date: 10/27/09
location: minneapolis
grade: b- (group grade)

technically i wasn't disappointed in max, as i kind of had not so high expectations going into it. the whole set up reminded me of b.a.n.k., a restaurant in a hotel lobby that used to be a bank. they are so similar that i'd also say that this place would be much better for happy hour then it would be for dinner. max is a more modern-looking place with a cranberry and black theme and interesting, modern lighting. i'm not fond of the mirrored ribbon near the ceiling, but it's otherwise it's not a bad place to be. they did warm up the marble with the color scheme.

but max doesn't get the details right on what separates the worthy from the not. and weird- the day after we go, there's a posting on a local restaurant blog about what a 'foodie find' this kitchen is and how the chef trained at the highly exacting french laundry. so either the chef wasn't there, or his standards don't live up to that training at all times in the kitchen. perhaps the traning mostly applies to the 'off the record' tasting menu (not listed on their web site or menu, you just have to know it exists to ask for it) that veers more into the exacting molecular gastronomy sorts of dishes.

those standards didn't apply to the service. our server was clearly not skilled enough to handle a table for eight in addition to his other tables. they were not knowledgeable about the menu and vague about ingredients and preparation in dishes they had not eaten. also we didn't see them quite as often as we should have- like when the main courses are being served. that's so not right. no true 'foodie' destination would have bussers serve the main course to a table of eight that is willing to spend not unserious money on dinner and wine in this economy. the bussers would pinch hit at other times, too.

as for the food, it was not always handled with talent it should have been. the kitchen completely missed some key things and were not good at subtle touches. some of the the problems:

• the land and sea skewers ('filet mignon, grilled shrimp, chorizo sausage, salsa verde, three signature dipping sauces, $12) featuring overcooked chorizo.
• the calamari ($8) was also overcooked a bit. it was edible (i.e. didn't taste like rubber bands). it did have nice, tasty crispy things on the plate, whatever they were. they are not listed in the menu description and it's not like the server told us what those were.
• the truffle fries ($4) i ordered had sat around too long after they were cooked, and should have not hit the table at all in the not at all warm state they were in. they do get some redeemed points for taking it off the bill, but missed the service point of telling anyone that was going to happen. and by the way, i think it was just odd they plopped down a bottle of ketsup on the table for the fries. most places either give you a small ramekin of it, or some other sauce. it seemed somewhat incongruous with the type of place it wants to be.
• about half my chicken flatbread ('roasted vegetables, caramelized onions, olive oil, garlic, hoisin honey soy sauce' $12) had so much honey it tasted exactly like a dessert pizza (the chicken and bveg flavors didn't come through). the rest just tasted kind of like one. the flavor came through as just honey, not 'hoisin honey soy sauce.' so yes, those of you keeping track of the bad restaurant karma count, i was 2 for 2 with these choices. alas, the main courses didn't appeal and i was assured that everyone loved the pizza. sorry to break that record. was it the worst pizza ever? no, without the extreme honey it would have been fine. not great, but fine.
  
• seasoning tended run to underseasoned, like with the filet mignon (more on that below) and the porcini mushroom crusted veal entree (with linguine, mushrooms, spinach, roasted tomato butter sauce, $33). i think both of those were overdone, too.
• some needed sauce or a bit more sauce, like the seared ahi special dish, $27, that had white beans and pork belly- yes, pork and bean. that's in my opinion, but the person who had the dish thought it tasty. the tuna to me needed a flavor burst of some sort to make it stand up against the rest of the dish.
• there were some problems with proper technique. the creme brulee ($5) was basically whipped egg whites, which does not a creme brulee make. the risotto that came with the filet mignon ($32) was seasoned quite well with herbs wasn't as creamy like it should be.
• and some missed ingredients. count the ingredients in this salad- 'spinach, pears, thick-cut bacon, amablu cheese, pine nuts, buttermilk amablu dressing' ($8). yes, six. all of them pretty highly visible. you would think if you left one out someone would notice before that got to the table. but no one spotted the missing pears. and remember the absent server? since they didn't serve the main courses, they were hard spot to be able to rememdy that.

i'm not saying that everything was bad and wrong and weird. some things were just fine. some of the good to pretty good things here were:

• the appetizer of ahi tuna ('wasabi emulsion, ponzu, crisp garlic, herb salad' $7) was decent and not overdone, with nicely balanced flavors. too bad the emulsion, ponzu and garlic weren't on the other tuna dish.
• thai sweet potato soup (cup $4 / bowl $6), ordered by many was slightly sweet, but had a nice bit of a bite to it and was nice on a cold rainy sort of day. especially with the pop of the orange soup in the white bowl..
• arugula salad ('local apples, amablu cheese, almonds, honey lavender dressing,' $7) could've used a cheese with more bite, per popular opinon, but we saw where that could have worked against the overall popularity of the dish. the plating, like it was in many salads, was very thoughtful.
• ... like with the max cobb salad ('pesto chicken, thick-cut bacon, avocados, tomatoes, amablu cheese, eggs, citrus yogurt dressing' $13). the best plating of the evening. the chicken, tomatoes, bacon, cheese, and eggs wrapped in the lettuce with the avocado on top. the person who had this (and shared the calamari) gave this place the highest grade of the lot.
• a new york strip ($35) with root vegetable gratin and bordelaise was also solid. the root veg gratin makes a nice change from just potatoes. more color.
• the idea behind the dessert 'shooters,' several selections of smaller desserts in shot glasses for $2.50, was a nice choice (i believe b.a.n.k. does that also. the lemon lavendar shooter was a winner.
• the bread basket featured a very tasty raisin bread, i think it was rye. the roll and flatbread were ok, but the raisin bread would've make every so excellent toast. they had some flavored butter with it (not quite enough), but what the flavors were we know not- the server didn't explain that, either.

we had a recent birthday in the party, so were were able to take advantage of their good deal on wine during your birthday week- you get the amount of your age in dollars towards a bottle of wine. someone also got the thanksgiving-perfect cocktail, gatsby’s daisy ('charbay green tea vodka, lavender simple syrup, tarragon, cranberries' $9). that is a nice touch, and would probably make for a nice small birthday happy hour.

out of everything we had, nothing stood out as great. or pretty much what i thought it would be going in. well, i thought the service would be a lot better than it was. in a restaurant where there were more than the usual number of problems with dinner (and not just my dinner), that's not a good sign. where's the redeeming feature that will pull me back there again for dinner?

it's all good and well that it's pretty in here, but it's not all that interesting.... except for maybe the well-hidden tasting menu we didn't know of going in. as clever as that seems with what i experienced i don't have confidence in them to be able to pull it off well enough. (a bit of context- my grade was in the lower range of the grades given, along with the chef in our party). but some of the others in our party were willing to give them another chance.