date: 4/29/08
location: minneapolis
grade: c+ (me)/b (group average)

if you watch top chef, you can sometimes see where a dish goes wrong. usually it's in the early stages, when a contestant gets an idea and won't let it go. here, it applied to the buffalo shrimp. that was the thing that caught my eye on the menu online, pre-dinner. panko-breaded buffalo shrimp, blue cheese, celery.

seems simple enough if you just list the ingredients. however, what it turns out to be- fried panko-breaded shrimp (in this case a tad overdone) straightened out and thrust on wooden skewers... so far understandable... but then it's served with what's a big fluffy pile of foam in a small bowl. this turns out to be celery foam. bitter, bitter, celery foam. which you have to get past to get to the liquid that tastes kind of like blue cheese, but not really.

that part needs a lot of work. the celery is never a main attraction in a buffalo wings platter, why make it so prominent here? blargh. and it needed hot sauce, too. that didn't seem to be in the mix anywhere. i ordered wrong. that celery foam is just nasty and should not be near food. it made me think they cared more about how the dish looked than how it tasted. like someone went 'foam, i want foam in the dish! it must have it! because i said so!' they needed to let that go, and taste the end result.

you see what happens to people on top chef when that kind of thing happens. knives are packed, and usually it's the person who made that sort of decision goes.

anyway, the dish of all four of the medium-sized shrimp was $9, which is odd in that the appetizer i ordered for dinner cost the same amount. that was a dish of crepe with foie gras (and not a small amount), curried beluga lentils, and hibiscus syrup. one of these things is not like the other. i did enjoy the foie and lentils and syrup, but the crepe just kind of got in the way. it seemed to be there more for presentation (to hold the lentils in place) than taste. it also kind of seemed like a bit of a fall/winter dish for a summer menu. though that wasn't the only selection that seemed that way. again, it seemed they had an idea of what they wanted a dish to look like, and didn't let it go when it didn't quite make sense on a plate.

the anise-scented lamb shank ($17.76), braised, with a wild rice salad that was another entree at the table also seemed quite like a fall/winter dish. though reports praised it highly as one of the best-tasting things one of the samplers had eaten in a while, and it was indeed tender to the bone, as billed on the menu. no knife needed.

the other entree as well, a new york steak ($19.50) in a too-sweet peppered cherry sauce with a sour-cream topped potato cake and lettuce. the sauce didn't seem to have much of the pepper, for sure. it was ok. really good butter lettuce, however, and the potato cake was very european-style.

almost forgot the other starter, a crab spring roll ($9) with cilantro pesto and jalapeno 'jelly beans,' which was kind of disappointing from the menu (nothing to write home about) description but had very nice plating. in fact, all dishes were nicely plated. and for that matter, our main server was very good (another one who was pouring water doused the table... oops... i wonder if this was the same waiter that had a bit of a table-clearing incident when we came in with glass hitting the floor). the kitchen also had an issue with speed... or lack thereof. no one there was rushing anything as far as we could see.

water service was good, not great. one bread was better than another (ask for the pointy bread... whatever it was). we also opted to taste a limited-edition spicy olive oil, which was quite nice. and speaking of forgetting... two people ordered a $5 glass of 2005 barbera. it was served too cold, and only after some warming it (hand, candles) did it become decent.

we all opted out of dessert. the cheese service looked to quite a show (cheese cart) "prepared and presented by" the owner. there was a roquefort, a tete de moine, and a chocolate cheese (fromage a trois bourbon chocolate torta). this was $17. i repeat... $17. that's way too much for that, i think, on a menu where that's about the cost of an entree. and i would never get all three cheeses... i get cheese because i don't want chocolate, usually. i don't want a chocolate cheese. no.

as for the decor, it was of the orange school, but not all dark orange. i don't think the painting i was seated across from was not very appetizing (it bordered on creepy). the restroom had mood lighting, and you had to pass your arm over candles to get to the paper towels, and then the paper towels over candles. not the best planning. the lighting fixtures in there are amusing. the hand soap was way too scented, though. it lasts. you don't want to smell your handsoap at dinner. you want to smell the bacon in the air, for instance.

per their web site, their goal is to make 'familiar foods made extraordinary.' i am not sure they do. it's a nice neighborhood restaurant with some good price points on the entrees. i guess i'm used to being kinda disappointed in stewart woodman. i wouldn't make him pack his knives and go, but i wouldn't give him a place at the judge's table when they annoint the winner.