Young Joni – Minneapolis, MN

It was a nice night for a double date with D.Rough’s sister and Brother in Law, and we just happened to get a table at Young Joni. I’ll start by saying the entrance is painfully hidden. I walked by the entrance a few times while other tables laughed at me and eventually the hostess had to come out and open the hidden door for me. They really need to put some sort of indicator on the all-glass front so people know where to find the door. Our table was against those windows, so we watched at least 20 different groups of people who were unable to find the door and needed to be helped. Just wait outside the place until someone comes out – that’s my advice.

It’s an upscale restaurant by the folks who opened Pizzeria Lola, so we knew it was going to be good. We weren’t disappointed. They’re also known for their pizzas, and a few other dishes, so we split a lot of things four ways and got to sample a lot.

We started with the Brussel Sprouts, the Cauliflower Appetizer (it’s actual name), and the Bi Bim Grain. D.rough and I also split an Amatriciana Pizza.

The brussel sprouts were awesome. Nice shavings of parmesan cheese on them and a little pork belly that wasn’t fatty mixed in. Delicious, really.

The Cauliflower Appetizer (it’s actual name) was perfect. Lots of roasted veggies (something they’re known for) and some jalapeno rings that made the whole dish sing. I loved it.

The Bi Bim Grain was unusual, but I really liked it. More Asian vegetables than most places have, and some of them were pickled quite nicely. There were purple daikon radishes, nori, and something called Job’s tears, and faro.  The dish was topped with a perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg and some saffron strands. Great appetizer!

The Amatriciana Pizza is a red sauce pizza with pecorino cheese, guanciale (pork cheeks), and lots of onions. Panchetta also, I think. It was quite good and the crust was nice and crispy while being super thin. Not too much sauce probably helped this thing, since it let the toppings shine a little bit. Nice pie they’ve got here. 

And since dessert must always be at least looked at, we found ourselves with the Cone Trio. Tiny ice cream cones with various dips. They were fine, and a good way to finish the meal. I didn’t eat much of these. And the brother in law got the Church Basement Bar sampler. Which he said tasted like they were bars right out of the church basement. It’s been a while since I went to church, so I couldn’t tell you. hahaha

I think you’ll like this place if you can find your way in. There is also a hidden bar entrance in the back that you have to enter from the alley – which ALSO has a hidden entrance. It’s weird how difficult his place is to actually get inside. And, oddly enough, the website isn’t up and running yet, so that is ALSO difficult to get into. Geeeesh.

Top 5 things about Young Joni

1. Amatriciana Pizza

2. Cauliflower Dish

3. Bi Bim Grain

4. Brussel Sprouts

5. There IS a parking lot next to the building – hooray!

Bottom 5 things

1. Can’t get inside the restaurant

2. Can’t get inside the speakeasy-style bar in back

3. Can’t look at their website

4. You’ll have to wait for a table – which isn’t necessarily bad

5. It’s priced for date night, but after you eat, you won’t mind paying it

www.youngjoni.com

Draft Horse – Minneapolis, MN

This place had been on our list to try for a few different reasons, but it took us forever to get here. The place is proud of the fact that it leverages local (and in many cases in the same building) suppliers of meat and veggies for its delicious sounding menu. They’ve got a few star items and we tried to get a couple of them. 

We had to wait a bit for a table, but we were expecting that. So we grabbed a few beers and watched the servers bring out delicious smelling plates to various tables. We chatted up the bartender and a couple of servers that helped us make our decisions. We got seated and as we were looking at our menus, the table next to us kept offering their food for us to try. They had ordered too much and were SUPER generous about sharing with us and another table. Really Minnesotan and really awesome.

We ordered a meat plate to start with, since it’s difficult to go wrong with those. We also got a pork cassoulet to share. For our entrees, D.Rough got a roast chicken pot pie and I, after changing my mind a few hundred times, decided on the pork shank.

The meat plate and pork cassoulet came out first and we dug in. Great mixture of meats on the meat plate, and each one tasted different (sometimes the meat boards end up tasting the same, but I like variety of this one). Great choice.

The pork cassoulet was quite good. I would get this again, without question. The beans were nice and soft and not grainy and the rustic bread complemented it really well.

The chicken pot pie was good, but not great. I know D.Rough was expecting more flavor, but it was just ok. Plenty of food, but we wished it had more flavors in it (aside from a boat-load of onions).

The pork shank was massive. Really waaaaay too much food. I should have split this between two or three people. The rub it had was fantastic, so I was pretty stoked about eating the rest of it. The skin was a little thick and chewy in spots, but one I got down to the meat, it was incredible. I really loved the flavor of this giant chunk of meat. The seasonings on the outside had clearly soaked into the meat below and gave this meat serious flavor. It was perfectly cooked, as well – not dried out.  I’m glad I got it, but I’d only get it again if I were sharing with a few people. It’s not a one-person portion.

Great restaurant with a slightly higher price tag than our usual stops, but we’re glad we went there to have a nice date night.

Top 5 things about Draft Horse
1. Pork Cassoulet
2. Pork Shank
3. Meat Plate
4. Super friendly people that shared their food with us
5. Love the locally-sourced food

Bottom 5 things
1. Wished the Roasted Chicken Pot Pie were better
2. It's upscale pricing
3. You're going to have to wait, since it isn't very large inside
3. Nothing else was bad!!!

www.thedrafthorsempls.com

Wrestlepalooza 9 – Minneapolis, MN

I can’t believe I’ve been to almost all of these ridiculously fun semi-pro wrestling events. Each one is more fun than the last. I’ve reviewed these before, but I wanted to keep it in front of you so you can remember to buy your tickets to these always-sold-out events. It continues to be like a huge party sponsored by PBR with wrestling, burlesque, and bands. It’s such a good time.

I got to see one of my favorite wrestlers lay some waste in the ring as well – Cody Rice: The Husky Heartthrob. He’s so fun to watch (and also to hang out with).

Here’s a couple more photos to remind you of the awesome times we have. Just go, for your own sake. Go.

Also, I love seeing people legit cry at these things. 

 

Mucci's (for donuts) - St. Paul, MN

Mucci's is one of my favorite donut places in the Twin Cities. I've reviewed this place before and they absolutely kill it every time I've gone there. The small restaurant is a nice homey Italian restaurant at nights, but on Saturday and Sunday mornings, they make upscale donuts.

For example, these donuts are Blood Orange glazed and Pistachio glazed, respectively. They were absolutely incredible.

We also got a slice of their homemade pizza for breakfast. Brilliant idea, Mr. Niver. Thanks for making me give you all my money at all of your restaurants. hahaha

www.muccisitalian.com

The Naughty Greek – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough found some online photos of the food from this place and we dropped by one night we didn’t feel like cooking. The small shop has about 6 tables in it, so you may have to take your food to go if there’s no room. The menu is on the wall and explains things pretty thoroughly – and otherwise, you can ask the staff if you have any questions. We ended up getting a pork gyro platter (with an upgrade to naughty fries – which means they add some feta to the top), a pork gyro sandwich, and baked feta pastries drizzled in honey.

The platter is pretty large and comes on a mini-cookie tray. It’s got all the toppings you could want and a mound of meat. I also LOVE that they cover the pita in olive oil before serving it – something more places could take a hint from. The pork flavor was fantastic and there was more than enough – in fact, I couldn’t eat the entire thing. That doesn’t happen very often. The fries are very crispy, which rules, especially when you have to take half of them home to reheat the next day.

The pork gyro sandwich was basically the same thing, but comes all wrapped up in one package – no assembly required. Maybe slightly less meat than the platter, but it’s still got plenty. Really delicious.

The baked feta was great. Truly. I think you’re probably going to want to split one of these for two people, but if you reeeeeeally enjoy eating a block of feta on your own, no judgment here.

The owner, Angelo, came out and we chatted about D.Rough and my trip to Santorini a few years back. He’s got family in Greece and has been to Santorini himself. We swapped some good stories and assured him we’d be back (to both Santorini and to his restaurant in St. Paul).

For the record, they do serve Greek beer and wine here, so that doesn’t hurt anything.

Looking forward to our next visit here. We loved it. 

www.thenaughtygreek.com 

Naked Chicken Taco – Taco Bell

As usual, Taco Bell has knocked it out of the park on their new menu item. I wasn’t sure what I was going to be walking into with this thing, but I do love fried chicken. So, when Taco Bell told me they were making a taco shell out of fried chicken, I knew right away I was in. I thought I might be bummed that there wasn’t any ground beef in the taco, but the meat-flavor of the chicken was surprisingly good, and the crispiness of the fried part also added to the whole situation.

I’m a fan. Thanks for rockin’ it once again, Taco Bell test kitchens. You keep doing what you’re doing.