Thought of this today as a local critic picked his top restaurant in the Twin Cities, Brasserie Zentral, which is way down my list of local favorites. Disclaimer, I’m not the most exotic foodie. I don’t eat any organs, ever. But, I do know well thought out and executed food.
In Minneapolis - St Paul my 5 favs are… 1. Tilia Runs with zen like vibe. So relaxing, tasty and uber wine friendly. But, the food rocks too!
2. Le Belle Vie - the “lounge” Again extremely wine friendly and consistently delicious food in a cool Paris like setting. You can hear conversations here and you have a little elbow room too.
3. The Kenwood - Great execution of food and a cozy wine friendly setting.
4. Meritage - Pretty much always on its game but a slight notch down from the previous 3. Still though, very very good.
5. A tie for these two non chef restaurants who excel at what they do… Capital Grill for aged steaks simply expertly cooked / Oceanaire for fresh fish simply and expertly sourced and prepared. Unfortunately neither of these 2 are particularly BYOB friendly but the food rocks.
Spice Creek. The former owner of Rebecca’s at some Vegas resort wanted go to a smaller town. Bistro cuisine with emphasis on the interplay of spices. I would seek it out, even if it were an SF or NY restaurant.
Raw Bar- a sushi place. They manages to hook up with the gourmet supply chain in SF and we get world class sushi in this little
town. Japanese Blossom is another sushi place in town on the same supply chain. Both are delish!
In Enfield, CT there is only one restaurant worth mentioning, and that is Sarape’s, a very authentic Mexican restaurant run by an Oaxacan family. Their food can compete with anything I have anywhere.
Everything else in town is the utter dreck of the Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s, etc. type restaurants. We do have one decent TexMex place, but that is the only other thing in town I will patronize.
I get a kick out of your “top 5” posts Craig, but none more than this one, in which you list 6 because can’t comply with the rules of your own post. I also think you are exotic as hell.
Manresa: You already know. Went this year and they were on top of their game. Then they had a fire, so temporarily closed.
Oak & Rye: Fantastic pizza and other good stuff
Enoteca La Storia: Great wine bar from some guys with good taste who used to work at The Wine Club
Nick’s Next Door: Nick Difu is a great guy and an excellent chef who is a Los Gatos treasure
Aldo’s Cafe: Simple, tasty Italian
I think many people would have Dio Deka here, I just haven’t been in a long time. Some other good places are Los Gatos Brewing Co, Centonove, Opa and Hult’s. And Happy Hound.
We also have a great Gelato place, Dolce Spazio. We looked pretty hard in Italy and were only able to find one better place.
The one restaurant you must never go to is The Wine Cellar.
Hedi’s is closed, Piccolo is organ heaven but highly respected. I’m the outlier there. Sea Change is a huge disappointment as a chef driven restaurant specializing in seafood. Makes me wonder if the critics really know anything about seafood. My local wine buddies are not impressed with SC either. I’ve tried it 3 or 4 times and never had a better than average seafood dish.
It’s funny, I grew up in the Twin Cities, and can’t even think of five restaurants I really, really like.
Since I am on the road a lot, I can easily name a bunch from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City - but not that much from the Twin Cities. And I think my biggest complaint is; they are all just too damn expensive. Not a fan of a side salad for $14 and $20 plus appetizers. Is the rent that much more expensive than in downtown Chicago? I don’t think so.
So my top five restaurants from my home town has one restaurant -
CHENG HENG - My little Cambodian restaurant in St. Paul that I have gone too religiously since they opened in the mid 1990s. Great fresh ingredients, incredible presentation, and the nicest owners.
Tilia is awesome. In so many ways.
So is La Belle Vie and Meritage. I’ve only been to The Kenwood for brunch a few times, which has been spectacular, but I can barely get in the door for brunch, I hate to see the mob-scene these days for dinner. I remember going there for brunch a little over a year ago and being the only people in the restaurant - funny how times change. I should try to stay positive and be happy when good places do well.
I suggest you modify #5 to a decent local place like Travail, Haute Dish, or something similar . I like Oceanaire and Capital Grille well enough, but it’s kind of like saying that the best local coffee is Starbucks.
I actually DO live in a small town. 7,500 population.
Somehow we have four pizza places, two of which are good and one of which is worthy of the title “Connecticut New Haven style pizza” which for those into the product know what that means. It regularly makes “top 10 in the state” lists.
We have “Higgies” which has been a roadside stand since the 40’s and does very credible clam and hot buttered lobster rolls, plus some pretty good steamed cheeseburgers (a regional specialty) and shakes.
And finally, the best restaurant which I’d recommend to anyone even on this board is “Mama Roux’s”-- a diner that does all day breakfasts, but more importantly the New Orleans trained chef puts out pretty credible Etoufee, Jambalaya and cajun inspired seafood. No liquor served, but she’s let me bring wine on occasion when I ask politely. Only open breakfast and lunch, however. Check out the Urban Spoon, Yelp, and Trip Advisor reviews if anyone is in the area.
I think I’m fairly lucky, we have only one “chain” restaurant-- a Dunkin Donuts-- and a few pretty mediocre little local places too, but at least they’re “local” and not some stupid chain. There’s apparently a Subway opening sometime, and that is nothing but bad news IMO.
I guess I’d given up years ago trying to bring a bottle into a restaurant in the Twin Cities. Outside of a couple restaurants used for off-lines, I haven’t had good luck finding a restaurant that will allow that. But if Tilia does, then I will check them out - the menu does look kind of cool - Thanks Joe -
Black Cat Bistro / Bramble and Hare - Farm to Table (literally, the chef owns his own 130 acre farm). Black Cat is upscale French fare, Bramble and Hare is the next-store casual French country-bistro
Colterra (technically Niwot, but close enough) - Farm to Table, “Colorado Natural”
Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen (Denver) - where else can you get Pad Thai Pig Ears and craft beer??
Zamparelli’s Italian Bistro (Lafayette…5 minutes from Boulder) - Best wood-fired, thin crust pizza around
Azitra (Broomfield) - Modern Indian food, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence ('12, '13, '14)
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