Come on down for Food Music and Beer! (And get a sneak preview of the outdoor garden space for the upcoming restaurant and a sampling of chef Jack Riebel's creations.)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Historic Harmon District Block Party this weekend!
This upcoming weekend, the folks from Shea's latest restaurant project, Butcher & the Boar, are teaming up with the crew at Bullfrog to throw a Historic Harmon District Block Party at 12th Street and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
Come on down for Food Music and Beer! (And get a sneak preview of the outdoor garden space for the upcoming restaurant and a sampling of chef Jack Riebel's creations.)
Come on down for Food Music and Beer! (And get a sneak preview of the outdoor garden space for the upcoming restaurant and a sampling of chef Jack Riebel's creations.)
Restaurant Resurgence on Hennepin Avenue
With the opening of Rosa Mexicano in downtown Minneapolis, John Vomhof of the Business Journal took a look at all the new activity along the Hennepin corridor. At Shea, we are excited to be a part of several of these concepts and projects, including the new Lunds, Butcher and the Boar, Block E and Rosa Mexicano. It's great to see Hennepin coming back to life.
New eateries revive Hennepin Ave.
by John Vomhof Jr., Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
Rosa Mexicano — a trendy, upscale Mexican restaurant chain based in New York — opened a location at City Center this week, the latest evidence of an ongoing restaurant resurgence along Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
In roughly the past year, the one-mile corridor — once home to chains like Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s and Chevy’s Fresh Mex — has added Rosa, Crave, Thom Pham’s Wondrous Azian Kitchen and Bullfrog Cajun Cafe. Those restaurants build upon a dining lineup that already included Fogo de Chao, The Capital Grille, D’Amico Kitchen, Seven and Solera.
More additions could join the menu in the coming months. Minneapolis restaurateur Tim Rooney, one of the partners behind Barrio Tequila Bar and Bar La Grassa, plans to convert a one-story office building at 1121/1127 Hennepin Ave. into a bar and restaurant with an exterior courtyard in the rear.
Meanwhile, the newly opened Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts is searching for an upscale, chef-driven concept to open at the corner of Sixth Street and Hennepin Avenue.
“Hennepin Avenue continues to blossom into a fun, exciting destination — not just for people who already are downtown, but also as a draw for people to come downtown and to stay in the area,” said Liz McLay, director of retail leasing for Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the Toronto-based company that owns and operates City Center.
McLay attributed the area’s progress to a culmination of factors, including a stable downtown office market, strong hotels and thriving demand generators such as various theaters, Target Field and Target Center. Enhanced efforts by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Downtown Improvement District to keep the area clean and safe also played a key role, she said.
Crime, or at least the perception thereof, long was a major hindrance for leasing in the area, said Cambridge Commercial Realty’s Dick Grones, who recalled once watching an arrest on the street while touring a restaurant space with a national client.
“Five years ago, you couldn’t get anyone to look at Hennepin Avenue,” he said.
A different dynamic
Rosa Mexicano President and CEO Howard Greenstone said he selected City Center for the company’s first Midwest location after touring more than 20 sites in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. He knows that Block E and some of the area’s previous restaurant tenants have struggled, but he was impressed by the area’s high-profile location, an aggressive pursuit by Brookfield and the strong sales that Fogo de Chao has posted since opening in 2007.
“My feeling was that if we’re only going to do one restaurant in Minneapolis, why not put it right in the heart of downtown,” Greenstone said. “I think we could have put it in the suburbs and people would come, but we wanted to make a big statement.”
Crave, meanwhile, has exceeded its projections since filling the former Palomino restaurant space at LaSalle Plaza in May, founder and CEO Kam Talebi said, noting that he was drawn to site’s skyway access, rooftop patio and proximity to the theaters. It’s now “by far” the company’s top-grossing unit.
Talebi expects Hennepin Avenue’s positive momentum to continue.
“The Twins stadium changed the whole dynamic in that part of downtown,” he said. “It has brought a lot of traffic, and the right kind of traffic, to the area, which helps weed out the bad element. And it opened up downtown more to the suburban crowd, because now people are more comfortable coming down here.”
Converting Hennepin Avenue into a two-way street also made it easier to access and get around the area, he said.
Of course, Hennepin Avenue’s ongoing turnaround extends beyond just restaurants. The Cowles Center, for example, opened earlier this month following a 12-year, $42 million redevelopment. Supporters believe the 500-seat facility will attract audiences from throughout the Twin Cities, doing for dance what the Guthrie Theater has done for theater.
Edina-based Lund Food Holdings Inc. recently broke ground on a store that is expected to open next summer at 1201 Hennepin Ave. And, at the opposite end of downtown, Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. is planning a $70 million mixed-use development at corner of Hennepin and Washington avenues that will include 287 luxury apartment units and a 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store.
Block E’s owner, Minneapolis-based Alatus, is lobbying for a luxury casino on the site, though the plan has not gained legislative traction thus far. If those efforts fail, the backup plan likely would be some type of retail redevelopment.
More work to do
Despite the progress along Hennepin Avenue downtown, several restaurant vacancies remain.
The Minneapolis office of Colliers International, formerly known as Welsh Cos., has been marketing the former Shinders bookstore property at the corner of Eighth Street and Hennepin Avenue as a potential restaurant site since 2008, but does not yet have a deal in place. An early proposal called for a restaurant to occupy the street level and a rooftop patio, while the second floor would contain office space.
The former Chevy’s Fresh Mex location at 701 Hennepin Ave. also remains vacant, several years after the restaurant closed. And whether Block E becomes a casino or is redeveloped for retail, the plans could include new restaurants along Hennepin Avenue.
by John Vomhof Jr., Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
Rosa Mexicano — a trendy, upscale Mexican restaurant chain based in New York — opened a location at City Center this week, the latest evidence of an ongoing restaurant resurgence along Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.
In roughly the past year, the one-mile corridor — once home to chains like Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s and Chevy’s Fresh Mex — has added Rosa, Crave, Thom Pham’s Wondrous Azian Kitchen and Bullfrog Cajun Cafe. Those restaurants build upon a dining lineup that already included Fogo de Chao, The Capital Grille, D’Amico Kitchen, Seven and Solera.
More additions could join the menu in the coming months. Minneapolis restaurateur Tim Rooney, one of the partners behind Barrio Tequila Bar and Bar La Grassa, plans to convert a one-story office building at 1121/1127 Hennepin Ave. into a bar and restaurant with an exterior courtyard in the rear.
Meanwhile, the newly opened Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts is searching for an upscale, chef-driven concept to open at the corner of Sixth Street and Hennepin Avenue.
“Hennepin Avenue continues to blossom into a fun, exciting destination — not just for people who already are downtown, but also as a draw for people to come downtown and to stay in the area,” said Liz McLay, director of retail leasing for Brookfield Office Properties Inc., the Toronto-based company that owns and operates City Center.
McLay attributed the area’s progress to a culmination of factors, including a stable downtown office market, strong hotels and thriving demand generators such as various theaters, Target Field and Target Center. Enhanced efforts by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Downtown Improvement District to keep the area clean and safe also played a key role, she said.
Crime, or at least the perception thereof, long was a major hindrance for leasing in the area, said Cambridge Commercial Realty’s Dick Grones, who recalled once watching an arrest on the street while touring a restaurant space with a national client.
“Five years ago, you couldn’t get anyone to look at Hennepin Avenue,” he said.
A different dynamic
Rosa Mexicano President and CEO Howard Greenstone said he selected City Center for the company’s first Midwest location after touring more than 20 sites in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. He knows that Block E and some of the area’s previous restaurant tenants have struggled, but he was impressed by the area’s high-profile location, an aggressive pursuit by Brookfield and the strong sales that Fogo de Chao has posted since opening in 2007.
“My feeling was that if we’re only going to do one restaurant in Minneapolis, why not put it right in the heart of downtown,” Greenstone said. “I think we could have put it in the suburbs and people would come, but we wanted to make a big statement.”
Crave, meanwhile, has exceeded its projections since filling the former Palomino restaurant space at LaSalle Plaza in May, founder and CEO Kam Talebi said, noting that he was drawn to site’s skyway access, rooftop patio and proximity to the theaters. It’s now “by far” the company’s top-grossing unit.
Talebi expects Hennepin Avenue’s positive momentum to continue.
“The Twins stadium changed the whole dynamic in that part of downtown,” he said. “It has brought a lot of traffic, and the right kind of traffic, to the area, which helps weed out the bad element. And it opened up downtown more to the suburban crowd, because now people are more comfortable coming down here.”
Converting Hennepin Avenue into a two-way street also made it easier to access and get around the area, he said.
Of course, Hennepin Avenue’s ongoing turnaround extends beyond just restaurants. The Cowles Center, for example, opened earlier this month following a 12-year, $42 million redevelopment. Supporters believe the 500-seat facility will attract audiences from throughout the Twin Cities, doing for dance what the Guthrie Theater has done for theater.
Edina-based Lund Food Holdings Inc. recently broke ground on a store that is expected to open next summer at 1201 Hennepin Ave. And, at the opposite end of downtown, Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. is planning a $70 million mixed-use development at corner of Hennepin and Washington avenues that will include 287 luxury apartment units and a 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store.
Block E’s owner, Minneapolis-based Alatus, is lobbying for a luxury casino on the site, though the plan has not gained legislative traction thus far. If those efforts fail, the backup plan likely would be some type of retail redevelopment.
More work to do
Despite the progress along Hennepin Avenue downtown, several restaurant vacancies remain.
The Minneapolis office of Colliers International, formerly known as Welsh Cos., has been marketing the former Shinders bookstore property at the corner of Eighth Street and Hennepin Avenue as a potential restaurant site since 2008, but does not yet have a deal in place. An early proposal called for a restaurant to occupy the street level and a rooftop patio, while the second floor would contain office space.
The former Chevy’s Fresh Mex location at 701 Hennepin Ave. also remains vacant, several years after the restaurant closed. And whether Block E becomes a casino or is redeveloped for retail, the plans could include new restaurants along Hennepin Avenue.
Shea clients make Open Table "Foodie List"
Shea had the pleasure of working with Lenny Russo of Heartland and the Wadi brothers of Saffron, and we were happy to see that the restaurants just made a very prestigious list, which was culled from over 10 million reviews on Open Table. Read the Business Journal article for more info and click on the link at the end of the story to see the list.
Four Twin Cities restaurants named best for OpenTable 'foodies'
by Ed Stych, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
Four Twin Cities restaurants are on OpenTable Inc.'s list of the Top 50 Restaurants Most Fit for Foodies. The Twin Cities restaurants on the list are:
Haute Dish, Minneapolis
Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, St. Paul
Piccolo, Minneapolis
Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis
OpenTable, the online restaurant reservation company, said it asked its customers which restaurants were best for "foodies." The list was derived from more than 10 million reviews.
"These restaurants have been singled out for being able to satisfy the folks for whom dining is practically sport — those avid, passionate eaters, often armed with cameras who take careful notes and relish every bite," Caroline Potter, OpenTable's Chief Dining Officer, said in a news release.
Sixteen of the restaurants on the list are in California, while six are in Chicago.
>Click here to see the entire list, which is in alphabetical order.
Four Twin Cities restaurants named best for OpenTable 'foodies'
by Ed Stych, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal
Four Twin Cities restaurants are on OpenTable Inc.'s list of the Top 50 Restaurants Most Fit for Foodies. The Twin Cities restaurants on the list are:
Haute Dish, Minneapolis
Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, St. Paul
Piccolo, Minneapolis
Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis
OpenTable, the online restaurant reservation company, said it asked its customers which restaurants were best for "foodies." The list was derived from more than 10 million reviews.
"These restaurants have been singled out for being able to satisfy the folks for whom dining is practically sport — those avid, passionate eaters, often armed with cameras who take careful notes and relish every bite," Caroline Potter, OpenTable's Chief Dining Officer, said in a news release.
Sixteen of the restaurants on the list are in California, while six are in Chicago.
>Click here to see the entire list, which is in alphabetical order.
Shea works with Pacifier on City Center relocation
Pacifier to relocate downtown Minneapolis store
by Sam Black, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
Pacifier, a baby clothing and products retail shop, is moving its downtown Minneapolis store.
The retailer is moving into City Center at 40 S. Seventh St. It will be on the skwyay level between Brooks Brothers .Brooks Brothers Latest from The Business Journals New Tommy Bahama store set to open at Crabtree Valley MallBrooks Brothers to open in GeorgetownCasual Male debuts new XL concept Follow this company .and Allen Edmonds shoes the first week of October. It has signed a lease deal there that's longer than three years.
It began a store-wide clearance event at its old location, on the first floor of Gaviidae Common near Bruegger's, according to Wing Witthuhn, who owns the shop along with her husband, Jon. In 2008, newly-named vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shopped there as part of a $75,000 shopping spree during the Republican National Convention.
Pacifier expects the new space will have better foot traffic on the skyway level than the old location.
"There's a lot more traffic up there and the perfect space opened up and it was just the right size, and the landlord offered us a good deal," Witthun said.
Toronto-based Brookfield Properties Corp. owns Gaviidae and City Center.
Minneapolis-based Shea designed the new space, which is slightly smaller but has a more sophisticated design and feel. It will also stock more clothes that go up to size 4, Witthuhn said.
Pacifier's original store, at 310 E. Hennepin Ave., won't be impacted by the move.
The move is a good one for Pacifier because it gets access to more customers, but its also a good one for the landlord because it enhances the cash-flow and image of City Center's retail space. Brookfield put City Center up for several months ago.
The once-struggling City Center, which is attached to an office tower at 33 South Sixth, has had two big land deals recently, including a new 300-seat performance space called New Century Theatre and a new restaurant called Rosa Mexicano, which opened this week.
by Sam Black, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
Pacifier, a baby clothing and products retail shop, is moving its downtown Minneapolis store.
The retailer is moving into City Center at 40 S. Seventh St. It will be on the skwyay level between Brooks Brothers .Brooks Brothers Latest from The Business Journals New Tommy Bahama store set to open at Crabtree Valley MallBrooks Brothers to open in GeorgetownCasual Male debuts new XL concept Follow this company .and Allen Edmonds shoes the first week of October. It has signed a lease deal there that's longer than three years.
It began a store-wide clearance event at its old location, on the first floor of Gaviidae Common near Bruegger's, according to Wing Witthuhn, who owns the shop along with her husband, Jon. In 2008, newly-named vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shopped there as part of a $75,000 shopping spree during the Republican National Convention.
Pacifier expects the new space will have better foot traffic on the skyway level than the old location.
"There's a lot more traffic up there and the perfect space opened up and it was just the right size, and the landlord offered us a good deal," Witthun said.
Toronto-based Brookfield Properties Corp. owns Gaviidae and City Center.
Minneapolis-based Shea designed the new space, which is slightly smaller but has a more sophisticated design and feel. It will also stock more clothes that go up to size 4, Witthuhn said.
Pacifier's original store, at 310 E. Hennepin Ave., won't be impacted by the move.
The move is a good one for Pacifier because it gets access to more customers, but its also a good one for the landlord because it enhances the cash-flow and image of City Center's retail space. Brookfield put City Center up for several months ago.
The once-struggling City Center, which is attached to an office tower at 33 South Sixth, has had two big land deals recently, including a new 300-seat performance space called New Century Theatre and a new restaurant called Rosa Mexicano, which opened this week.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Butchers, Boars and Grocery Stores....
Today is a big news day at Shea. Our clients are ALL OVER the news! Click on the links for more info.
Byerly's Ridgedale is having their grand reopening after an extensive remodel.
The guys at Saffron are getting lots of buzz since their dining room remodel and menu update, and got some great coverage in this week's City Pages and today's Star Tribune.
The cat's finally out of the bag on our latest restaurant venture with restaurateur Tim Rooney and chef Jack Riebel and Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl was quick to get the word out on her blog. So was Rick Nelson at the Strib and he gives details of an upcoming party. Take note!!
Rosa Mexicano is opening to the public for dinner tonight, bringing much-needed life (and lots of bright pink!) to the corner of 6th and Hennepin.
Byerly's Ridgedale is having their grand reopening after an extensive remodel.
The guys at Saffron are getting lots of buzz since their dining room remodel and menu update, and got some great coverage in this week's City Pages and today's Star Tribune.
The cat's finally out of the bag on our latest restaurant venture with restaurateur Tim Rooney and chef Jack Riebel and Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl was quick to get the word out on her blog. So was Rick Nelson at the Strib and he gives details of an upcoming party. Take note!!
Rosa Mexicano is opening to the public for dinner tonight, bringing much-needed life (and lots of bright pink!) to the corner of 6th and Hennepin.
Star Tribune reviews Saffron
Learning to love Saffron all over again
The restaurant's gifted chef steers his restaurant in a slightly new direction. Deliciousness follows in its wake.
Article by: RICK NELSON , Star Tribune Updated: September 21, 2011 - 4:22 PM
Everything a diner needs to know about Saffron Restaurant & Lounge can be summed up in a single dish. OK, three.
They're all tagines, and this trio of slow-cooked stews constitute a hefty percentage of my favorite meals of the year. Part of the fun of ordering a tagine -- particularly at this charismatic, one-of-a-kind restaurant -- is the dish's built-in flash of dinner theater.
"Get ready for your facial," said our server, as he lifted the pot's cone-shaped cover, a ta-dah moment that released a salutory cloud of intensely fragrant steam.
But their main allure is sheer, unadulterated deliciousness. One features fork-tender lamb shanks, the meat's heaviness leavened by harissa and preserved lemon, its garlicky broth brimming with spinach, caraway and toothy chickpeas. Another puts duck in the spotlight, nudged with garlic, ginger and olives for six hours until the meat falls off the bone, with hints of saffron and sweet raisins acting as a foil to the bird's inherent richness. A third is an ever-changing play on seafood; I'm still sighing at the thought of salmon, cool and plush in the center, braised in a shellfish-tomato broth dotted with entrancing chermoula accents and tender mussels.
First-rate comfort food, certainly, but chef Sameh Wadi's contemporary interpretation of the genre -- and his million-dollar nose for seasoning -- propel them far beyond home cooking. Don't tell my book club that I've moved on, but using pita bread to soak up every last drop of those complex, carefully nurtured broths has become my favorite new hobby.
A new focus
Tagines are just one key element in Wadi's savvy remake of his five-year-old Warehouse District restaurant. At this reboot, all traces of formality (and its roommate, Gold Card prices, not that Saffron has ever been particularly expensive) are gone, replaced by an emphasis on meant-to-be-shared plates sold at mostly affordable prices. Oh, and fun. Tons of it.
Another change: A broader culinary scope. In its first years, Wadi, a Palestinian who emigrated to the United States when he was 13, kept the kitchen's inspirational focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Now, he's plucking ideas from around the Mediterranean.
Starting in Greece, where unassuming tavernas became the source for another audaciously satisfying dish, a whole-roasted branzino (aka European sea bass). I'm a sucker for whole-fish preparations, and this one is no exception. Wadi removes most of the bones of this beautiful silvery creature and stuffs the cavity with a compound butter of black olives and lemon zest. After pulling it out of the oven, he finishes it with fruity olive oil, sea salt and a shower of crispy fried grape leaves. The firm white flesh has a gentle flavor, and the whole shebang, a paragon of simplicity, is a signature dish waiting to happen.
Wide-ranging flavors
It's hard to tell if his motivation stems from the runaway success of his food truck (Saffron's mobile sibling, World Street Kitchen, serves a worth-the-wait weekday lunch at 5th Street and Nicollet Mall), but this more casual cooking style suits Wadi's considerable skills, and his menu covers plenty of bases but never strays far from its roots.
There's the requisite talker -- heck, it ought to have its own Twitter handle -- in the form of pillowy, gently fried lamb brains. He's included an affectionate nod to his grandmother, a plate of green beans slow-cooked in tomatoes. High-tech techniques have their place, too. Sous vide cooking makes charred octopus feel almost like tuna, and vacuum compression converts watery cucumber (with the help of a little Hendricks gin) into a solid foundation for a stunner of a crab salad. Wadi's initial plans for art school were superseded by his passion for cooking, but in that stunner of a salad -- and in another, a color study pairing watermelon alongside tomatoes, sweet against acid -- it's plain to see where he's channeling his artistic impulses.
Yes, the goodness runs deep. It's easy to rattle off small-plate dazzlers -- fabulous fried cauliflower and its earthy turmeric bite, nutty farro prepared like risotto, superb hummus, grilled lamb-beef meatballs, edamame-esque fresh chickpeas -- before encountering a merely decent option. If there's a weakness, it's the desserts. The flavor profiles mimic their savory counterparts, but with the exception of an ultra-moist couscous-olive oil cake, and the well crafted ice creams and sorbets, they're a bit of a disappointment.
Another draw is Saed Wadi, the chef's older brother and business partner, who acts as host, working the dining room like a seasoned politician, with two notable exceptions: His warmth is sincere, and his good humor is unflagging.
The warehouse loft decor has been pleasantly buffed and shined, along the lines of those TV home makeover shows where skin-deep design miracles are performed while simultaneously contorting an equally slim budget. Now, Saffron has the kind of environment where Tuesday night drop-ins or Target Field ticketholders can feel comfortable while taking a crack at the younger Wadi's extraordinary riff on the BLT, embellished with a house-cured lamb belly and thick swipes of a saffron-scented tomato jam. Order it with a side of the divine potato chips.
I almost forgot: Do not miss the sweet corn soup. Wadi has a knack for zeroing in on an ingredient familiar to local diners -- in this case, the same Monticello, Minn., crop that's roasted at the State Fair -- and revealing its exotic side. Starting with a silky puréed corn stock, he adds chile-poached figs and CornNuts (yes, the pre-packaged junk food, scrounged from nearby convenience stores) for compare-and-contrast texture, and smoked paprika oil and garlic-laced house-made yogurt for a similarly clever play on flavors.
The results are astonishingly good, and, like that spectacular branzino, it's a showman's dish, which explains why the 27-year-old chef -- mature beyond his years -- was tapped to compete last year on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" (he lost to perennial favorite Masaharu Morimoto, and he was robbed). Since the too-brief sweet corn season is already drawing to a conclusion, you'd better hurry in. Fast.
SAFFRON RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
3 1/2 Star Rating
Location: 123 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-746-5533, www.saffronmpls.com.
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 5-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Happy hour starts at 4 p.m. weekdays.
Atmosphere: A bare-bones downtown loft space warmed by spice rack colors, large windows and quirky light fixtures.
Service: A knowledgeable, accommodating and attentive crew.
Sound level: Lively but not intrusive when full.
Recommended dishes: Tagines, branzino, sweet corn soup, crab salad, meatballs, lamb brains, farro and zucchini, octopus "a la plancha," couscous-olive oil cake.
Wine list: A thoughtful if modest selection, reasonably priced. Kudos to the bar's unique, spice-infused cocktails.
Price range: Small plates $5-$12, larger plates $18-$29, desserts $7-$9.
The restaurant's gifted chef steers his restaurant in a slightly new direction. Deliciousness follows in its wake.
 |
| photo: Tom Wallace |
Everything a diner needs to know about Saffron Restaurant & Lounge can be summed up in a single dish. OK, three.
They're all tagines, and this trio of slow-cooked stews constitute a hefty percentage of my favorite meals of the year. Part of the fun of ordering a tagine -- particularly at this charismatic, one-of-a-kind restaurant -- is the dish's built-in flash of dinner theater.
"Get ready for your facial," said our server, as he lifted the pot's cone-shaped cover, a ta-dah moment that released a salutory cloud of intensely fragrant steam.
But their main allure is sheer, unadulterated deliciousness. One features fork-tender lamb shanks, the meat's heaviness leavened by harissa and preserved lemon, its garlicky broth brimming with spinach, caraway and toothy chickpeas. Another puts duck in the spotlight, nudged with garlic, ginger and olives for six hours until the meat falls off the bone, with hints of saffron and sweet raisins acting as a foil to the bird's inherent richness. A third is an ever-changing play on seafood; I'm still sighing at the thought of salmon, cool and plush in the center, braised in a shellfish-tomato broth dotted with entrancing chermoula accents and tender mussels.
First-rate comfort food, certainly, but chef Sameh Wadi's contemporary interpretation of the genre -- and his million-dollar nose for seasoning -- propel them far beyond home cooking. Don't tell my book club that I've moved on, but using pita bread to soak up every last drop of those complex, carefully nurtured broths has become my favorite new hobby.
A new focus
Tagines are just one key element in Wadi's savvy remake of his five-year-old Warehouse District restaurant. At this reboot, all traces of formality (and its roommate, Gold Card prices, not that Saffron has ever been particularly expensive) are gone, replaced by an emphasis on meant-to-be-shared plates sold at mostly affordable prices. Oh, and fun. Tons of it.
Another change: A broader culinary scope. In its first years, Wadi, a Palestinian who emigrated to the United States when he was 13, kept the kitchen's inspirational focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Now, he's plucking ideas from around the Mediterranean.
Starting in Greece, where unassuming tavernas became the source for another audaciously satisfying dish, a whole-roasted branzino (aka European sea bass). I'm a sucker for whole-fish preparations, and this one is no exception. Wadi removes most of the bones of this beautiful silvery creature and stuffs the cavity with a compound butter of black olives and lemon zest. After pulling it out of the oven, he finishes it with fruity olive oil, sea salt and a shower of crispy fried grape leaves. The firm white flesh has a gentle flavor, and the whole shebang, a paragon of simplicity, is a signature dish waiting to happen.
Wide-ranging flavors
It's hard to tell if his motivation stems from the runaway success of his food truck (Saffron's mobile sibling, World Street Kitchen, serves a worth-the-wait weekday lunch at 5th Street and Nicollet Mall), but this more casual cooking style suits Wadi's considerable skills, and his menu covers plenty of bases but never strays far from its roots.
There's the requisite talker -- heck, it ought to have its own Twitter handle -- in the form of pillowy, gently fried lamb brains. He's included an affectionate nod to his grandmother, a plate of green beans slow-cooked in tomatoes. High-tech techniques have their place, too. Sous vide cooking makes charred octopus feel almost like tuna, and vacuum compression converts watery cucumber (with the help of a little Hendricks gin) into a solid foundation for a stunner of a crab salad. Wadi's initial plans for art school were superseded by his passion for cooking, but in that stunner of a salad -- and in another, a color study pairing watermelon alongside tomatoes, sweet against acid -- it's plain to see where he's channeling his artistic impulses.
Yes, the goodness runs deep. It's easy to rattle off small-plate dazzlers -- fabulous fried cauliflower and its earthy turmeric bite, nutty farro prepared like risotto, superb hummus, grilled lamb-beef meatballs, edamame-esque fresh chickpeas -- before encountering a merely decent option. If there's a weakness, it's the desserts. The flavor profiles mimic their savory counterparts, but with the exception of an ultra-moist couscous-olive oil cake, and the well crafted ice creams and sorbets, they're a bit of a disappointment.
Another draw is Saed Wadi, the chef's older brother and business partner, who acts as host, working the dining room like a seasoned politician, with two notable exceptions: His warmth is sincere, and his good humor is unflagging.
The warehouse loft decor has been pleasantly buffed and shined, along the lines of those TV home makeover shows where skin-deep design miracles are performed while simultaneously contorting an equally slim budget. Now, Saffron has the kind of environment where Tuesday night drop-ins or Target Field ticketholders can feel comfortable while taking a crack at the younger Wadi's extraordinary riff on the BLT, embellished with a house-cured lamb belly and thick swipes of a saffron-scented tomato jam. Order it with a side of the divine potato chips.
I almost forgot: Do not miss the sweet corn soup. Wadi has a knack for zeroing in on an ingredient familiar to local diners -- in this case, the same Monticello, Minn., crop that's roasted at the State Fair -- and revealing its exotic side. Starting with a silky puréed corn stock, he adds chile-poached figs and CornNuts (yes, the pre-packaged junk food, scrounged from nearby convenience stores) for compare-and-contrast texture, and smoked paprika oil and garlic-laced house-made yogurt for a similarly clever play on flavors.
The results are astonishingly good, and, like that spectacular branzino, it's a showman's dish, which explains why the 27-year-old chef -- mature beyond his years -- was tapped to compete last year on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" (he lost to perennial favorite Masaharu Morimoto, and he was robbed). Since the too-brief sweet corn season is already drawing to a conclusion, you'd better hurry in. Fast.
SAFFRON RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
3 1/2 Star Rating
Location: 123 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-746-5533, www.saffronmpls.com.
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 5-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Happy hour starts at 4 p.m. weekdays.
Atmosphere: A bare-bones downtown loft space warmed by spice rack colors, large windows and quirky light fixtures.
Service: A knowledgeable, accommodating and attentive crew.
Sound level: Lively but not intrusive when full.
Recommended dishes: Tagines, branzino, sweet corn soup, crab salad, meatballs, lamb brains, farro and zucchini, octopus "a la plancha," couscous-olive oil cake.
Wine list: A thoughtful if modest selection, reasonably priced. Kudos to the bar's unique, spice-infused cocktails.
Price range: Small plates $5-$12, larger plates $18-$29, desserts $7-$9.
City Pages visits Saffron
Saffron reboots for the Target Field crowd
Middle Eastern mainstays remain on the menu
By Rachel Hutton, City Pages
published: September 21, 2011
Recently, I ate two terrific dishes. The first was a disk of foie gras, covered with a caramelized-sugar crust, like a tiny crème brûlée with a savory, livery tang. It was plated with a smudge of bitter orange jam and two date-almond briouat pastries. The dish was complex, delightful, and something of a tease—an appetizer that might have passed for dessert.
The second was not so much a dish as a brown paper sack, filled with crisp, blond, house-made potato chips, sliced thin as butterfly wings. The chips were served with yogurt that was sprinkled with the spice blend za'tar—the Mideast's version of sour-cream-and-onion dip.
I finished a bite of the foie gras and then reached for a potato chip. Surprisingly, I was eating these two dishes at the same restaurant...as I awaited the arrival of duck tagine.
On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, this establishment, Saffron Restaurant and Lounge, shut down for 10 days to reboot. To nonregulars, its Warehouse District digs won't look too different: It still has the same high ceilings, exposed brick, and pretty windows. But the paint is fresh, and there's an oversized booth tucked into one corner. Most significantly, the white tablecloths are gone.
Much has changed during the restaurant's relatively brief tenure. Recession-conscious diners have shifted away from formality and toward flexibility. A 40,000-fan-capacity ballpark opened just a few blocks down the street. The new Saffron wants diners to know they won't be underdressed in a jersey and ball cap.
Saffron's chef and co-owner, Sameh Wadi, opened Saffron at the ripe old age of 23, after a brief culinary career working for others, including Tim McKee at Solera. Needless to say, Wadi is an ambitious sort—last summer, he also launched his World Street Kitchen food truck. In the midst of transforming Saffron's space, Wadi decided to redo its menu as well.
Sameh and his brother/business partner, Saed, recently discovered the unpublished manuscript of a Palestinian cookbook written by their parents, which inspired Sameh to try to showcase lesser-known foods from his homeland and beyond. (The Wadis are Palestinian, but Sameh grew up in Kuwait and Jordan, among other places, before moving to the United States.) Saffron's original menu might have been characterized as contemporary American fine dining, as seen through a Middle Eastern lens—Wadi often took ingredients familiar to Americans and matched them with Mediterranean flavors. His new approach expands the kitchen's reach to places such as Spain, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, and Algeria and includes dishes from the region that haven't yet found their way to the Twin Cities.
Sameh says Saed was initially doubtful his plan would succeed. "I showed my brother the new menu," Sameh recalls, "and he said, 'You're crazy! People are not going to eat this.'" But after years of serving Saffron's customers lamb brains—and having them become a house favorite—Sameh had cultivated a following among adventurous Twin Cities diners and earned their trust. He says the dishes his brother worried about—octopus "a la plancha," slow-cooked green beans, Turkish-style air-dried beef, whole fish—are now some of the restaurant's best sellers. Not that the words "I told you so" would ever pass his lips.
The new menu has fewer dishes like the foie gras and more like the potato chips: It feels less fussy, less precious, and more sharable. Take, for example, the fresh chickpeas, a street-vendor nibble from Wadi's childhood that's nearly impossible to find in the United States. My server helpfully explained that they might be eaten like edamame (they look like a plumper, squat version of the Japanese snack) by licking the salt and the lemon off the pod and then popping the bean into your mouth. The fresh beans taste greener than their canned or dried counterparts, a bit like a soy or fava bean. "It's a completely different flavor and texture," Wadi says. "It's totally sexy. And yes, I did say 'sexy' about a chickpea, and I'm not ashamed of it."
Bastirma, or Turkish-style air-dried beef, is another new menu item that's rarely seen in America. ("Sourcing some of these things was a total nightmare," Wadi says. He ended up having to make it himself.) Curing bastirma is a two-week process, Wadi explains. A strip loin is covered in salt and spices, like pastrami, and aged. The thin-sliced meat looks like prosciutto, but it's less sharp and salty than European-style cured hams. It has a mellow, pleasant funkiness that Wadi attributes to the use of fenugreek—a spice that made a memorable first impression on him. "The first time I had it, I said, 'This tastes like armpit.'"
Many of Saffron's simple Middle Eastern mainstays have remained on the menu. (Of the fried cauliflower, Wadi remarks, "I tried to take it off last year and I had death threats.") There's hummus, heavy on the lemon and doused with olive oil, and a platter of spreads: a mild, yellow lentil, smoky eggplant baba ghanoush, and feta cheese blended with pickled hot peppers. Among these, the fried beef kubbeh is king (the appetizer is pronounced ku-beh, and it's a variant of the Lebanese kibbeh). The crisp-crusted, spicy meatballs are made from Wadi's mother's recipe, which involves a laborious process of grinding and shaping the beef and preparing its bulgur shell. For the first year Saffron was open, Mom came in to the restaurant once a week to prepare the dish herself.
Among the restaurant's most elegant dishes are several newcomers, including a pretty watermelon and heirloom tomato salad garnished with feta, jalapeño, and basil, and a grilled leek and feta tart. But several old favorites have also remained, the white anchovies among them. The fish are marinated in harissa and sliced into delicate strips with flecks of radish and preserved lemon—like the foie gras dish, it's a flurry of contrasting and complementary flavors and textures. And of course there's the lamb brain. Its texture is oddly spongy and creamy; its flavor suggests seafood crossed with sweetbreads.
My favorite new entrée is the whole roasted branzini, or European sea bass. Wadi calls it a quintessential Greek taverna dish. Because it's stuffed with butter and a few flavoring agents—black olive, lemon, garlic, and herbs—it sort of self-bastes from within so the flesh stays ultra moist. The fish has a mild, neutral flavor that's brightened by olive oil and lemon. A garnish of fried grape leaves, parsley, and dill make crisp, staccato accents.
Saffron's tagines—Moroccan stews offered with seafood, lamb shank, or duck leg—are also great for sharing. The lamb and the duck versions are served in hefty, bone-on portions, and their meat is rich and tender, pleasantly gamy without being overly so. The lamb's ruddy harissa broth has both depth and warmth, and it's studded with chickpeas and spinach. Duck and potatoes absorb their sunny saffron sauce that would probably feel too heavy were it not lightened by sparks of sweetness, bitterness, and brine, in the form of plump sultana raisins, preserved lemon, and snappy, lightly cured Castelvetrano olives. So long as you can wrap your head around the eclectic nature of Saffron's menu, there's very little about the cooking to fault, though a few dishes I encountered were so heavily salted that when I returned home I immediately gulped down several glasses of water. Also, most of the entrées tend to be hearty, wintry fare, which may be why Saffron sometimes has its air conditioning cranked up to replicate Siberia. Several times, I shoved my icy fingertips into the only heat source I could find: the table's stack of warm pita bread. When I ordered the traditional Palestinian slow-cooked green beans, I wished Wadi had followed his mother's example and served the dish hot instead of cold.
Thankfully, the restaurant's newly casual nature hasn't affected its service, which remains sharp, thorough, and enthusiastic. And Wadi's attention to detail extends to all the extras, including an interesting list of nonalcoholic beverages, craft cocktails, and wines, some of them from Lebanon.
For dessert, be sure to try the kunafa, a warm, sweet cheese pie topped with pistachios and phyllo shreds. The cheeses are baked to order, served in a cast-iron pan that's large enough to feed four, and doused with cardamom-saffron syrup at the table. It's an unusual combination, largely unseen in the Twin Cities, and a tradition Palestinians take very seriously. "Wars have been waged over kunafa," Wadi explains. "Weddings get called off over kunafa." The dish hits all the right notes: First there's the punch of fatty richness and piercing sweetness, then the delicate nuance of the nuts, cardamom, and saffron. The age-old dish seems surprisingly contemporary.
Wadi's relatives own northeast Minneapolis's Holy Land Deli, which has arguably made the largest impact in bringing Middle Eastern tastes to Minnesota. Wadi is building on that work by pushing the boundaries of Mediterranean cuisine, fluidly marrying disparate elements: East and West, high and low, old and new. (Wadi's lamb bacon "BLT," a diner classic adopted for Muslim dietary restrictions, may be the best reflection of his multicultural, Arab-American blend.) Not so long ago, Wadi notes, sushi was new to American palates. But nowadays, he marvels, kids are texting one another about going out for 'sush.' "It's my long-term goal for people to say, 'Let's go out for Med food,'" he says. "That's when I'll know I've arrived."
That day may not be far off. Wadi says the kunafa has already become Saffron's most-ordered dessert, a fact he attributes to local diners' willingness to try new things. "In that sense I'm really blessed," he says. "I get to put whatever I want on my menu. I get to be me."
Middle Eastern mainstays remain on the menu
By Rachel Hutton, City Pages
published: September 21, 2011
 |
| photo by Alma Guzman |
Recently, I ate two terrific dishes. The first was a disk of foie gras, covered with a caramelized-sugar crust, like a tiny crème brûlée with a savory, livery tang. It was plated with a smudge of bitter orange jam and two date-almond briouat pastries. The dish was complex, delightful, and something of a tease—an appetizer that might have passed for dessert.
The second was not so much a dish as a brown paper sack, filled with crisp, blond, house-made potato chips, sliced thin as butterfly wings. The chips were served with yogurt that was sprinkled with the spice blend za'tar—the Mideast's version of sour-cream-and-onion dip.
I finished a bite of the foie gras and then reached for a potato chip. Surprisingly, I was eating these two dishes at the same restaurant...as I awaited the arrival of duck tagine.
On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, this establishment, Saffron Restaurant and Lounge, shut down for 10 days to reboot. To nonregulars, its Warehouse District digs won't look too different: It still has the same high ceilings, exposed brick, and pretty windows. But the paint is fresh, and there's an oversized booth tucked into one corner. Most significantly, the white tablecloths are gone.
Much has changed during the restaurant's relatively brief tenure. Recession-conscious diners have shifted away from formality and toward flexibility. A 40,000-fan-capacity ballpark opened just a few blocks down the street. The new Saffron wants diners to know they won't be underdressed in a jersey and ball cap.
Saffron's chef and co-owner, Sameh Wadi, opened Saffron at the ripe old age of 23, after a brief culinary career working for others, including Tim McKee at Solera. Needless to say, Wadi is an ambitious sort—last summer, he also launched his World Street Kitchen food truck. In the midst of transforming Saffron's space, Wadi decided to redo its menu as well.
Sameh and his brother/business partner, Saed, recently discovered the unpublished manuscript of a Palestinian cookbook written by their parents, which inspired Sameh to try to showcase lesser-known foods from his homeland and beyond. (The Wadis are Palestinian, but Sameh grew up in Kuwait and Jordan, among other places, before moving to the United States.) Saffron's original menu might have been characterized as contemporary American fine dining, as seen through a Middle Eastern lens—Wadi often took ingredients familiar to Americans and matched them with Mediterranean flavors. His new approach expands the kitchen's reach to places such as Spain, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, and Algeria and includes dishes from the region that haven't yet found their way to the Twin Cities.
Sameh says Saed was initially doubtful his plan would succeed. "I showed my brother the new menu," Sameh recalls, "and he said, 'You're crazy! People are not going to eat this.'" But after years of serving Saffron's customers lamb brains—and having them become a house favorite—Sameh had cultivated a following among adventurous Twin Cities diners and earned their trust. He says the dishes his brother worried about—octopus "a la plancha," slow-cooked green beans, Turkish-style air-dried beef, whole fish—are now some of the restaurant's best sellers. Not that the words "I told you so" would ever pass his lips.
The new menu has fewer dishes like the foie gras and more like the potato chips: It feels less fussy, less precious, and more sharable. Take, for example, the fresh chickpeas, a street-vendor nibble from Wadi's childhood that's nearly impossible to find in the United States. My server helpfully explained that they might be eaten like edamame (they look like a plumper, squat version of the Japanese snack) by licking the salt and the lemon off the pod and then popping the bean into your mouth. The fresh beans taste greener than their canned or dried counterparts, a bit like a soy or fava bean. "It's a completely different flavor and texture," Wadi says. "It's totally sexy. And yes, I did say 'sexy' about a chickpea, and I'm not ashamed of it."
Bastirma, or Turkish-style air-dried beef, is another new menu item that's rarely seen in America. ("Sourcing some of these things was a total nightmare," Wadi says. He ended up having to make it himself.) Curing bastirma is a two-week process, Wadi explains. A strip loin is covered in salt and spices, like pastrami, and aged. The thin-sliced meat looks like prosciutto, but it's less sharp and salty than European-style cured hams. It has a mellow, pleasant funkiness that Wadi attributes to the use of fenugreek—a spice that made a memorable first impression on him. "The first time I had it, I said, 'This tastes like armpit.'"
Many of Saffron's simple Middle Eastern mainstays have remained on the menu. (Of the fried cauliflower, Wadi remarks, "I tried to take it off last year and I had death threats.") There's hummus, heavy on the lemon and doused with olive oil, and a platter of spreads: a mild, yellow lentil, smoky eggplant baba ghanoush, and feta cheese blended with pickled hot peppers. Among these, the fried beef kubbeh is king (the appetizer is pronounced ku-beh, and it's a variant of the Lebanese kibbeh). The crisp-crusted, spicy meatballs are made from Wadi's mother's recipe, which involves a laborious process of grinding and shaping the beef and preparing its bulgur shell. For the first year Saffron was open, Mom came in to the restaurant once a week to prepare the dish herself.
Among the restaurant's most elegant dishes are several newcomers, including a pretty watermelon and heirloom tomato salad garnished with feta, jalapeño, and basil, and a grilled leek and feta tart. But several old favorites have also remained, the white anchovies among them. The fish are marinated in harissa and sliced into delicate strips with flecks of radish and preserved lemon—like the foie gras dish, it's a flurry of contrasting and complementary flavors and textures. And of course there's the lamb brain. Its texture is oddly spongy and creamy; its flavor suggests seafood crossed with sweetbreads.
My favorite new entrée is the whole roasted branzini, or European sea bass. Wadi calls it a quintessential Greek taverna dish. Because it's stuffed with butter and a few flavoring agents—black olive, lemon, garlic, and herbs—it sort of self-bastes from within so the flesh stays ultra moist. The fish has a mild, neutral flavor that's brightened by olive oil and lemon. A garnish of fried grape leaves, parsley, and dill make crisp, staccato accents.
Saffron's tagines—Moroccan stews offered with seafood, lamb shank, or duck leg—are also great for sharing. The lamb and the duck versions are served in hefty, bone-on portions, and their meat is rich and tender, pleasantly gamy without being overly so. The lamb's ruddy harissa broth has both depth and warmth, and it's studded with chickpeas and spinach. Duck and potatoes absorb their sunny saffron sauce that would probably feel too heavy were it not lightened by sparks of sweetness, bitterness, and brine, in the form of plump sultana raisins, preserved lemon, and snappy, lightly cured Castelvetrano olives. So long as you can wrap your head around the eclectic nature of Saffron's menu, there's very little about the cooking to fault, though a few dishes I encountered were so heavily salted that when I returned home I immediately gulped down several glasses of water. Also, most of the entrées tend to be hearty, wintry fare, which may be why Saffron sometimes has its air conditioning cranked up to replicate Siberia. Several times, I shoved my icy fingertips into the only heat source I could find: the table's stack of warm pita bread. When I ordered the traditional Palestinian slow-cooked green beans, I wished Wadi had followed his mother's example and served the dish hot instead of cold.
Thankfully, the restaurant's newly casual nature hasn't affected its service, which remains sharp, thorough, and enthusiastic. And Wadi's attention to detail extends to all the extras, including an interesting list of nonalcoholic beverages, craft cocktails, and wines, some of them from Lebanon.
For dessert, be sure to try the kunafa, a warm, sweet cheese pie topped with pistachios and phyllo shreds. The cheeses are baked to order, served in a cast-iron pan that's large enough to feed four, and doused with cardamom-saffron syrup at the table. It's an unusual combination, largely unseen in the Twin Cities, and a tradition Palestinians take very seriously. "Wars have been waged over kunafa," Wadi explains. "Weddings get called off over kunafa." The dish hits all the right notes: First there's the punch of fatty richness and piercing sweetness, then the delicate nuance of the nuts, cardamom, and saffron. The age-old dish seems surprisingly contemporary.
Wadi's relatives own northeast Minneapolis's Holy Land Deli, which has arguably made the largest impact in bringing Middle Eastern tastes to Minnesota. Wadi is building on that work by pushing the boundaries of Mediterranean cuisine, fluidly marrying disparate elements: East and West, high and low, old and new. (Wadi's lamb bacon "BLT," a diner classic adopted for Muslim dietary restrictions, may be the best reflection of his multicultural, Arab-American blend.) Not so long ago, Wadi notes, sushi was new to American palates. But nowadays, he marvels, kids are texting one another about going out for 'sush.' "It's my long-term goal for people to say, 'Let's go out for Med food,'" he says. "That's when I'll know I've arrived."
That day may not be far off. Wadi says the kunafa has already become Saffron's most-ordered dessert, a fact he attributes to local diners' willingness to try new things. "In that sense I'm really blessed," he says. "I get to put whatever I want on my menu. I get to be me."
Monday, September 19, 2011
Byerly's Ridgedale grand re-opening this week
This week, we're taking care of all the finishing touches in time for Thursday's grand reopening celebration at Byerly's Ridgedale. The upgrades to the store are really great and it's been another fun and successful partnership between Shea and the Lunds/Byerly's team. Read below to find out what's in store. (And CLICK HERE to learn of our latest team effort!)
Grand reopening celebration to take place on Thursday, September 29
How does Byerly’s make a sensational shopping experience even better? At Byerly’s Ridgedale it’s done by adding features and services such as a new deli foodservice area, a registered dietician, an expansive pet foods department and an eco-friendly dry cleaner.
These are in addition to the many other amenities available at this store, including Byerly’s Pharmacy, a Community Room (available at no charge), U.S. Bank, Caribou Coffee, Bachman’s and an adjacent Wines & Spirits Shop.
For the past few months, this Byerly’s has been undergoing extensive renovations, updates and additions all designed to further enhance our customers’ shopping experience. We hope you’ll be able to join us for a grand reopening celebration on Thursday, September 29 at 10 a.m.
New features and services will include:
•Expanded Deli Foodservice Area – Featuring a wide variety of fresh, made-to-order options. Choose from one of the self-service buffet bars or get a chef-crafted meal from one of the many meal stations. You can dine in or take out.
•Registered Dietician – Janice Cox, RD, LD, is available for store tours and nutrition counseling. Turn to Janice for accurate, timely and practical nutrition advice.
•Expanded Natural Health & Beauty Selection
•Pet Department – A new, approximately 900-square-foot department featuring an expansive selection of high-quality pet food and supplies. This department will be staffed with a pet care associate eager to assist customers with their pet needs.
•Mulberrys Garment Care – A locally based, eco-friendly dry cleaner focused on quality, service and innovation.
•Inspiration Center – A food theater area at the front of the store designed to provide food inspiration and education.
•Made in Minnesota Set – Featuring thousands of locally produced products.
•Customer Service Counter – Featuring 2 express checkouts, copy and fax services, postal services and lottery tickets.
•Décor – New décor throughout the store, including carpeting, floor finishes and accent lighting.
Grand reopening celebration to take place on Thursday, September 29
How does Byerly’s make a sensational shopping experience even better? At Byerly’s Ridgedale it’s done by adding features and services such as a new deli foodservice area, a registered dietician, an expansive pet foods department and an eco-friendly dry cleaner.
These are in addition to the many other amenities available at this store, including Byerly’s Pharmacy, a Community Room (available at no charge), U.S. Bank, Caribou Coffee, Bachman’s and an adjacent Wines & Spirits Shop.
For the past few months, this Byerly’s has been undergoing extensive renovations, updates and additions all designed to further enhance our customers’ shopping experience. We hope you’ll be able to join us for a grand reopening celebration on Thursday, September 29 at 10 a.m.
New features and services will include:
•Expanded Deli Foodservice Area – Featuring a wide variety of fresh, made-to-order options. Choose from one of the self-service buffet bars or get a chef-crafted meal from one of the many meal stations. You can dine in or take out.
•Registered Dietician – Janice Cox, RD, LD, is available for store tours and nutrition counseling. Turn to Janice for accurate, timely and practical nutrition advice.
•Expanded Natural Health & Beauty Selection
•Pet Department – A new, approximately 900-square-foot department featuring an expansive selection of high-quality pet food and supplies. This department will be staffed with a pet care associate eager to assist customers with their pet needs.
•Mulberrys Garment Care – A locally based, eco-friendly dry cleaner focused on quality, service and innovation.
•Inspiration Center – A food theater area at the front of the store designed to provide food inspiration and education.
•Made in Minnesota Set – Featuring thousands of locally produced products.
•Customer Service Counter – Featuring 2 express checkouts, copy and fax services, postal services and lottery tickets.
•Décor – New décor throughout the store, including carpeting, floor finishes and accent lighting.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Rick Nelson reviews Mill Valley Kitchen
Read the story below from Star Tribune food writer Rick Nelson as he reviews one of Shea's latest designs: Mill Valley Kitchen.
Food is light but lively at Mill Valley
Article by: RICK NELSON , Star Tribune
"I feel like I just walked into an Eileen Fisher sample sale," said my friend as he joined me for lunch at Mill Valley Kitchen. No kidding. From my vantage point, his entrance doubled the number of men dining in the crowded room. Until his arrival, I appeared to be the sole male diner.
I have tremendous affection for restaurants where whole groups of people are made to feel welcome, and this new St. Louis Park enterprise coddles its female demographic so successfully that I wouldn't be surprised if owner and first-time restaurateur Craig Bentdahl's strategy ended up in a Harvard Business School case study.
The gravitational pull starts with the surroundings. Anyone who says that decor doesn't matter has clearly never logged a few pleasant hours seated inside Mill Valley Kitchen. There, the Minneapolis design firm of Shea Inc. deftly demonstrates the transformative powers of crown molding and coffered ceilings, and then washes the whole sunny, wide-open square footage in a flattering cream color (it's Dover White by Sherwin-Williams) that will undoubtedly become the paint that launched a thousand kitchen renovations. It's a non-confrontational blend of contemporary and traditional that quietly dissolves into a backdrop for making the real stars of the show -- the customers -- stand out.
And they do. Mill Valley Kitchen has renewed my fascination with people-watching (and its even shallower sibling, style-watching) all over again. For armchair Jane Goodalls like me who want to make a study of prosperous, attractive and well-groomed females -- and yes, similarly tax-bracketed males, whose numbers grow at dinner -- Mill Valley Kitchen is your stamping grounds.
Chef Mike Rakun's cooking style is another draw. To throw the blanket and often pejorative label of spa food over his work would be wrong, at least the outmoded idea of what constitutes healthful-minded fare, which was mostly about deprivation.
Instead, Rakun is demonstrating that restaurant dining can deliver robust and satisfying flavors without relying upon clarified butter, rich animal proteins and a whole host of other dietary no-nos. With a few exceptions, his cooking is clean, sensible and occasionally exciting, a tough accomplishment when number-crunching dietary data is published on the menu. Oh, and when it comes to portion sizes, sanity reigns.
It's not as Weight Watchers-ish as it sounds. I would go back just for another crack at the exceptional juicy and crisp-skinned chicken, or the lean grass-fed filet grilled precisely to order, or the lively array of roasted vegetables that could have felt like a chore but were anything but.
It should not come as a surprise that the salads are thoughtfully composed and popping with bright, fresh flavors -- don't miss the spinach salads, one with a warm red-wine vinaigrette, the other tossed with sweet grilled plums -- although they can also be dressed with a heavy hand.
A half-dozen oval-shaped flatbreads respond well to the Cooking Light treatment. The crust, a blend of whole-wheat flour, millet and sunflower seeds, has an agreeable texture, and Rakun tops his guilt-free pizzas with an even more winning array of flavors. Best are a fantastic house-made chicken thigh-fennel sausage paired with green peppers and onions, a gorgeous blend of eggplant, red peppers and arugula and the play of tangy chevre against sweet onions that's finished with a flurry of fresh spinach.
Rakun's experience in several high-end Florida seafood restaurants clearly comes through in the menu's most memorable dishes: a beautiful miso-glazed pan-seared sea bass, velvety grilled salmon perched on a colorful and crunchy vegetable succotash and the cool pink tuna that is an essential component in kimchi- and brown-rice-filled lettuce wraps.
His best lunch-hour sandwich also utilizes tuna, folding braised hunks of it with roasted peppers, piquant capers and green olives, spicy arugula and just enough lemony aioli to hold it all together. OK, maybe second best: I could dig into his turkey-avocado club -- minus any sign of fatty bacon, naturally -- on a weekly basis. The casual weekend breakfast is a treat. The kitchen bakes up a few way-better-than-Nature Valley granola bars (with shockingly high calorie counts, yikes), and turns out pretty fruit bruschettas, well-stuffed scrambled egg burritos, several hot cereals and a few egg sandwiches, including one that makes good use of that fine chicken sausage. It all pairs well with the bar's refreshing and creative nonalcoholic beverages, which, happily, are not the excursions to sickening sweetness into which this genre so often falls.
Not all smooth sailing
"So this is where they've been hiding the butter," said my friend, as we split the last one, although I greedily wanted it all for myself. They're served with a shot of decadent whole milk -- there's no room for skim or even 1 percent in Rakun's Go Big or Go Home moment -- and it's a naughty and indulgent way to end a visit at this feel-good restaurant. If this constitutes the birth of a chain, Bentdahl and Rakun are headed in a smart direction.
 |
| A spacious dining room spills out onto the patio, the two areas separated only by a floor-to-ceiling screen. |
Article by: RICK NELSON , Star Tribune
"I feel like I just walked into an Eileen Fisher sample sale," said my friend as he joined me for lunch at Mill Valley Kitchen. No kidding. From my vantage point, his entrance doubled the number of men dining in the crowded room. Until his arrival, I appeared to be the sole male diner.
I have tremendous affection for restaurants where whole groups of people are made to feel welcome, and this new St. Louis Park enterprise coddles its female demographic so successfully that I wouldn't be surprised if owner and first-time restaurateur Craig Bentdahl's strategy ended up in a Harvard Business School case study.
The gravitational pull starts with the surroundings. Anyone who says that decor doesn't matter has clearly never logged a few pleasant hours seated inside Mill Valley Kitchen. There, the Minneapolis design firm of Shea Inc. deftly demonstrates the transformative powers of crown molding and coffered ceilings, and then washes the whole sunny, wide-open square footage in a flattering cream color (it's Dover White by Sherwin-Williams) that will undoubtedly become the paint that launched a thousand kitchen renovations. It's a non-confrontational blend of contemporary and traditional that quietly dissolves into a backdrop for making the real stars of the show -- the customers -- stand out.
And they do. Mill Valley Kitchen has renewed my fascination with people-watching (and its even shallower sibling, style-watching) all over again. For armchair Jane Goodalls like me who want to make a study of prosperous, attractive and well-groomed females -- and yes, similarly tax-bracketed males, whose numbers grow at dinner -- Mill Valley Kitchen is your stamping grounds.
Chef Mike Rakun's cooking style is another draw. To throw the blanket and often pejorative label of spa food over his work would be wrong, at least the outmoded idea of what constitutes healthful-minded fare, which was mostly about deprivation.
Instead, Rakun is demonstrating that restaurant dining can deliver robust and satisfying flavors without relying upon clarified butter, rich animal proteins and a whole host of other dietary no-nos. With a few exceptions, his cooking is clean, sensible and occasionally exciting, a tough accomplishment when number-crunching dietary data is published on the menu. Oh, and when it comes to portion sizes, sanity reigns.
It's not as Weight Watchers-ish as it sounds. I would go back just for another crack at the exceptional juicy and crisp-skinned chicken, or the lean grass-fed filet grilled precisely to order, or the lively array of roasted vegetables that could have felt like a chore but were anything but.
It should not come as a surprise that the salads are thoughtfully composed and popping with bright, fresh flavors -- don't miss the spinach salads, one with a warm red-wine vinaigrette, the other tossed with sweet grilled plums -- although they can also be dressed with a heavy hand.
A half-dozen oval-shaped flatbreads respond well to the Cooking Light treatment. The crust, a blend of whole-wheat flour, millet and sunflower seeds, has an agreeable texture, and Rakun tops his guilt-free pizzas with an even more winning array of flavors. Best are a fantastic house-made chicken thigh-fennel sausage paired with green peppers and onions, a gorgeous blend of eggplant, red peppers and arugula and the play of tangy chevre against sweet onions that's finished with a flurry of fresh spinach.
Rakun's experience in several high-end Florida seafood restaurants clearly comes through in the menu's most memorable dishes: a beautiful miso-glazed pan-seared sea bass, velvety grilled salmon perched on a colorful and crunchy vegetable succotash and the cool pink tuna that is an essential component in kimchi- and brown-rice-filled lettuce wraps.
His best lunch-hour sandwich also utilizes tuna, folding braised hunks of it with roasted peppers, piquant capers and green olives, spicy arugula and just enough lemony aioli to hold it all together. OK, maybe second best: I could dig into his turkey-avocado club -- minus any sign of fatty bacon, naturally -- on a weekly basis. The casual weekend breakfast is a treat. The kitchen bakes up a few way-better-than-Nature Valley granola bars (with shockingly high calorie counts, yikes), and turns out pretty fruit bruschettas, well-stuffed scrambled egg burritos, several hot cereals and a few egg sandwiches, including one that makes good use of that fine chicken sausage. It all pairs well with the bar's refreshing and creative nonalcoholic beverages, which, happily, are not the excursions to sickening sweetness into which this genre so often falls.
Not all smooth sailing
The too-lengthy menu is interspersed with so-called power foods but doesn't necessarily rely upon the seasonality that should go hand-in-hand with healthful eating. Sometimes the cooking is a bit out of whack: Mushroom-flecked quinoa could have used a lot more of a ginger kick, perfectly textured kale had an on-fire spice level that lingered on my tongue well after the valet retrieved my car, the steamed edamame cries out for salt, and there was enough delightful natural sweetness in the pork tenderloin that Rakun nurtures on the grill, but he goes overboard with sweet potato and apple accents. Enjoy that awesome Duroc pork in lunch's tasty banh mi, instead.
Just when your body starts to involuntarily cry out for some gratuitous fat, along comes dessert in the form of three chocolate chip cookies, sterling examples of the beloved Toll House genre that rise high off the plate, with crispy, golden exteriors shielding tender, still-warm interiors filled with gooey, lick-your-fingers chocolate.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Jeremy Iggers reviews the new more casual Saffron
Shea recently worked with Sameh and Saed Wadi on a refresh of their Warehouse District restaurant, Saffron. Our mission was to make the space more casual and comfortable in order to encourage people to visit with more frequency. Seems some people only viewed it as an occasion restaurant. Food writer Jeremy Iggers decided to visit to see how things have changed. Read his review below from tc foodies blog.
Is the new more casual Saffron also more affordable?
by Jeremy Iggers
Thursday was Carol's birthday, so we (Carol, her sister, her niece and I) went for dinner to her favorite restaurant - Saffron in the Warehouse District. I had dined at Saffron earlier this year when the owners - chef Sameh Wadi and his brother Saed - put on a press event to get out the word that their restaurant isn't just for special occasions. The message was supposed to be, you can have a satisfying dining experience at Saffron without spending an arm and a leg.
To get this message out they invited a bunch of food writers to come as their guests and order anything and everything they wanted, compliments of the house. This turned out to be a terrific gastronomic experience - my friend Lu Lippold wrote about it for the Twin Cities Daily Planet. But since all of us food writers gorged ourselves, and didn't have to pay for any of it, (though we did pay for our drinks) it provided no evidence for the proposition that the Wadis were trying to put across.
So I left that prior dinner very content, but still wondering whether it is actually possible to really enjoy the Saffron dining experience on a modest budget. (Saed Wadi had claimed that you could, for example, order the lamb BLT ($8) and a beer, and spend less than you would for a beer and a burger at the new Twins ballpark nearby. Or maybe that was my example. But suppose you wanted something more substantial than a beer and a lamb BLT?)
At any rate, back to last night's dinner. We didn't actually go there intending to be parsimonious, or test the Wadis' claim- we just ordered a bunch of stuff to share, and didn't pay much attention to the prices. We started with the mezze (small plates): hummus royale ($9), a family recipe made with chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic and Palestinian olive oil, with house-cured bastirma (dried beef; the ancestor of pastrami) and fried chickpeas - rich, creamy and delicious; and the fried cauliflower ($6), golden deep-fried nuggets accompanied by a feta cheese fondue, also irresistibly tasty. Sort of the way fried cheese curds are irresistible.
But the knocked-our-socks-off favorite in this round was the slow-cooked green beans with tomato ($6), prepared from an old family recipe. The beans are cooked for two hours, with the spices added in stages. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Cloves? Just guessing, but this dish is worth the trip all by itself.
Next came a trio of dishes from the salads, apps and and sides section of the menu. The salad of watermelon and heirloom tomato with cow’s milk feta, charred jalapeño and basil ($8), was a lovely and lively presentation that balanced sweet, salty and spicy. (For another dish in the same spirit, try the mezze of warm haloumi cheese with watermelon and mint.)
The grilled leek and sheep’s milk feta tart with tomato, spicy piquillo pepper sauce and arugula didn't inspire any great enthusiasm, but the table went wild over the coriander potatoes ($7), fingerlings stewed with roasted potatoes in a caramelized paprika butter.
Portions weren't enormous, but nicely paced, and when the time came to order the next course, we skipped over the big plates, and went straight to the restaurant's signature tagines - Moroccan stews served in an earthenware pot. The nightly seafood tagine combined Lake Winnipeg whitefish and Manila clams in a savory stew of green olives, potatoes and tomato. Sublime. We dithered about whether to order the small portion ($19) or the large ($27, I think), until our very engaging server pointed out that we could always order dessert, if the smaller tagine wasn't sufficient.
But the small order proved to be ample, and delicious; and we decided that it was the perfect note on which to end a wonderful dining experience. Carol's sister Peg proclaimed it one of the best meals she had ever had.
Dessert? No thank you.
But it turned out that Sameh Wadi had other plans for us. A parade of desserts soon arrived at our table - a rich flourless mocha chocolate ganache ($8), accompanied by a scoop of homemade ice cream; a traditional pastry plate with cookies, baklava and a rosewater-scented cream ($9), and my favorite, kunafa ($9), shredded wheat and cheese topped with pistachios and a cardamom saffron syrup, baked in the oven and served hot in the pan.
I made a game effort to insist on paying for the desserts, but Sameh refused. The total bill for dinner for four, including a glass of wine apiece (and not including some complimentary cocktails) came to $111. With tip, that worked out to less than $35 apiece.
For a dining experience of this caliber, that's a terrific deal.
Is the new more casual Saffron also more affordable?
by Jeremy Iggers
Thursday was Carol's birthday, so we (Carol, her sister, her niece and I) went for dinner to her favorite restaurant - Saffron in the Warehouse District. I had dined at Saffron earlier this year when the owners - chef Sameh Wadi and his brother Saed - put on a press event to get out the word that their restaurant isn't just for special occasions. The message was supposed to be, you can have a satisfying dining experience at Saffron without spending an arm and a leg.
To get this message out they invited a bunch of food writers to come as their guests and order anything and everything they wanted, compliments of the house. This turned out to be a terrific gastronomic experience - my friend Lu Lippold wrote about it for the Twin Cities Daily Planet. But since all of us food writers gorged ourselves, and didn't have to pay for any of it, (though we did pay for our drinks) it provided no evidence for the proposition that the Wadis were trying to put across.
So I left that prior dinner very content, but still wondering whether it is actually possible to really enjoy the Saffron dining experience on a modest budget. (Saed Wadi had claimed that you could, for example, order the lamb BLT ($8) and a beer, and spend less than you would for a beer and a burger at the new Twins ballpark nearby. Or maybe that was my example. But suppose you wanted something more substantial than a beer and a lamb BLT?)
At any rate, back to last night's dinner. We didn't actually go there intending to be parsimonious, or test the Wadis' claim- we just ordered a bunch of stuff to share, and didn't pay much attention to the prices. We started with the mezze (small plates): hummus royale ($9), a family recipe made with chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic and Palestinian olive oil, with house-cured bastirma (dried beef; the ancestor of pastrami) and fried chickpeas - rich, creamy and delicious; and the fried cauliflower ($6), golden deep-fried nuggets accompanied by a feta cheese fondue, also irresistibly tasty. Sort of the way fried cheese curds are irresistible.
But the knocked-our-socks-off favorite in this round was the slow-cooked green beans with tomato ($6), prepared from an old family recipe. The beans are cooked for two hours, with the spices added in stages. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Cloves? Just guessing, but this dish is worth the trip all by itself.
Next came a trio of dishes from the salads, apps and and sides section of the menu. The salad of watermelon and heirloom tomato with cow’s milk feta, charred jalapeño and basil ($8), was a lovely and lively presentation that balanced sweet, salty and spicy. (For another dish in the same spirit, try the mezze of warm haloumi cheese with watermelon and mint.)
The grilled leek and sheep’s milk feta tart with tomato, spicy piquillo pepper sauce and arugula didn't inspire any great enthusiasm, but the table went wild over the coriander potatoes ($7), fingerlings stewed with roasted potatoes in a caramelized paprika butter.
Portions weren't enormous, but nicely paced, and when the time came to order the next course, we skipped over the big plates, and went straight to the restaurant's signature tagines - Moroccan stews served in an earthenware pot. The nightly seafood tagine combined Lake Winnipeg whitefish and Manila clams in a savory stew of green olives, potatoes and tomato. Sublime. We dithered about whether to order the small portion ($19) or the large ($27, I think), until our very engaging server pointed out that we could always order dessert, if the smaller tagine wasn't sufficient.
But the small order proved to be ample, and delicious; and we decided that it was the perfect note on which to end a wonderful dining experience. Carol's sister Peg proclaimed it one of the best meals she had ever had.
Dessert? No thank you.
But it turned out that Sameh Wadi had other plans for us. A parade of desserts soon arrived at our table - a rich flourless mocha chocolate ganache ($8), accompanied by a scoop of homemade ice cream; a traditional pastry plate with cookies, baklava and a rosewater-scented cream ($9), and my favorite, kunafa ($9), shredded wheat and cheese topped with pistachios and a cardamom saffron syrup, baked in the oven and served hot in the pan.
I made a game effort to insist on paying for the desserts, but Sameh refused. The total bill for dinner for four, including a glass of wine apiece (and not including some complimentary cocktails) came to $111. With tip, that worked out to less than $35 apiece.
For a dining experience of this caliber, that's a terrific deal.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Lunds downtown breaks ground
Yesterday was the official groundbreaking for the Lunds in downtown Minneapolis at the corner of Hennepin and 12th Street. We were there to see Tres Lund get started with a jackhammer after almost 8 years of planning and waiting. We're excited to be a part of the Lunds design team and look forward to its opening in 2012.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
MSP magazine visits Mill Valley Kitchen
Marianne Miller of Mpls. St. Paul magazine wrote a piece about her visits to Mill Valley Kitchen, which appeared in the September issue and you can read it right here:
Mill Valley Kitchen
by Marianne Miller
Walking into Mill Valley Kitchen is akin to stepping into a tony Kenwood penthouse or the clubroom of an upscale warm-weather resort. The strikingly crisp design from the aces at Shea is a welcome break from the usual swarthy river-rock/reclaimed wood combo seen ad nauseum. The moneyed and manicured diners breezily chat away in an understated display; the ever modest Minnesota mindset mimics the decor precisely.
The menu offers a blend of good-for-you grub with a pseudo-Asian-California-spa feel in visually appetizing platings. Fittingly, the menu comes with nutritional information, which complements the type of food being cooked. A word to the wise, however: caloric counts are almost impossible to pull off accurately, so use them as a reference and not an absolute. Unless there is a strict measure of each ingredient in a dish (or a Bunsen burner being used on the line to calculate finished dishes), you can assume a margin of error of approximately 100 calories.
Although there were a few good surprises, such as the sesame carrots (sweet and smoky), they could not compensate for the grass-fed filet of beef that was a mangled end cap of a tenderloin next to underdone "smash potatoes." Sadly this was not just an outlier, but rather the norm with a few exceptions. Upsides include toasty and tasty pita bread with hummus, sparkling and peppy fresh ginger beer, and desserts worth every calorie.
Service was, well, adorable albeit slightly clumsy--big on genuine friendliness and willing to accommodate requests at lightning speed. The complimentary valet is a great added bonus to the welcoming attitude that extends to the hosts working hard to make you feel at home. And the wine menu is notably elegant, offering a well chosen selection of all the best California has to offer. There are a lot of good things going on here; maybe in time the food will catch up.
Mill Valley Kitchen
by Marianne Miller
 |
| photo by Tim Davis |
Walking into Mill Valley Kitchen is akin to stepping into a tony Kenwood penthouse or the clubroom of an upscale warm-weather resort. The strikingly crisp design from the aces at Shea is a welcome break from the usual swarthy river-rock/reclaimed wood combo seen ad nauseum. The moneyed and manicured diners breezily chat away in an understated display; the ever modest Minnesota mindset mimics the decor precisely.
The menu offers a blend of good-for-you grub with a pseudo-Asian-California-spa feel in visually appetizing platings. Fittingly, the menu comes with nutritional information, which complements the type of food being cooked. A word to the wise, however: caloric counts are almost impossible to pull off accurately, so use them as a reference and not an absolute. Unless there is a strict measure of each ingredient in a dish (or a Bunsen burner being used on the line to calculate finished dishes), you can assume a margin of error of approximately 100 calories.
Although there were a few good surprises, such as the sesame carrots (sweet and smoky), they could not compensate for the grass-fed filet of beef that was a mangled end cap of a tenderloin next to underdone "smash potatoes." Sadly this was not just an outlier, but rather the norm with a few exceptions. Upsides include toasty and tasty pita bread with hummus, sparkling and peppy fresh ginger beer, and desserts worth every calorie.
Service was, well, adorable albeit slightly clumsy--big on genuine friendliness and willing to accommodate requests at lightning speed. The complimentary valet is a great added bonus to the welcoming attitude that extends to the hosts working hard to make you feel at home. And the wine menu is notably elegant, offering a well chosen selection of all the best California has to offer. There are a lot of good things going on here; maybe in time the food will catch up.
MSP magazine visits Masu
Peter Lilienthal of Mpls. St. Paul magazine gave his review of Masu Sushi & Robata in August and you can read it here.
Masu Sushi & Robata
by Peter Lilienthal, MSP magazine
Enjoy charcoal grilled robata and a comprehensive sushi menu.
Aspiring restaurateurs would be well-advised to take a page from the playbook of Sushi Avenue, the local food service company that recently opened Masu Sushi and Robata. First, it developed an anticipatory buzz by hiring James Beard Award–winning chef Tim McKee to consult and internationally acclaimed Shea Design to create the dining environment. Never mind that neither has an established background in Japanese dining; name recognition in the mix can work wonders.
The second sage move was to hire knowledgeable, experienced, and proven talent to execute the vision. One such seasoned veteran is Asan Yamamoto, a longtime Origami chef who presides behind the sushi bar. The other is Alex Chase, a widely traveled craftsman who oversees the open-to-view kitchen. And then there’s also bartender extraordinaire Johnny Michaels guiding the beverage operation.
On the whole, the concept comes together quite coherently. Whether it’s the fun, hip décor that features wall-sized blow-ups of an Asian model’s gazing visage, a collection of Japanese munny dolls and a small bank of pachinko machines, or the wonderful aroma of charcoal fired robata, there’s an abundance of sensory interest to experience. If I have any criticism, it’s that the emporium approach may be just a bit too stretched.
In addition to a comprehensive sushi menu, there are some 16 small plates, 29 robata choices, 14 noodle dishes, and six teishoku, or set meals. The challenge is figuring out how to mix, match, and time your ordering. For example, select a half dozen robata items and they’re held in the kitchen until all are finished cooking. When they ultimately arrive, some are hot off the fire and some are tepid from idling too long. Other items, especially small plates, get delivered helter-skelter when ready. At times it can get a bit chaotic, with noodle bowls being placed here and corn on the cob being placed there.
In general, the food is well conceived and solidly prepared. The sushi is made with a special variety of seasoned rice, and there are some excellent atypical choices such as superlative arctic char, imported Scottish salmon, and a faux eel option made from sea bass. If you enjoy pickles, the assortment of tsukemono is consistently wonderful, and if you’re up for a unique taste and texture combination, definitely consider the avocado and oyster tempura. Arguably the most enticing choices are the skewered and charcoal grilled robata preparations. Heading my hit parade are just about all of the bacon combinations—particularly the quail egg and the shrimp pairings. The delicious morsels of marinated rib eye, a delightfully flavored miso marinated cod, and simple but elegant seared asparagus are also excellent. At the “can be skipped” end of the continuum, I’d place the flavorless glazed pork ribs, the mushy beef and burdock rolls, and the lackluster chicken meatballs. I also wasn’t a great fan of the set meal I tried. The centerpiece was an attempt at a Japanese-style wafu hamburger that came smothered in mushrooms—its essence was lost in translation.
Other worthwhile choices include a terrific ramen boasting pieces of pork belly and roasted shoulder meat and a delightful meal-end treat of creamy coconut rice pudding brulée topped with fried, panko-crusted banana. Given the multiple-course nature of the menu, the wait staff has to stay on its toes to keep up with the flow, and it manages to do so impressively.
3 Great Plates
Ginger Duck Gyoza
A near- flawless package of crisp-edged pliant wrappers, a delectable ground meat interior, and a superbly matched ginger dipping sauce.
Tonkatsu Curry Ramen
If you only try one noodle dish, this combination of rich broth, crispy fried pork, Chinese broccoli, and a soft poached egg should be the one.
Masu Roll
This multi-dimensional construct of shrimp tempura, avocado, scallop, and salmon is definitely a front-runner in the roll sweepstakes.
Masu Sushi & Robata
by Peter Lilienthal, MSP magazine
Enjoy charcoal grilled robata and a comprehensive sushi menu.
Aspiring restaurateurs would be well-advised to take a page from the playbook of Sushi Avenue, the local food service company that recently opened Masu Sushi and Robata. First, it developed an anticipatory buzz by hiring James Beard Award–winning chef Tim McKee to consult and internationally acclaimed Shea Design to create the dining environment. Never mind that neither has an established background in Japanese dining; name recognition in the mix can work wonders.
The second sage move was to hire knowledgeable, experienced, and proven talent to execute the vision. One such seasoned veteran is Asan Yamamoto, a longtime Origami chef who presides behind the sushi bar. The other is Alex Chase, a widely traveled craftsman who oversees the open-to-view kitchen. And then there’s also bartender extraordinaire Johnny Michaels guiding the beverage operation.
On the whole, the concept comes together quite coherently. Whether it’s the fun, hip décor that features wall-sized blow-ups of an Asian model’s gazing visage, a collection of Japanese munny dolls and a small bank of pachinko machines, or the wonderful aroma of charcoal fired robata, there’s an abundance of sensory interest to experience. If I have any criticism, it’s that the emporium approach may be just a bit too stretched.
In addition to a comprehensive sushi menu, there are some 16 small plates, 29 robata choices, 14 noodle dishes, and six teishoku, or set meals. The challenge is figuring out how to mix, match, and time your ordering. For example, select a half dozen robata items and they’re held in the kitchen until all are finished cooking. When they ultimately arrive, some are hot off the fire and some are tepid from idling too long. Other items, especially small plates, get delivered helter-skelter when ready. At times it can get a bit chaotic, with noodle bowls being placed here and corn on the cob being placed there.
In general, the food is well conceived and solidly prepared. The sushi is made with a special variety of seasoned rice, and there are some excellent atypical choices such as superlative arctic char, imported Scottish salmon, and a faux eel option made from sea bass. If you enjoy pickles, the assortment of tsukemono is consistently wonderful, and if you’re up for a unique taste and texture combination, definitely consider the avocado and oyster tempura. Arguably the most enticing choices are the skewered and charcoal grilled robata preparations. Heading my hit parade are just about all of the bacon combinations—particularly the quail egg and the shrimp pairings. The delicious morsels of marinated rib eye, a delightfully flavored miso marinated cod, and simple but elegant seared asparagus are also excellent. At the “can be skipped” end of the continuum, I’d place the flavorless glazed pork ribs, the mushy beef and burdock rolls, and the lackluster chicken meatballs. I also wasn’t a great fan of the set meal I tried. The centerpiece was an attempt at a Japanese-style wafu hamburger that came smothered in mushrooms—its essence was lost in translation.
Other worthwhile choices include a terrific ramen boasting pieces of pork belly and roasted shoulder meat and a delightful meal-end treat of creamy coconut rice pudding brulée topped with fried, panko-crusted banana. Given the multiple-course nature of the menu, the wait staff has to stay on its toes to keep up with the flow, and it manages to do so impressively.
3 Great Plates
Ginger Duck Gyoza
A near- flawless package of crisp-edged pliant wrappers, a delectable ground meat interior, and a superbly matched ginger dipping sauce.
Tonkatsu Curry Ramen
If you only try one noodle dish, this combination of rich broth, crispy fried pork, Chinese broccoli, and a soft poached egg should be the one.
Masu Roll
This multi-dimensional construct of shrimp tempura, avocado, scallop, and salmon is definitely a front-runner in the roll sweepstakes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
