date: 12/28/05
location: minneapolis
grade: b+

a guest review.

when we first arrived there were several tables, however that was soon to change as there was a benefit concert for st. stephen's shelter being held in the attached coffee shop. eventually it was SRO and the noise level was so high that icouldn't really hear what any of the rest of our group was saying. i do believe that on a normal night it's a lovely, mostly quiet place to sit, sip some wine and chat over a light meal.

service was good, responsive and mostly knowledgeable. they were a bit understaffed for the event however, but questions were promptly answered and water glasses were refilled a few times without having to ask. he even brought a second small table as the original was simply too small to hold all the food. we had garnered seats near the gas fireplace, which was very nice when coming in out of the cold. after the place was fully packed however, it became a bit warm. when asked, the server quickly turned the flame down.

wine is truly the star here. they have a nice list and about a dozen flights of 3-4 wines from which to select. each flight is assembled by a theme, either grape varietal or region or in the case of the 'big ass' flight; big, chewy wines. all flights are $9 for about 8 ounces of wine. the wines are set on a sheet of paper with each wine's name and vineyard below each glass, a nice touch that makes it easier to remember what's the what.

i had the pinot flight first, then a flight of spanish wines. others had the zin flight and the syrah/shiraz. the big winner in my mind was the duck pond pinot from oregon. each pinot was from a different region of the world so you could get a really great example of how exactly the location affects the taste of the final wine. they also have each of the wines from the flight list available by the glass for a reasonable price and their bottle prices are fantastic! i didn't see anything over $40, several really good wines coming in just a few dollars above retail prices.

the food is meant to compliment wine. we shared a cheese plate, which as the server told us was big enough for 4 to share. at only $10 this was a great deal. the plate had a sage derby from england, an artisinal blue from wisconsin, spanish manchego and one that started w/ a 'c' but sounded like habanero. it was a mild, edam-like cheese and quite tasty. the plate came with candied pears, grapes and a splash of syrupy, aged balsamic vinegar.

we also shared a spread plate which included a black olive tapenade (mine is way better), a white bean puree which could have used more garlic, a lovely and garlicky eggplant caponata and a creamy, roasted red-pepper spread which was the best of the 4. the spreads were served w/ 4 crostini drizzled with the same syrupy, aged balsamic that came on the cheese plate. they also gave a huge basket w/ baguette slices, lavash and some other crackers. more than enough for all 4 of us. we didn't even need refills, which is almost unheard of in the history of dinner club bread consumption.

i also had a bowl of the butternut squash apple soup. this also came with 3 big baguette slices. there was definitely no bread shortage. the soup was nice, a bit more chunky in texture than expected but the flavors were well balanced. the apples gave just a hint of sweetness, not overpowering at all. i could have done without the roasted squash seeds that were sprinkled over the top of the soup. their texture didn't match well in the soup and each one was more to be endured than enjoyed.

another person had the chicken wild rice soup. it was a broth-based soup which seems odd for a wild-rice soup. the broth was nice though. there were big chunks of chicken and vegetables and a more than healthy dose of rosemary. yes, that's right, this was the dish had by bad restaurant karma jr and there was a twig-like chunk of rosemary in the bowl. at least it wasn't a toothpick.

the other folks split one of the pizzas. smothered in prosciutto, sausage, cheese and other things which fail my memory, it was spicy and delicious. the crust was crisply chewy. i'd definitely go back and try their others.

on a night when there isn't a benefit in the coffee house, this would be a great place to join friends for a light meal and chat languorously over wine. also highly recommended for dinner before catching a movie at the riverview theatre across the street.

(ok, back to me now. my opinion differs a bit. i was on cold meds that night, and could not have wine, and this place works better when you can have wine. that's what the experience, menu and such is designed for. if you can't, well... it's slightly less enjoyable.

on the service side, besides the branch in the food, i was told that the wild rice soup didn't have any chicken in it, just chicken broth. but it did have the chicken.

foodwise, it was average, from what i could taste of it. the bread was tasty. and yes, her tapanade was a lot better than what they put out. i didn't have the pizza, but from other comments, you may want to avoid this one if you're typical minnesotan, as it was on the spicy side, as implied.

since i am not really a wine buff, i wouldn't make a trip over just to eat here, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood, it's not bad. it's more of a wine and snack place than a meal place. i'd give it more of a b.)