Minnepolis in two days

When better to visit the Twin Cities? Thanksgiving. Thats right; the possibility of being in one of the coldest cities in America keeps the wimps away late November. Plus that whole holiday thing.

First stop on the way in: St Paul and the Happy Gnome. Go for the beer, stay for the beer. I will give props to the bison/elk/bacon burger of meatastic-ness but the rest of the food was nothing to blog about.

Stay at uber hip W Foshay, the art deco building oozes cool and the room's swank mini-bar (that we did not touch), made me wish I had worn something a little more...gangster moll. The Prohibition bar way up top was great for views and atmosphere, but light on cocktail snobbery.

Saffron, a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown, is where we ended up for dinner. Splitting delicately spiced small plates we sampled anchovies with harissa and preserved lemon, and kofta meatballs in tomato/mint sauce. Both we packed full of fresh and balanced flavors, the anchovies were a real hit- the preserved lemon cutting right through the oily fat of the fish and the earthy spice of the harissa. We then moved onto the lamb carpaccio and fresh beans with lemon and dill. The lamb and a wonderful combination of sweet fatty flavors with a hint of wildness and tart acidity. The beans were nice, nothing to write home about.

Located in the Graves Hotel is cocktail nirvana. Bradstreet Crafthouse is the kind of place you take someone who knows cocktails. Really knows cocktails. An inventive menu, classics and twists, attention to technique, glassware, house made bitters/syrups/etc all served to make this place truly at the pinnacle of the resurgence in the art of the cocktail. I could have watched all night. They even had specific shaped and sizes of ice for various drinks. My best cocktail was one created on the spot- he did a little twist on a Manhattan involving a dropper of Laphraoig and a spruce flavored liquor. I still dream of this place.

Breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. All kitsch, no bite. I guess its cool to be served by surly hungover hipsters in their jammies, and Ralph Steadman does some art for the place; but that does not make the food any better than any other urban diner.

Getting our sushi and ramen fix, we headed over to St. Paul for Saji Ya. Pretty sweet house ramen, and the lunch box special was satisfactory as well.

The last stop before we left the Twin Cities was a beer store located in the burbs. A good well rounded selection of imports, local and domestics. Nothing outrageously hard to find, but I was pleased to see that the beers was organized by style and not geography. This a great way educate and help people find beers similar to ones they already like. It encourages people to expand beer horizons!

Thus stocked at the Four Firkins, we headed back to Wisconsin well fed, having slept in a swank hotel, and with beer. The Pilgrims would have been proud.

On the road- land of rain and coffee

Back in June, the family vacation landed us as far west as we can go in the lower 48: Orcas island off the coast of Washington. Six hour flight followed by tow hours drive, then a 90 minute ferry ride- I'm not sure if a less accessible place could have been picked without backpacking involved. But damn the food was good.



Highlights and beer-lights:

Rose’s Kitchen and Bakery: Small café atmosphere with very fresh local ingredients. King salmon, halibut, and mussels chowder. The mussels tasted of the sea, salty and wild floating in the light creamy soup. There was no skimping on the fish, no potato overload in this chowder. The bread was made in the adjacent bakery, it was crispy and a perfect match to soak up the chowder. Drew ordered a sandwich with local ham, gruyere, and butter on a baguette. The flavors melded together very well, the slightly sweet ham, fatty butter, tart cheese all on the crusty baguette. The Washington state white was a fresh, citrusy summer wine that went well with all of the dishes. In addition to baked goods including a wonderful flaky almond tart, the bakery also carried gourmet cheeses, gourmet snacks, meats, wines, and local pate. We all sampled the local pork, then rabbit pates later on in the house we rented.

Café Olga- OMG awesome oysters! I actually drool while thinking of these Judd island oysters- perfectly briny and mineral tasting- if you can put a conch to your ear and hear the ocean, you taste these and taste the ocean. Seafood plate had smoked trout, local sockeye lox with cream cheese, pickled things (capers, onions, peppers), and oysters! Dungeness crab quesadilla was ok. Not crazy great but tasty. Cream of broccoli soup that was basically fresh pureed broccoli and maybe a tiny bit of stock and cream.

No chains on this island, it would have probably cost too much and the local food was just fine. The local pub carried the usual suspects, the Alaskan on-tap was the only interesting thing as there isn't much of it in the South or Midwest. The local hippie grocery carried a tiny but fresh fish selection and fresh baked cod was on the menu for one of our evenings.

Seattle: Elysian Fields brew pub. The beers I did try were tasty, but not incredible. The farmhouse saison was very drinkable; mead, malty, slightly tart fruitiness, sweet and lighter in taste than it looked. A good example of the style and one of these beers that tasted considerably more complex than it smelled. The stout poured black with a tan lacy head. Coffee, chocolate, yeasty bread, and burnt sugar were the main flavors. It was malty and nice with a good mouthfeel, a good stout with few bells and whistles but a little high on the abv than I would have liked for a drink all night stout.

The food was the suck. Seriously? At first the veggie-patty type sandwich with goat cheese and various veggies was tasty, then as I continued to eat it fell victim to one of the vegetarian food classic blunders: too much frickin garlic, If I am burping it up, its too much. Especially if I am burping it up for the next 10 hours. The tomato soup had a pretty green pesto swirl on it, but it was pretty amateur and not terribly interesting,