Apostle Supper Club – St .Paul, MN

 

We finally booked a double date with SVB and the Weathermatologist, after months of me forgetting to check my calendar and confirm days that actually worked for all of us. I take full responsibility. There’s a new supper club in downtown St. Paul, right across from the Xcel Energy Center, and somehow we accidentally managed to pick a night where nothing was going on at the X, so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. 

 

The website says it is a 1960’s Palm Springs inspired supper club, piano lounge, and tiki bar. And it’s also a funny coincidence that D and I were recently in Palm Springs at various tiki bars, so we have a close comparison. But it definitely has that feel once you get inside. 

 

The first thing you’ll notice is that there isn’t a parking lot. I’m not sure why people get so bent out of shape about that, especially since this is a downtown metropolitan area, where tons of restaurants exist perfectly fine without parking lots. There’s multiple parking ramps right across the street, so just suck it up and park there. If it’s an event night, you’ll just have to suck it up. Welcome to the big city. 

 

Once you walk inside, you’re already getting vintage vibes. Tufting on the green leather door and some seagrass behind a modern tiki painting. I’m already digging it. You’ll walk into a lavish and beautifully dark piano lounge. There are multiple rows of chairs and stools circling the piano player (who was slaying the night we were there). 

You can see the tiki bar on the side as you walk in, as well. There are rolling garage doors that undoubtedly lead out to an outdoor space. In the rear of the restaurant, there’s more of a dining room feel and you can also sit near the kitchen area and watch the goings-on there. Just make sure you get reservations, as this place fills up. 

D and I got there early (intentionally), so we could check out the tiki bar, called False Eyedoll. The drink menu is slim, but does have a good showing – better than some bars that sort of have a tiki offering. They’ve also got a small snack menu that had some delicious sounding dishes (wings, smokies, tacos, pickle roll ups, etc.). I started with the False Eyedoll – rum, lychee, peach, pineapple, lime, and mango. D got the Pain Killer – rum, pineapple, coconut, lime, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Both drinks were actually quite delicious and didn’t come from a mix. The bartender did a heck of a job and kept us entertained, too. I blew through mine too quickly and had to order a Glove Drop – jalapeno-infused tequila, pineapple, and lime. I’m not a fan of “spicy” drinks (but I AM a fan of spicy food), but this was actually really good. Lots of jalapeno flavor, without the spiciness. I really liked this one more than I expected. Then our friends showed up, so we went over to our reservation-booked table – eatin’ time!

 

Before I go further, let it be known there is a fuzzy wall on the way to the restroom. I love a good fuzzy wall, ever since Get Him To The Greek came out. This one is pretty spectacular.

 

The menu is pretty interesting. Lots of upscale and cheffy dishes to choose from. We had heard the portions aren’t large, so we kept that in mind. D and I started by splitting the coconut miso noodle salad. We also ordered some crinkle fries, because why not? D got the halibut & caviar and I caved and went with the waygu manhattan steak (our Lyft driver asked me if I was getting a steak as soon as he heard we were going to a supper club, so he is to blame for planting the seed). The waiter kept getting a bit confused with our order for some reason, which was weird, since it was pretty straight forward, both ours and our friends. He came back to our table no less than three times asking what we had ordered. Hmmmmm. 

 

The server brought us a small table relish tray – various things like peppers and pickles and such. Good colorful showing to start with. We waited a bit for our food, which is fine, since we had plenty to get caught up on (see the aforementioned delay on me booking dinner with these wonderful people). The coconut miso salad arrived and it was FAR better than either of us expected. Noodles, herbs, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, edamame, and sesame seeds all combined into a pleasant hillock. And we both thought it was a pretty reasonable portion size. This was absolutely the best thing we ate at Apostle. Would recommend highly. 

 

I had to order another drink (since we took a Lyft), and went with the Passionfruit Collins – vodka, passionfruit, lemon, and soda water. Since I usually just get a Collins with vodka, I can’t tell if they’re usually separated like this one was, but the passionfruit puree was settled at the bottom and hard to stir, so I either got a mouthful of goo or a mouthful of straight vodka. Not sure I’d order this one again, even if that’s how the presentation is intended to be. Just weird.

We waited a bit more, and they brought everyone’s food out, but mine was not what I ordered, so they sent it back and said they’d start on my steak right away. Remember all the confusion at the beginning? That was part of it, although we had a pretty lengthy discussion of what temperature the steak should be cooked at, so I know what I ordered. D’s halibut was pretty small, especially for a pricey entrée. And it came with two asparagus sprigs. I know caviar is expensive, but I don’t get the impression this is the million-dollar stuff. The halibut was cooked about right, but even with the caviar and herb butter, the dish left a little bit to be desired. 

 

A little while later, the waygu steak showed up. I’ve had waygu steak a few times and this one was the ok-est of the ones I’ve had. It was cooked like I requested (thankfully), but there wasn’t a ton of flavor with it. The two baby bok choy stalks didn’t really add much to the presentation and the “chron sauce” that was supposed to be topped with herbs and capers (which it wasn’t) was unremarkable enough that I honestly couldn’t figure out what it was made of. The meat flavor was perfectly fine, but the most expensive item on the menu should probably knock my socks off, or at least make them itch.

 

We had to remind the waiter that our fries had never arrived. So, we ate those for dessert instead of ordering anything additional. The fries were actually cooked really well and perfectly crispy and salty, but I didn’t know until just now what the dip was supposed to be until I looked it up to remind myself. It didn’t taste like much, so I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be cheese or honey mustard or bechemel – it was supposed to be horseradish hollandaise, for what it’s worth.

 

We thought we were done with the mix-ups, until the waiter brought the bill which again, we thought was straight forward and didn’t have shared dishes, but had swapped some of our items. We didn’t even bother bringing it up and just figured it out amongst ourselves. We’re pretty easy going couples and just rolled with it and didn’t complain. But, when we left, the waiter said he hoped we enjoyed our meals and he hoped we got a better waiter the next time we were in. hahahaha. I’ve never actually had any staff say something like that before. I wasn’t even sure how to respond or if he was joking. But, probably an appropriate finisher to this extraordinarily lengthy and pricy meal that we could have expected. 

 

http://www.apostlesupperclub.com

Apostle Supper Club

253 Kellogg Blvd. W.

St. Paul, MN 55102

3 Squares – Maple Grove, MN

DRough and I were up in the northwest suburbs for some random reason and needed to grab some dinner. It was restaurant week and we knew 3 Squares was a place that had a special menu for the week – sort of a fixe prix menu for the week. After a quick look online to see what was actually on the menu, we popped in and got a table. For the record, 3 Squares is owned by the Blue Plate Restaurant Group – the same folks that own Edina Grill, Longfellow Grill, Groveland Tap and a few other tasty places we’ve been to multiple times.

We ordered a couple of pre-dinner drinks – I got a Ginger Peach Cosmo (I’m comfortable drinking that in public) and DRough got some drink with bourbon and orange bitters in it. My drink was pretty delicious, although I didn’t eat the large ringlet of candied ginger that came with the drink. It was a little too bite-y for me. DRough and I ended up switching drinks since hers was a bit harsh for her palate. I can power through most drinks, so I wasn’t really out anything. It just had a LOT of bitters in it.

For dinner, we could pick an appetizer each, an entrée each, and then a dessert for each of us. To start, we got a caprese salad and a pair of crab cakes. Our entrees were lobster lasagna and a ribeye steak. For dessert, something called a pint-o-cake and some chocolate cake.

When we had walked into the restaurant, I ran into a former co-worker of mine who made a few recommendations for us for the special menu, so we felt pretty good about our orders. The caprese salad was pretty good. Some greens with 6 or 7 mozzarella balls, a few cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic. It was a pretty standard salad, as salads go.

The crab cakes were surprisingly good. They had the perfect crisp on them and there was not an overwhelming fishy flavor in with them. Paired with the lemony dressing on the salad that came with the appetizer, it was pretty darn good. I’d recommend these pretty highly and they ended up being the best thing we ate that evening.

The entrees arrived and looked delicious. The lobster lasagna came with a long buttered and grilled piece of bread and had a lot of cream sauce in it. I expected to see a tomato-based sauce, to be honest. The first bite I had didn’t thrill me. The lasagna noodle was really long and rubbery. It even took me a few tries to cut it down to an actual portion I could eat. The sauce was also pretty salty – and this is coming from a guy who likes salt. It was salty enough D.Rough couldn’t eat all of hers. Pretty disappointing.

I thought I’d check out the garlic mashed potatoes before I went after the steak. The potatoes were pretty delicious – plenty of garlic and not pasty like some places that overcook them. I dug into my large ribeye. I had to scrape off the onions and mushrooms to get to the steak itself. The steak had a decent flavor, which I was happy about. What I wasn’t happy about was the amount of gristle and fat in the steak. I was actually surprised how much I left on my plate by the time I was done. I didn’t finish the steak because it was frustrating and I got sick of trying to power through the gristle. This is why you don’t order a steak at a non-steak restaurant. Disappointing.

The chocolate cake D.Rough got was a little sub-par. A multi-layered cake with some decoration and nice presentation. It was a tad dry, but when dipped in the extra chocolate syrup, it was much better. Not an incredible cake, but I’ve for sure had worse.

The pint-o-cake was a cake in a pint glass. It was actually much better than I expected. It had a lemon mascarpone whipped cream on it that appeared to be handmade – it was quite delicious. It was a little difficult to eat since the strawberries and cake had settled to the bottom and you had to dig deep to get all the ingredients. But I will give them props for presenting it in a different way. I actually enjoyed the cake in a glass a lot.

Overall, I’m not a fan of 3 Squares. The meal was disappointing, especially for Restaurant Week. I’ve enjoyed the other Blue Plate Group restaurants much more than here, so I won’t feel bad about not going back anytime soon.

Top 5 things about 3 Squares

1. Crab cakes

2. Pint-O-Cake

3. Ginger Peach Cosmo

4. The staff were all really nice and friendly

5.

Bottom 5 things

1. Lobster Lasagna

2. Ribeye

3. Chocolate cake

4. Bourbon-y bitters-y cocktail

5. Caprese Salad

www.3squaresrestaurant.com

Fairview Pinotage 2006 – South Africa

Gerd and I got hooked on Pinotage while out in San Diego the end of last year. So we’ve been picking up bottles here and there when we can find them. I’m not a wine connoisseur, so you’ll just have to bear with my description from a layman’s perspective.

This Pinotage is a deep red with a smoky flavor with a bit of spice – you’ll know what I’m talking about after the first sip. It’s very full-bodied, but not very dry at all (which I’ve found is pretty rare). Don’t get me wrong, it’s not sweet, but it’s kind of a fat big flavorful red. I thought, this would be perfect with some serious steak, and then I looked at the back of the bottle and it said it’s great with curries and braised or barbecued red meats. It also says it would go well with a rich cheese, which I would agree with. But seeing how I only have Kraft Singles in the fridge, I thought better of it. Though I wonder if I could pair some sort of wine with Easy Cheese… now THAT’s got me thinking…

Top 5 things about Fairview Pinotage
1. Big fat wine without being dry enough to suck the moisture out of my mouth and make me thirstier
2. Sounds fancy when you recommend a wine from South Africa to your friends
3. A couple glasses of wine makes for top-notch quality on my take-home final
4. I’m glad I didn’t bring this to someone’s house and only get one glass
5. Makes me look forward to my other reds since I know I have considerable red meat in my freezer

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd was looking forward to drinking this with me
2. I didn’t eat this with a juicy steak
3. Had to drink it alone
4. I’ll be re-writing my take-home final tomorrow night
5. Now I’ll have to go buy more (after I drink a couple other bottles)

www.fairview.co.za

Seven Steakhouse – Minneapolis, MN

Gerd and I had driven by Seven a couple hundred times and always talked about going to this place. We had made reservations to go here the day after Valentine’s Day to celebrate the holiday. A lot of bad things have happened between then and now. To make a long story short, my nephew, the Delivery Boy, was going to be in town and I asked him if he would be weirded out by going to this place with me. He thought it would be a good idea.

Gerd loved steak. Any and all steak. She would pay (meaning she would make me pay) top dollar for steak if it was rumored to be good. I’m sorry she didn’t get to go here with me. She would have loved it.

The inside décor of this place was awesome. Attention to detail in the design and architecture really stood out. The bar is lit from the inside – through the marble. It’s VERY classy. The two-story vertical wine cellar is very eye-catching as well. Great use of uplighting and dramatic windows and curtains (I sound like an idiot, but it was truly top-notch).

We got greeted by a team of servers. The woman was very chatty (in a good way) and her assistant was super-service conscientious. Delivery Boy and I started with a couple of girly drinks. I stuck with the Flirtini and he got the Raspberry Teardrop or something. Both very good. I will also mention the bread they brought to the table. It was awesome, and I don’t even know what kind it was. Dark and sweet.

We asked our waitress if we should go with appetizers or salads. Depending on how hungry we were, she said to go with the salad. I chose a Steakhouse Cobb salad and my nephew got the Grilled Caesar salad. The Caesar was awesome. Whole romaine lettuce grilled slightly and covered with dressing and croutons. The Cobb was a perfectly displayed series of rows of romaine, tomatoes, bacon, hard-boiled egg, avacados, blue cheese, and chicken. Very filling but very tasty as well.

Here is the word of warning – due to an unexpected run on holiday diners the previous night (actual Valentines Day), and due to the fact that this was Sunday and butcher shops were closed, Seven had to bring in some cuts of meat from their sister restaurant. So very few items were actual “Seven” cuts.

Delivery Boy wanted the filet, but he said only to bring him one if it was actually one of THEIR cuts. No problem, she assured him. I wanted either a porterhouse or a Kansas City strip. Neither of which were “Seven” steaks. It didn’t matter. I knew what I wanted, so I went with the 21 oz KC strip. We also thought we at least needed to TRY the Mac and Cheese side since it was cooked in truffle oil.

I’m not even going to begin to explain how awesome these steaks were. We were laughing because we were cutting the meat delicately as if we would hurt it. If my steak wasn’t “Seven” branded, then I’m not sure how it could have been any better. Perfectly cooked, without sauce, and a sprinkle of sea salt on top. My nephew kept referring to some sort of magic seasoning they must have used, but I really don’t think there was anything on either of our steaks. Each bite was awesome and juicy. Almost no fat at all on these pieces of heaven. I could go on and on about these, but I shouldn’t.

The Mac and Cheese was in the top 3 I’ve ever eaten. It smelled delicious scooping it out onto your plate and tasted even better. Deliver Boy is convinced they hired Malaysian children to fill each piece of macaroni with cheese in a sweatshop out back (but he didn’t seem to be bothered by that, strangely). But it was awesome. Like I said, if you see Mac and Cheese on a menu in a fancy restaurant, order it because you know the chef has worked some magic on it.

Since you know I love to review restrooms, I took a quick peek. The bathroom is seriously dark, but in a really cool way. Large black tiles on the floor and halfway up the walls. Recessed sinks with classy hardware. Black urinals set into a hall-way-like alcove. Small video screens for adverts above the urinals so you don’t get bored. Little rooms for stalls with frosted glass doors. Wicker basket for a garbage can. This bathroom was pretty awesome.

If you go here, you’re going to pay. However, you are not likely to regret paying when you taste your first bite. Take my word for it.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Gerd. My nephew and I talked about how much you would have loved this place.

Top 5 things about Seven
1. Kansas City Strip
2. Filet
3. Truffle Mac and Cheese
4. Décor and Service (snuck in two on this line)
5. Restroom

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd wasn’t here to make that face she always did when she took the first bite of something awesome
2. Price, but you’ll get over it
3. I’ve had better Flirtinis, but it was decent
4. Out of their own brand of steaks
5. ZERO room for desserts and they actually looked good to me, the anti-dessert person

http://www.7steakhouse.com

Café Maude – Minneapolis, MN

I had a friend from grad school contact me about visiting our neck of the woods, so we decided to do dinner. Gerd had heard about this place on Penn (Trash might have recommended it) that we needed to try – Café Maude. We checked out the menu online and found it to be to our liking. We weren’t sure how dressy the place was, but we opted for business casual just in case.

The place is really nice inside. Not swanky ritzy nice, but artsy and sophisticated nice. Cool trendy artwork on the walls and an area for a jazz combo or something in one corner. The people working are very friendly as well.

We opted for a nice bottle of Malbec (which GErd claims was the best Malbec she’s ever had – she kept screaming the words “HANDS DOWN!” on the ride home – apparently, we’ll be buying a case) and forewent the appetizers (though the small plate items looked great). Gerd got the Hangar Steak and some seasoned fries in truffle oil and fondue. I got the pork tenderloin, and RPM got some Croquets and the Mac and Cheese.

The hangar steak was REALLY good. I think Gerd won this competition. Perfectly cooked and flavorful. The fries were really good as well, though I’m not sure what truffle oil taste like or where it was at. The fondue was basically a cheesy dipping sauce in a cup, but it was still good. The tenderloin was perfect. Seared on the outside without a char taste and served on risotto. It came with oyster mushrooms, which I tried, but didn’t care for.

We got to samples RPM’s croquets which were brilliant! Bacon and other fun things were inside, and now we know we’ll be getting a bunch of these when we go back for happy hour next time. You know if a nice restaurant has Mac and Cheese on the menu, you know it’s not coming from a box. It was one of the best I’ve ever had. Great cheese flavor – makes me wish I took a bigger bite… Really good though. You should get this when you go here.

Café Maude is a great place to have a really awesome dinner and the fact that they have a happy hour (I think they call it leisure hour – which rules) means we’ll be back sooner rather than later, since 2009 is the year of the happy hour.

Top 5 things about Café Maude
1. Hangar steak
2. Malbec
3. Croquets
4. Mac and cheese
5. They have a happy hour!

Bottom 5 things
1. Should have eaten more of RPM’s food – ha ha ha
2. Small parking lot, but plenty of on-street parking
3. I guess there is always a wait, so get reservations
4. Truffle oil isn’t anything to get excited about
5. Now that I’ve tried oyster mushroom, I know I don’t like them

www.cafemaude.com

Rice Street Deli – St. Paul, MN

I’m not one of those guys who has to accept any eating challenge, however, I AM one of those guys that will eat something just because it’s a freak of nature. A coworker recommended this place to me because there was an article in the newspaper about a burger they developed – the Gangsta Burger. The Rice Street Deli is at the corner of Maryland and Rice – go there and get the hook up. The chef, Jason, is a regular guy telling it like it is and making up brilliant menu items – some standard, some freakish.

I can’t even tell you what all is on this burger. Check that, I looked it up. It’s three 6 oz steaks, two ½ lb burgers, a half-pound of Italian beef, a half pound of Gyro meat, 3 slices of swiss cheese, 3 slices of American cheese, tzaziki/cucumber sauce, and whatever garnish you want (lettuce, mayo, ketchup, onions, etc.) And when I say it’s heaped, I mean it’s heaped – it actually takes two people to make it (I don’t mean cook it, I mean assemble the thing into a tower). It’s probably close to a 4 pound burger. It’s incredible.

And of course, let’s not forget the fries. The Gangsta Fries are a heap of crinkle fries smothered (seriously swimming) in gyro meat and tzaziki sauce. I ate a crap ton of these on the way home, since it was easier to eat in the car than the burger was going to be.
The place has no inside seating. In fact, it’s in a gas station (Reemco Gas Stop). Also, the burger isn’t cheap, but the rest of the menu items seem very reasonable. The burger and fries cost me $25. Yes, twenty-five US dollars (but they throw in a couple of sodas for free if you’re stupid enough to try this thing). But I gladly paid the price and it was worth it since I’ll be eating it for the next three days.

The Gangsta Burger can be eaten as a challenge – if you finish it, they give it to you for free (you won’t finish it). You have to eat it there, I’m assuming while pacing through the aisles of the gas station, but whatever. And despite the fact that I’m a die-hard card-carrying carnivore, I finally found my meat overload threshold. You win, Gangsta Burger. You win.

Top 5 things about Rice Street Deli
1. Gangsta Burger - duh
2. Gangsta Fries
3. Chef Jason invited me around into the kitchen to take a photo of the thing
4. Mustafa – cool guy working the counter of the gas station, he might even own the place
5. Everything on the menu looks delicious

Bottom 5 things
1. Meat Overload – I NEVER thought I’d write that
2. Only $25 burger I’ve ever purchased
3. Not in a great part of town – not dangerous, but not fantastic
4. No inside seating
5. I now feel like I’m going to die and I have enough meat for three sandwiches left

Vacation - Day 6 – Tucson, AZ – aka Gerd’s Birthday

Generally on Gerd’s Birthday, my only duty is to drive her around to do whatever she wants, and hold out the credit card when the time comes. Today would be no different, except we wouldn’t be near home nor near her favorite restaurants. We would have to make due.

We woke up too late to eat breakfast, so I avoided that bullet. Ha ha ha. I was also told I would not be playing disc golf, so she avoided a bullet herself. Well played, friend.

We headed to downtown Tucson to check it out. We heard the 4th Avenue area of downtown has some cool shopping and food places. We also heard it may not be as happening on a Monday as a lot of the places use that day as a day off of working. Most places were open though. It wasn’t a thriving metropolis of shopping, but it was interesting to walk around there. We already knew we were going to El Charro, so we were only walking around trying to get hungry for this lunch-time adventure.

Gerd found this place online and found about a billion reviews all saying it was the best. And they weren’t lying. El Charro claims to have invented the chimichanga and I won’t dispute it. It was amazing. Their claim to fame is some sort of beef which they dry on the roof of the building and then shred. It’s called Carne Seca, and you NEED to get this if you go there. Best chimichanga I’ve ever had. I also got a sampler kind of thing called Enchiladas Banderas and discovered the best shredded chicken enchilada I’ve ever eaten. This place is incredible. We had their special margaritas complete with a Grand Marnier float which were amazing. I apologize for the bluriness of the photos, but you should get the point.


We had heard about this steak place called McMahon’s while researching restaurants on line. Gerd likes to eat steak on her birthday, so we needed to find someplace classy for her. We overheard some random guy in El Charro talking to the waitress about McMahan's Steakhouse, so Gerd turns around and starts talking to him about it. Apparently, it was one of the VPs of the company that owns McMahon’s. Really nice guy. He even offered to make a reservation for us. We politely declined, but when Gerd mentioned it was her birthday, he bought her some birthday flan. It was also awesome and neither of us really like flan that much. We’re converted flan fans.

We drove to the Foothills Mall and checked things out there. We did some light window shopping and bought Gerd a couple of things. She had recently seen Twilight, but wanted to see it again, so we dropped in and caught a matinee. Great vampire film and it’s no wonder she wanted to see it a second time. I’d recommend it. We then drove to La Encantada – a really fancy mall. It was pretty classy. We didn’t buy anything there, except gelato, but it was fun to walk around. We were killing time until our reservation at 8pm at McMahon’s.

We tried to kill time by finding a minigolf place. However, this one was super scary and super closed forever. The internet says people loved the scary tackiness of it, but I was bummed it was closed.

We drove home to change into nicer clothes and then headed out to McMcahons. It was really classy. The waitress however told us that Rodney, the sommelier, would help us pick out a bottle of wine. However, she pronounced it like salmonelliay – as if he was some harbinger of disease. Hilarious. Rodney was awesome and very down to earth. We knew what we wanted, we just wanted him to decide for us. Besides, they had a 70+ page wine list - THAT's serious. Gerd had a Bone-In Filet Mignon and I had a full rack of lamb. Both were incredible. Super tasty and flavorful. The potato Gerd had was perfect as were the Scalloped potatoes I got. We got a nice Malbec to accompany dinner and thanked Rodney for his recommendation. The place was louder than a lot of restaurants we’ve been in but there were a lot of large groups there. We would both heartily recommend McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse.

We drove home to partake in some boat drinks with the cousin. Her boyfriend calls girly drinks boat drinks. I think girly drinks is a more descriptive term, but whatever. They’re both fruity and tasty. Gerd fell asleep before she finished hers, so the cousin and I made sure her drink got disposed of properly… heh heh heh.

Top 5 things
1. Best Mexican food ever – El Charro
2. My cousin had a birthday cake for Gerd
3. Got to see Twilight
4. Got some new Wii games
5. Awesome Malbec from Argentina

Bottom 5 things
1. Salmonelliay
2. Scary mini-golf place was closed
3. Gerd is another year closer to being old like Chao
4. No cool shirts in our sizes at El Charro
5. Downtown Tucson

http://www.elcharro.com
http://www.metrorestaurants.com/restaurants/ms-restaurant.htm

Doolittles Woodfire Grill – Golden Valley, MN

Gerd and I had a hankerin for some quality wood-fired food. We have been to the Eagan Doolittles with some friends but we wanted something a little closer to home. We chose the Golden Valley location. The environment is quite a bit different than the Eagan location. More loud, more cramped, but on the upside, the clientele were much better looking for some reason. Not sure why I noticed, but I did. Probably can’t count on a restaurant for that anyway, but whatever. Duly noted.

Gerd needed an appetizer so she ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna – a special for the evening. Sliced and seared (so I guess not raw, though it was red) pieces of tuna steak on won ton skins with guacamole and apple slivers. I had two of the EIGHT they brought out and they were pretty good. I’m not a seafood guy, but these might change my mind. They were good. And there were a lot of them. They also had Mt. Dew – SCORE!

Gerd got the maple honey crusted salmon (apparently, she was feeling the seafood), and I got the ribs and chicken combo. Her salmon really made her night, she was thrilled. However, the mashed potatoes it came with were really bland. They looked awesome, but tasted kind of sad. There was a big pool of butter in the middle, so I had high hopes, but was let down. Could have been garlicy or salt n peppa’d or soemthing. On the other other hand, the vegetable salad that came with it (squash, carrots, zucchini strips) was incredible. I ate most of it, in fact. Whoops!

Two times I’ve been to Doolittles and never once had I gotten anything wood fired – tonight was the night! The chicken was some of the best roasted chicken I’ve ever had, even despite the aforementioned aversion to high-labor foods. It was really good flavor and texture wise. I still had to work to get all the meat off, but it was worth it. The ribs were deceptive, I started with an end piece and there wasn’t much meat on it and the top was kind of burned. I was bummed. However, the next 6 ribs I got were incredible. Super thick BBQ sauce that wasn’t too smoky, but was perfectly sweet and tangy. Plenty of meat on these babies. While they didn’t fall off the bones, they were worth fighting for the meat. The fries were better than average as well, so no complaints at all. I was a winner all around!

I have never gotten anything bad here (with the exception of the mashed potatoes this night). Their salads are super good (we’d recommend the asian chicken salad and the spinach and bacon and also the Caesar salad), their burgers and sandwiches are good, and anything cooked on the woodfire grill or rotiserrie is good. They have a selection of foods from around the world, but I haven’t even tried those. I know Coach gets mad at me when I order food other than what the restaurant is known for (ie, chicken at Beef-A-Roo, or salad at a steak place).

Just go here. It’s really good.

Top 5 things about Doolittles
1. Ribs
2. Chicken
3. Seared Ahi Tuna appetizers
4. Vegetable salad/medley thingy
5. Hot ladies / Mt. Dew (equally happy whenever a restaurant has these… ha ha ha)

Bottom 5 things
1. Mashed potatoes
2. Waiter seemed disinterested in us (even though I had a hot lady with me)
3. Gerd’s drink kept running out
4. Men’s bathroom – door opened the wrong way so you could watch people, and the sink was broken
5. Really loud and cramped in the Golden Valley location

http://www.doolittlesaircafe.com

The Capital Grille - Minneapolis, MN

Gerd and I felt like livin’ large last night so we got a reservation for the Capital Grill in downtown Minneapolis. We knew this place was pretty upscale, but isn’t the kind of place that requires a jacket or anything. That being said, our friends are impressed that we ate there.

We made waaay better time than anticipated getting downtown, so after the classy valet parked my car, we sat in the bar and had a drink before dinner. I opted for their specialty drink, the Stoli Doli, after awesome bartender Dustin gave me a sample to get me hooked. Stoli vodka infused with Dole pineapple chunks for a week. It was incredible. With all of these girly drinks I plan on making in large vats, my basement is going to look suspicious to the feds, I’m sure. Gerd stuck with the Arnold Palmer (tea and lemonade).

We headed into the very elegant dining room and waited for out waiter Tim to help us out. We had questions about wine, Tim helped us out. We had questions about appetizers, Tim helped us out. We had questions about specials, Tim helped us out. We had questions about sides, Tim helped us out. We had ZERO questions about entrees, Tim was impressed.

With the help of Tim, we ordered Wagyu Beef Carpaccio for an appetizer. It is rare Japanese beef (from California) served chilled and sliced razor thin with an arugula salad on top. Seriously, there was no fat at all on these slices of beef. Top notch stuff. Gerd needed soup, so again with the help of Tim, Gerd went with the Lobster bisque. It had chunks of lobster in it and Tim poured some dry sherry on the top to bring out the flavor – I told you this place was classy. I got the mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad with 12-year aged balsamic. Seriously, this was a great salad before a huge meal. No complaints at all.

Gerd had a question about wine with her meal, so Tim recommended a simple pinot noir for her since she’s not usually a red drinker. I went big and bold and got the Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. I’ve never gone South American before with my wine, and it was awesome. Tim said buy a crap ton of it now since it hasn’t caught on how good it is just yet. That’s a good idea. We’ll be hitting up Surdyk’s in the next couple of weeks for me to buy more scotch, so I’ll see if I can score a bottle of this as well.

Since we were going big anyway, Gerd and I felt the need for steak. Gerd decided on the Dry Aged Sirloin (I’m guessing about 16 oz?) and I went with the 24 oz Dry Aged Porterhouse. I told you we weren’t foolin around. I can’t say enough about how awesome these steaks were. Second only to Ruth’s Chris (and a VERY close second at that). They were truly amazing and tender and flavorful without all kinds of spices and marinades. We got some squash and au gratin potatoes at Tim’s suggestion and they were really great. The potatoes were some of the best we’ve ever had.

Yes, we were stuffed, but Gerd is a dessert person. She went back and forth on like 5 desserts. She had been talking about flourless chocolate cake for months and when she opted NOT to get it, Tim and I were floored (we were good friends at this point in our relationship). Gerd needed cheesecake, so that’s what we ordered. However, when Tim came back out with it, he threw in a slice of the flourless cake on the house. So I was forced to eat some it. Flourless cake isn’t my thing, but this was really good. Coffee/Espresso flavored and chocolate-y. Great stuff. But the cheesecake was where it’s at. The piece was served with brulee-d (is that a word?) caramelized sugar top and sitting in strawberry syrup. It was the best dessert I have ever had in my entire life, bar none. I might actually be a dessert person after eating this thing. It was extraordinary.

I can’t say enough about this place. We spent a boatload of money here, so wait until the economy gets fixed and then go to this place. You will not be disappointed!!!!

Top 5 things about the Capital Grill
1. Steaks
2. Staff
3. Desserts
4. Wine selection
5. Atmosphere

Bottom 5 things
1. There aren’t any. Even the expensive prices are worth what you get.
2.
3.
4.
5.

www.thecapitalgrille.com

Palomino – Minneapolis, MN

I was unsure of what to expect from the Palomino in downtown Minneapolis. I’d heard it was pretty upscale, but that’s never scared me before. I checked out the menu online and it seemed like it had some unique offerings and wasn’t THAT expensive. Despite it being the topic of a controversial yet hilarious Wesley Willis song, Gerd and I decided to check it out.

We headed to the bar when we got there – something we’ve been doing more of lately (I mean eating in bars, not going to them all the time). Kind of like dinner and a show – plus easy access to the drinks… cha-ching! The bar was mable topped and multi level – that’s class. Places for my Asian brother Yao Ming and places for Peter Dinklage – everyone wins. The guy working the bar looked like a leprechaun (having never seen one, I can only assume), which worked out well since gerd has been typo-ing the word “me” instead of “my” in her e-mails recently – and she has red hair – coincidence?... I think not. Heath, the aforementioned leprechaun, was brilliant! Great suggestions and descriptions, the appropriate level of mocking when I asked for a girly drink menu, and catered to us like we were the only ones there. Heath has a pointy beard, that’s the only reason I mention the leprechaun thing. Aside from that, he’s awesome.

Gerd and I had a hankering for an appetizer, so we decided on the gorgonzola cream covered criss-cut fries (invented by Kris Kross). Heath said they were stacked high and then the sauce was poured all over them – gesticulating wildy while giving the description. Like I said, he was awesome. Give this man a raise (or at least another pot o’ gold)!

Gerd got some sort of fancy margarita (served in a martini glass with salt-rim). It was quite tasty. I got something called “White”. My good friend Al would ask, “Why’s it gotta be white?!” I asked the same thing, my friend, I assure you. It was white wine with grand marnier, cranberry juice, maybe some grape juice and garnished with a lychee (the tastiest of the eyeball-shaped fruits – as you all know). I’m going to making 55-gallon drums of this stuff at home in the future, just so you know. It was like amazingly sweet wine/sangria. I could have had 26 of these things, but I kept it toned down – this time…

Gerd went with the Grilled Steak Salad (healthy and meaty) and I went with the Duck Confit Cassoulet (sounds fancy doesn’t it?). The steak salad was awesome. All kinds of greens and hazel nuts and blue cheese, and onion strings. It was really really good. The steak was actual steak and top quality steak at that. Every bite was as good as the next. The duck cassoulet, to my surprise, came in a freaking tagine!!!! Awesome. Picture this: a huge haunch of duck (do ducks have haunches?), a fat smoked lamb sausage, Italian sausage, white beans, taters, and tomato sauce cooked in a tagine. There is no place for you to go wrong. Simply amazing. The duck was perfectly cooked, the taters were fork-ready and silky smooth, the sausages were stellar, and there was a perfect amount of beans. Despite the duck being a high-labor food, this one was worth pulling meat off bones. Totally worth it. It’s going to be difficult NOT to get this the next time we’re at the Palomino. Tagine 2, Chao 0.

Top 5 things about the Palomino
1. Multiple tagine dishes, some not even identified as such
2. Really tasty girly drinks
3. Very attentive staff – mainly Heath in our case
4. Steak was the perfect complementary flavor for the greens and cheese in the salad
5. Duck was perfect as were its friends in the tagine

Bottom 5 things
There seriously aren’t any. We TRIED to come up with some. Parking is good and validate-able, prices were fair for the quality of food, bathrooms were nice, staff was awesome, tolerable number of rich d-bags in the bar area, fast, and classy. We have nothing bad to say about this place. Sorry. We tried.

http://www.palomino.com/index.php?cook=1&locations=Minneapolis

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - Minneapolis, MN

We decided to visit Ruth's Chris after Chao's dad told us about their Summer Special. For $89.00, the Summer Special includes two first courses, two side dishes, two main course entrees, and a dessert to share. They have a special menu so you can't choose the Porterhouse for Two (regularly $80 alone) as one of your options, but there were still several great items to chose from.

We both got the Caesar Salad for our first course and it was amazing. It came with peppery cheese crisps and the dressing was creamy and fabulous. For our side dishes we chose two potato dishes, au gratin and mashed. Chao described the mashed potatoes as cloudlike and he was right. Chao ordered the Petite Filet and I ordered the Mixed Grill which included a smaller than Petite Filet, a Crabcake, and Stuffed Chicken Breast. If you are unfamiliar with Ruth's Chris, they serve their entrees on a really hot (like 500 degree) plate with butter that sizzles. Best. Idea. Ever. The Filets were fantastic. They only season them with salt and pepper and use a high grade of meat, and are cooked quickly in a 1800 degree oven or grill or some type of heat element. I didn't pay attention - I was too excited. The Stuffed Chicken Breast was as good as chicken gets but was attached to some bone and the Crabcake was the best I have ever had with big chunks of crabmeat. For dessert we split the Warm Apple Crumb Tart. By split I mean Chao had two bites because he hates dessert and I ate most of the rest. Score!

This meal was so good I wish there were Ruth's Chris lock-ins so I could stay there and eat all night. The server was awesome and it is one of those restaurants where they regularly scrape crumbs off of your table. I have eaten lots of fancy and expensive steak and this was by far my favorite. The Summer Special was a fun and fairly affordable (in comparison) way to experience the restaurant. We will definitely go back and we will definitely talk about this meal for weeks.

Top 5:
1. Sizzling butter on hot plates
2. Quality meat with fantastic flavor
3. We had a super fun server who looked and talked like Gwen Stefani
4. Everything was excellent from bread through dessert - I am not sure you can go wrong here
5. Great atmosphere

Bottom 5:
1. It is expensive
2. The bathrooms are hard to find and they escort you there if you ask
3. No lock-ins or other overnight programs offered
4. Valet parking
5. Lots of snooty rich people

http://www.ruthschris.com/