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Comes the revolution
By Carla Waldemar
Dining in Minneapolis
has come of age – oh, has it ever! Twenty years
ago, when Mom shed her apron for a night on the town, the choice was
steak or steak. Today Mom’s likely to step from the executive office
to 20.21, Wolfgang Puck’s high-end Asian-influenced dining mecca anchoring
the equally avant Walker Art Center.
The revolution hasn’t gone unnoticed. Gourmet, the foodies’ bible,
hailed its opening, while Bon Appetit spared no ink to praise Azia, also
putting a high-style spin on Asian fare. It spotlighted Firelake and Mission
American Kitchen for raising the bar on regional cooking by reinventing
retro dishes like devilled eggs and chocolate pie.
Food & Wine muscled into the act to salute Cosmos, scene of film stars
and sports heroes sipping that seminal cocktail and noshing on foie gras
in a chic minimalist backdrop that makes even New Yorkers take notice. The
magazine also paid homage to 112 Eatery, where local chefs head on their
night off to savor its understated menu. Order the “cold cuts with
pickles” and what do you get? A sampler of prosciutto, imported sausages,
house-made pate and little French cornichons.
We thought it was our secret, but the publication also discovered Levain,
whose unmarked door is no deterrent for the crowd of sophisticates clamoring
for reservations.
Cooking Light weighs in with a salvo for the Dakota, as renowned for its
jazz performances as for its new-American menu; for Solera, whose harem-like
setting is SRO with Beautiful People toying with a creative list of Spanish
tapas.
So, the secret’s out. Come see (and savor) for yourself.
Carla Waldemar is a freelance writer who lives in the Minneapolis
area. Click here for more about Carla and additional travel features
she has written on Minneapolis.org.
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