Upon arriving in Minneapolis I picked up a local magazine in the back of the cab. As I was reading it I came across some new restaurants in Minneapolis. There was a great write up about Haute Dish and that made me excited to be going there with reservations already made. I highly recommend making reservations, as it was hard to get one even by booking a week or so in advance.
Walking in we where greeted in the bar area which has less formal seating and opens up to a formal dining room area towards the back of the restaurant. The bar was a beautiful long wooden bar which you could tell had been a staple in the building for years. The open kitchen brought smells of the dishes being prepared, and beyond that more casual seating is available. We got seated fairly quickly and had our server come and take our drink orders. I decided to go with a surprisingly smooth Prairie vodka, a regional product, and my date had glass of white wine. The server was very helpful in drink suggestions.
Looking at the menu I knew there was a few things that I wanted to try and when our server told us that most people share plates that made me smile as I knew then that I would be able to try even more food now. So we decided to place our order.
First Course:
Char-Cut (Yar)
General Tso Sweetbreads
Second Course:
Crab Cakes
Pork and Beans
Final Course:
Tater Tot Haute Dish
The first dish came on a wooden dish. These Charcuterie plates are becoming more and more common so it is always interesting to see what the chef comes up with on their own personal menus. We had a home made liver pate, some home made cold cuts, head cheese terrine. I must say that everything was very delicious particularly the pate perfectly prepared with a pink hue and without too many over powering flavors.
The General Tso Sweetbreads was a very interesting dish. It looked like chicken fried rice with sweetbread pieces on top. Now I have to say presentation wise this dish stood out from the rest and lacked a little flare. Having said that what it did not lake was taste. The Sweetbreads where perfectly cooked and melted in your mouth. The rice bed it came on did have lost of great things going on with all the vegetables. The foie wasn’t as strong as I would have liked it, but one cannot complain too much when you are having foie and sweetbreads in the same dish .
The second course started off with oversized lump crab cake. The presentation of this dish was very well done. But going with the split plate idea I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get two smaller cakes one for each but rather one larger one. In terms of flavor must say very well done there was a bottom layer of cucumber avocado salad with the crab cake on top and garnished with horseradish mayo. The crab cake was perfectly cooked with a nice hard crunchy exterior and a soft inside. The salad was perfectly balanced in terms of spiciness and dressing consistency.
Still in our second course; pork and beans came next and I have to say great original presentation. This dish came out in a small skillet. The beans where perfectly cooked as they had a nice firm outside but still soft. It had a sweet and tangy sauce that came with it bringing out the ham flavoring. The ham was done very well giving it proper smooth texture and sweet flavor.
Finally onto the third course; was the Tater Tots. Please keep in mind that by this point we both where feeling fairly full. Out came the tots though. There was a nice piece of dry short rib garnished with over sized in house tater tots, green beans and a béchamel. I personally like my short rids with a glazy sauce but that is just personal taste. The tater tots are what made this dish. Having made these numerous times in the past I know how hard they can be to make. These where just perfect, all uniform crunchy on the outside but so soft on the inside that they where flowing like a cheese fondant. The beans added a nice flavor element to contribute to the fullness of the dish.
Be prepared to spend about 80 dollars per person plus tip but I have to say that it is worth it as the food is simple but great. The staff is personable; we were even able to speak with one of the owners at length about her experience opening the new restaurant and its great success in its first months in business. This is a must try in downtown Minneapolis.
