Sidetrip: Park City, UT

A few months ago, my friend LS emailed and asked if I wanted to go to Park City with her. I was like, huh? Really?? But then she sent me the link to the new Dakota Mountain Lodge (part of the Waldorf-Astoria collection) and I suddenly thought it would be a fabulous place to ring in my actual 30th Birthday (although I remind you that I am celebrating for a month...). It was an excellent choice of adventure to a new city for me and to a fabulous luxurious hotel promoting their grand opening with rock bottom rates.

When we arrived on Thursday night, they upgraded the three of us ladies to a three bedroom suite that had a kitchen with Viking professional appliances, two patios (one with a fireplace), four full bathrooms, AND five fireplaces. My Uptown condo suddenly seemed so small and so descriptive the of my 20s, rather than my fresh new Viking appliance-lusting 30s. As we arrived after dark, we broke into some wine and went to sleep in our respective master suites. Heaven.

Morning (coffee?) energy running through our veins which was then topped off by a vivacious concierge, we headed up the gondola at the Canyons ski resort to hike the ridge line, huffing and puffing (at least me) at the change in altitude from Minneapolis. We returned to lunch in our mansion followed by an afternoon out by the gorgeous pool. We headed into Park City proper (taking advantage of the Dakota's free transportation to town) for dinner at Zoom, one of the Sundance resort restaurants. Unfortunately, the food was disappointing - lackadaisically prepared and sounding better on the menu that what actually appeared on the plate. I do not recommend it.

On Saturday, we headed over to the Olympic Park where we watched the freestyle skiers strut their stuff right into a huge diving pool and we also ziplined down the mountain (pretty fun but for $20?). We decided that a late Mexican brunch was in order so headed over to Loco Lizard Cantina. We chowed down on fresh chips with two salsas and then I could make no decision so had the vegetarian combination plate. I loved the chips and salsas and then the guacamole taco and mushroom tamale from the combination plate. I had never thought to simply make the guac the protein in a taco but I have to tell you that it works out amazingly well. The fresh taco shell with its pungent crunch, so much nicer than any Taco Bell taco, had me sold even further. Unfortunately, the vegetarian enchilada also on the plate was a miss. I skipped it after two bites. We were in Utah margarita bliss.

After another round at the pool, we headed back down to town for dinner. We started with cocktails at Shabu and then headed over for a delicious meal at Wahso, where we sat outside on the patio enjoying the cool mountain air. In the atmosphere of old Shanghai, I started with a mojito served up, with plenty more cocktail left in the shaker and placed on the table to refill with. To start I tried the watermelon salad, a refreshing and beautiful salad, teaching me once and for all that watermelon is much more complex than simple summer BBQs and instead has an edge that matches well with savory. This was followed by the "Forbidden Tofu", a grilled tofu dish served over black rice. While the dish was fine, I found it a bit underseasoned. Overall, however, I really enjoyed our meal and experience at Wahso, with the nice outdoor seating and creative Asian menu.

We woke up on our last morning at Dakota Mountain Lodge, which was my real and actual birthday, and I celebrated by heading down to the Golden Door spa on-site. While the prices were stiff the facility was gorgeous. Rubbed and pampered, I attempted to keep my skin looking young despite the advancing middle age... Thus, I started my next decade smelling obscenely of lavender but feeling like a million bucks with my shiny skin. Man, I liked that Dakota Mountain Lodge. Still dreaming about that kitchen... and the TV in the bathroom you could watch while showering... and the fireplaces... and the big fluffy spa robes. Mmmmm....

Trattoria Tosca

Please remember in advance that I am a blogger and not a professional food critic. If life serves me right, that could someday change, but until then I remain a lowly self-budgeted blogger. With that reminder, I am preempting the comments about "how dare I post something negative about a restaurant after only one visit and so soon after it opens." Yes, how dare I, IF I was a real food critic. But, I'm not and since I pay for each of my meals it is sad when something disappoints me, and Trattoria Tosca disappointed me.

The problem with this disappointment is that I wavered wondering whether I was to blame for it. It is not unlike dating where rather than just accepting that someone doesn't like you, people have the tendency to blame specific aspects of themselves rather than simply a lack of match. The issue for me is that I really like Chef Adam Vickerman's food that I have had previously at Cafe Levain - it was playful and delicious. So, how is it that the food at Tosca just didn't deliver for me? My guess, like Dara mentioned in her review, is that maybe Chef Adam wasn't in the kitchen. It was a Sunday night, after all, and I had to even call to make sure they would be open.

Should I avoid eating out on Sunday nights? Will chefs not be in the kitchen?

We had a nice table out on the sidewalk on 44th Street, able to enjoy a beautiful evening. We both started with the heirloom tomato salad. While the salad looked lovely with the various shades of tomatoes and the slivers of grana padano cheese, my dining companion and I both looked at each other and agreed that they forgot to salt the tomatoes. With no salt shaker on the table, we weren't even able to put a little table salt or pepper on them, which they desperately needed in their quest for tasting perfect. Such an easy oversight. It was sad.

For my main dish, I ordered the Bucatini pasta (long spaghetti-type strands with a hollow hole in the middle) with raw plum tomato, garlic, chili flake, rosemary and breadcrumbs. I pictured a dish in advance with a raw chunky sauce but instead I could swear that what I received was a cooked down sauce on the bucatini, making the dish appear as a simple spaghetti with red sauce. The dish was so physically hot I could barely eat it at first (how does that work with raw plum tomatoes??) and when I could, it was simply not that exciting having no distinct flavors. I will say that when I ate my leftovers two days later, the flavors had melded together much better especially when I also added a handful of fresh basil and a sprinkling of parm. Now, it was perfect. But I am not supposed to improve upon a restaurant's dish!

For dessert, sorbet and gelatos. A bit of disappointment that a bakery wouldn't have tiramisu made with fresh lady fingers but sorbet does the job pretty well. I particularly enjoyed the peach flavor.

So, all in all, my experience fell flat. Was it the Sunday thing? Should I go back to Tosca and order the same dishes and see if I get wowed?

Thumbs Up: Outdoor tables, dessert
Thumbs Down: Pasta sauce, unsalted tomatoes

Trattoria Tosca 3415 W 44th Street Minneapolis www.trattoriatosca.com

Meritage

Sometimes I am blown away by the oddest things. But it is these small things that can be so strangely thrilling in a spine-shivering type of war. At Meritage last weekend that small thing was the beautiful scent of the cocktails. Call me weird, but the scents were gorgeous. I am the first to admit that I find food-related perfumes preferable to heavy florals or musks so it was with huge excitement that I found my first cocktail at Meritage, the St Germain Sparker, to smell incredibly similar to the Bergamot Citrus perfume by Fresh. This is a beautiful perfume that I crave but have never purchased (sticking with my signature Fresh Sugar scent) but one that nonetheless, I adore. And what a rush of sensation to smell that scent in a cocktail that one is supposed to drink! It fantastically messed with my senses - I was taken back to the emotions I had while eating at Alinea. All from a cocktail.

But it didn't stop there. My next cocktail, the Pimm's Provencal, was like a walk through a casual summer garden. Lavender is emotionally evocative, taking me (as suggested) back to my first trip to Southern France in college where I bought sachets for my college dorm room drawers but then more recently also to Turkey where in a small mountain village wafts of lavender were the perfect backdrop to a romantic inn where my friend VG and I inappropriately were assigned the honeymoon suite. Thus, before I could even talk about food, I had to mention these aromatically sensational cocktails. They definitely hit a nerve for me and my hyper-sensitive nose.

On to the food. I have blogged only once before about Meritage but have been there multiple times in the past few years as the restaurant stands arguably most convenient to a night out at the theater or opera in St Paul. So why haven't I blogged about it more often? I think the answer is is that I always have such a mixed bag of an experience - something fantastic paired with something that is not. How do I reconcile that?? I guess by avoiding the conversation.

I started with two amusements, very small dishes offered at $3 a pop, a pop appropriately describing the size as well. On this occasion, I had the gazpacho and the sweet corn custard. What did I love about the gazpacho? The knife skills and the serving dish. The gazpacho ingredients were chopped into the tiniest cubes - I applaud the prep cook. Gorgeous. It was served in a tiny tete de lion bowl, a French soup bowl with heads of lions on two sides. I MUST find some of these dishes. They were adorable! While the gazpacho itself was fine, the sweet corn custard amusement was delicious. I have a weakness for corn custard and this was an excellent rendition topped with the tiniest of micro-herbs. Another gorgeous presentation. It was an amusing start to the meal.

Russell Klein seems to have a tendency towards trios as the vegetarian entree on his seasonal menu. On a previous unblogged occasion the flavor of choice had been pea three ways. Three preparations, two hits and one miss. In this summer rendition, called "Composition of Summer Vegetables", I was served chickpea panisse, provencal stuffed vegetables, and fresh ricotta and corn blintzes. In this instance, I would say one huge hit and two so-sos. The fresh ricotta and corn blitzes were amazing - creamy, sweet, crunchy and warm. I savored every bite of them and wished the rest of the dish was two more blintzes with a side of spring greens. I now will think about blintzes in a new way, not as frozen from a box of Kosher cheese or cherry blintzes. Instead I will dream about these blintzes. The chickpea panisse was an odd square log of hot hummous. I wanted to spread it on bread and cover it with a tomato slice to cool it down but, as served, it was not to my liking. I put it into the off-putting category where hot cucumbers also live. The stuffed vegetables were lovely to gaze upon with the crispy stuffed tops but lacked any distinctiveness in flavor, particularly in the mildness of the yellow squash. Even as a member of the clean plate club, I couldn't finish them.

So, one hit and two misses takes me to the question of why Klein's vegetarian option is always a composition? Why not take the homerun and just go with it? I want more of a good thing so let's keep it focused. My opinion...

Regardless, the hits at Meritage outweigh the misses. If you are headed to St Paul's downtown, there is no better restaurant to dine at, especially if you want a vegetarian entree option (St Paul Grill, I am talking to you...). And if you do get a hit, it is downright wonderful.

Thumbs Up: Aromatic Cocktails, Amusements, Presentation
Thumbs Down: Threesomes aren't romantic

Meritage 410 St Peter St, St Paul www.meitage-stpaul.com

Taste of the Nation September 13

Taste of the Nation 2009 will be held on Sunday September 13, 2009 and it is going to be an amazing event this year with a phenomenol lineup of restaurants and chefs! Once again all ticket sales will go to helping end childhood hunger with our local grantees being Second Harvest Heartland, Minnesota Foodshare and the Legal Services Advocacay Project. You support an amazing cause as you dine on your five course meal cooked tableside with wine pairings by one of the top chefs in the Twin Cities. If you want to read about my experience last year, check it out here. I had a fabulous meal and great time!

So who is on board this year? The best of the best:

• La Belle Vie
• Cosmos
• Restaurant Alma
• Heidi's
• The Marsh
• 20.21
• Sea Change
• Red Stag Supper Club
• Mystic Lake
• D'Amico Kitchen
• Solera
• Dakota Jazz Club
• Barrio
• Bradstreet Crafthouse
• Chez Colette

Wow! That is all I can say. I am so excited to be in the same room with all of these chefs as they prepare unique meals for each of their ten guests. Foodie heaven.

And, to top it all off, we have great auction items including a golf trip to North Carolina, a full set of the new Calphalon Unison cookware, an overnight stay at Chambers and gift certificates to restaurants all over town.

If you read this blog that makes you either my friend or a foodie so how can you resist? Tickets start at just $150 and are at www.tasteofthenation.org/minneapolis. If you are media/blogger and would like to attend the event to cover it for your publication or have any questions or if your organization would like to participate in the event through donating an auction item, please send me an email at twincitieseats@gmail.com.

Sidetrip: Mexico City

Not what you pictured Mexico City looking like, huh? Well, okay, fine, I was on the 31st floor of the Presidente Intercontinental (the "women's floor") overlooking a park so maybe it isn't exactly a fair representation but it certainly is completely right to say that Mexico City is actually a greener city than I ever expected. There ARE trees and some areas, like Polanco, literally have treelined streets. Yes, there is pollution and crime and all of the things that scare most Americans away but Mexico City is amazing, especially when Mexico beats USA in soccer. Then the Mexicans make sure you know how amazing it is!

When I travel for work, it is usually intense long days and limited opportunity to explore or eat unless I take a day or two on the front or back end. In this instance, we arrived midafternoon at the hotel, had a quick lunch and then a later dinner. And that was really it. The next two days were all about grocery stores, conference rooms and meetings (and traffic!). Visiting grocery stores around the world is truly fascinating - I recommend it to all travelers. It says so much from one country to the next about how big different sections of the stores are or how many varieties are available. We saw a practical riot around the fresh corn in a Wal-Mart as the salespeople were doing rollbacks across the produce section! Crazy!

The one more formal meal we had out was at Los Girasoles in Polanco. This is upscale Mexican food and it was a great experience to be able to try lots of new flavors, especially with Mexicans at the table doing the ordering! We shared a wide range of dishes including huitlacoche (corn fungus) quesadillas with Oaxaca cheese. I love mushrooms and that is exactly what huitlaoche is - delicious! Another excellent find were Jamaica flower enchiladas in green sauce and topped with cheese. They were so familiar that it was like a light went off when I was in the grocery store the next day and my coworkers showed me dried Jamaica flowers... they are hibiscus! I also tried eggplant rolls filled with cheese. Seriously, it is amazing to me how eggplant is in every diet I have seen around the world - from Asia, to Europe, to South America. It is a remarkable vegetable! And alongside all of these dishes multiple salsas, from mild to hot, to sample and mix.

For one lunch, we went to the Denny's of Mexico, a chain owned by Wal-Mart called VIPS. This diner experience could have been in the US except that the menu was composed of "classic" Mexican items. I had cottage cheese enchiladas from the lighter side of the menu. It was a slightly random flavor combination but I liked the red enchilada sauce they used. I don't think I would necessarily recommend that you hit VIPS on your next trip to Mexico, but if I was traveling with kids, I definitely would. Lots of pictures on the menu and it felt "familiar".

Mexico City continues to be on my list of places I need to spend more time. I have barely touched the surface of both the food and the historical sites. I am even more motivated now after Rick Bayless' win on Top Chef Masters!

Los Girasoles http://www.restaurantelosgirasoles.com

Heidi's

This weekend was like a foodie weekend of my dreams. I instead will simply call it the kick-off to my month long 30th Birthday celebration. I admit to being slightly traumatized by the big 3-0 and good food may be the only way for me to get through it. So what better way to start it all off than with what is arguably the best restaurant in Minneapolis, Heidi's.

JD was in town for one night from London and I knew that, like me, she loves the adventure that good food can provide so I booked a table at Heidi's for Friday night at 8:15. We arrived and waited for about 15 minutes, during which we were given complimentary glasses of wine to sip while the earlier tables changed over to the "late night" diners of Minneapolis. The warm and friendly ambiance at Heidi's and the awesome smells coming from the kitchen would have satisfied my cravings even if we weren't soon seated.

In the side dining room where, despite an air conditioner, it was quite warm with the hot evening outside seeping through the cracks in a way that wasn't actually negative. In fact, I would have been miserable in a freezing ACed room. The heat was obvious when our first course arrived and JD's beet sorbet had slid across the plate in a 1980s type fluorescent streak. While she preferred the accoutrement of the dish including the puffed rice and stewed mustard greens, I personally thought the sorbet was chilly and delightful. While this beet starter was extremely good, I was honestly blown away by how simply wonderful my soft poached hen egg with fresh pea salad was. It was in this beautiful light truffle vinaigrette, but one that was so light that you could still distinctly taste the peas and pea shoots below the typically intense truffle. The egg wasn't runny and instead perfectly gelled so that you could take a bit in each bite as you schmeared it across the toast. It was a gorgeous salad that I have not stopped thinking about, right down to the salt perched on top of the yolk.

Course one under our belts, I sat back and tried to enjoy our wine. While the wine itself was good it was never cold enough, the weather winning out and the tabletop ice bucket never fulfilling the deep cold needed with this wine special. I looked enviously across the restaurant at another table that had a great big silver tub to chill their wine. My only other complaint of the evening stems similarly from "unequal" treatment. Not soon after we were seated at a perfectly sized table for two, another two top was picked up and placed right alongside ours, turning our table for two into a table of four, which in our case was a table of two women with no dates. Way to traumatize this single gal going on 30. Thanks.

These two incidents aside, the service was marvelous. The waitstaff at Heidi's obviously cares a lot about what they do and are extremely knowledgeable. Our waiter also impressively admitted what he didn't know, seeking out assistance when he felt less than confident in our wine questions. How great that he did this rather than try to fake his way through? It was a pleasure to be served at Heidi's.

The beautiful butter and bread consumed (I must start self-salting my butter) our main courses arrived. I ordered the vegetarian entree (shocking), a hand-rolled pasta with celery pesto, roasted poblanos, and in house pulled mozzarella. It was flavorful and uniquely different. Celery pesto? I know!! Who would have thought? But the taste was impeccably bright and I loved the tiny celery leaves used to accent the dish. It was green and gorgeous and I ate every bite. JD adored her Scottish Salmon served with blue crab over a bed of pureed purple tomatoes. She called it perfectly cooked. We were in heaven and then high heaven when we tasted the side we ordered of pappardelle with black truffles. It was creamy truffle bliss.

Since the decadence had begun, we couldn't just stop and so had to have dessert as well. A trio of delicious seasonal sorbets - cantaloupe, blackberry and yogurt. A perfect refreshing finish with the yogurt the standout sorbet topped with a bit, I believe, of pink peppercorn. Sigh.

Thumbs Up: Great food (all of it), the butter (I know, but seriously), the prices (incredibly reasonable for this quality of food)
Thumbs Down: Warm wine, slow AC

Heidi's 819 W 50th Street Minneapolis www.heidismpls.com

Patrick's French Bakery and Julie & Julia

I was distractedly excited for the release of Julie & Julia. As someone who loves to eat and cook AND actually read both of the books within days of them coming out, of course I was excited for this movie! And I have to say that I truly enjoyed it - the food, Meryl Streep, and the romance. Mmmm, simply great.

I dropped my friend at the airport on Saturday morning without a plan in my head but as my car exited the airport, I managed to find the movie times on my iPhone and excitedly saw that there was a 10:30 showing of Julie & Julia at Southdale. Having been in Mexico all week, I had been anxiously awaiting my arrival home to see this movie. The wheels of my mind started to race and next thing you know I am ordering quiche and macaroons from Patrick's French Bakery and sneaking my feast into the movie theater. Who wouldn't want to eat French food during a movie about Julia Child? No way was movie theater popcorn going to cut it.

Having made it through the teenager security at the ticket rope, I patiently waited for the previews to end before pulling out my spinach quiche served with green salad. It was a lovely individual quiche filled with spinach and tasting of cream, resting atop a buttery crust. As I escaped into Julie/Julia's world, my belly was very happy. And it was decidedly the chocolatiest macaroon I have ever tasted. While the colors of the other flavors in the Patrick's display case turned me off, the chocolate variation both looked and tasted marvelous. We need more macaroons in Minnesota. Maybe I will make them and put them on a stick for next year's fair!

As to the movie, it was very sweet and played out as a love story about food but also within marriage. It was so different than the typical romantic comedy genre, illustrating the romance that can exist within marriage. I found myself alternating between swooning and laughing.

Was the movie "authentic" or a perfect rendition of either book? You know what, I don't care. It was a fun movie and a perfect movie for a romantic fool of a foodie like me. I loved it.

Patrick's French Bakery 2928 W 66th Street Richfield www.patricksbakerycafe.com

Sidetrip: New York City

Sometimes I wonder if I really live in Minneapolis or not. As I prepared for a weekend in NYC, I flipped through my subways cards of the world, popped the Metrocard into my wallet and then stuffed some pesos into my wallet for the second half of my trip. I don’t think most people have these items in their jewelry boxes rather than actual jewelry. Then the minute I hit the ground in New York, I had people asking me for directions and then despite the fact that I don’t live there, I gave them the directions. Someday I may have to retire from my globe-trotting antics but until then I will relish the idea of being a citizen of the world. And, arguably, one of the capitals of that world is New York City.

There are three major things I love about New York City: the diversity, the food and my people. Walking the streets of New York is like a fresh breath of air in terms of the people you see and the languages you hear. It is a miracle that so many people of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds can all live so relatively harmoniously in one great big crazy city. It makes me feel alive and part of something to be surrounded by such energy. It is my heaven counterpart to the hell of a nightmare I repeatedly have where I wake up one morning in a cookie cutter suburb feeling panicked because I can’t figure out which house is mine.

Ah, the food. On the one hand, it is amazing what exists in New York and I love to anticipate the trends eventually trickling over the Mississippi. On the other, it is so overwhelming that I risk freezing up. It is so vastly unconquerable that if I were to ever move to New York City, I would certainly need to revise my food outlook on life. Maybe just focus on a neighborhood? Or even one street? Or just Zabar’s?

Finally, my people. My family, my friends; so many of them live in New York City that I can’t see everyone each time I visit and, in this world of Facebook, I still haven’t figured out the polite way to come to New York and not offend someone. But the pleasure of seeing them, holding my niece, and raising a glass of wine with people I have known for years far outweighs the stress that the occasional slight provides.

One thing New York can ALWAYS provide is new adventures and this trip was no different. This weekend’s new adventure was to be had in Hoboken, where 8 months ago my friend LS from Minneapolis set up home. In my head, Hoboken was a vast sea of high rises viewed from across the Hudson. In reality, it was a cute, historic town filled with brownstones, shops and restaurants. I was very pleasantly surprised by the youth and diversity, as well as the historic buildings. LS’s neighbors had even lived upstairs for 50 years!

Based on the recommendation of another friend, we BYOBed a bottle of wine (seriously, another perk to NJ in addition to Princeton and Short Hills Mall) to the Latino-Cuban restaurant Zafra. Our bottle of wine quickly disappeared in order to become a pitcher of sangria while we settled down into our patio seats, overlooking a quiet corner one block off of the Hoboken main drag. We started with the Yucca Frita, fried pieces of starchy yucca with an herby-garlicky aioli. This was no adventure for the mild palate, my tongue loving the frolic with this pungent sauce. I fell off the path in terms of traditional (and the waitress was not afraid to criticize me for it) by ordering the Plantains in Mole Sauce for my entrée, which isn’t authentic, albeit admitted by the waitress as very popular. I simply courldn’t resist it. I have always wanted to have mole sauce, the deep rich Mexican sauce containing chocolate, but I had never seen it offered anywhere with a vegetarian variation. Every other bite of the mole over plaintains, my mind was racing between smoky richness and chocolate-covered bananas. It was weird and fun at the same time. The accompanying black beans and rice were delicious. The heft of the meal and the pitcher of red sangria had us staggering home exhausted.

Saturday was a beautiful day to celebrate my niece’s first birthday in Riverside Park followed up by JK’s 30th birthday celebration. A large group descended upon Mangia & Bevi in Hell’s Kitchen for dinner. We were one of only two tables in the restaurant that wasn’t a Bachelorette party and we were, suffice it to say, quite entertained by the ensuing “entertainment” during our veritable red-sauce Italian feast. This was definitely a quantity over quality type of place but considering the shots and hours of karaoke open bar to follow, retrospectively, it was an excellent idea.

Mostly recovered, we reconvened the birthday crew for a much classier multi-course brunch at Terrace in the Sky in Morningside Heights. This sky-high restaurant is straight from another age where mirrored walls and dressed up waiters were the peak of sophistication. Interestingly it has a pretty high Zagat rating (and accompanying price tag) but it was definitely more about the view than the food. Regardless, it was a nice brunch with friends overlooking the northern edges of Manhattan.

And last, but certainly not least, I ended the weekend with dinner at Franny’s in Brooklyn. New York Magazine recently ranked it number 3 in pizza in NYC but this isn’t the typical New York pizza, it is of a style near and dear to our Minneapolis, Punch-loving hearts, Napolitano. With a daily changing menu, we started with two delicious starters: heirloom tomatoes with fresh ricotta and cucumbers and roasted eggplant with raisins and pine nuts. The tomatoes were like a farmers market on my plate, perfected only with a bit of olive oil and crunchy salt. The eggplant was a unique combination of flavors that almost took me to the Middle East before settling right back into rustic Italian. For the pizza I stuck to the traditional tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil variation, with the thin pie overlapping the edges of my plate. It was simple and delicious, the quality of ingredients clearly shining through. It was no better and no worse than Punch, just as good but slightly different with more char breaking through on the crust. My rosado wine was the perfect liquid accompaniment. Sigh, sit back. That was wonderful.

It was another great weekend in NYC all the way from Hoboken to Morningside Heights to Brooklyn. Next time, numbers 1 and 2 on that pizza list…

Northeast Social

Very pleasantly surprised. That sums up my dinner at Northeast Social. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into since the website for Northeast Social is basically a blank slate with only the address. But in a “what the heck, let’s meet for dinner” type of moment that was just the type of place to head to. If it was going to be bad, it doesn’t matter too much because it isn’t like we had planned our evenings around it in the first place.

Northeast Social is, you guessed it, up in Northeast, right near the little stretch that has Erte and Modern Café. On their corner a block off University, the folks of Northeast Social have created a haven of a restaurant that reminds me more of a bistro in Paris than a typical Minneapolis restaurant. Much like 112 Eatery or Strip Club, I felt transported to a larger city where everyday dining out is the norm and slightly upscale neighborhood restaurants dot the landscape. It was a wonderful feeling to walk into a place on a Wednesday night and have it buzzing with energy, the tables and bar full and the sidewalk diners relaxing (considering the pot smell, maybe a bit too much) and enjoying their summer evening.

I had plenty of time to scope out the room as I waited for AdS, falling in love with the beautiful tin ceiling and new bistro chairs. Each day Northeast Social has a special by-the-glass white and red that is in addition to the regular selection of glasses on the menu. I think it was a sign that the white wine that day was a Torrentes, a crisp and fruity white I had fallen in love with while in Argentina this spring. I crossed my fingers hoping that the food would be just as wonderful as the atmosphere.

After AdS safely navigated the Twins traffic of Downtown, we started with a basket of the okra fries, a combination of fried okra, French fries and marinated mushrooms served with a mustard dipping sauce. Okra always runs the risk of being slimy and frightening but in this instance it was crisp, delicious and perfectly paired with the rich mustard sauce. The French fries themselves were an aside, thin and nothing remarkable, but the mushrooms were a nice break from the routine. Overall, it was a really fun starter providing both finger food casualness and a variety that kept me from regretting the choice. Arguably it is a must-have at Northeast Social.

I so wish that I could tell you that my entrée is a must-have, especially because it by far wins for the best meal I had this July. Unfortunately, it was a special so just a fleeting moment of genius over which I can wax and you cannot easily repeat. The dish was a vegetarian risotto with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and chicken of the woods mushroom. This risotto was perfect. The al dente rice was perfectly balanced by the comparably large quantity of vegetables and the freshly grated cheese over the top. It had wonderful flavor, amazing textures and I was swept away by how very fresh it felt. AdS almost had a heart attach when she saw me take a bite of the first mushroom, fearing that I had instead chomped down on a piece of chicken breast. Haha, chicken of the woods mushrooms really do look like chicken! I had never had them so how fun is that? This dish made my night and the experience at Northeast Social.

The regular menu at Northeast Social also has salads and a variety of other entrees, ranging from juicy, fall-from-the-bone ribs (AdS’s selection) to gnocchi in a fresh tomato sauce. It is a simple one-page menu, refreshingly not the page turner that you get at the local Thai restaurants or even the 27 varieties of wings at Butcher Block.

In the midst of my summer harvest feast, my heart hurt to learn that one of my best Minneapolis dining companions in crime had decided it was time to move back to the East Coast. Sad for me, happy for her, there was only one appropriate response: chocolate cake. The simplicity of the execution matched the somberness of my mood and highlighted what was a quite good chocolate cake. It was nothing to raise the roof over but in filling the chocolate need of the evening, it did its job.

Northeast Social is an excellent addition to the Twin Cities dining scene and I look forward to returning sooner rather than later, sadly without AdS.

Thumbs Up: Buzzing neighborhood atmosphere, great vegetarian special, beautiful ceiling
Thumbs Down: French Fries only so so

Northeast Social 359 13th Ave NE Minneapolis www.northeastsocial.com

Food Lit: Fortune Cookies and A Society Girl

Reading the description and the title of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, I thought it was going to be horrible fluff. Instead the marketing was horrible fluff and the Jennifer 8 Lee's book itself was extremely interesting and fun to read. Since tearing through it at breakneck speed, I have been walking around doing plenty of "did you knows" about the fascinating history of Chinese restaurants in the United States and the dishes that set them apart from Chinese food in the rest of the world. It is basically a journalistic book on how the heck we ended up with more Chinese restaurants in the United States than McDonald's and where such dishes as General Tso's chicken and the eponymous fortune cookie actually come from. While not every piece of the book was well-crafted or worthwhile (such as her search for and analysis of the best Chinese restaurant in the world), I overall loved this book and if you grew up eating at your own Golden Dragon or Won Kow Carryout, you will not be disappointed.

On the other hand, I did not love Moira Hodgson's It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: My Adventures in Life and Food. Apparently if you have ever picked up the pen (or opened the laptop) to write as a critic for the New York Times, this also means that you get to write a book about your life. That's fine and all but it quite clear that some of these books are better than others (Ruth Reichl) and some are worse (ie this one or Mimi Sheraton). The ones in the worse column tend to read like a who's who of NYC society rather sweet narratives of youth and clear discussion of chefs, restaurants and foodie gods. While I was intrigued by Hodgson's life as a child living all over the world with a diplomat father (Vietnam and Egypt were particularly fascinating), my interest wained as the book went on and the who's who aspect became ever more forced upon the reader. If you are still drawn to read this book, it's okay to read the first half and drop it halfway through.

El Paraiso

If you scroll down the right side of the page, you note that there is a cuisine that is a bit paltry in terms of posts and that is Mexican food. Yes, Barrio is there but if you just want to sit down with your friends, have a margarita and a good plate of Mexican food, the best I can offer you multiple posts on actually going to Mexico. This is because I admittedly haven't explored too far in terms of Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities so I was super psyched when a date recommended that we go for Mexican and even had a place picked out that I had never been to, El Paraiso. Seriously, two points to him and he didn't even know about the blog.

The double bonus points did not remain for long, however, because I met him at the restaurant and the first thing he told me was not simply that he had never been there before but that his roommate was appalled that we were going there because this man had had awful food poisoning on his last trip to El Paraiso. Way to start a meal out, right?

Regardless, we chose to stay and picked a table out on the patio overlooking 35th Street, quickly ordering margaritas. We perused the menu. And then did it again. And again. The menu is huge! You can basically get everything from burritos to tacos to enchiladas with a variety of protein fillings. Plus, many seafood options.

Only a bit overwhelmed, we ordered and then snacked on the chips and salsa while listening to the background music pumping out over the patio. Was that Les Mis? Oh yes it was. Showboat? Maybe. How incredibly random that we were listening to showtunes at a Mexican restaurant. Regardless of the Broadway soundtrack tinged with Nicollet traffic, I did enjoy the salsa. It had a lot of fresh herbs in it, making it the bright spot of the meal.

For my entree, I ordered the Tacos de Papas, otherwise known as potato tacos. I was pretty excited envisioning soft tacos filled with fried potatoes and other goodies. I guess I didn't read the menu too closely, though, because what I ended up with were rolled and fried tacos, like what I would call potato flautas. They were served with heaps of iceberg lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and a side of refried beans. Nothing on the plate was remarkable at all. In fact, it was all really bland. I had high hopes from that salsa and instead felt let down. My companion also spent a lot of time poking at his chile relleno with chicken rather than wolfing it down.

While I hate to decry a restaurant after only one visit, rather than return to El Paraiso, I am tempted to try other Mexican restaurants in town and hope for better. Where should I go? I am also now really looking forward to a few days in Mexico City next week. Any recommendations?

Thumbs Up: Herb-filled Salsa
Thumbs Down: Bland main course covered in iceberg lettuce, showtunes atmosphere

El Paraiso 3501 Nicollet Ave Minneapolis www.elparaisominneapolis.com