date: 10/4/11
location: minneapolis
grade: b+

not a special all-fungus all the time menu, but the early fall one. it competed against the really nice weather (near 80, sunny, a bit of a breeze). we even, and this is almost unheard of, ate outside so i didn't get to see if they had any new art up on the walls. the tables were shaded by the building, they didn't have their umbrellas out. i coped (with the aid of allergy meds). it was an ok setting, there were a few drivers who kind of harsh the mood. penn avenue isn't the prettiest street- it probably looks better outside in summer with a few more green things about.

the menu didn't quite match the weather, so i abandoned my original plan to get some duck wild rice soup. instead, and i know this will shock people, i split the cheese plate. i'd say you get a fair amount of cheese for the money ($14) but you don't get anything out of the oridinary, though the peach jam was nice. as last time, it came with a bit of an apple and microgreen salad. no nuts.

we asked for more bread, which was a bit too holey too support some of the cheeses in flavor and texture. the balance of cheese was a bit off, though the whole was more room temperature. once more i enjoyed the chevre (the two layer kind). the machengo and cantal didn't provide much counterpoint for each other. the hook's bleu was a bit strong for the plate, it seemed to make sense to eat it last.

the better starter was the “in season” flatbread. it featured pork belly, apple chutney, cipollini onion and chevre ($12). and boy do those flavors play very well together indeed- even without the pork belly. i half wonder if that and a bowl of the soup would've made for a more stunning meal. any one of us would order that (well, some of us sans pork) again in a heartbeat.

unlike the "snow crab with ricotta cannelloni, heirloom tomato confiture and lobster bisque" ($12). it was in the starter section, but ordered as a main course to accompany the flatbread. i will report it came off as overly fishy. that in not order again and tell others not to do so either territory.

but the "roasted chicken tagine with merguez sausage, pickled plums and shishito peppers" and chickpeas which don't make it into the quotes didn't appear in the menu ingredients online or off i belive- same menu, so points for that, by the way ($17). even the peppers were able to mix in nicely without being too pronounced. i did like the sweetness the plums brought along to the dish, too.

what was interesting is that it was a lot more food on the plate (and possibly more work if they did their own sausage) than my entree, "swiss chard cake with chanterelles, sweet corn and sorrel sauce" ($18), but was a bit cheaper. i think i would've been happier if they would've thrown a few more handfuls of corn on it, i don't feel like i got my money's worth compared to the ingredients and size of the other dishes. i do, however, appreciate that the vegetarian entree is (a) not treated as a throwaway and (b) does not feature any kind of squash at this time of year.

the cake was a bit like egg foo yung (in a good way, like shuang cheng's rendition) and wasn't too exciting by itself. it really needed the other things on the plate on each fork to make it more interesting. it was a light meal with ingredients that you often do not see together, but they did work.

and though i rarely order dessert, and even more rarely get one that is not cheese, i was very much in a pumpkin mood so after ascertaining that the spiced pumpkin pot de crème with caramel whipped cream ($6) was with pumpkin and not pumpkin spice, i went for it. it was a small, light touch at the end of the meal. i would've liked a bit more read of 'pumpkin' and i'd say it'd make a great brulee also on non-warm days. served cold it was more summerlike.

service could've been improved- the first server was enthusiastic about the food and such, but was a bit busy and this lead to longer waits in a place that didn't look half-full (i wonder if tilia drew a lot of their crowd... and why the crowd of people over at maude's, which has not so good to really bad service and meh food- we all thought that- was crowded). alas, the new server didn't seem to care about anything. the food, their job, etc. there was still waiting (especially for them to pick up the check), but it was another server that i wonder why they chose to do that sort of job.

as much as we generally into the food and such, none of it was particularly memorable. and i won't compare apples to oranges, but at fugaise? it kind of was. so it's not like i wouldn't mind going back, but it may be more of a situation like... wait at tilia is too long, maybe go here. it's a neighborhood sort of place (that perhaps may think of dropping price points a bit for what they are) vs. a destination dining place.