Our dear friend Jenn had a birthday on Friday, and we had schemed with her husband Jim to have a fun night away. The four of us drove over to Minneapolis yesterday afternoon, and checked into our hotel, right downtown among the skyway system. We relaxed a bit, then changed and headed to dinner, which was conveniently located right off the hotel lobby.
We had chosen and made reservations at Firelake Restaurant (caution – music plays on website) ahead of time, and walked right in and were seated near the kitchen. The restaurant uses local produce and meats, and smokes many of their items in house. We started with freshly made kettle chips and narrowed down and selected entrees from their amazing menu. Jenn chose a flat iron steak and frites (crazy good), Jim selected the Hickory Rotisserie Half Duckling (incredible), Justin picked the Honey-cured, Pecan-smoked Pork Chop (de-lic-ious), and I settled on the Duck Fettucine, with butternut squash, pine nuts, and a sage cream sauce (yum yum yum yum…). Then, without being told, our waiter deduced that we were celebrating a birthday and brought a special dessert for us to share.
It was a special evening, a terrific meal, and fantastic service.
After dinner we walked around and explored the skyways a bit, thankful to inside and warm on a cold February night! While many of the retail stores and sections were closed off, we still had a good time taking new turns and going through doors to see just how far we could go.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel and walked over to our breakfast local of choice, Hell’s Kitchen. The restaurant came highly recommended by friends, and it did not disappoint. The decor was quite entertaining and the menu was good enough that we all wavered a bit before making our selections. We started with a couple Caramel Pecan rolls to share, which disappeared before we even thought about the camera. Jenn decided on the All-American breakfast, with eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns, Jim chose good ol’ pancakes, Justin chose French Toast, and I landed on the Almost Classic Eggs Benedict, which had a slice of pit-smoked ham in place of the canadian bacon. Everything was finished and enjoyed.
After spending some more time walking through the skyway system, we made our way back to the hotel to get the car. We headed away from downtown, and made a not-so-quick stop at IKEA on our way home. It was definitely two days of lots of laughs, amazing food and a happy, though tiring, birthday. Hmmm… my birthday is just a few weeks away…
