Mt Fuji Sushi

It is almost unheard of. No seriously, I do not lie. A suburban restaurant that is not technically a chain to open a restaurant in the big city. I was dumbfounded. In fact, I felt the need to almost immediately Google it when I was told about it, I was so disbelieving. And not only hardly believable for a restaurant to migrate a location inwards from Maple Grove (warning, not a first ring suburb) but to also migrate it to a death trap of a restaurant location. Now that just takes guts; lots and lots of guts.

Mt Fuji Sushi opened this past month in the space between 28th and the Uptown Transit Station on Hennepin that has previously been everything from a diner to a Creole restaurant to table-clothed Indian. The Uptown Diner seemed to do pretty well there eons ago but even they moved out and down the street. Why is this location so dismal? Parking, visibility, weird set up? We can only hypothesize.

On the night I stopped by Mt Fuji, they were trying to take care of all of the above: balloons highlighted the restaurant location to passers-by, valet parking was on offer and the restaurant entrance had been reconfigured to be less confusing than that of previous tenants. To that last point, Mt Fuji has embraced the weird space of the location, which has a staircase running up the middle of the building to other businesses, by splitting the restaurant into a bar side and a sushi bar/restaurant side. Smart choice, or so it appeared. No more hovering uncertain at the entry not knowing which direction to walk in.

But where does Mt Fuji fit into the plethora of Uptown sushi bars that now exist? It is definitely more casual than Sushi Tango, Fuji-Ya and Tiger Sushi. Maybe it is just my personal desire but I would hope that it would be somewhere that I could easily order sushi from to-go (or heaven-on-earth deliver me sushi, please, someone!). Regardless, it just seems like a more reasonable atmosphere for a casual night out with friends than a planned Friday or Saturday night big dinner in Uptown, especially if the staff keeps smiling so much. Casual can be good, especially in a recession (dare I say it?)

Back to the actual experience, AM and I were quickly seated and then immediately accosted by a photographer from Mpls-St Paul Magazine who wanted us to change tables in order to make the room appear fuller for his shots. What is with the paparazzi following me nowadays?

I think due to the photographer and the opening balloons, the restaurant was highly staffed on the night of our dinner, which meant service was noticeably good. I started with a fruity cocktail from the bar to stave off the hangover from the night before. It was sufficiently fruity, indeed, but nothing to write home about in terms of cocktail excellence.

First course Miso Tofu, chosen from a diverse menu that is much more than simply sushi. I am a good vegetarian and actually love tofu. As there was no description of this on the menu I could only excitedly wait for the dish to arrive. When it came the tofu was perfectly, slightly breaded and fried and then generously covered with a pale yellow miso sauce. It was topped with crispy somethings that I suspected looked fishy and moved to the side rather than ask and get grossed out. When the server returned she emphatically asked how I liked the dish, with such passion that I curiously wondered if I was the first person to have ordered it. Luckily it was really quite yummy. As I said, perfectly cooked tofu and with the mild miso sauce: a nice appetizer or small main course.

The roll selection at Mt Fuji is quite extensive, from the normal simple rolls to options that are more creative. My personal selections were on the veggie side so hate me as you will for blogging about a sushi restaurant when I don’t eat the fish but what can I say? My rolls were well made and tasty, and the perfect temperature. I detest freezing cold rice, which is what you get with the grocery store sushi cabinet.

All told, first impressions were good. Can the suburban sushi restaurant make it in the big city? Fish eaters: go forth and let me know.

Thumbs Up: Creative menu, nice renovation of the space, friendly service
Thumbs Down: Still not an easy place to park, doomed location?

Mt Fuji Sushi 2819 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis

Sidetrip: Alinea, Chicago, IL

Conclusion at the beginning: Alinea is wonderful. If you don’t think incredible food is a worthwhile investment or appreciate playful nuances, then Alinea would make you frustrated and you would find it ridiculous. To me it was heaven… the physically forced representation of the way that we actually experience dining through all of our senses.

In business school we studied multiple cases on Southwest Airlines. I even attended a lecture by their CEO. Key takeaway that has clung with me is just how much of an impact Southwest has on airfares when they enter a market. An impact that is actually behavior changing - Southwest drives people to fly who otherwise would not. They are not simply stealing customers from competitors but increasing the size of the market.

I have been holding my breath for years and the time has finally arrived. Southwest is in Minneapolis and flying direct to Midway and soon to Denver. All I ask is that they open a direct flight to Detroit and not only will the restaurant town of Chicago suddenly be within reasonable and tempting reach, I might actually get to see my family more often as well.

So, that takes me to Chicago. The Windy City. A gorgeous city. A city we all can thank Southwest for making an hour away by air rather than an unsure 7 hours over never-ending Wisconsin highways.

And there is no better way to celebrate low airfares to Chicago than by immediately hitting what is arguably one of the best restaurants in the country, Alinea. I am not going to regale the crazy way that I ended up at Alinea but let’s just say that we all have those friends in life that can convince us that insane things are perfectly reasonable.

Unmarked except by a small valet sign you know you are in for something different when you start with the moment of panic of standing in an empty hallways unsure of which way to head. Swish… metal doors magically open and multiple people welcome you to Alinea, take your jackets, know who you are and immediately lead you upstairs to your table. Our dietary restrictions, small menu (only 12 courses) and choice of wine pairings were quickly confirmed and then the magic, all laid out below.

When VG and I finally stopped to look around and assess, we realized that we might have been the only people in the room that actually looked like we were having fun. We talked, we laughed, we watched people and flirted with the crazy-haired sommelier. Everyone else was silent and taking pictures. This food is so fun and the alcohol is flowing. I wish more people in our room would have seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Today, though, I appreciate the plethora of pictures on the internet of the meal we ate and even someone’s entire blog from I suspect the same evening (see lots of their pictures linked below and another blog with with all sorts of pictures here). We chose not to pull out the cameras ourselves during the meal (only after) and enjoy the moment instead.

The service at Alinea was a team effort – probably three to four servers along with the sommelier taking turns describing every dish, filling in the bread pairings and making sure we ate the dishes as prescribed. We felt like we were in a Disney Channel movie where not only was everyone handsome, they were perfectly ethnically diverse, always smiling, and making sure that were well set up only for happy endings. Everyone was so nice. Then again, considering it is the most expensive meal I have ever had, I should hope so!!

So here we have it:

Hot Potato, Cold Potato – a contrast in temperatures and textures. Hot soup is served in a wax bowl, you pull out a pin with cold potato and black truffle that fall into the soup and gulp it all in one fell swoop. Amazing – buttery, warm, truffle-y. Intense. Here is a picture although we certainly didn’t have truffle slices like this … It was paired with a glass of Hennot Brut Champagne touched with Bodegas Tradicion Palo Cortado. The bubbly tasted like walking down the streets of Calahorra, Spain in the fall, breathing in the scent of roasting chestnuts. I have never before had a dish/drink evoke such a strong personal experience.

Lilac – we moved from earthiness to the first hints of spring with a dish called Lilac. The preparation was a soup with lilac tapioca balls (almost like eating scented bath beads which often smell so good you WANT to eat them) , fennel, horseradish and honeydew foam. It was bright and fresh, almost a pallet cleanser. A photo of a similar dish but definitely shows how the foam hugged the dish.

Sunchoke – Or I will just call it “Thai Food Distillation”. It was the experience of Thai all in two bites with first a spoon of clear gelee that tasted of Thai – sweet, spicy, you know the flavors! Next up sunchoke, crunchy lettuce, sweet watery cucumber pulled together and then dipped in a red sauce with a hint of pepper flavor without any of the heat. The micro-herbs on the top were almost too beautiful to eat. Here is someone else’s picture.

White Asparagus – Typically, I strongly dislike white asparagus but this soup preparation with sorrel, white pepper and honey was mighty tasting. Considering the Spring timing, I was waiting for asparagus to make an appearance and I was not disappointed. I loved how you lift away the cylinder and the soup gracefully plates itself. The pairing with a Rose was well-matched considering the off flavor that is white asparagus and the general mineraliness of Rose.

Artichoke – Let’s just say that this dish involved artichoke (lobster for my companion), loads of butter, and mango curry flavor. Butter is my strongest memory and this was one of only two dishes I struggled to finish. Texturally, however, it was fascinating, between the crunchy popcorn and the buttery Fruit by the Foot pieces down the center of the plate.

Black Truffle Explosion – This was a slightly large ravioli that we were instructed to take all in one bite. We filled our mouths and then VG and I looked at each other and both thought the same thing. Sex. This dish tasted like sex.

Royal Trumpet – this is typically the wagyu beef course but rather than the beef, we were both served Royal Trumpet mushrooms. While they looked beautiful with tiny little grill marks, the use of mushrooms didn’t really cut it. The idea was powdered A-1 steak sauce and a play on the classic steakhouse steak and baked potato entree. As a non meat eater, I don’t even know what A-1 steak sauce is supposed to taste like! The potato was rich and creamy, served more like a mini knish but I think honestly the total experience piece of this dish was lost on me.

Transparency - Basically a crunchy thin candy sheet of raspberry with yogurt powder. It was like the essence of raspberry and what I would want to lick out of the windows of a gingerbread house. It reminded me of a Fruit Roll-Up all grown up and fragile.

Yogurt - A yolk of yogurt rests in pomegranate juice and you take it as a shot. Cool yogurt freshens the pallet and antioxidants try to clear all of the butter and cream from the previous dishes. Let’s not kid ourselves, more cream to come!

Bubble Gum - Take a test tube and fill it with bubble gum tapioca, hibiscus jam and crème fraiche. A good looking waiter commands that I suck hard. Yes, sir! For those ingredients, definitely. Not only was this sweet and delicious, the funky noise that accompanied the sucking was the perfect pair to the childlike bubble gun flavor. This was one of my favorite dishes because of the truly multisensory experience including the sound.

Rhubarb - The rhubarb dessert was served on a pillow of lavender air that deflated as you ate. I was thrilled for the seasonal flavor of rhubarb on the menu and adored how well it matched with the onion chutney on the plate. It is so rewarding to find new unique food combinations. While our pillows fell, we were distracted by the wine pairing, a Elio Perrone ‘Bigaro'. It was a sparkling pink Italian wine that we adored and immediately googled upon arriving home. If you can find it in the Twin Cities, please email me ASAP!

Chocolate – I don’t know why I thought everything in this meal somehow resembled a Betty Crocker fruit snack but, here again, a chocolate sheet reminiscent of a Fruit Roll-Up. Underneath, prunes and olive in a powdery form accompanied by pine ice cream and a pine-scented “soup”. The ice cream was like eating a Christmas candle. Olives and prunes didn’t match well for me either. I am sorry to admit it, my friends, I just couldn’t do this dish and can’t say I liked it at all…

Sweet Potato – To finish the experience, a sweet potato fritter with bourbon and brown sugar punched through by a smoldering cinnamon stick. It was hot and Southern, the smoldering cinnamon adding scent intensity to the table making this final bite a very enrobing experience. Not that I have ever been in one but I felt like I was experiencing a hot, humid deep south kitchen.

Alinea 1723 North Halsted Chicago www.alinea-restaurant.com

Al Vento

Without going to Google Maps, I am not 100% sure where Al Vento actually is – the driver in this dining incident instead took me on a circular tour of South Minneapolis. At points I saw Minnehaha Creek, the Airport, several lakes, and eventually a church that ironically had the word HOPE written across its belfry. I admit it, I laughed. Key learning: men do not like it when you laugh at them for being “lost”. I probably did not score myself any points in the dating game. Hope was key however because we made it through the “lost” crisis (unlike the economic crisis so far) and arrived at Al Vento. That being said, I still have no idea where I was. I will go look now. Oh yes, I think that might be the Lake Nokomis neighborhood.

Al Vento’s corner brick building is charming and welcoming. We arrived to a happy greeter who graciously seated us in the ¾ filled dining room. My first thought, “For a recession, this place is pretty full!”. It makes me smile to see my fellow Minnesotans supporting the local restaurants rather than the Olive Gardens of the world, especially in a recession. We could get into a whole conversation about chains versus independents etc etc but fact is, I like my places local, interesting and full of personal passion.

Now Al Vento knows passion. Well, at least one type of personified passion and that is garlic. Gobs and gobs of delicious garlic. We started with the tasting of bruschetta including variations of eggplant and white beans. These were generously portioned and well-garlicked. Up next, I tried a new dish on their menu, a gnocchi with asparagus. The gnocchi were wonderful – perfectly made (light but not fluffy) and the sauce was, well, all about garlic, and butter too. The dish was quite indulgent but good. I would love to revisit it with some fresh morels.

I also liked the atmosphere at Al Vento. It was casual and easy – no requirement to dress up (but I could have been and that would have been fine) and I could hear the server and my companion and even snatches of the conversation at the table next to me (I can’t help it, I listen to you…!). Our server was gracious and eager to please, screwing the top off of our screwtop wine and pouring with ease. My only qualm with the experience was that we had a bottle of white wine and it was placed on the table during the meal and not kept chilled. The last few mouthfuls were unpleasantly tepid. I suppose I don’t expect wine chillers at a restaurant like Al Vento but maybe one of those frozen wine cozies or something?

By the end of the evening I realized that I could probably have used a little less garlic, especially when I remembered that I was sitting across from someone who I would now have to breath in close proximity to on the car ride home. I felt a little guilty and whole lot less attractive for my garlic overindulgence. I felt a little better when I got an email the next day asking whether he was the only one that felt like he had garlic coming out of his pores. A huge sigh of relief, we had been “in the garlic” together.

Thumbs Up: Flavors of Spring, great atmosphere
Thumbs Down: So much garlic, warming wine

Al Vento 5001 34th Ave S Minneapolis www.alventorestaurant.com

Sidetrip: Zihuatanejo, Mexico

The only reasonable thing to do in Minnesota is go on spring break. Otherwise, spring never seems to arrive. Certainly there is sunshine and the remarkable lengthening of daylight hours but I am still waiting to actually see something green. So, I decided that I needed to see some flowers, a beach, and avoid any flight connections. This resulted in a long girls weekend in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.

Zihuatanejo is a town about 10 miles down the coast from the Mexican all-inclusive mega resort town of Ixtapa. As I am declaring myself officially graduated from the all-inclusive resort experience, I wanted something smaller and more authentic. And that we found in Zihuatanejo.

Zihuatanejo is filled with small little hotels at all pricepoints that overlook Zihuatanejo Bay, which is so gorgeous that day or night, you can simply sit on the balcony at your hotel and stare. We spent a lot of time enagaged in this activity. The mist at sunrise gives way to hillside dwellings and beaches during the day and then dusk brings forth a gorgeous medley of lights pushed into the background only by the incredible numbers of stars that are visible in the night sky.

The town was a perfect combination of local and tourist. For example, we awoke to not just the waves but roosters crowing from neighboring houses (a bit disturbing when we later saw a sign for the cock-fighting specialist veterinarian in town). The plaza in town was filled with locals enjoying their evenings and not just tourists attempting to buy cheesy trinkets. The scene was relaxed and subdued, the only real decisions to make each of our four days… which beach should we go to today and where should we eat our meals.

The food of Zihuatanaejo was all about seafood, the fishermen even bring their boats right up to the fish market right on the main beach. There was nary a menu at either the high or low end restaurants that didn’t offer red snapper or fish taco options. While I didn’t partake in the local fish delicacies, my companion certainly did!

For breakfasts we dined at small places around town, filling up with chilaquiles (fried tortillas covered with green or red salsa and sprinkled with cheese), entomatades (not fried tortillas with salsa), huevos rancheros, and at one small restaurant amazing homemade guava and coconut/pineapple chutneys (still dreaming about them!). Breakfasts were by far my favorite meals thanks to the wider vegetarian options available and the fact that they represented “vacation”; on no regular day do you get to leisurely enjoy a good breakfast with nowhere to go other than the beach.

Lunches were a casual beachside snack – quesadillas, fajitas, skewers etc often accompanied by a fruity drink or a Coca Cola Light. Something to keep us tided over as we enjoyed Playa Ropa, Playa Las Gatas, the pool etc.

Zihuatanejo is not a town of mega-clubs or bars so the event of each evening was a nice meal to enjoy, usually with an incredible view of the bay. In Zihuatanejo are a couple of amazing(ly expensive) boutique hotels, La Casa Que Canta and The Tides. As the rooms far exceeded our budget, we checked them out for meals instead. While the dining experience in each didn’t blow me away, the view and ravioli at La Casa Que Canta were remarkable and the hot fresh tortillas and chile rellenos at The Tides are worth mentioning. More so than the food, the grounds of each of these hotels were phenomenally gorgeous and had us sighing with envy. The delicious fresh ginger maragaritas at La Sirena Gorda are also worth mentioning. The food we tried at Il Mare and Coconuts did little to impress, although the view from Il Mare was stunning as well.

Relaxed, refreshed, back to the wait for spring in Minnesota.

Zen Asian Contemporary

Zen Asian Contemporary is a new restaurant of the past few weeks that has opened in the Lyndale and Lake area of Uptown. Poking around the other blogs in town, I learned prior to my visit that their liquor license was still in the works (on tap April 7) so I harkened back to the BYOB days of Princeton, NJ restaurants and popped a bottle of wine into my bag on the hopes that they would let me open it. I actually have no idea what the laws are in Minneapolis regarding BYOB. Are there any? Does it require a specific license?

The space at Zen is new (I have been walking by the rehab construction for months) and quite large (or seemingly since there are fewer tables than space). The widely separated tables gives a sense of emptiness. As this was also within the first week or two, the place was obviously quite empty of patrons so it all painted a scene of barren minimalist. While other out there seem to like it, the ambiance was a bit of a miss for me – I would either prefer sleek contemporary with the pulsing music to go along with it or homey and cozey with the tables closer together and lights a bit lower. Instead, Zen was on the contemporary side but with taupe carpeting and bare purple walls. Let’s just say that the food was better than the ambiance.

The menu is wide-reaching with everything one would want from a pan-Asian restaurant – pad thai, spring rolls, curries, tempura, pho etc. It’s like a “Best Of” Food Network show on Asian dishes! A cacophony of Asian voices erupted in my head trying to sell me on the different directions I could step on this menu. It was like the street vendors of my mind trying to lure me in with spicy or sweet, fried or fresh. In an attempt to concentrate on my dining companion, I hushed my thoughts and selected a Thai red curry with tofu. After weeks traveling in Paris and India (and dare I mention a night of Blue Ribbon Sushi in New York City on the way home), the thought of Thai food was extremely appealing. My companion went for seafood, opting for a tuna preparation.

My red curry was a 7 out of 10. The tofu and vegetables were perfect – fresh and cooked perfectly with no musty oil smell on the tofu, which is arguably a pet peeve of mine. I had to knock off three points, however, because the flavor was simply too mild. While a tad bit of heat (or the option of heat!) would have been nice, even without heat I was missing the flavor to go along with the beautiful pink color. While my companion certainly at his tuna, he commented that it was “Minnesota over-done”, meaning left on the grill just a bit too long and not as rare as it should have been served.

The service was a bit disappointing. We tried to order spring rolls as an appetizer and they were out of spring rolls. Bypassing the whole other conversation that we can have about how they could be out of spring rolls, the server just stood there rather than trying to help us come up with an alternative appetizer. Thanks to my vegetarian notions and the pressure for on the spot decision-making with her there looking at us, we simply bypassed the appetizer completely. She also didn’t say anything to welcome us to the new restaurant, tell us about it, suggest menu items or even give reassurances on the selections we made. I was hoping for something and got nothing.

As to the wine, nope, they wouldn’t let us open it since “Kare 11” was in the house. Honestly, it was Metromix, not Kare 11 so it was just a still photographer and reporter who ruined my chance at wine with dinner. Grrrrrr.

Conclusion… still some kinks, food was pretty good, worth another shot now that the liquor license in place and hopefully the ambiance improved by the addition of other people in the restaurant.

Thumbs Up: Wide-reaching menu to fulfill all your Asian food desires
Thumbs Down: Shaky service and ambiance

Zen Asian Contemporary 3016 Lyndale Ave S Minneapolis http://www.zenmpls.com/