2nd- al vento, minneapolis
11th- mainstreet bar and grill, hopkins
17th- heartland wine bar, st. paul
19th- chimborazo, minneapolis
21st- triple rock, minneapolis
24th- gardens of salonica, minneapolis
26th- galaxie diner, apple valley

2nd- al vento, minneapolis (b)

i find it all kinds of weird that al vento decided to put on their web site (on the 'restaurant team' page) what appears to be a promise if you go to al vento, you're in the perfect restaurant setting and happygoodthings will come to you at all moments, as "... the details deliver the experience."

because even if it does happen most of the time, it's never going to happen all of the time. even to people who, unlike myself, generally do not have bad restaurant karma. because it turns out my greeting was not quite the "genuine smile greet(ing me) at the host stand" and also far from the staff being "not hurried" (taken from the same page).

i waded through a crowd in entryway only to wait 5 minutes at the host stand where i couldn't even get out my question if the rest of my party had arrived yet before 'name?' was barked. after i gave the it the host whipped around and sped through the restaurant not bothering to see if i was keeping up with their fast trot. not quite the "genuine smile greet(ing me) at the host stand" and also far from the staff being "not hurried."

though on most nights for the vast majority of people it's probably does live up to those statements. i'm guessing tonight i wasn't the only one who it didn't. given that tuesdays are their 'date night,' promotion and that it's restaurant week they had to have been tons of reservations on the books. and they should've seen what was coming in terms of crowd and staffed up.

though service was as good as it could be considering the insane amount of tables/people each server had when we got there (even the water service. that was kind of impressive), it obviously can't live up to that claim. but unlike, say, subo (where service was consistently bad and the food i could eat not so exciting), i won't let the less than welcoming greeting mar what's a pretty decent place.

but the crowd is why i've not ever done restaurant week before... along with with my can't/don't eat list as it is, and my dislike of having sweet desserts (present on most prix fixe menus), it's usually not so tempting. but i felt i should try it at least once. you never know, i could be missing some fabulous deals.

this one was better than we thought. instead of the one $30 kind of vague menu listed on the restaurant week web site, they had two- a $20 one of three savory courses with a starter, salad type thing and pasta or pizza and a $30 one of a starter, an entree and a dessert. not sure how the $20 menu varies from the $20 date night three course menu that is currently running on tuesdays, though. maybe it was more focused?

two of us went with the $20 menu, and started with what read 'sicilian stuffed mushrooms with pine nuts and mother sauce' ($7.25 usually). it was just one mushroom, but it was very fresh and tasty and the stuffing combo went well with the red sauce. i'd order it as a stand alone, if you get more than one mushroom for that price. it also seemed like a good pick for the end of winter/beginning of spring. and i did like their 'mother sauce.' a lot of the red sauces run to the sweet side of things, which is not my preferred taste. i like to taste the tomatoes, not the sugar.

since this is not piccolo, i got not the beet salad ("duo roasted beets with frisee balsamic fennel and hazelnuts" normally $7.75) but the "caesar with romaine hearts, parmesan reggiano and crostini (lsited as $7.50). it was also fresh-tasting and... well, fine. not something i'd usually order. but why not. the plating was interesting, at least.

i chose the wrong entree, though. as good as their fresh, house-made pasta ("pappardelle with chicken ragu, tomato and white wine" listed at $14.25) was, it needed something else to lift it to the next level. maybe a shot of parmesan or a bit more acid (though the leftovers improved after a night in the fridge and a reheat). but the pizza option ("neapolitan with basil tomato and fresh mozzarella" menu price $9.50) was way good. mostly due to the lots of creamy fresh cheese, which we thought was buffalo mozzarella, and a nice crisp crust.

we (ok, i) did ask for more bread- it comes as a plate of bite-sized pieces and is served with olive oil. nice for dipping, sure, but i would've liked a few larger pieces for sauce-wiping. a few bits on the second plate were a bit burned and inedible. but the rest was nice and salty in a good way.

so like restaurant club, it ranks as above average for me. this time the others were more of the same opinion. i'm guessing it would live up to their own standards a bit more with a smaller group on a less popular evening.

11th- mainstreet bar and grill, hopkins (b-)

buffalo chicken sandwich with pepper cheese, blue cheese dressing (served on the side)- i left the jalapenos off . it's $7.95 with fries, apparently the onion rings i got with it were a $1.50 upcharge. i do realize there was one, but it would've been nice to be told about it. it also would've been nice to get the pickle i was supposed to, but i coped.

the upcharge was worth it, as the fries are crap (as referenced) and i wanted onion rings today. well, i wanted them yesterday and the day before that too, but this was the first chance i had to have them. well, the first convenient chance. laziness trumps cravings apparently. the rings were above average, they're usually a bit better, but these were fine. and there were rather a lot of them compared with many places with inferior rings... of which there are many. the rings tasted good in the dressing, too. then again, why wouldn't they?

the sandwich was average. it needed something like lettuce and/or salt and it also needed better chicken. and a toastier bun. like i said, average.

service was fine what with refills and such. apparently it was 70s night there, though i am not sure if that mostly applied to the steak dinner special-, and there wasn't the music you expect... it was more 'please release me' than 'disco inferno.' that was kind of amusing.

17th- heartland wine bar, st. paul (a)

it's not that we sought out the opposite of the face of public celebration of st. patrick's day in st. paul, but this is pretty much it... a quiet soundtracked wine bar (lots of luna, for instance) with thoughtful, local, seasonal food. but that's where we ended up.

because i am a very predictable person, you can guess at least some of what i had for dinner here... and even what i drank off the wine list. to start with the ending, it was a glass of the vietti moscato d’asti 2008 ($8) because i am queen of girly drinks, even when it comes to wine.

we started with an amuse bouche of a very spring-like, very weather appropriate pea shoot salad with tomato vinaigrette. i downed the leftover vinaigrette like a shot... no one saw me... i think. but i'd do it again, i would. (see: you can't take me anywhere... heh.) there was something else the salad, too, but it's not on their menu so i can't look it up. even not recalling that, i want more of that salad.

of course with the wine i had the cheese- the sampler is $12 for the three listed cheeses ($6 per cheese if you get one): "milton creamery “prairie rose” cellar-aged iowa amish cow milk cheese," "montchevré “le cabrie” cellar-ripened wisconsin goat milk brie cheese, " and "holland’s family farm “marieke fenugreek gouda” plank-cured wisconsin raw cow milk cheese" with whole grain house-made crackers, ames farm single source honey and rutabaga-tart cherry chutney.

the brie retained more brie characteristics than the other goat bries i've had, but you could still tasted the chevre characteristics, too. the most balanced version of that i've had. not that the others were anything to sneeze at, but i usually will love the cheese that contributes most to a heart attack on any given cheese plate. the honey was nice, the chutney was more cherry, the rutabagas added pretty much texture to it. cheese, it's what's for dinner.

ok, i also had some "tomato-fennel soup with minnesota wheat berries and a whole grain walnut croustade" ($8). i used the croustade for the cheese (along with the crackers and some of the nice multigrain rolls they make there. i am kind of jonesing for tomatoes at this time of year. i would've liked more of that flavor in there and less of the wheat berries. not that there was anything bad about the soup, but still.

my beet-loving dining companion started with the roasted red beets with microgreens, buttermilk blue cheese and iowa prosciutto ham-apple vinaigrette ($10). they are to beets what i am to cheese, pretty much- if it's there, chances are overwhelming that we'll that item in some manner. i had some of the cheese on there- i would've loved a bit of that on the cheese plate too. the buttermilk gave it extra nice notes.

i should've had the "wisconsin parmesan cheese gnocchi with minnesota heirloom tomatoes, shaved fresh fennel and house-cured sheep milk ricotta salata" ($18) for my tomato jones. it tasted more of straight-up tomato (in the bite i had) than the soup did. which makes sense- the bit i got was optimized for cheese and tomato. the gnocchi was tons better than the last time they had here.

service was good, and i think i only needed one water refill which was timely. i hadn't been in the wine bar before. it's an odd space, kind of. i think i like the dining room better, with the more open space, though yeah, it's more formal. i don't think i would've downed the dressing there. though i would've sopped it up with bread. i wasn't going to let that go. the walls in here are also kind of bare in spaces. i think they're waiting for more awards to hang.

19th- chimborazo, minneapolis (b)

after getting a good write up in city pages recently, and being highly recommended by someone who lives in that 'hood, i decided yes, i had to go there. since i had the day off, i met a friend for lunch. it was good we didn't have a tight schedule, as the place was way understaffed for what was apparently a larger than usual lunch crowed- it was just the owner/cook who was also waiting on the tables, and the new-ish kitchen help. we got there at around 11 am and left over an hour and a half later (though admittedly we did have a few courses).

we went for the kind of lunch that makes you not eat dinner, helped by the fact that it appears that equadorian food is on the side of starchy (which is one of my favorite food groups, so hey...). we started with llapingachos, "three potato pancakes stuffed with cheese and onion, (s)erved with egg and peanut sauce" ($5) and patacones, "fried green plantain patties with fresh cheese" ($4).

the llapingachos didn't seem to have a lot of cheese, but were kind of a mellow in a good way starter. the egg provided contrast (it appeared to be someplace between fried and scrambled, so i am guessing the new guy made the dish). the red onion (maybe lightly pickled?) provided a good flavor contrast. the peanut sauce brought it all together. the peanut sauce was also good with the patacones, which had some sort of nacho vibe going on with the cheese and aji criollo (apparently an equadorian sauce with peppers, garlic, onion, cilantro and a few other things). those were more cravable to me.

they had a lunch special of a sandwich and a soup for $7. i'm guessing you could order either sandwich (pork or chicken, both on a grilled hoagie roll with cheese and more of the aji criollo, normally served with fries for the same $7), but the soup you could get from the list of five was the caldo de bagre, "catfish soup with potato, yuca, and plantain in a savory peanut broth.' yes, two sandwich choices only, but five soups. it works for them well.

my friend got the pork sandwich with the fries, i got the chicken with the soup. both sandwiches were very large and very excellent. the fries were not- the new guy made them too large and didn't fry them enough, so they looked good, but weren't cooked in the middle. the very large bowl of soup also had a few things cut too large (like celery), it wasn't under or over done- the fish was tender and flaky, the starches were fork tender but not mushy and there was just enough peanut flavor in the broth to keep it interesting- it was more like a touch of peanut flavor in a stock than a peanut soup, which i had been expecting. seriously good on a cold and windy late-fall sort of weather grey day.

we also split the dessert (the only one on the current menu) of 'higos con queso,' figs, probably canned, in a very sweet syrup with cheese that was salty. i liked the contrast of flavor, though there was a tad too much syrup. others would probably be better off with an ice cream smoothie.

the owner was very apologetic several times about the service- he took both the sandwich and dessert off the bill over our objections (we left a tip large enough to cover the regular tip and an item or so). i won't put this down to bad restaurant karma, and slower service is easier to understand when it's more or less a newer one or two person local operation that had a few more people at lunch than they usually do. though if we would've had things to do after this, i think we would've gotten just an entree and not chatted a bit about the menu and such before we ordered and been out of there way sooner.

the place is very clean, though sparse- just some textile prints on the wall, mostly, and smells wonderful due to the openish kitchen. though i'd avoid the restrooms if it's cold outside.

my friend requested a menu, as she wanted to show people what they had before she brought them there- the owner hasn't had time to post it on their facebook page or anything apparently. they loved the place. i quite liked it- it has much to recommend to it. though i am not sure if i'd go there for a quick lunch, there are more things on the menu it'd be nice to try. we were told that on friday and saturday nights the place is packed, you may wish to call ahead or get stuff to go.

21st- triple rock, minneapolis (c)

ok, this was kind of doomed from the outset. i was trying to refer to it as early lunch, but my friend called it breakfast, so... bad restaurant karma was bound to happen in some respect, as breakfast is the second unluckiest time i go to eat, brunch being the first. but this was early lunch! i said it was! no fair. but is bad restaurant karma ever fair?

anyway, at least it didn't involve the food. my 'mother trucker' breakfast, mostly- three eggs with homefries done up with cheese and veggies, plus 'delicious' toast ($7.75). the eggs were not the over easy i requested really, just a tad runny. and the toast was fine, but not delicious. though points for the cherry and blackberry jam selection. i can see where this would be killer hangover food. there was rather a lot of it, too. a little underseasoned, but there was salt and/or ketsup and hot sauce on the table to spice it up.

the kaluha pancake ($2.50 for one) was very very good indeed. if you end up here, that would be worthy. the home fries with bacon ($5.25) were underseasoned by far when naked. just kind of blah. coffee's $1.75, by the way. the pop's $1.25. cranberry juice was $2.

i would've liked to see a few things from the nonbreakfast menu listed by that time of day (it was after 11 am), but i think they just run that one until mid-afternoon or so. and i'm not sure that daylight improves the charm of this place any (and the restroom will never have any, 'cause it is a music club, and grotty restrooms are part of the myth or whatever).

and you get to look at a lot of it, as it took a hell of a long time to get the food... almost as long as it took for all three courses at chimborazo. and this food was way less complicated. and not a lot of orders were flowing in at the time. under different circumstances i would've left. the service was... well, one person was great, the other two were kind of confused... as in first the two of us had one menu. then someone brought us two more. we were brought silverware twice, and water glasses twice, that kind of thing.

would i go here again to eat? maybe before a show, but i wouldn't go out of my way. though i'm guessing some of you would enjoy free bacon night, and it may be less crowded and take less time for dinner versus earlier in the day on a weekend.

24th- gardens of salonica, minneapolis (b)

almost the same as it ever was... one more starting with the trio from the combo plate app selection ($8.95 for reduced portions). and two of the three were the same... so hey, i can cut and paste from myself for a bit tyro ("feta blended with greek olive oil, roasted red peppers, hot peppers, garlic, seasonings," $4.95) and the anginares ("artichoke hearts in greek olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, garlic, seasonings" $4.95). this time the third choice was different, the tarama ("caviar mousse with greek olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, onion" $4.50).

it was all pretty good, though the feta seemed to be missing the zing- i didn't sense any hot peppers or 'seasonings' and anything more than a hint of garlic. it tasted like smooth feta with some roasted red pepper. which is not a bad thing, but it didn't live up to the menu description. that seem to happen a lot here- the menu descriptions look very nice, but the food didn't seem to be as great as it sounded.

like the small platter we got (don't look at the prices on the online menu, by the way... they have it listed at $15.75 and it's around $20.95, which means they haven't updated their menu in... how many months/years? hate that....). you pick two of the meats from a list (gyros, pork skewer, lamb skewer, chicken breast, soutzoukakia, which i think can be either sausage or meatballs) and an entree. we got the chicken skewer, gyros, and went with the plaki "baked cod in greek olive oil, wine, tomato, onion, parsley, and garlic" ($12.95 for an entree with soup or salad). as with the rest, you also get some pita, and some tzatziki with it

the chicken was about as last time... but warm with some onions and tomatoes. average, needed more seasoning. the tzatziki helped. when mom asked for something else for sauce, there were no non-dairy options, so the gyros weren't all that interesting less tough than last time. the cod was underseasoned quite a lot and overcooked just a bit.

we had a $25 off $35 from restaurant.com, and that still wasn't enough food (and i was on too many allergy meds to get some girly wine), so we opted for two desserts, baklava and what worked out to be brandied dark chocolate hazelnut truffles, whatever they were called on the menu ($3.25). the baklava had a bit of a strange texture- it's usually sticky, here it was very brittle and fell apart and most strangely it didn't taste like honey. also it seemed reheated in the microwave, and maybe that was the texture problem. the truffles i didn't taste.

service was ambivalent. it wasn't great, wasn't bad, just... there. it seems that it was a bit better than the restaurant club outing, but not by much. mom thought it was better than she thought it would be, but again, not as great as the menu makes it seem.

oh, and they also really need to get some sort of curtains or shades, as at times of the day about half the restaurant can be blinded. that's not pretty.

26th- galaxie diner, apple valley (c)

another newer apple valley restaurant (this one in the location of the odd christian sandwich shop and then something else soon after that) that isn't a chain. after eating there, i was reminded of last month's place... i am not sure if it will make it in to the regular apple valley rotation (aka satay 2 go and taste of thaiyai as the main ones, and el azteca as a sometimes alternate with whatever crops up new and nonchain in the area), as it was just kind of ok in places.

i wasn't overly impressed with the food (at least last month the idea of the fettucini alfredo sandwich was awesome). but it wasn't bad enough to not maybe try again, given the paucity of actually good places in the area. i think that if i ordered right, i think things here would be better (though i can't be sure). i just have to figure out what 'right' is. so maybe that's why i am willing to give it another shot.

ordering the cheese curds was a good idea in theory. and maybe given another minute or so in the fryer it would've been a better idea in reality. a bit underdone, but they didn't have that frozen mass market taste about them. they needed salt, too, and/or ketsup. but the tiny amount you get for $5.95 wasn't worth the price at all.

as i was oddly craving fried chicken, i got the dinner version ($8.99). you get 4 pieces- wing, thight, breast, leg (there was enough left over to take home). the coating was crispy and the chicken on the juicy side of things- the texture notes were there, but it needed seasoning, especially in the coating. the fries were a bit odd (you could also choose mashed potatoes) in that they were crispy but i didn't pick up a lot of potato notes in them. the homemade coleslaw, yes, needed seasoning. they forgot the dinner roll that was supposed to come with it and gave me a slice of baguette that had sat out to long in that the cut side was stale. points off.

the person i ate with enjoyed what they could eat of the really big 'rodeo omelet' ("a three egg omelet filled with hash browns, sausage and cheddar cheese topped with salsa and sour cream" $7.99). they also liked that rye toast was an option, though the bread was supermarket quality versus bakery.

pop was listed at $1.99, but was left off our bill due to the wait to order. a nice gesture. since it wasn't necessarily bad service that made us wait but what appeared to be understaffing, i'll let it slide, kind of, a bit (but keep it in mind in case it happens again). service was generally kind of semi-classic diner (hon, sweetie, that kind of thing), but we appeared to have the more seasoned of the two servers.

the decor was also semi-classic diner- they worked with what was basically the same flooring, bar set up, pastry case, and such, tables and chairs (more modern styles) and tossed some old rock and roll stuff on the wall. it kind of works, though. and they kept the television on, but now it's on the food network vs. anything that calls itself fair and balanced, which is a plus. so far it's tolerable, i guess.

 

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