Twin Cities

These are busy days for the Feeder.  He is juggling reportage of the American Queen adventure (herein), preparations for our next journey to Wales beginning NEXT Monday, managing the Cook off at this weekend’s Oyster Festival, and planning the food stuff for the upcoming Hospital Gala.  All of which is self inflicted of course, but it seems to be all converging in the remaining few days.

Anyway, we can enter denial if I tell you a couple of things about our Steamboat adventure.  It began in Minneapolis after our re-ticketed itinerary took us there with a stop in Milwaukee.  We had a nice tour of the twin cities before checking into our hotel.    Turns out Minneapolis is home to a famous cartoonist (and his fictional progeny)

Whose likenesses are scattered around St. Paul, (some in better shape than others).    Although I don’t think there is a statue yet, we did see the Fitzgerald Theater, home to all the folk in Lake Woebegon.  And if you extend the boundaries of twin cities, you can include a certain Bobby Zimmerman, whose apartment in St. Paul we drove by.  Quite the eclectic bunch.  They have their share of magnificent buildings like the Cathedral of St. Paul,

And…. Another one

Like all these “river towns” there are a number of grand old Victorian homes, as well as other styles, Italianate, revival, etc. built by people who made their fortunes in various ways in the mid to late 19^th century.

As you might be able to discern, it was sprinkling rain, with fresh winds, and COLD.  Minneapolis has a series of walkways that people use in the winter (roughly September through May) to get around the city. 

Knowing that dining opportunities would be limited to the American Queen once we embarked I got us a reservation at “The 112 eatery” which seemed to rise to the top of most of the foodie sites.  They feature the services of Isaac Becker, winner of a (best chef Midwest) James Beard.  When I called, they said that they were booked for the evening but just got have a cancellation at 6:30 and would we like that.  Hmmm… yes of course..  From the reviews we expected a white tablecloth experience and donned our only “good outfit” to be DFD.

Being a little far to walk (easy for us now) we took a cab.  It turns out that it was much less formal than we expected, no tablecloths but more of a I guess “bistro” atmosphere.  They had a very nice bar

3336

And in fact most tables were occupied, and we were given a four top, maybe lending credence to the “cancellation” theory.  Soon we were approached by a young lady in a crisp white shirt.  I thought by this time I have heard all the “Hi I’m….” lines but she added a new one: “Hi, I’m  and.. I’ll be with you tonight”  Wow!  Visions of wild late night hi jinks quickly flashed through my head, and I wondered what MFO might think of that, but then reality snapped in and I realized the invitation didn’t extend beyond the front door of the restaurant. Anyway, there’s a new one for you.

She handed us menus and inquired about drinks.  I didn’t have the heart to do the drink test so asked about what gins they might have.  To my surprise and delight, Plymouth was one of the choices.  I believe this is the first restaurant outside of Chez Pascal in Providence that offered it.  I got an “up” martini with a twist.  MFO got (what turned out to be an undistinguished) Viognier.  We turned to the menu, and found it quite interesting. Although split between appetizers and entrees, there wasn’t much difference.  For instance you could get an appetizer of blue prawns w/ rooster mayo for $14, or you could get frog legs for $9 from the entrée side.  A culinary homework assignment is to go figure out what a “lamb scottadito w/ goats milk yogurt” appetizer is ($16.5), or you might choose a $32 entrée of nori encrusted sirloin w/ ponzu.  Quite the culinary gymnastics.  In fact it took another Plymouth Martini to settle on the food.

In the end, MFO took an appetizer, the sweet and sour crab salad, and I doubled up with the duck terrine and rabbit paté, followed with the sea scallops with oyster mushrooms.  The wine list was equally appealing which offered a (rather pricey) glass of Domaine Serene.  Although “what’s her name” was supposed to be “with us” our food arrived by a runner who had to ask!  Apparently WHN was being with somebody else.

The terrine and paté were quite fine

And it was served properly with cornichons and mustard and a crusty baguette.  Both main courses were also quite tasty. By this time the place was hopping and loud.  We eschewed dessert and taxied home to the hotel.

As usual you deal with expectations with restaurants, and although perhaps erroneously, I had expected more, I guess in the (stupid word) “ambiance” department.  Still I’m glad we went as indeed it was our last experience with “restaurant” food.

Next day we were to board the American Queen..  Our bags had to be ready in our room by 0730 even though boarding was after three.  More to come there..

DFD