Minneapolis 29Sep11
The last few weeks of summer have been pretty hectic. I was in LA for a few weeks with a couple trips to Vegas thrown in there. Then I was back in New York just in time for the weather to go from 75 to 60 and back to 80 again. What’s going on mother nature? And why have you taken all the pumpkins with you? How am I supposed to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies and pumpkin cupcakes with this shortage?
As the very last trip of the summer, Vini and I went to Minneapolis for my dear friend Annie’s wedding reception. We only had 2 days but we were so pleasantly surprised with all the foodie finds. We got in early, hopped in the rental car and started our midwest adventure.
We started at Brasa Premium Rotisserie. It was like southern bbq with a cuban twist. Vini had the slow roasted pork plate with rice and beans. I ordered a ton of sides for us to share including: cornbread, masa cake with cheese (it was like an inside out pupusa), apple and cabbage slaw, jalapeño cream spinach, and the salad special, curried chickpeas. It was all SO delicious. Unfortunately, I only snapped a shot of our Dr. Pepper bottle. When the food came, we chowed down so fast I totally forgot to take a picture!
After lunch, we went to the Walker Art Center. It was the perfect weather for the sculpture garden and a much needed walk after the feast we just had. For all you art folks out there, the Walker is a must see! I was so bummed we were a month too early for the Graphic Design: Now in Production exhibit.
The wedding reception dinner was at The Red Stag Supper Club. It was absolutely delicious! You cannot go wrong with a modern American restaurant with an old school feel serving yummy farm-to-table sustainable food. We were at a table with midwest locals and got a crash course on midwestern classic dishes. For starters we had this malt vinegar giant potato chip, truffle popcorn, and fried cheese curds. The potato chip was paper thin, super crisp and gigantic! Fried cheese curds are simply amazing, it’s like cheese funnel cake. And truffle popcorn, um need I say more? Our entrees were equally as delicious. Vini had the swordfish and I had the goat cheese fettucini. For dessert, we had a flourless chocolate ganache cake. It was phenomenal. Again, I was so excited I forgot to take pictures of the entrees and dessert!
The next day we had a few hours to kill before our flight so we drove around Minneapolis. Hit up some of the cute shops and attempted to visit some of their lakes. But really, let’s be honest, we were just waiting for a decent time to eat lunch. We were recommended Wise Acre Eatery and loved it! Delicious farm-to-table eatery that looks like it’s in a converted gas station. We were drooling at every description of the dish as our server was kind enough to walk us through each ingredient literally from farm to table. I couldn’t resist their CSA hash: fresh summer veggies chopped up and served with an herb scramble topped with chipotle mayo. Vini had their meatloaf sandwich which was a toad-in-the-hole in the actual meatloaf served on a carrot mash with some ginger rhubarb chutney. It was the perfect meal to end our quick foodie getaway to Minneapolis.
Dear Minneapolis –
We will be back, most likely for the State Fair so we can have more fried cheese curds. Stay awesome & delicious in the meantime!
Your new friend, Maggie.
