If it seems incongruous that the Block E complex would be the venue of a bold architectural statement, well it is, and the incongruity is not lost upon the designers of the hotel and restaurant. From the outside, there’s not a sign of anything untoward in the hotel, and with the Target Center immediately out front, a Hard Rock Café and Sega Gameworks besides, a multiplex movie theater nearby, and other signs of mass market commercialization equally apparent in the vicinity, it’s just as well. Once you’re inside Le Méridien or Cosmos, however, the simple tactic of translucent window treatments effectively isolates you from the teeming masses leaving the Brittney Spears concert. Perceived economic necessity may have placed the hotel where it is, but Le Méridien demonstrates that refinement and elegance can be juxtaposed with lowest-common-denominator appeal—provided there’s a visual barrier interposed.

The Cosmos décor has a few additional features beyond what you see of the hotel as you enter the restaurant. The chairs, still distinctly of the modernism school, and banquettes are upholstered in cream leather (so uniform that they could all have come from one mutant Godzilla cow?) and one wall is taken up by a piece of sculpture that consists of a grid of multiply articulated portholelike devices.

I’m not sure what sort of food you would be led to expect if you wandered into Le Méridien and Cosmos—if anything, you might be thinking Aquavit redux.. But haute cuisine of the Northern European variety isn’t what Cosmos is about. The lunch menu (which is expected to change every month or so) is a multicontinental journey in its current incarnation, each of the three principal menu categories—first courses, sandwiches, and entrées—permitting selections that are North American, European, or Asian inspired. Thus first course possibilities include a Granny Smith apple salad in a cider vinaigrette; onion soup with Swiss, gruyere, and asiago cheese and brioche crouton; and ginger and cilantro cured salmon with wakame seaweed and spicy chili oil. Sandwiches offered include a foie gras on brioche (I must admit I had never heard of a foie gras sandwich until this point) served with fig chestnut purée and caramelized shallot; and grilled ginger soy marinated chicken breast, which came with apricot mustard and caramelized cippolene onions. Interesting juxtapositions define the entrées too: there’s roasted chicken with fingerling potato, celery root, Serano ham hash, and green beans; grilled pork tenderloin with espresso bacon baked beans and balsamic brown butter; and pan-seared swordfish with fried basmati rice with shrimp, red curry shrimp essence, and fresh cilantro.

B and I started with our usual glass of red wine each. Cosmos has about half-a-dozen each of reds and whites by the glass (all $8 or more). I went with a Lyeth meritage; it was slightly tannic and unctuous on first exposure but I warmed to it soon enough.

We split a starter, opting for the Cosmos’ version of a caprese salad: sliced mozzarella (the menu called it mozzarella carpaccio but the slices weren’t that thin) with tomato salad, basil oil, and micro opal basil. This being Minnesota and it being only late June (although these are weak excuses in today’s world of instant shipping), the tomato left something (flavor, ripeness) to be desired. The mozzarella had a lovely texture, however, pliant yet firm, and the basil was intensely aromatic.

I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich. This was, to some extent, a forced choice. Since B was ordering an entrée I thought I should try a sandwich and I didn’t find the alternatives in this category appealing (in addition to the foie gras there’s a hamburger and a lobster club with avocado). In retrospect, any of the alternatives would probably have been better. The chicken sandwich was served with a generous pile of the apricot mustard (which was more of a chutney than anything else) on the chicken breast, making the concoction too sweet. I then took out most of the condiment with the result that the sandwich was just plain boring. The bun, the onions, the chicken somehow managed to combine to form homogeneous bland bites. I left the sandwich half-eaten. All sandwiches come with shoestring fries, a green salad, or "portabella fries." I got the latter. They turned out to be roasted (probably) portabellas cut into strips, and quite tasty.

B fared better with his seared swordfish entrée. The swordfish as well as the shrimp in the fried basmati rice were nicely done, although the saffron had been dispensed with a hand too heavy for my palate. The rice was Thai-influenced and very spicy. B surprised me by picking out the mango ingredient in it.

We split one of the three desserts offered, the redundantly named "apple tarte tatin" with vanilla gelato. The tart didn’t show any signs of having been inverted, so it was more of a tarte aux pommes in my opinion. The crust was a thin round of pastry dough about two inches in diameter. Otherwise I liked the dessert; the apples weren’t overly sweet and the gelato won’t transport you to Florence but it’s certainly better than what you’ll get in the gelato shop in Calhoun Square.

My espresso (gratis since our dessert took forever to get to us) was decidedly non-Euro, coming as it did in a regular-size coffee cup (even if the cup said "illy espresso").

Business wasn’t exactly booming on this Friday, and in particular the restaurant didn’t seem to be drawing the business lunch crowd. This may just be the cynic in me coming out, but in today’s world I find it hard to believe that high concept art and food can thrive in the center of a mass entertainment complex. Despite its flaws, Cosmos is definitely to be recommended over the Hard Rock and the Applebes’s that are its immediate competition, so I would be pleased to be proven wrong.

Larkin—of the "they fu*k you up" and little England fame—lived most of his adult life in Hull, a darkly provincial town in the North of England, which boasts of having the largest public housing estate (projects to Americans) in Europe. The Royal Station Hotel above is a fictionalizing of several such hotels that exist even to this day and the sort of place where Larkin liked to dine. As an undergraduate at Oxford during the forties, Larkin and his pals—the later eminent men of British literature (Kingsley Amis, John Wain, Bruce Montgomery (Edmund Crispin) among them)—would drink at hotel bars, which they considered vastly superior to public houses. As a child of the seventies (not living anywhere close to Hull or England for that matter) I can remember my parents taking the family out to a meal at a five star hotel for a special treat. Well that was then and this is now. Minneapolis is not Hull and Larkin would be just as out of place at the Cosmos in Le Méridien Hotel—where The Lunch is in session this week—as a herring filleter on the Mississippi.

Attitudes towards hotel dining have changed. I can’t think of a single hotel based restaurant that I would recommend though if pressed I’d give a slight nod to The St. Paul Hotel and the now defunct Anchorage at a local hotel chain. Hotel restaurants tend to be overpriced and view their customers as captives without choice. Whenever I travel, whether locally or abroad, the hotel that I am staying at is the last place I’d expect (or want) to eat (on business trips an exception for breakfast can be made).

With such an uncompromising view of hotel dining what on earth is The Lunch doing at Le Méridien Hotel? Well for a start it’s new; has an interesting bar; and more importantly our review—a quick Google search assures me—is a first for Cosmos.

If you’re a long-time resident of Minneapolis you probably remember the old Block E on Hennepin Avenue. It was the scourge of local law enforcement with its petty drug dealing, strip clubs and the occasional brawl. The one establishment that I remember from those days was that memorable old bar, Moby Dick, whose motto was "a whale of a drink." It probably doesn’t, but I’d like to think that Le Méridien rises skywards in the exact spot where the old whale used to gambol. As it is, it currently rises skywards between an entertainment center (of sorts) that includes a largish video game emporium, the ubiquitous Hard Rock Cafe and a movie theater complex. Across the way is Target Center. The building itself is a moderate high-rise with a grayish stucco look. As you walk in you’re greeted by a doorman with a suitably foreign accent who lets you into what should be the lobby to the hotel. But it’s no such thing. There are no signs or hints of a reception, or that a restaurant sits four floors above nor is there a soul about. You can walk around trying to get your bearings—fortunately the space isn’t large and you eventually stumble upon a set of elevators. In your fumbling about be sure to note the splendor of the place: gray & white marble, brass/copper paneling and teakwood. There are unlit metal grilled lamps (a discreet eerie darkness) that can only be described as making postmodern look passe. Should you find yourself suddenly weary of all this northern (Scandinavian?) European style, rest a while on the strategically located leather settees.

This place is supposed to be the pinnacle achievement of Capitalism but the atmosphere evoked in me memories of the one decent hotel in Moscow before the collapse of the Soviet Union; designed to convince the visiting journalist (or the odd western business person) that totalitarian societies were capable of such magnificence. And like those hotels, Le Méridien is also bereft of any warm human touches. Pyongyang (the capital of North Korea) also springs to mind, with its one (abundantly) marbled building that sits on a dark wind-swept street, constructed to honor the nobility of the working class but used—exclusively—to welcome visiting dignitaries. However, once you ascend to the fourth floor the slim-line, low profile computers will banish any silly thoughts of Communist mausoleums that you might be harboring.

The fourth floor is where the hotel reception area and Cosmos are to be found. I was assisted by a concierge with the unlikely name of Jean-Pierre and shown to my table. As you might expect the marble theme extends to the restaurant. The tables are wooden topped and the pattern is so similar to the marbled floor that it’s easy to loose perspective. The bar is visible from the dining area and follows the same clean, uncomplicated patterns as the rest of the hotel. I have been to the bar with some colleagues and I can tell you it’s very easy to put a sizable dent in your wallet. The cheapest drink on the menu is about $10.00.

The menu is simply divided into first course, sandwiches, entrees and dessert. There are six wines by the glass (I suspect the dinner menu might be better endowed) from which I chose the Apoyo Cabernet. The ’00 vintage of the Apoyo Cabernet sells for under $10.00; I am not sure what vintage was served to me—tasted tannic and young—but the glass was priced at $10.00. Our server also brought a basket of bread; the bread verged upon the stale surprising considering that Le Méridien is a European hotel.

The first course offers Lolla Rosa Granny Smith apples, Arugula (roasted bay leaves, goat cheese, shallots), mozzarella carpaccio, onion soup and a Cosmos ginger and cilantro cured salmon with wakame seaweed, A & I decided to share an order of the mozzarella carpaccio. The mozzarella was almost too delicate but it still was delicious, the tomatoes were sharp tasting, almost as if they hadn’t ripened yet. For our main courses we decided that one of us would sample the sandwiches and the other would get an entrée. I chose the pan-seared swordfish, which was served on a bed of basmati rice, red curry and shrimps. B, unwisely and surprisingly, chose the chicken sandwich, when he might have chosen between the foie gras sandwich (on a brioche) and the lobster club with avocado. I was pleased with the fish, which was cooked about right, and the plump little shrimps were divine. The curry gave the whole dish a spicy kick, which was moderated a bit by a delicate hint of mango shavings. Poor A’s sandwich was simply atrocious. I found it to be all together too sweet with some sort of sweet mustard or compote liberally smeared over the chicken. We finished up with a shared order of apple tart with vanilla gelato. I thought the crust too hard and the apply bits unappealing. I simply had one bite leaving the rest to A.

The service was friendly enough. My inquiry about the low number of diners was answered with: "numbers depend upon the occupancy of the hotel and we don’t get much walk in traffic." I complained about the chicken sandwich but my remark was either not heard or ignored. The bill came to $73.00 which was money not well spent.

I may comeback for the bar but the restaurant is on my verboten list.