Tag Archives: New American Cuisine

State Bird Provisions (San Francisco, June 2024)

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I had hoped to get my meal reports from our California trip in June done by the end of August; but that plan has gone the way of all my previous plans this year. The new goal is to get them all done by the end of September. This is totally going to happen!

When last seen in California, we were eating Cal-Mexican food at Mi Casa in Morro Bay. The next day we abandoned the Central Coast and drove north on the 101 to San Francisco. Our first meal after arrival was at State Bird Provisions in the Fillmore District. Here’s how it went. Continue reading →

112 Eatery IV (Minneapolis)

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We returned to 112 Eatery in 2022 after a long break (see here for my write-up) and since then eating there seems to be threatening to become an annual thing for us. We went back in October 2023 for the missus’ birthday dinner with the boys in tow—they’d also accompanied us in 2022 and loved the food (see here for the write-up of that meal). And when the younger boy was asked where he would like to go for his 13th birthday this year, he picked 112 Eatery. And so there we were again last weekend, sitting at the same table we sat at last year, feeling a slight sense of deja vu. Here’s how this year’s meal went. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma XII, Summer 2024 (Minneapolis)

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A couple of days after we returned from California at the end of June, I received a WhatsApp call from my mother in the morning, and that is how the missus and I learned that it was our wedding anniversary. This is an annual event: the next time we remember on the day of—or even a week prior—that it is our wedding anniversary will probably be the first time. But as it was a signifcant’ish number (21), we decide to try to go out and mark it with a nice meal, even though we’d been eating out pretty much every day for the previous two-and-a-half weeks. Our first choice, of course, was Alma. We couldn’t do that evening but I was able to grab the last table for two in the dining room for the day after (a Saturday). We arrived happy to eat their still new summer menu. And it did not let the occasion down. Continue reading →

Tenant XI, Summer 2024 (Minneapolis)

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Here is the long-promised report on the dinner we ate at Tenant in the beginning of June before going away to California. I don’t know why I’ve been apologizing so much for the delay in posting this when I still have three reports to come from Seoul in March. Well, that’s not entirely true: as Tenant’s menu changes every six weeks or so, my already-low utility approach to reviewing restaurants may have reached the point of total irrelevance with this report. By which I mean that there’s a good chance that this menu has totally turned over in the intervening period. Well, while this may not give you a good sense of what exactly you might find if you ate at Tenant very soon, it should, hopefully, give you some sense of the kind of thing to expect. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma XI, Spring 2024 (Minneapolis)

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Here is a quick report on the second of two meals we ate at Alma in a span of just over two weeks. The first meal was one of our regular meals out. The missus and I ate one of the last outings of Alma’s winter 2024 menu (and enjoyed it very much indeed). 16 days later we were back with a much larger group and this time we ate one of the earliest outings of the current spring menu. This was a retirement dinner for one of my colleagues and in keeping with his long service and the high regard in which we hold him we decided to throw him a farewell dinner at a fine restaurant in the Twin Cities. Alma was at the top of our wishlist and as it happened there was no other restaurant that could have accommodated our group as comfortably as they did. And the food was not half bad either. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma X, Winter 2024 (Minneapolis)

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We welcomed ourselves back to Minnesota a few weeks ago with a big lunch at Grand Szechuan. The estranging effects of three months away are not so easy to shake off, however. Well, now that we’ve eaten dinner at Alma we’re truly back in Minnesota. Note: while the title of this post says “Winter 2024”, we ate there this past weekend, and not even the most pessimistic Minnesotan would say that April is winter. It’s just that this was part of their winter menu cycle; the switch over to spring is about to happen in a week or so, we were told. Well, whatever the season, a meal at Alma is a good thing; and this meal was a very good thing. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma IX, Winter 2023 (Minneapolis)

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For my last Twin Cities fine dining report of 2023, I have for you another dinner at Restaurant Alma, our favourite high-end restaurant in Minnesota. We ate there on two previous occasions this year (in the fall and in the spring). And, of course, back in February I did a pop-up Indian dinner with them in the Cafe Alma space. I mention this last to remind you that while I was already on record well before that with my high opinion of the restaurant, at this point I am obviously a “friend of the house”. As far as I can make out, we’re not treated any differently now than we were before but you should feel free to make whatever adjustment you see fit to account for possible bias in my estimation of our meals there. For, yes, it’s true: I am about to give you the details of another excellent dinner. Continue reading →

Herbst (St. Paul, MN)

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Herbst opened on Raymond Avenue in St. Paul in May, just before we left the country for the summer, and I started hearing almost immediately from people who said I should eat there. The early reviews from the professionals were also positive but grade inflation in Minnesota being what it is, I place more stock in the recommendations from blog readers and friends. I put it on the list for when we’d be back in town but a measured review in September from Jon Cheng at the Star Tribune—the one local food critic who doesn’t seem to think the job requires being a booster—took the wind out of my sails a bit. I decided to give them a couple more months to hopefully fully hit their stride. And so it wasn’t till this past weekend that we finally ate there. Here’s how it went. Continue reading →

112 Eatery III (Minneapolis)

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We ate at 112 Eatery last spring after a gap of several years and, unsurprisingly, enjoyed our meal very much. So much so that we resolved to not go years again between visits. We’d taken our boys with us to that dinner and it was perhaps their favourite adult restaurant meal out with us in the Twin Cities last year. And so when I asked the missus where she wanted to go for her birthday this year, she plumped for a return to 112 Eatery, with the boys joining us once again. I am happy to say that this was yet another very good meal at the restaurant. Herewith the details. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma VIII, Fall 2023 (Minneapolis)

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Our tour of our Twin Cities favourites after a summer away continues. I’ve so far reported on meals at Homi, Tenant and Krungthep Thai. This past weekend we went back to Alma for our dinner. At this point I need to specify that it was to Restaurant Alma that we went for dinner; this because Cafe Alma (in the same building) now also serves dinner till 8 pm from Thursday to Sunday. Maybe someday we’ll give their more informal space a go for a meal as well (I do after have sentimental ties to it myself). For now, though, it was back to the flagship restaurant. Having missed out on eating one of their summer menus (the menu turns over every 6-8 weeks or so), we were very much looking forward to the current fall menu. We’d really enjoyed our dinner there at the end of September last year and we had particularly fond memories of the sweet corn-centered dishes on that menu. We were hoping for more of the same at this meal; we were not disappointed. Continue reading →

Tenant X (Minneapolis)

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Since getting back to Minnesota a couple of weeks ago, after a summer away, we have been slowly getting back to our favourite restaurants in the Twin Cities metro. I’ve already posted a report on our lunch at our favourite Mexican restaurant in the Cities: Homi in St. Paul. Here now is a report on dinner at one of our favourite fine dining restaurants in the Cities, Tenant. We ate dinner there a week ago Tuesday. It was our second meal there this year and our tenth overall. We particularly look forward to eating at Tenant in the summer—especially on account of one genre of dish that reliably shows up in the summer, and only in the summer. And so as our stay in Ireland came to an end, this was the first reservation I made. I am very pleased to say that the meal did not disappoint us at all. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma VII, Spring 2023 (Minneapolis)

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Our dinners at Alma last spring, summer and fall were among the highlights of our dining out in all of 2022. If we hadn’t been gone in the winter, we would have eaten there again. No surprise then that we showed up again to eat their current spring menu. Of course, in between the dinner last fall and this one came their invitation to me to do an Indian pop-up with them—which went off quite successfully (I’d like to think) at the end of February. I note/remind you of this at the very outset to foreground the fact that whereas until the end of last year I was just a very big fan of their cooking philosophy, I am now a little more entangled with them and my critical detachment is doubtless at least a little strained. There was no special treatment at this dinner, no comps of any kind—but if you choose to view my enthusiasm for this meal as contaminated, I will understand. For yes, we very much enjoyed this dinner as well and I don’t really have any criticisms in what follows. Except maybe that the root vegetable pavé, the picture of which on Instagram spurred me to make this reservation, was no longer on the menu. Them’s the breaks. Continue reading →

Tenant IX (Minneapolis)

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We ate at Tenant thrice last summer (reviews here, here and here). We’d hoped to make it there again at the end of the year before heading off to Los Angeles and India, but it never happened. And so I was happy on return from India to score two seats at the counter for a Saturday at the end of March. As this is my ninth review of a meal at Tenant, you will not be surprised to hear that we are big fans of their playful takes on fine dining, delivered in the form of a “surprise” six-course menu (you find out what each course is when it’s brought out to you). Dinners there have a familiar rhythm at this point—we usually have a good sense of the kinds of dishes we’re likely to get in different seasons. But given how much we like it, familiarity in this case only breeds enjoyment. Continue reading →

Spoon and Stable IV (Minneapolis)

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We went two and a half years between our first and second meals at Spoon and Stable, and three and a half years between the second and third. We ate our fourth meal there, however, only a little over a year after the third. That third dinner was eaten on their sidewalk at the end of October last year. This was a December meal though and there was no outdoor seating and no question of our wanting to sit outside. We were scheduled to eat there with friends but they ended up having to punt. We considered cancelling and then seeing if we could cut the reservation down to a table for two. In the end, we decided to stick with the table of four and take our boys along with us for their first look at the true high-end in the Twin Cities. A good decision too as the meal was very good and we had a great time together. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma VI, Fall 2022 (Minneapolis)

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We somehow managed to go four and a half years between  dinner at Alma in the fall of 2017 and our dinner there this past April; but now we’ve already eaten three dinners there this year and I think that makes us even. Yes, we went back this weekend for a second dinner in two months. And no, it wasn’t to eat once again the menu we’d liked so much in August. Social media is to blame. The restaurant posted a lovely picture on Instagram of locally foraged mushrooms that they said were on the current menu and I went to look at what else was on there and a few minutes later we had a reservation. What can I say? I am very impressionable. Anyway, I am very glad we did make the reservation because this was one of our best dinners there (I know I say this after every meal at Alma) and one of the best dinners we’ve eaten anywhere recently. Herewith the details. Continue reading →

Tenant VIII (Minneapolis)

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This is my second review this month of a meal at Tenant but it’s not my second review of a meal eaten at Tenant this month. Try saying that three times fast. No, my previous review was of an outing to Tenant in early July. This meal, on the other hand, is of a meal eaten this past Saturday and represents my attempt to become current with at least my Minnesota meal reviews. It took some doing to get to this meal. We were originally supposed to eat there on the Friday of the prior week. But it transpired that the menu had not yet turned over since our dinner in July and so they very kindly got us in a week later. And then the ongoing reconstruction of Bryant Ave. led to an issue with water mains and they had to close at short notice on Friday. Thankfully, they managed to squeeze us in the very next day and so here I am with a report on possibly the best meal we’ve had at Tenant in a year. Herewith the details. Continue reading →

Restaurant Alma V, Summer 2022 (Minneapolis)

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Our last meal at Alma, in early April this year, had unaccountably come four and a half years after our previous dinner there. I noted then that it was unlikely to be more than four and a half months till we were back again and for a change I am not a liar. We went back for dinner this past weekend, just a little short of four and a half months since the last. And I’m very glad we did. Our dinner in April was very good, but this one was even better. This might be because Alma serves a seasonal prix fixe, and late summer in Minnesota offers chefs far more to work with than the early spring—keep in mind that Alma’s sourcing is local/regional. Even if that’s not the reason, I would highly recommend going to eat this menu before it shifts in the fall. We liked it so much that we’re almost tempted to go back and eat it again. Continue reading →