A taste of Minneapolis

My intentions upon day one of my travels to Minneapolis were to do my usual restaurant blogging there given the stellar impression I got from my first taste at lunch, day one of the conference. We went to Masa on Nicollet Mall and I was immediately blown away by the food, service and every category of dining out, that I erased all my preconceived notions I had been handed by the North: that of a general under-appreciation of food. I now realize that impression was simply another negative impact imprinted on me by the 1950s white bread and mayonnaise sandwich branch of my family from that region.

And it didn’t help that the day before this trip, the Discovery channel was experimenting in the delights of fried leeches from Minnesota. I was overjoyed to discover the culinary delights of this twin city. But since time escaped me last week, here is a tasting menu of my dining experience.

At Masa, the lunch special is a tapas-turvy meal where instead of sharing plates, you got to choose 3 small plates that combined into one for your own meal. This allowed you a sampling of all the different choices on the fresh and contemporary Mexican menu, while catering to the more business crowd of this downtown bustling street.

Ensalada de jicama y mango,
Torta Carnita, Adobo Pork Taco

I had the Ensalada de jicama y mango, which was more jicama than mango and doused in this tart and delicious cilantro lime vinaigrette. Next to that was my half torta carnita, a rost pork sandwich with cilantro, avocado, onion, lime and pickled peppers. This torta comes in a large size as well and would easily have been my choice upon a second visit. For my third choice, I picked one of five creative taco selections: the pork marinated in adobo sauce with grilled pineapple and salsa verde. This had just enough heat in it to enjoy without disrupting the rest of my conference later. To accompany my meal, I had a watermelon lemonade drink, which was so refreshing but unfortunately not refillable.

The ambiance at Masa was sunny and light, with the kitchen open to the diners and a very friendly manager who visited our table to ensure all was well. Our waiter evoked what I realized was simply standard courtesy up north (something I’m not used to in general in DC), and he was intimately familiar with the menu, which I always appreciate. It’s never fun when the response to the question “which is your favorite…?” is a bland “I like the …” Instead, this guy told me why he liked the taco recommendation he gave. A+

Wood Grilled Copper
River Salmon and Red
Pepper Risotto

The next restaurant worthy of mention was Zelo. The occasion was seeing my brother Mike, his wife Jennie and their toddler, Aly for the first time in years. We had much to catch up on and just strolling down the street, finally stopping in front of Zelo and saying “how about here.”

This is not a casual “How about here” kind of restaurant. We sat inside under rich mahogany wood arches with silver encrusted ornate moldings and eclectic, colorful art in a comfortable booth for 4.

Our waiter, Johnny on the spot with everything, was immediately helpful with our dinning-with-toddler predicament by offering a kids menu and glass of milk with a lid. I can hear the gasps from some of my friends reading this that I’d be willing to take a child anywhere let alone someplace nicer than McDonalds, but thankfully Aly is a quiet, still child. Clearly Mike benefited with parenting skills based on the mistakes of his.

Walleye Sandwich
from Newsroom

Mike chose the walleye, which apparently is a popular fish in this region… flakey and white. I was not familiar with it until lunch that day at the Newsroom next door, but was pleasantly shocked at the visual difference a meaty, crusted walleye had here over the fish-wich from earlier in the day. No offense to Newsroom where I am the “Duke” on Yelp now, but I had written walleye off as fish for the hoi palloi. Clearly I was wrong and should consider it again.

I chose the wood grilled Copper River salmon despite it being from Alaska as it was in season. Usually I only order local fish, but the waiter assured me it was shipped fresh. While an excellent piece of fish for sure… fatty and juicy, it was the red pepper whole grain risotto that stole the show for this plate. I was also quite pleased with my heirloom grain salad to start, with its heirloom farro, quinoa, asparagus, red pepper, spinach, avocado, cheeses and lemon.

For the wine selection, I took Mike’s recommendation for the Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc from Chile… after all, he works with wine on the side and this was an inexpensive selection. While it had a nice grapefruit flavor as most Chilean Sauv Blancs do, it didn’t linger at all. Perhaps a perfect selection then for a hot summer night.

The last place I will mention here as recommended dining in downtown Minneapolis is The Local, an Irish public house. We were limited in time for lunch that day because the last briefer before lunch ran over, into our lunch hour (how rude! … ok, it was me, but it wasn’t my fault). I was drawn particularly by the sign “Soup of the Day: Whiskey” … and wished I didn’t have to go back to the conference. Oh wait, I didn’t! The Local claims to have the highest volume of Jamison outpouring in the world. Who tracks that kind of thing?

The Local's Guinness
Mousse

Our seat was a secluded booth with high glass walls allowing us private conversation in a light filled space. Since I was with my coworkers, I skipped a trip to the kissing room… although I was tempted to peek in to see if there were any nooners going on.

The Local's Berry Creme
Brulee

With a number of sandwiches to choose from on the lunch menu, we all opted for a smaller plate… a “wee lunch” as they call it. I had the BBQ Pork plate, which is no more than a slider with salad and fries on the side leaving me quite hungry in the end, but probably more healthy than the glutinous dining out I’d been doing all week.

I am blogging The Local, though, because of the desserts. I was confused how this happened, but we ended up with a taste of just about everything. Crème brulee berry tart, chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse, Izzy’s Irish Moxie ice cream (the best) and something I hope I never see again in my life: Guinness flavored Mousse. Creative, but you really gotta like Guinness beer to down that sucker.

Overall, I give high marks to the city and will one day go back. Honorable mention shout outs to the Newsroom, The Brit Pub, Hell’s Kitchen all downtown and Bubba Gump Shrimp in the Mall of America.

The News room's Pistachio Chicken Salad
and Pom-a-Dor martini