date: 5/17/10
location: minneapolis
grade:c-

when tosca first opened, it got some great reviews with chef adam vickerman (landon schoenefeld was the original chef attached to the project in 2008, and left soon after to start working on the recently opened haute dish). in january of this year vickerman left in january to go to sea change. ryan zander, former 112 sous chef, was at the helm for a while but it looks like he may have left last week to head a project at the radisson in duluth.

which could explain what the hell happened there last night. for the first time in what i think is a long while, no one was impressed by pretty much anything. the food was generally average, the service was not even that. part of the service problem was probably miscommunication with the kitchen, part of it was probably the servers having to cover the patio and what was a busier room than they probably expected.

it took a very long time to get what were generally simple starters to the table. the salads that were ordered, beet (in alyssa's honor) with "red and gold beets, arugula, cucumber, (and) yogurt" ($9), and a crab with "asparagus, orange vinaigrette, (and) mixed greens ($8) were middle of the road. odd that the crab cost less than the beets. the half order of pappardelle with "italian sausage, rapini, (and) ceci bean ($9) was fine. the only dish that stood out at all was the sea scallops with ramps and a very nice polenta ($10). if anyone went here again, they would order that (if they could eat it).

thinking that for a change i should probably go with vegetables or some sort, i started with two side plates ($5 each) as the starters didn't look that interesting to me (read: not enough cheese). i couldn't taste the truffle in the way to salty even for me mushrooms with "shallot, garlic, truffle, (and) balsamic vinegar." the roasted asparagus with "spring onion, garlic, (and) chèvre was nicer, but hard to eat with thin strands of asparagus, random splotches of the cheese, and strangely large bigger roasted spring onions. when mixed together, the salt balance was about right with the mushrooms, piling them on bread helped, too.

the only non-pasta main dish anyone had was the halibut with "marinated tomatoes, pineapple, pique, (and) ginger oil ($21) that was about half the size of the 9 ounces of fish the server said it was. the part that wasn't the tail end was nicely done, the other part was a bit overcooked for the person eating it, so most minnesotans would've liked the tail part and thought the other part was a bit underdone. in any case it was so not a main course sized portion.

most of us got the the half-sized pastas ($9 for each) as the main course, as the menu is not very spring-weather friendly, being full of heavy, meaty dishes. we also had to wait a good long time for the main dishes too. good thing that other than the first precut basket, the bread (from turtle) was very good, even though they were kind of bemused that we ate so much of it (i'm way guilty of that). hey, if it's over half an hour between ordering and food, you get hungry. odd though- after the first go, only once did we get bread with more buttter. we'd ask for bread and that's it, once i asked for bread and butter and we just got butter. very random.

back to the pastas. the maltagliati with "rabbit ragù, porcini mushroom, (and) cream was deemed ok. the tagliatelle with (supposedly) "crab, cherry tomato, fennel, cream, pique, and pancetta" had so very little crab in it you'd need a magifying glass to see it. someone was convinved to get a full order of the green (from spinach) orchetti with "spicy tomato confit, basil, (and) black pepper mascarpone" ($16) besides a starter, but they ended up taking half home. that was probably the most successul pasta dish, and it still wasn't impressive.

when i read the menu that was posted on april 30, the last one online, i knew what i wanted to get, the ravioli. with foie gras, chicken, and cream. that has my name all over that dish, no? but it was gone (probably with the chef). i opted for the fettuccine with yet more mushrooms (black trumpets), pancetta (i got it on the side and passed it around), ramps (a few) and once more supposedly truffle (again, couldn't taste it). the pasta was also kind of fused together in a lump by the time it was served. it needed parmesan (none brought to the table to grate, very very odd in this kind of restaurant, no?) and salt (should've saved some mushrooms, it had almost none here and i wouldn't have thad to ask for the salt, which i hate when it's not on the table already).

i did like that the restaurant wall color reminded me of bread and toast. the rest of the decor is decent, too. but the hvac system wasn't primed very well- we were in the back of a long room and it was stuffy and a bit warm, and until the end of the meal and well after the sun went down we were sitting in a dimly lit place (they turned it up after we ate, natch).

they also asked if we could move our reservation back half an hour from when we called as they thought it would help the flow. i think that worked against us, as when i got there about maybe 10-15 minutes after it was scheduled for the place was empty. when we ordered soon after the reservation time, it was filling up quickly. this probably also worked against us.

unless they get a name in there soon, and with the opening of places like haute dish and piccolo, this'll probably be neighborhood (vs. destination) dining in short order. though revolving door chefs is not the best portent for most places.