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Redstone American Grill
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| Coming soon to an Upscale Suburb near You | When Chammp’s boat comes in | |
| Regular readers
of our columns (in the unlikely event that we have any) may have
discerned a tendency on our parts to disparage a certain kind of
establishment. The juxtaposition of "upscale" and
"suburban" tends to raise our hackles.
In the case of B, I suspect this is because the conjunction hits uncomfortably close to home! But I, at least, want to assert my objectivity on this matter. My first exposure to fine dining in the Twin Cities was at the now long-gone Cocolezzone in St Louis Park, a Minneapolis suburb. This was when I was fresh out of graduate school and thought that I was being discriminating by preferring Wendy’s hamburgers over McDonalds. I can recall the thrill of good food in the opulent, Italian-marble-everywhere setting at the old Coco. More recently, I had the most wonderfully elaborate meal I’ve had in this country in a suburban Chicago restaurant, Trio (albeit referring to Evanston as a suburb may be considered unwarranted). So it’s not that I automatically dismiss restaurants that open up in the suburbs and cater to the well-heeled (and well-wheeled—read on). But it does seem to me that the food in such places doesn’t generally live up to expectations that are raised by the money that’s been lavished on décor and design. In the case of Redstone, as you enter the establishment, you walk between two large stone fireplaces burning brightly, both with seating ledges upholstered in a vibrant native American pattern. The central part of the building features a high vaulted ceiling over a huge bar, and there are side rooms and booths on either side. Stone and wood and leather are used extensively. The kitchen is in the back with a view of a rotisserie turning with enough birds on it to feed all the German luxury car owners in the Twin Cities, a significant fraction of whom appeared to have descended on the place judging from the parking lot. The only seating we could get right away was at the bar. The service was friendly and we took the opportunity to find out more about this place, especially since neither of us had even heard about it until very recently. It turns out that it’s been open for over two years and that the owner was a cofounder of the Champp’s chain. Redstone itself has franchise potential written all over it, and I wasn’t surprised to hear that they are in the process of opening up establishments in Eden Prairie (who’d have guessed?), near Chicago, and in Florida. This may be one review that readers who aren’t local can personally validate. For my entrée, I ordered a pan-seared ahi tuna and baby greens. The tuna was rare and black-pepper encrusted and the greens came with an Asian vinaigrette dressing. In keeping with the rare fish theme, a dab of wasabi and pickled ginger were also on the plate. A couple of pieces of thin cracker bread rounded out the dish. The food was all quite adequate, but lacked the zing and intensity of flavors I was hoping for when the dish was placed in front of me. The tuna was bland despite the black pepper coating, the wasabi was cakey and not very potent, and the gari was too sweet and not sharp enough for a palate that’s been spoilt by Origami’s. B and I also split an appetizer, a thin-crust wood-fired pizza that Redstone calls "Canyon Flatbread." We had the basic one, which came with basil pesto and whole milk mozzarella with tomatoes and fresh basil. This was quite good, the tomatoes cooked down to provide bursts of piquancy. The flatbread is served on three-legged triangular stainless steel stands and the soup, which changes over a weekly schedule (today’s chicken noodle seemed a popular choice), comes in miniature cauldrons. These playful touches help give the place some much-needed charm, although I wonder if they weren’t some design consultant’s idea. Redstone provides reasonable fare in a hip setting for the prosperous western part of the Twin Cities’ metro area. Unfortunately, it claims more than it delivers. According to the menu, the restaurant is "for people who know how to celebrate great food." Give me a break. If Redstone gets a write-up in a national magazine it won’t be Bon Appetit but McMansion Life. A |
Minneapolis
has come out of its winter slumber. Looking out of my office window, on
this Sunday afternoon, I can see people loitering in the park; the
tennis courts are busy and the Loring Café is doing brisk
business. This week I have been reading An Englishman in Paris by
Michael Sadler, a book I highly recommend. It leaves you with visions of
red-faced gourmands, who tackle pigs’ ears, cows’ stomachs, coxcombs
and bulls’ testicles, coyly known as rognons blancs. (Recipes of
similar delicacies are to be found at the end of the book.) I think a
copy may find its way into A’s Christmas stocking this year. I mention
the preceding delicacies only in way of contrast to the fare that we
sampled this week at Redstone, the restaurant of the week.
On Monday, at the suggestion of a business cohort, we had a small happy hour at Redstone (American grill). That experience caused me to call up A and inquire if a change of venue would be acceptable to him (we had planned to do a review of the Loring Café this week), it was and here we are…. Upon first moving to Minneapolis (some 16 years ago) from Dallas, I noticed the subtle differences between the two cities and their respective inhabitants. The women in Dallas tend to be more fashionable, the men more boisterous, but the most striking difference was in the automobiles seen on the street: Texans favoring flashy imported cars of the European variety, whereas Minneapolitans making do with sensible American makes or Japanese cars when really splurging! And I don’t think the difference in relative disposable income has anything to do with it – Minnesotans are just conservative with their wallets. So you will forgive my surprise and sense of deja vu upon seeing the Mercedes-Benzes, Jaguars and BMWs parked in Redstone’s lot. The restaurant itself is housed in a sprawling single level building that has an outdoor patio area for summer dining. The anteroom has two fireplaces, that are constantly kept going (one hopes not in summer!), with cushioned benches to seat the waiting. The inside is dominated by a large bar that splits the building in half, towards the back is a huge rotisserie that roasts chickens all day, there are dining tables in each of the half created by the bar. The roof above the bar is relatively high and one can imagine a grand dining hall if only the bar weren’t there. We had to get our name on a waiting list for a table – something that hasn’t happened in the two years that we have been doing these lunches. We took an offered place on the bar, since a table was still not available. Just to show us that this is no ordinary bar, the wait staff laid individual crisp white linen tablecloths in front of us with great flourish. Any place that bills itself as an "American Grill" is supposed to have certain menu, i.e., meat and potato based dishes – this is also true of Redstone, though the specialty (pizza) flat bread is innovative. The specials on this day were almost entirely fish based. For starters we had the house’s standard flat bread, which is a very thin-crusted pizza – a meal in itself – and is delicious. I had a glass of an Australian Shiraz (Penfold) that complimented the pizza well. For my entrée I chose the grilled pacific swordfish with potatoes and vegetables. The fish was slightly overdone and it could have been served with more vegetables and less potatoes but overall a satisfactory dish. Our bill came to $51.00, a higher price than the quality of the meal would suggest. The wine list is poor and the wine-by-the-glass selection is small, again this only confirms that the restaurant is not aimed at foodies but at the solid burghers of Minnetonka and nearby environs. A new branch is to open in Eden Prairie (horror of horrors!) soon. The bar has flat screen TVs hanging on each corner and the program on two of them made a more eloquent statement about where we were than anything I could write: one showed Market Watch on CNBC, the other a show on monster trucks. In the evening Redstone is quite the swinging hot spot – speaking from my visit earlier in the week – and was listed by our first lady as her favorite place to "drink martinis and dance with friends." This is the place where women of a certain age meet men of an even more certain age! So if you find yourself seized with a Jesse sized hunger and are on the wrong side of 40 head out for the suburbs – you never know what you might find! B |
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