Reetsy Reviews: Muffaletta in the Park

On a rainy October night, I wanted to treat gerg to a grassfed, juicy steak.

I called Sapor. They were offering a hanger steak that night. I called Muffaletta. They were offering a NY strip. gerg opted for Muffaletta in the Park, as he is a NY strip lover.

Executive Chef J.D. Fratzke at Muffaletta is a champion for local and sustainable foods in the Twin Cities. ""My heart and soul will always belong to the Mississippi River Valley. Everyone at Muffuletta considers it a huge point of pride to showcase the hard work and dedication to quality found in Minnesota's network of small family farms. The Heartland Food Network is a great partner in bringing the superlative flavors of sustainable agriculture to our guests and to future generations."

Our dinner at Muffaletta in October was so enjoyable. We went there expecting a nice dinner. We left after more than two hours of sipping wine, dining, stirring cubed sugar into espresso, and enjoying a truly romantic setting in a candlelit dining room. Simple and elegant. We toasted. We smiled. We ate too much.

I started with their 1977 Muffaletta Beer Cheese Soup. It has been called the "world's definitive beer cheese soup" by Dara Moskowitz for good reason. It has been on the menu since the restaurant opened, and is a masterpiece in a bowl.

gerg ordered the Fromage a Trois served with generous portions of Green Pastures Dairy cow cheese (Carleton, MN), Eichtens Hidden Acres gouda cheese (Center City, MN), and Faribault Dairy Company's St Pete's blue cheese (Faribault, MN). The cow's cheese had a mild flavor and firm texture, and while the gouda presented a stronger flavor and softer texture, the blue cheese was creamy and tangy. Great options from Minnesota. Top Notch.

Muffaletta offers daily specials with paragraph-long introductions provided on the menu. gerg and I opted for the fish special and the feature entree.

The fish special: Mejillones y Camaron with Black Beans, Lime Rice, and Piquillo Pepper Sauce: "It is common for South American cuisine to feature combinations of all types of jewels of the sea. Tonight we're featuring steamed mussels and tiger shrimp with stewed black beans and pork, lime rice, and a warm piquillo pepper puree kissed with chilies and cumin." The "pork" was diced thick slab bacon from Fischer Farms and offered a salty, bitey contrast to the sweet creaminess of the piquillo sauce. Yes, I ate the bacon. The lime rice and black beans were prepared perfectly - light and fluffy.

Feature dish: Argentine Gaucho Cattle Drive Strip Steak: "1000 Hills Cattle Company (Cannon Falls, MN) grassfed strip steak served over chimmichurri sauce and mashed root vegetables with sauteed peppers." They don't mention that mashed root vegetables are mixed with generous spoonfuls of cream and butter that made them almost as sweet as pie filling, and just as naughty.

Other local fair on the Muffaletta menu:
Fischer Farms grilled pork loin
Maple Leaf Farms duck a l'orange
Ledebuhr's wild rice sausages (made in a Winona butcher shop with Hidden Streams pork)
Stickney Hill chevre

They also offer burgers, tapas, and, of course, a muffaletta sandwich which are less spendy than the entrees we selected.

We watched other folks depart chatting and smiling, warm and friendly - it might have been the exotic and fruity Casa LaPostolle Chardonnay, but I had a warm n fuzzy feeling. Perhaps the service was above and beyond because it was a Tuesday night - we couldn't complain. If anything, our server a was a bit too enthusiastic, and I refuse to complain about enthusiasm in a server.

Muffaletta in the Park
2260 Como Ave
St Paul, MN 55108-1720
Phone: (651) 644-9116

[55108]

Reetsy Reviews: Town Talk Diner

It's no secret that I enjoy spending time and my appetite at Town Talk Diner. This is our "neighborhood joint." We take friends and family here on a regular basis. We celebrated our engagement here. This one of our top picks for sharing good times. Can you feel me on this? Do you have a neighborhood joint that specializes in local foods?

During our recent visit to Town Talk I noticed they've recreated their menu for fall.

I was VERY pleased to see that a fall-inspired butternut squash risotto has returned to the menu. I am a risotto lover. I remember Town Talk's sweet potato risotto from their fall menu last year as if I ate it yesterday: risotto prepared with sweet potato, swiss chard, aged jack cheese, pumpkin seeds, made with veggie stock, topped with pumpkin seed oil. That aged jack cheese with the sweet potato was on point.

So with at least two local butternut squash risotto dishes available (at Spoonriver and Town Talk), Minneapolines have no reason not to indulge...unless, of course, you hate butternut squash.

gerg and I took some hot seats at the bar. I ordered one of the specials: a pasta dish made with torchio pasta and locally harvested lobster mushrooms in a butter sauce with black pepper.

gerg ordered a ribeye steak off the menu. I believe it has replaced the NY strip steak. The ribeye is prepared with a generous amount of black pepper and is served with a gratin potato dish that sets a ridiculously high bar in terms of good gratin. Rich n Savory. Extreme Savorocity!

We had the opportunity to speak with ex-Cosmos frontman and co-owner, Aaron Johnson, on the topic of the local foods at Town Talk. While Johnson spends a fair amount of time creating some of the amazing cocktails at Town Talk, he is a trained Chef and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu of Minnesota.

I had noticed that while Town Talk utilizes local producers and quality organic ingredients, they don't necessary inform patrons of that on their menu or web site, and I took a moment of Johnson's time to discuss the matter, knowing his keen interest in local foods from previous chats. Here's my summary of our discussion while I sipped on one of their new cocktails, a "cherry ghost" (house made vanilla infused vodka with cherry puree).

Me: "Hey Aaron, can you explain to me why you don't list your local producers on your menu?"

Johnson: "Well, it's for a variety of reasons. As you can see, we do list Fischer Farms as the producer of our pork." (Fischer's Purebred Hog Farm, Waseca, MN)

Me: "Why not anyone else? Not enough menu real estate?"

Johnson: "Kind of. We know Fischer Farms can usually supply all that we need. But when we had our heirloom tomato dish on the menu this summer, it would have been difficult to list our producers. At that time we were using several local tomato producers."

Me: "You couldn't list them all?"

Johnson: "Well, when one producer only has 90 tomatoes for you that week, you have to move on the next. You don't necessarily know who is going to have the best product ahead of time, so you can list them."

Me: "That makes sense."

Johnson: "We like to be able to choose our producers based on the quality of what they've got available...and that can change drastically from week to week."

Me: "So rather than listing all of the potential producers, you just leave them off the menu."

Johnson (topping of my drink): "You got it." *wink*

It stands to reason that listing the producers on a menu can be problematic. As we witnessed at Spoonriver, a menu that relies on local products is subject to change.

A tip: If you're really looking for local ingredients, always ask about the specials at restaurants. Town Talk frequently features specialty local ingredients in their specials because they don't obtain a steady enough supply of them to list them on the menu. Take, for instance, my lobster mushroom pasta dish. Those lobster mushrooms were harvested by a local mushroom forager this week, who supplied a small amount to Town Talk. They used the smaller amount to create a special for one night. Thankfully, I happened to stop that night. Doesn't that just make sense? Isn't that the way food should be offered?

Town Talk Diner
2707 1/2 E Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Phone: (612) 722-1312

Reetsy Reviews: Spoonriver

Perhaps the one restaurant in Minneapolis that comes to the tip of my tongue most often when talking about local foods served up with care, it's Spoonriver. The name always brings "Moon River" to the tip of my tongue as well, which means I'm usually humming that tune after speaking of the restaurant.

Spoonriver in Minneapolis will satisfy most palettes craving local/sustainable ingredients. I definitely glance over my shoulder when I dine at Spoonriver...trying to spot other organic/sustainable community folks.

Spoonriver is: Ambitious. Local. Chic. Ebullient.

Each time I've opened the menu, I've been thrilled to see all the locally produced and organic options offered at Spoonriver. It is the sister restaurant of Cafe Brenda, which is also locally known for its organic and vegetarian eats.

Some local products featured at Spoonriver include:
Wild Acres Duck
Minnesota Pasture Raised Smoked Ham
Minnesota Farm Raised Lamb
Minnesota Grass Fed Beef

Some items that I've truly enjoyed:

-Greens with Fig Vinaigrette sprinkled Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. A deliciously sweet, but not sickening, fig vinaigrette that makes greens taste like CANDY!

-Soup of the Day: Butternut squash: Creamy, squashy madness. Simply divine.

-Caspian Hummus and Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spreads served with vegetables (carrots, celery, radish), olives with Foccacia. All the spreads are packed with flavor. I especially appreciated the radish dipped in roasted red pepper. Truly different.

-A Risotto made with golden beets, squash, and Parmesan. Again, the creaminess factor was to die for. The butternut squash is lightly sautéed which leaves it with a slightly firmer bite than a typical butternut squash dish. Fantastic.

Perhaps something to keep in mind regarding local and sustainable foods is that menu items change regularly to match what is available from producers. For instance, gerg wanted to order the Minnesota Grass Fed Beef. With none available, Spoonriver offered a pork chop that evening instead. Ask your server about items not listed on the menu. There may be some secret treats awaiting you!

Call ahead for evenings and weekends. Spoonriver can often be crowded depending on show times at the Guthrie.

Spoonriver
750 S. 2nd St.
Chicago Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612 436 2236