of pop was over $2). we forgot the coupons on the web site, though. our bad. and we could've gotten the smaller version for lunch with chips and a pop for somewhere under $8, if i recall the menu correctly.

will i add it to my apple valley rotation? well, maybe i'll give it another try in a few months and see if they've worked a few more kinks out. because it doesn't appear to be a chain, and it wasn't horrible... which is more than i can say for a lot of places out this way.

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