date: 3/1/11
location: minneapolis
grade: a-

usually restaurant week is not my favorite time to go out as the venues are usually overcrowded and the staff is overburdened, i can't or won't eat things on the set menu, and the menus themselves are typically not quite what's actually available during the rest of the time (which has always been odd). but i accidentally scheduled a restaurant club outing during this one... and ended up pleasantly surprised with northeast social (and keep in mind this is bad restaurant karma person saying this).

they did have a restaurant week menu, but (see above) it was a bit heavy on things i don't eat. they didn't have a vegetarian option listed, but when i inquired if it were possible (well, that or selecting courses off the other one to order individually) the kitchen came up with one. which they didn't have to do at all. points for that. both the real restaurant week menu and the spur of the moment veg one were $30 for four courses (i think we saved about the same amount of money off each, $5 or so- we also had a restaurant.com $25 gift certificate, which they let us use even though they didn't have to).

the regular menu had a citrus cured salmon carpaccio (not on menu, but beef carpaccio is $9 usually) to start and it was a generous portion. it was unctious on the tongue and would've been excellent on a bagel with a schmear. alone on the plate it needed just a hint more acid.

the veg starter was the market cheese of the day (usually $6), in this case an epoisses de bourgogne that could've been a hint warmer. it came with three (and only three) and some jam and a bit of microgreens. they're a bit odd with the bread- they charge $4 for a side of it, which i am always against... unless it's like a gold-plated loaf or something. why only three slices? random.

the second course was salad for both of us. the regular one was a semi-nicoise in a bacon vinaigrette with mixed greens, kalamata olives, bits of fingerling potatoes roasted green beans... er... haricot verts. the egg was hardboiled then pickled and was a bit rubbery but the bacon in the dressing i think worked as the tuna does and held it together (not on menu, salads listed at $8 though).

i didn't know the mixed greens salad (usually $8) came with roated beets, but coped with them. like piccolo's beet terrine (the only beets i ever ate and didn't hate on ever before this), it came with truffled something and goat dairy, in this case chevre. and i'm sure the brown butter vinaigrette and candied walnuts helped too with that. the salad could've been a tad more composed- the greens were huge, some beets were huge, everything else was small and the cheese was more of a schmear at the side so it was kind of difficult to eat.

though they do have a grilled lamb chops appetizer on their menu ($12, it comes with lentils, entree meats are $18-20), the one as the entree here came with a very tasty parmesan polenta (it said 'cake' on the menu, it wasn't in that form) with broccolini and perhaps a slight bit too subtle of a mustard glaze. the meat was seasoned perfectly, which is difficult to do with unsauced meats, and was at the correct doneness.

i was thinking my cranberry gnocchi would be gnocchi with cranberry in it, but it was in the dish along with roasted brussel sprouts, chunks of butternut squash and some chestnuts in a sage cream with lots of parmesan (menu price $15). once mixed it was a filling vegetarian entree with an interesting flavor mix of sweet and tart balanced by sage cream.

dessert was just the right smallish size to finish it off and was mild and subtle. the rosemary honey was lovely over the panna cotta (usually $6). like dessert, all dishes had a good balance of flavors, but this was the only course that didn't need a tiny bit of tweaking. very solid and impressive overall. service was above average, especially with the pretty packed house, especially with water refills.

the packed house, though, made it very very loud indeed- the high ceilings don't help, nor does the polish clog dancing or the packed tables. i couldn't tell if the music (that started at 8 pm) helped filter your neighbor or just added to the overall din. but it seemed a bit more comfortable crowded than insane crowded. they did a tweak of the place so that you don't get a blast of cold air in winter, so that's nice. and it doesn't look like another shea clone- they go with darker colors, 'intersting' art (i didn't like it) and funkier seating (though the bench i was on needs a spot of padding for comfort if you have bad posture like me).

all in all, this well-run place is a good match between neighborhood and venue.