We ate a very good dinner at Tenant in June before heading off on our summer travels. At the end of my report on that meal I said that we hoped to be back later in the summer to eat the current version of their tomato water course. That tomato water course—more a genre than a specific dish—is one of our two favourite culinary ways to mark the transition from late-summer to fall in Minnesota; Alma’s chilled corn soup is the other. We ate the corn soup at our dinner at Alma in August; and I’m happy to say that when we did make it back to Tenant a couple of weeks later there was indeed a tomato water dish as part of the proceedings. I’m even happier to say that both it and the menu as a whole were excellent, surpassing our previous dinner. Here are the details.
But first, for the sake of those who have still not been to Tenant, a word on how the restaurant works. There is no menu as such, no choices to make. They offer only a 6-course menu surprise ($80/head). You find out what each course is when one of the chefs who has prepared it brings it out to you and describes it. You can get wine as a three pour pairing with the meal or by the glass (choosing, I think, from the wines on the pairing). And I think you can also choose cocktails brought over from their bar Next Door (actually next door and connected to the restaurant by a door). The wine pairing is currently $40. Those who dine at Tenant with some regularity, however, can tell you that while specific dishes change from menu to menu (every six weeks or so), there are many familiar beats. Early in the meal, for example, there will usually be a seasonal veg-forward dish of some kind. There will always be a pasta course and it will invariably be excellent. There will always be a citrus “slushy” that acts as a palate cleanser between the last savoury course and dessert; and dessert will almost always be a fruit custard of some sort, and it will also invariably be excellent. The dishes on the menu may look somewhat disjointed from each other if looked at on a page but will in practice be connected via many through lines of ingredients and flavours.
So it proved to be the case at this most recent dinner. We arrived just a few minutes before our 8 pm reservation (as always, we’d snagged two of the six seats at the counter). There were only a couple of others seated when we got there but within a few minutes everyone had assembled and service had begun.
What was on the menu?
(Thanks to Chef Grisha Hammes for sending me the details on the courses.)
Course 1: Beef Tartare, Caramelized Onions, Sweet and Sour Beets, Egg Yolk, Gruyere-Grilled Sourdough Focaccia
A meatier and heavier start to the meal than usual at Tenant but also an excellent start to the meal. One of the better tartares we’ve had anywhere in a while and the cheese toast was both decadent on its own and a great pairing to the beef (which was set off very nicely by the acid of the beets and the sweetness of the onion).
Course 2: Olive Oil Poached Salmon, Tomato Water, Green Beans, Grilled Squash and Zucchini, Basil, Nasturtium
This is what we were there for and it did not disappoint. Everything else arrived in the bowl and then warm tomato water, seasoned with shoyu, fish sauce etc. and the very essence of umami, was poured over. The snap of the vegetables, the slight chew of the salmon and the unctuousness of the tomato water: this was as much a textural masterpiece as one of flavour. We did think that we’d preferred earlier versions of this with shrimp (sweeter and less assertive than salmon) but we wouldn’t turn down another bowl of this either.
Course 3: Raviolo, Shrimp and Polenta Filling, Grilled Scallop, Grilled Corn, Corn Ginger Sauce, Shishito, Maitake Mushroom, Aged Balsamic
Well, we were there for the tomato water—and it clearly didn’t disappoint—but this may have been the dish of the night. Tomato season may be coming to an end but so is sweet corn season and this was a wonderful ode to sweet corn, inside and outside the perfectly made raviolo. Just excellent with the aged balsamic providing a subtle counterpoint to the sweetness elsewhere on the plate.
Course 4: Rice and Barbeque Beans, Creamed Collard Greens, Crispy Shallots, Corn Bread and Honey Butter
Course 5: Smoked Pork Brisket, Potato Salad, Pickles
Courses 4 and 5 were served together and together comprised a hearty mini-barbecue plate. So many stars here: the exquisite smoked pork (almost like pastrami), the perfectly made rice, the creamed collard greens with crisp shallots, the fluffy corn bread with or without the honey butter.
Citrus Slushy: The tart palate cleanser did its job.
Course 6: Peaches and Cream (Fermented Peach Custard, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Graham Cracker Streusel)
The fermented peach custard had a mildly boozy edge which melded beautifully with the tang of the creme fraiche. A great end to the meal.
Ah yes, drinks. Since we did not start at Next Door on this occasion, we did not have any cocktails. The missus had a glass of a sparkling Rioja which she nursed through the meal. I got a mini wine pairing, which was effectively the equivalent of a glass of wine and included the Rioja to accompany the first course, a Gruner Veltliner to accompany the second and third, and a jammy California Zinfandel to accompany the barbecue. All were very nice.
For a look at everything we ate and drank, click on an image below to launch a larger slideshow. Scroll down to see how much the meal cost, for thoughts on service and to see what’s coming next on the food front.
With Chef Hammes running the front of the house everything was humming perfectly. The dining room was filled with people eating celebratory meals. There were two wedding anniversaries being celebrated at the counter (not ours) and there was a table of six who may or may not have been celebrating an occasion but were definitely having a great time.
Price? With tax and tip the total came to about $255 or just about $127.50 per head. Not cheap but par for the course in the Twin Cities for a meal of this kind and in its own way a good value. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it back this year (there’s some more travel ahead) but we look forward to our next meal.
Okay, up next: another Delhi report and then a Seoul report or two before the next Twin Cities report. That Twin Cities report will have us completing a trifecta of returns to our favourite Twin Cities restaurants; yes, we’ll be eating at Grand Szechuan this weekend.