Art-a-Whirl Weekend, Part 1

My mom came into town last weekend and that always means lots of plans, in addition to things already happening in Minneapolis I know I must attend. My mom, having far more time than I do to actually read her emails from places like Surdyk's, knew that the North East Wine Tasting event was going on at the Nicollet Island Pavilion and decided it would be a nice treat for us to attend on Thursday night. Decent food, decent wine and overall just a pleasant evening




Friday marked the beginning of Art-A-Whirl, and I knew I wouldn't be interested in cooking a meal that night. I also knew the Northeast Social had opened a week prior, and since I enjoy being apart of things before they get popular (like the time I saw The Strokes at 7th Street Entry? I still brag that I liked them before you did) I figured we'd check it out. Plus, the addition of restaurants within walking distance of my house always makes me excited. Up until then I had only heard one "mixed" review (seriously, how can you get a good gauge on ANY restaurant within the 1st month of them opening in a popular location) and wasn't afraid to check it out for myself.





The place was totally packed and holy hell was it loud. The location is really pretty and not unlike the decor in The Sample Room (though I would venture it's about 200 square feet smaller). I walked into Eva's Delicatessen once, bought nothing, and thought nothing of the space. They now have an exposed brick wall (my memory doesn't serve if that was actually exposed before) beautiful hardwood floors and dark wood trim with a lovely tin ceiling (can I put one in my house without looking like a jackass... or without my house looking like a restaurant?). And It was packed. And they had a piano player. Amped. (He was really good though, for the record)





We had great service despite how busy they were (have I gotten to the point as a restaurant goer that you EXPECT bad service if you go to a busy restaurant? Damn, that's just sad) and I even participated in my first twitter inspired meeting.




The food was good. Just, good, not great, definitely not bad. It had a mild layer of creativity surrounding it, but I wasn't overly impressed with their options. In fact, I had one of those "well, none of these sound GREAT to me, so I guess I'll have the trout" moments. I didn't take my menu (or a picture of it) and they don't have their menu online so I don't remember a lot of the details. They also have these "social beers" to share. My mom and I just about flipped a lid when they brought an ice bucket to the table as we had ordered a bottle of red wine. It turns out they're for the beer






I had the trout wrapped in prosciutto (my Alma mater restaurant tria also served this when we opened, if that displays how creative I felt the food was) with something on the side (clearly not amazing since I don't even remember what it was). EDIT: looking at the pictures it was a salad and potatoes. Boring.


The trout was a huge portion which was fine since I didn't have an appetizer, and the flavor was nice, but certainly not memorable. The only other entree I tried was the gnocchi stroganoff which my mom ordered.




The texture was right on and the sauce was creamy and light. I found the menu a tad "heavy" now that I think of it. Especially as it's 94 degrees while I type this. Granted it was chilly that night so appreciated in that regard. But what I need on that block is something a little different from the Modern and Erte. Bring a little local flair. Yeah it's trendy, but it's the RIGHT THING TO DO (so I saw Michael Pollan speak last night and got totally star struck, so what?) Where are the ramps, the spinach, the radishes, the sunchokes? Anyway. The meal was fine.

The desserts however, were amazing. Well, one dessert. The other was good and unique enough (chipotle chocolate mousse)

But the one... Rosemary honey panna cotta? Now we're talking. I don't even normally order dessert because a nice piece of dark chocolate when I get home is usually all I need but there were four of us so of course dessert was ordered. This was creative and it was well executed.





All in all, I would go back, but maybe not for a few weeks. I might stick to sandwiches unless they change their menu to make it a bit more alluring.