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A Celebratory Weekend in Minneapolis

This past Friday became a bit of a milestone for us. We closed on the sale of the building in Stevens Point, lifting a substantial amount of stress from our shoulders.

no longer our concern…

The next day we took off for a night in Minneapolis, feeling freer than we have in months. And the weekend was pretty much as lovely as could be. The weather was perfect for fall, sunny, bright, warm but with just the right amount of chill in the mornings and evenings. We had such a fun dinner out on Friday. We met up with my cousin Brian and his wife Melissa at HauteDish, where our cousin Mike is one of the chefs. I brought chocolate sandwich cookies for Mike and the other chefs, and in return they sent out such a bounty of delicious food (a small sampling is pictured below).

Pretty much the best tomato soup I have ever had, served with an incredible little toasted cheese crouton and foie gras.

A fun, deliciously spicy pumpkin stew sent to our table from the kitchen.

Duck 4 Ways, plus kimchi and some incredible sauces.

HauteDish’s take on Apple Pie. Deep fried with cinnamon ice cream? A thousand times Yes!

We were also able to get tickets to the Ben Folds Five concert that was taking place at the Orpheum Theater. We were very exited about this concert, as the group hasn’t released an album or toured together since we were in college. I was also exited to see and hear the opening act, Kate Miller-Heidke, as our Aussie friend Mylo had introduced me to her music over a year ago. Both sets were phenomenal, and these artists definitely know how to interact with the crowd.

Kate Miller-Heidke, easily winning over the Minneapolis crowd.

Ben Folds Five had the Main Floor crowd up on its feet for the majority of the show. We were glad we were up in the balcony with the normal(boring) people that stayed seated.

On Sunday morning, after spending a substantial amount of time in the hotel’s fitness center, we headed over to Edina to meet up with our friends Mark and Kerry and their boys for lunch at the Original Pancake House. I’m pretty sure there is a picture of Riley and Logan in the dictionary next to the definition of “Energy” and it was fun to interact with them and catch up with Mark and Kerry. From lunch we headed over to IKEA (went in for ONE thing and walked out with four, but in under 35 minutes, so that was counted as a victory) and then over to the Mall of America to waste some time. We both decided we needed some quiet after a bit, so we headed over to Rustica for a piece of sugary bread and an espresso (for Justin) and a Chai latte (for me). It was nice to relax and read a bit before dinner. And because it had been 3 months and we were starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms, we knew we had to fit in supper at Piccolo. I think Justin is putting up a link to see the pictures of all the dishes we enjoyed, but here are a few of my favorites from the evening.

Brioche and Foie Gras… Why yes, I would like a foie gras sandwich, thank you!

Acorn Squash Pasta, ham, and truffled cheese. Taking a picture was far from the first thing I thought of when this dish was set in front of me. Get in my belly!

Duck breast with Roman Gnocci and fig and pistachio mustard. Assembling a bite with each component was key – definitely equaled more than the sum of its parts!

We typically pass on the cheese plate at restaurants, but decided to go ahead with it for this meal. And we were so glad we did. The three cheeses, a goat’s milk cheese, and English Cheddar, and an Italian Taleggio were all phenomenal (though we both were partial to the taleggio) and the poached pears, fig jam, and fresh figs paired beautifully. Definitely worth giving up the precious space left in our tummies!

We arrived home late on Sunday night, with very full bellies and very happy hearts. It is so nice to feel settled into this new routine of ours living in Wausau. And it was so nice to celebrate the end of this time of transition with a short trip to one of our favorite cities.

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Posted by jbgasper on October 4, 2012 in Building, Julie, Mini Getaways, Minneapolis, Restaurant Reviews

Minneapolis Weekend – days of fun and fine eating

31 Jul

On Sunday morning, Julie and I traveled over to Minneapolis for a couple of days of mini-vacation. We ate at a couple nice restaurants, caught a Twins game, and even dealt with a somewhat flat tire and a trip to Ikea.

We left early Sunday, parked the car at the hotel, and walked over to Target Field. We met my parents there an hour or so before the game and walked over to a nearby pizza place for lunch. If you are in the area, Black Sheep Pizza is a highly recommended spot. Great pizza, perfect crust, and not at all expensive.

We then went over to the game and got baked in the sun for a few hours. I have to start remembering that day games have extra considerations for seating vs. night games. The Twins won, and I think everyone had a good time, so in that regard the game was a success.

Target Field

Mini-mascots helping with the T-Shirt cannon.

After the game, my parents went back to their campsite and we walked back to the hotel to check in. I normally just get nice downtown hotels via Priceline, usually at ridiculously good prices. This allows us to try all the different hotels in the area. The W Hotel was definitely on the nicer end of where we’ve stayed. The hotel was almost too hip for us – with giant pink lighting in the lobby and lots of dark paints in the room. There was also a window from the bedroom into the shower, which was a little strange. Overall though, the room was super comfortable, well laid out, and Julie says it had probably the best toiletries of just about any hotel we’ve stayed out. It’s not a big hotel, with only about 10 rooms on each floor, but I’m hoping Priceline will come back with this one again on a future visit.

The outside of the hotel

Quite the mini-bar. There was a whole drawer full of snacks

Frosted window from the bedroom into the shower

After cleaning up, we headed over to the Bachelor Farmer for dinner. They do a Sunday Supper, which is 3 courses, served family style. They don’t accept reservations on Sunday, and you don’t really have a say in the food, unless there are dietary restrictions. We had a similar meal at Niche when we were in St. Louis last year. We found the restaurant just fine, and were impressed with the decor. They did a great job of transforming what appears to have been a warehouse space into a very cool, comfortable restaurant.

The door to the restaurant

Me, waiting for food

Julie, waiting for food

The first course was fried squash blossoms with roasted zucchini and foraged chanterelle mushroom stuffing, Bibb lettuces and Champagne vinegar. I wasn’t sure what to expect when they brought it out, but the stuffed squash blossoms were awesome, and the lettuce had a great flavor, even on its own with just the vinegar dressing.

Squash blossom and lettuce

The main course was whole roasted chicken, new potatoes, caramelized cauliflower, and basil-marinated cherry tomatoes. Very simple, but everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly. It was a lot of food, but we polished it off happily. The bannock that came as the bread was one of our favorite things. Super buttery and rich and it went amazingly well with the honey butter they provided.

Chicken and bannock

The last course was orange granita, crème fraîche ice cream, Cointreau strawberries, vanilla bean hardtack. We didn’t seem to grab a picture of this, but it was a nice, refreshing finisher to the meal.

Overall, if you have a chance to go on a Sunday, or otherwise, we heartily recommend the Bachelor Farmer.

Monday, we decided to take it easy in the morning and headed over to the Midtown Global Market around 11:00 or so. The market houses the Salty Tart bakery, which is one of my favorite bakeries (after A Dash of Delicious, of course). We had a few items, but my favorite thing is always their pastry cream filled brioche. Sweet brioche muffin, filled with pastry cream, and then rolled in sugar. Nothing not to like.

Stuffing a pastry cream filled brioche into my face

We grabbed lunch at a very good Mexican restaurant in the market and then headed over to Ikea to pick up a few minor things on a list. On our way there, we ended up going through some heavy construction and hit a pot hole with a huge amount of force. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt a jolt quite like that in a car before. We didn’t notice anything amiss, but when we got out at Ikea to inspect, I noticed that our right front tire had a pretty good size bubble / bulge in the sidewall. I’d never seen anything like that before, but after a quick Google investigation, it turns out that this is not a good thing and requires the tire to be replaced. Luckily the car was still drivable, so we called over to a Tires Plus and they got the tire in while we shopped at Ikea. Replacing the tire took about 45 minutes and we were back in business. Not an ideal situation, but it could have been much worse. I take full responsibility for tempting fate since I was talking about making sure we get the spare tire checked before we drive to Montreal this fall.

After getting the tire fixed up, we headed over to Piccolo for our normal, spectacular Minneapolis dinner (the highlights of which are below) and then drove home. Couldn’t ask for a better 2 day getaway.

Chilled sweet corn soup with buttered popcorn, hearts of palm, and cornsilk

Watermelon “gazpacho” with chevre, radishes, chervil, and olive oil jelly (a favorite of the night)

Burrata with compressed oranges, celery, wild fennel pollen, and chili oil

Slow cooked veal heart with canned Italian tuna, lardo, and capers

Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pig’s feet, truffle butter, and Parmigiano

Potato gnocchi with Swiss chard, anchovies, and soft cooked duck egg

Spanish octopus with heirloom tomatoes, squid ink tortellini, black olives, and dill

Hamachi poached in ham hock stock with squash blossom, zucchini, and bay leaf gel

Callistor Farms chicken, veal brans with spruce pain perdu, fennel, and fig and lemon jam

Quail with pickled cherries, tarragon bread pudding, San Marzano tomatoes, and pistachio puree

Lamb breast with watercress, caramelized lemon, artichoke puree, and chèvre

Duroc pork belly with asparagus, green apple puree, and parmesan pudding

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Posted by jmgasper on July 31, 2012 in Justin, Mini Getaways, Minneapolis

Getting our Fill of Minneapolis

27 Apr

We had been looking forward to this week for quite awhile. Back in January we were able to get tickets for Snow Patrol‘s North America tour, and I had just recently found out that Ed Sheeran was touring with and opening for them. Being able to catch great British bands is pretty rare here in the Midwest, so we were looking forward to the opportunity to see these musicians live.

And the concert certainly did not disappoint. Ed Sheeran is still a relative new comer to America’s music scene (his album doesn’t even release until next month), but he is a fantastic performer and a very talented musician. A lot of the comments around us transformed from ”Who is this guy? I’ve never heard of him,” to “This is great! I love this guy!”

And Snow Patrol was a treat to see live. Apparently the lead singer, Gary Lightbody, is having issues with his voice and throat and he wasn’t able to sing a number of the songs planned for their set, but they really made up for it by playing more of the songs from their older albums, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hopefully his voice will recover as the tour progresses, it would be sad if they had to cancel any of the future shows.

Plus, an evening in Minneapolis is always going to mean a good meal out, and as my cousin Mike recently joined the team of chefs at HauteDish we were looking forward to reconnecting with him over a good meal. I had some fun making these silly HauteDish pig cookies for him to share with the staff. Mike actually had the evening off work, so he and his girlfriend Jen were able to sit down and join us for the meal, rather than preparing it. We had such a good time talking “shop” with them, about restaurants, food preparations, cookbooks, great meals, etc. And we really had our socks blown off by the incredible food that found its way to our table. We had enjoyed a meal here last year with Trav and Emily, but the exceptionally skilled staff is really starting to show off (in a good way!).

Mike ordered off the menu for us, plus the kitchen sent out a few extra dishes for us to try and enjoy. The starter salad was a take on a classic wedge salad, but was super fresh and crisp, with the best bleu cheese and french dressings ever. He also requested the Char-Cuts plate, but the chef definitely went overboard and sent out the most impressive 2 foot long board of charcuterie we have ever seen. There were even a few items on the board that Mike hadn’t seen yet. We all devoured it, exclaiming over different bites as we went. HauteDish definitely deserves its title as the best place in Minneapolis for charcuterie.

The kitchen then sent out a few warm appetizers, Green Noodles (pictured above) and Peas and Toast. The homemade noodles married beautifully with the ricotta salata spheres, which burst open with the pressure of your fork, oozing the milkiness through the noodles, similar to a poached egg. And never have mashed peas on a piece of toast tasted like what they prepare at HauteDish. Granted, I can swear to you that I have never thought mashed peas on anything would be considered “good,” but these fresh, super sweet green peas were excellent with asparagus, pecorino cheese and foam, and house-smoked sturgeon on a slice of toasted brioche bread.

Mike had also ordered us two entrees to share, knowing the size of these dished would be impossible to tackle on one’s own. And wow-za! These two plates nearly took up the width of the table! Mike and Jen shared the Rabbit and Carrots (and made sure we tried a few bites as well!) and Justin and I shared the Colorado Lamb Three Ways. Mike had been telling us this was the best lamb he had ever had, and after taking a bite, we were quick to agree. The meat on the chops was like the finest filet mignon we’ve had, except the fact that it wasn’t beef! The care and attention that is going into all of the components of these dishes is really remarkable. We had to pass on dessert for two reasons, yes, we had a concert to go to, but also because our stomachs might have exploded. HauteDish doesn’t promise you an easy, light meal. But a dinner that is uber rich, spectacularly delicious, and pushing the boundaries of what “classic Midwestern fare” is? Absolutely.

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Posted by jbgasper on April 27, 2012 in Activities, Family, Food, Julie, Mini Getaways, Minneapolis, Restaurant Reviews, Travel

Tags: ed sheeran, hautedish, minneapolis, restaurant review, snow patrol, travel

Piccolo, take 2

13 Dec

Tonight we went to Piccolo for dinner. We’d been there a few months ago and LOVED it. They are extremely talented and creative with a lot of cuts of meat and ingredients that aren’t normally used in other restaurants, because they take a lot of work to get right. Tonight solidified Piccolo as my favorite restaurant. Every course was absolutely perfect. The atmosphere is exactly what I want in a restaurant – refined, but not so stuffy that I feel like I have to wear a jacket, and I even got away with dark jeans tonight. The restaurant is also well lit, which makes looking at the food and taking pictures way, way easier than a lot of other restaurants.

The staff is always super responsive, knowledgeable, and very friendly, which is not always the norm at high end places. Not at all snooty or condescending. Tonight we didn’t want to skip anything on the menu, so we ordered everything (the plates are small, and we skipped the cheese course) and split them between us. Apparently if you do that, you earn a T-Shirt, so Julie and I are now the proud owners of Piccolo T-Shirts, which makes my favorite restaurant that much cooler!

We’ve been lucky enough to have eaten at a lot of really nice restaurants and this one is the best, especially for the price. Yes, it’s more expensive than a normal midwest restaurant, but you can easily spend 2-3 times as much and not get anywhere near as good of food. It truly is a bargain for the quality of the food they are putting out.

Everything was truly amazing, but some standouts included:

The foie gras torchon. I have no idea how they got the smoothest, butteriest texture ever into that foie gras disc, but it was amazing, both in flavor and texture. Julie and I fought over this one.

The proscuitto wrapped shrimp. Again, not sure how they managed to form the shrimp into a roll like that, while keeping the flavor and texture of shrimp. Also was served with a roasted sunchoke and a chicken liver mousse served in shell, which was a really fun and tasy little bonus.

The veal tongue pasta. You could put brown butter sauce on just about anything and I would eat it. Great flavor combinations on this one.

The pork shortribs. Crispy skin and great combo with the chestnuts and apple butter.

The pumpkin spice cake. There were a bunch of interesting flavors in this one, with the really spicy cake and the bacon powder. Definitely not like any dessert I’d ever had before, in a good way.

Even the little accompaniments were amazing. With the duck there was a perfect disc of acorn squash wrapped in Swiss chard. The acorn squash was amazingly soft, and I’m still trying to figure out how they got it to be wrapped perfectly in the chard.

If you are ever in the Twin Cities, you *need* to go to Piccolo. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

On to the pics!

T-Shirt!

Celery root soup with saltine cracker croquette, Benton's bacon and pickled herring

Roasted pumpkin and golden beets with fresh ricotta cheese and persimmons

Fresh hearts of palm with potato, artichoke, and horseradish

Foie gras torchon with smoked cipollini onions, escargot, jalapeno peppers, and chervil

Porcini flavored pasta with veal tongue, sage, and pine needle brown butter

Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pig's feet, truffle butter, and Parmigiano

Prosciutto wrapped shrimp with king trumpet mushrooms, chicken liver mousse, and sunchokes - amazing, and the chicken liver mousse was served *inside* the shell!

Charcoal grilled octopus "shawarma" with yogurt, pickled green tomatoes, white asparagus, and garlic puree

Callister Farms chicken with cornbread, creamed collard greens, and country ham and gizzard ragout

Berkshire pork shortribs with chestnuts, porcini mushrooms, apple butter, and parsley root puree

Moulard duck with acorn squash, gruyere cheese, and quince paste

Braised lamb neck with morcilla, puffed rice, cauliflower, and compressed celery

Pumpkin spice cake with crab apple, pumpkin ice cream, and bacon powder

Roasted bananas in brick with chocolate cream, currants, and chestnut granola

Soft chocolate terrine with roasted peanuts, smoked sea salt, and house made marshmallows

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Posted by jmgasper on December 13, 2011 in Food, Justin, Minneapolis, Restaurant Reviews

Tags: minneapolis, restaurant review

112 Eatery

12 Dec

Last night, Julie and I met our friend Lindsey at 112 Eatery in Minneapolis for dinner. It was just recently awarded the James Beard award for “Best Chef Midwest”. We had a great time catching up and eating way too much food. Consumed were duck, foie gras and chicken meatballs, shortribs, sweetbreads, mussels, gnocchi and dessert. An awesome meal and a great time were had by all. Definitely recommended for great Italian inspired food at reasonable prices.

Lindsey!

Shared sides, including cauliflower fritters and gnocchi

Sautéed duck breast au poivre with fingerling potatoes

Tagliatelle w/ foie gras meatballs

Tres leches cake, budino, and chocolate gingerbread with chai ice cream

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Posted by jmgasper on December 12, 2011 in Food, Justin, Minneapolis

Tags: minneapolis, restaurant review

Foodiapolis Day 3.

18 Aug

Our last day in Minneapolis started out with a stellar breakfast at Hell’s Kitchen. Nothing overly fancy or pretentious, just really, really good breakfast in a fun atmosphere. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and stopped by Rustica Bakery. We got a few loaves of bread, including a Levain loaf and a loaf of brioche. Both were excellent and were made into French toast for Wednesday’s breakfast back home. After some shopping at a Land’s End inlet, and a Borders that was closing, we drove home and spent a relaxing day hanging out and watching Adventure Time.

At Hell's Kitchen

Trav and Emily getting into the theme of Hell's Kitchen

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Posted by jmgasper on August 18, 2011 in Family, Food, Justin, Minneapolis, Travel

Tags: minneapolis

Foodiapolis Day 2.

18 Aug

Day two in Minneapolis was another spectacular day of eating. We had some time to kill in the morning before Trav and Emily flew in, so we stopped by the Como Zoo. It doesn’t get any better than a $2 zoo trip. We spent about an hour there just hanging out, watching the animals, and taking some pictures. When we were watching the orangutans, all of a sudden the baby ran outside with a bag on it’s head. Apparently they give them bags to play with, so we had a good time watching the baby run around, looking ridiculous. The mom also got in on the bag-on-head action.

We picked up Travis and Emily and walked around downtown Minneapolis a bit, before heading over to dinner at Haute Dish. Nestled right next to Sinners and Sex World, it makes for an interesting neighborhood atmosphere. They are a fairly new restaurant and the “theme” is that they take midwest favorites, deconstruct them, and make them fancy. We had tater tot casserole, ants on a log, general Tso’s chicken (actually sweetbreads), and mac and cheese, but other than name they weren’t really recognizable to the regular dishes you would expect. Julie’s Tater Tot casserole order was probably the favorite of the night. The giant tater tot’s were unbelievably soft inside. The desserts were super interesting, with uncommon flavors like peppercorns, jicama, and tarragon thrown in for good measure. We all walked away stuffed and everyone had at least one thing they had never tried before, so it was a quality food-adventure.

Baby orangutan with a bag on its head

Picnic Salad pork belly, cauliflower, marinated lettuce, oyster vinaigrette

Emily, showing off the Ants on a Log in spring roll form

House-made charcuterie with traditional garnishes

General Tso’s Sweetbreads foie fried rice

Tater Tot HauteDish short ribs, baby green beans, porcini béchamel, “tots”

Mac & Cheese king crab, tallegio, truffle

Steak & Potatoes marrow bone, gremolata, toast Ribeye

Chocolate jicama, black berry, pink peppercorn

Apricot chamomile, almond, vanilla, yuzu

Rhubarb coconut, strawberry, lemongrass, tarragon

End of the dinner at Haute Dish, with Trav being a creep

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Posted by jmgasper on August 18, 2011 in Food, Friends, Justin, Minneapolis, Restaurant Reviews, Travel

Tags: minneapolis, restaurant review

Foodiapolis – Day 1.

15 Aug

We’re spending a couple of days in Minneapolis, eating at a number of places my cousin Mike (sous chef at Barbette) recommended. And if he recommends a place, we know it is going to be good!

Banana, Chocolate, and Nutella Brioche, a pretzel, macarons, and a cinnamon mousse dessert from Patisserie 46.

We didn't seem to have any trouble finishing these delicious treats!

Skyline view from our hotel - the Radisson in downtown Minneapolis.

Justin was a bit nervous at first, ordering at Piccolo, not really knowing what to expect. As soon as his first plate arrived, though, he was put right at ease, knowing this was going to be amazing. He started with an Soft Boiled duck egg with crispy rice, compressed butter lettuce and sake foam.

I started with a Batter fried fresh fig with nasturtiums, Iberico lomo and ricotta whey. Seemed like the best possible state fair food EVER.

Justin's pasta course, Potato cavatelli with sea urchin, bone marrow and artichoke. He referred to these as "his caterpillars."

My pasta course, Agnolotti filled with cranberry beans, with lemon butter, bread crumbs and broccoli.

Suckling pig two ways, with lacinato kale, hominy and pickled baby beets. The sausage stopped us in our tracks it was so good.

Mishima Ranch Waygu beef with beets, asparagus and shiso pickled cherries

Rabbit confit with chanterelles, sweetcorn pudding, burrata and bacon. My favorite dish of the evening. So. Incredible.

We asked the waiter for two more dishes of his choice. He did not disappoint. Burrata with heirloom tomatoes, clamato (a tomato granita) and dill pollen, and Sous vide swordfish belly with yuba knot, hon shimeji mushrooms, spring onion, and tofu puree.

Time to order dessert! Justin's question to the waiter, "How many desserts do you have?" And proceeded to order all three. This was the first one, Chocolate truffle with pistachios, meringue, candied cherry and raspberry jelly. Crazy good.