3rd- heartland restaurant and farm market direct, st. paul
11th- depot tavern, minneapolis
12th- happy's drive-in, onamia
13th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis
22nd- lone spur, minnetonka
28th- wampach's, shakopee

3rd- heartland restaurant and farm market direct, st. paul (b for the food that i tried, c-ish service for what it could/should be, see below for intangibles)

based on this one visit to heartland etc.'s new digs i don't think i would throw heartland (the deluxe version) on my list of my favorite restaurants in the area.

part of it is me... i would rather eat in smaller, more intimate venue (like they used to be) than a cavernous space. though the new space retains some of elements as the old- dark wood and colors and the artwork. but the larger, taller size to me it feels more impersonal and less welcoming. the now-ubiquitous shea designed restaurant doesn't read as what i think of as 'heartland.' it reads... 'yet another shea designed upscale restaurant.' i did like the interior a better when we got there and there was natural light in it versus the restaurant lights, but not much. and the high ceilings with no sound-dampening makes it very loud and the room is filled with too much distraction for my taste.

part of it is them... some of the glitches could perhaps be put to the 'new' place, as they had to staff up for it. things like slow water refills at the beginning and end of dinner- i sat with a empty glass for a while a few times even after warning them about my mass consumption of water. others, not so much, including what looked to be a throwing staff at a local celeb/part time food blogger in the house that evening, which resulted in a very very very long wait for desserts (two off a the preset menus and one ordered at the beginning of the meal, so it wasn't like they didn't know they were coming). plus some of the food was not quite right. and it wasn't just mine.

the person who ordered the flora menu liked her starter salad with beets and her main course of a surprisingly light and fresh barley risotto with wild mushrooms and sweet corn-mushroom broth, but the dessert, a passion fruit/apricot mousse with a pumpkinseed cake, red fruit jam, maple sabayon was described as tasting overly sweet and also like one of the apple pies at mc donald's. i agree on both counts. i do wonder if the 'red fruit' was apple. someone else's duck breast with summer squash ribbons and sweet onion-apple soubise ($30) ran a bit sweet with the accompaniments also.

the rush river beer broth soup with "smoked chicken, sweet corn, russet potatoes, aromatics" ($12) was a perfectly fine soup, but nothing in it read "$12 bowl of soup." perhaps an $8 bowl of soup, maybe. but no one couldn't see what justified the higher pricetag on that soup, especially when compared to dishes at a similar price point like...

my starter course, a juniper scented duck liver-plum mousse. i think i saw some eye-rolling pleasure when others at the table tasted it. i couldn't really smell the juniper (or much of anything, hello fall allergies...) or taste the plum, but that mattered not at all to me. everything from the plating (a three- dish on a platter plating that was eye-catching) to the texutre- satiny-smooth and the flavor was plate-wipingly good.

the red onion jam needed to be chopped a bit finer- it was difficult use to top the mousse. and the three generous quenelles of mousse didn't fit on the few bits of the interesting walnut-pumpkin steamed bread ($12). i used the sourdough rolls for about half of it. (still the same hard crust on those, by the way... and i liked the sourdough better than the flax on offer). the mousse went much better than i had anticipated with the moscado d'asti glass ($8) that i had with it. ironically i hadn't looked at my previous dinner before we went this time- i got a similar dish back in june and enjoyed it then too.

oh, they still serve an amuse bouche. it was some sort of veg puree with rosemary herb stuff under it and a cracker. stew and peas were involved somehow also, but i think no one at the table caught the ingredients in this one. it was very herby though, in a 'i wonder if i have green flecks in my teeth' sort of way.

back to my diner.. the main was a duck breast prosciutto with 'cumberland sauce' (which apparently is a fruit-based sauce for non-white meats, though most recipes list it as a sauce made of jelly... and yes, i had to look this up) and red amaranth sprouts ($14) off the small plates menu. it did at first glace seem kind of spendy for the price as you don't get a lot of it. but the time involved to make the prosciutto, if it's anything like the real thing, can be factored in to justify the price. so it was intereting to taste once and it was... well, nice.

dessert was the midwest artisan cheese sampler ($14) with fruit chutney, honey and whole wheat crackers that i split with someone. now we're back into problem territory. besides the way too freaking long wait for dessert, mentioned above, they did a hit and run with the dessert plates, so no one has anything but guesses as to what cheese were on the plate. one was brie-ish, one seemed like an aged gouda, one was... none of the above, nor was that one blue. the crackers were the wrong vehicle for this- not neutral enough, they were too sweet and too delicate (and not plentiful enough) and were competing with some of the cheeses for top billing in the show. there was no good point to inquire about the cheeses after that.

ending with a wait, anonymous cheese, an apple-free apple pie tasting dessert and then tacking on a mandatory 18% tip for a party of six when not listed on your menu or web site was not the best close to a meal ever. then again, before we even came here, there was communication with the restaurant that essentially wasted a bunch of time that could've been avoided if only they had the relevant info on their web site.

we were a bit surprised that the chef, who was in and out of the dining room about half a dozen times during our long dinner, didn't stop to say hi to the person who was a semi-regular at the old place...

would none of this this have happened at the other version of heartland? je ne sais pas. but if (and it is an 'if' for what's stated above- plus it's now also farther away) i eat there i would try the bar (in the atrium area, but with a lower ceiling and fewer chairs) before venturing into that dining room again. or see if i can get that mousse to go (when the market opens on the 9th).

my visceral feeling is that i just... don't want to be in that dining room. something about it makes me anxious. i didn't want to base any part of my grade on that as i'm pretty sure i'm in the minority on that point and it's a bit hard to calculate that factor in at any rate. others though the new digs makes you feel that you can't wander in casually in any respect at least but generally liked or loved the food (the males in the group loved the food more than the women... they had more meat. make what you will of that).

11th- depot tavern, minneapolis (b)

well, who the hell knew this place would be some pretty solid bar food and surprisingly good service (for the most part)? given ave's history of scary food (i never ever ever ate there) it could've gone the other way easily.

we ended up here for an early dinner, and it was still happy hour (yes, even on a saturday) so there were various drink specials. i started out with a rum drink ($6/$3 for the happy hour) that i just asked for something girly, and was quite happy with the results (rum, pineapple juice, something else i can't remember, and of course a cherry).

the 'small bites' were also half priced during happy hour, so we split a bunch of these for dinner. since it's been several days since the state fair has ended, we had to get a few fried things- in this case the small bites sampler, where you pick three items from a specific list and get half the usual portion ($12/$6 happy hour- the full portion price from their online menu is listed below, along with happy hour price, but the menu we saw varies from the online version). a great deal for the price, which did incread the happiness of said hour.

the jamacian jerk wings ($9.50/$4.75 happy hour) were tender, and the flavor was sweet and complex, but i would've liked it a bit more hot, it was more of a minnesota medium (read: mild in not the midwest). the blue cheese dressing with it didn't try hard enough to be blue cheese, it leaned towards ranch. you get 5 wings on the sampler platter- ignore the dressing, eat the wings unadorned.

moshe's triple-cooked fries were above average, i'd give them about a b on the fry scale ($4.95/$2.50 happy hour) which is pretty high for a medium-thick fry. usually the thinner pomme-frite type or steak fries with that tend to fare better in the fry grading- easier to keep the inside tender and outside crisp with those, the triple-cooking helped a lot with that. we got no sauces that come with the usual portion in the platter, i would've liked to try them. but they were served hot, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. the triple cooking pays off. i would've liked a bit more salt, so they were probably dead on for most people.

the cayenne cheese curds ($5.95/$3 happy hour) were also not so spicy. and though better than twins game ones (avoid those for sure), they were missing more than a hint of seasoning (salt along with enough of the cayenne) and flavor- it was mostly all about the crispy texture. plus the cheese inside also needed to be melted inside for these to be better.

the herbed cheese/pesto torta with sliced bread ($7/$3.50 happy hour) was decent, but it tasted oddly like cucumber though i had none in it that i can remember. just saying... mine was better. it seems out of place on the menu, kind of. it's a bit more high concept, as it were, than most of their dishes. like more than a few other things, they had a light hand with seasoning.

the guinness cheese soup with smoked cheddar and chive croutons ($4.95/$2.50 happy hour) was the highlight. my friend who claims they hate soup (yet always seems to order and love it while i'm in proximity, odd, that) loved it. i loved it- it wasn't the thick sort of beer cheese soup you usually see, it was more... delicate, oddly. lighter, even. and tasty- a perfect balance of smoked cheddar and spice. the one dish they did really, really right. it would kick ass in winter.

my friend ordered a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie for dessert ($1 for one, or 6 for $5). when they accidentally gave her a peanut butter one. she then got two more white chocolate macadamia ones (and got to keep the peanut butter one). she was charged for just one though. thoughtful of them. oh, they bake the cookies when you order them- not microwave- bake. freshness is important.

also thoughtful- when i asked my friend to brave the smokers outside to top up the meter, a staff member overheard me and offered to go do it. that wasn't even our server. for that i'll forgive the slowdown in water service when the place filled up.

oh, and you can get ave tickets here, too with no service charges. plus you get $1 off something at the depot for each ticket you buy, so your $25 ticket would actually cost you just $25 instead of $40 or so. and i was handed free tickets to another show, too.

decor-wise, it needed more rock and roll in it, but otherwise reminded me of eating in the minneapolis brasa (open front end and all) but shadier and more downtown.

12th- happy's drive-in, onamia (b)

since mom wanted to try out for wheel of fortune, we were at the casino up nord dere dontcha know in onamia. since the casino doesn't care if i can breathe (and i even asked a guard person if i could wait out of the line of the smoke that causes me to not breathe and was told no), i really wasn't giving them any money for lunch, so we went on down the road a bit.

mom got a sloppy jo basket with large fries, pickle spear and medium pop with one and only one refill ($6.99 or so- i lack a receipt so can only rely on memory for pricing). it was fine enough, lots of fresh fries that were kind of ok but they were super pale and not quite seasoned enough. mom liked the sandwich. like most things, we think the 'jo' mix seemed house-made and not sysco trucked in.

which i resulted in a very tasty mac and cheese bites (the 6 piece was around $2.49). like fries should be, these were crisp outside and tender (and creamy) inside, and the mac wasn't all one piece, which leads me to believe they did it there and not worked from frozen product.

also tasty was the envied by other patrons bread bowl part of the of real wild rice chicken soup ($4.99). the soup was ok, on the bland side, but used real wild rice and real chicken. the bowl was really really good- not just the usual white bread, but one made with herbs and seasoning (that's where it all went?). a mad tasty bowl, that.

for a change, i got dessert- a soft-serve kid's cone, dipped ($1.39). you can get vanilla &/or chocolate ice cream dipped in chocolate or cherry coating. they did fill from the bottom of the cone upwards, which not everyone does, points for that. not the best soft serve ever, but it was worth it.

i half-wonder if they built from scratch or retrofit someplace else- it's a bit oddly arranged with a front room where you order at the counter (they bring the food out) and a few tables, plus a hard ice cream counter (the soft serve is at the main counter), a back room with more tables, and an inside playroom in a glassed-in area next to that. and since it is counter service, there's no comment on refills other than the only one free policy is frowned upon by me (i got water. so there?)

13th- vincent a restaurant, minneapolis (b+)

can't recall the last time i was in the dining room here... and can't recall the last time i didn't order the pommes frites. and yes, i am too lazy to look it up. but with getting an almost two for one certificate here i thought... why not the dining room? (thought too bad we couldn't use both certificates at once.)

i was a bit bummed that i missed out (maybe for the first year since 2004) on the sweet corn veloute (interesting that it used to be done in may and now it's a fall dish only- see how quickly seasonal food was adopted there?). i coped with the 'porcini infused button mushroom (soup) with walnut oil' (i had to stick soup in parenthesis because the official menu description left it out). unlike the $12 heartland soup, this one was worth the whole of the $8. it didn't even need the truffle oil to taste like the pure distillation of velvety mushrooms.

since i couldn't decided between the 'watermelon, peach and shaved fennel salad, mache, crushed hazelnuts and honey goat cheese' ($12.50) or the 'summer risotto, asparagus & oven dried grape tomatoes, fava beans, mascarpone honey broth ($13.50) so i got both. which was not smart. i should've remembered the last two watermenlon salads i had- these things rise and fall on melon quality, and i keep getting not the best melon. the first bit or two, with the largest mix of ingredients, were the best, but it quickly lost impact.

but i was very very happy with the risotto- perhaps it was summer's last gasp, maybe? perfect fresh flavor and the texture was exactly textbook a+. and what was supposed to be an appetizer portion looked large for that- not that i'm complaining. the salad was quite large too- maybe halfish and halfish the price would be good. anyway, i used the (very tasty) bread to clean my plate of the risotto. and the soup too, for that matter.

an acceptable substitute may have reared it's head for the world's biggest fan of the scallops from the dear, departed fuigaise, the 'pan seared scallops, leeks, fingerling potatoes, orange butter sauce' ($16.25)- in a good way. almost as good as their dish, but not quite. but close. perhaps just close enough to make them miss those more.

off the prix fixe menu (for $28 i think)- which you can order individual things off of, love that idea, they got the 'beef pot roast- stone field farms grass fed beef, smashed purple fingerling potatoes (which were awesome), glazed carrots.' despite being shiny and glazed, the beef was a bit dry- the sides were better.

for dessert we ordered the 'panna cotta with strawberry syrup served with madeleine cookies ($4). though it was only a shot glass full, we had the cookies and the interestingly spiced berry sauce (we think there were blueberries and raspberries in there also, and maybe clove or cardamom or something happening there). we both kinda tasted the panna cotta, which was fine and all, but it turns out we just wanted a wee bit of fruit. i would've liked a wee bit more of that, really. anyone can do panna cotta, not anyone can do that sort of sauce.

service was fine. it wasn't the engaging sort you hope for, but formal and appropriate- we were discussing the higher end restaurants and service style- how alma has great service even in a more informal setting and vincent tends to represent the more formal end of things (in the restarant end, at least). oh, and the bread and water person was on it- the basket o'bread was replaced as we were near bottom, water was refilled fairly quickly.

not sure when they did this but the curtains, as least now, are gone- you look out at nicollet mall when dining and see the show,
which can be nice. hopefully this is a permanent change, but who knows about heating in winter, etc.

all in all, it was a nice turn in the dining room. even if everyone else seemed to be wearing suits- we didn't get the memo.

22nd- lone spur, minnetonka (b)

i know we were just here a few months back, but since i wanted to check for a gift for someone at a store nearby, i went for another resto.com gift cert ($10 off $20 for around $2 or less) and we went back. we hit the happy hour menu again,as we slid in just before it ended.

i started with a cup of soup of the day ($2.95), the beer cheese with popcorn. they do good soup here, particularly the cheese sorts- the traditional kind, not the kind the depot tavern serves (which is tasty in it's own way, more of a new school thing there). i know i've mentioned that before, but it bears repeating. it's somewhat difficult to get beer cheese soup that isn't weirdly floury or tastes like it was hit with a velveeta stick (literally).

then on to the wings...'moppo' (about 6) and buffalo (about a dozen) ($4.99 each during happy hour- usually they're $8.49 for each plate of wings). the buffalo wings were on the hot side for minnesota, so i was down with that. and they had the blue cheese dressing perhaps you don't get the trad celery during happy hour. the 'moppo' wings are like battered fried chicken and 'moppo' is a kind of seasoning. trademarked, even, i believe by this place. i ate the buffalo after trying the moppo... they didn't appeal to me (as fried chicken they were passable, and they needed a sauce or something i thought), but mom liked them a lot.

since i've been intrigued by it for a while we broke down and got the onion loaf ($4.99 during happy hour, usually $7.45), "sliced onions battered and deep-fried in a loaf" with seasoning salt. it sounds like it could be tasty, and it was for a few bites. it reminded me of a state fair food- tastes great when you get it, and you get sick of it when it stops being as piping hot as it was. mom ended up taking most of this (and some wings) home (i just took the rest of the buffalo wings).

also in the to-go box, mom got more mini-briskets (2 sandwiches on rye buns for $2.99, a regular brisket sandwich is $8.49). i didn't hear if they improved the bread any or not.

still good with the service, including the water. and no mistakes on the bill.

28th- wampach's, shakopee (c)

first we tried a mexican place, which apparently is closed on tuesdays (they have no web site, so it's a bit difficult to tell). i hate it when that happens though. then we tried another mexican place, this one attached to a grocery store. this one appeared to have no staff in either area, so after a bit of waiting, we ended up here.

i had the rachel ($8.95 for the sandwich and a side) again. the sandwich was average, the fries, well, they were edible. service was good until the person who had been serving us left (their shift was over). hey, at least they were open and staffed... i really have to try to remember to try the breakfast next time i come here, the other food tends to be kind of just... there. perhaps the breakfast things are better.

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