We went this week to The Sample Room, a relatively new place in northeast Minneapolis that’s been open a few months. It’s taken over the space of a landmark restaurant in the neighborhood, The Polish Palace. Although Sample is not the first "sophisticated" restaurant in the neighborhood—one of our first reviews was of Erté, a precursor and likely the true vanguard of the culinary new wave in what used to be the Twin Cities’ blue-collar land—the fact that it has literally replaced Palace speaks to the transformation of Nordeast much more forcefully.

There’s nary a sign of the previous incarnation when you step into Sample. There’s no Bud Light on tap; the décor, from the freshly painted tin ceiling to the elegant lampshades, has been redone; and the clientele is very much white collar. A bar and lounge has been turned into a cozy "cocktails and eats" establishment.

If there is a nationality that one might associate with Sample, it wouldn’t be Poland but Spain. Tapas-like in concept and perhaps tapas-inspired, "sample plates" comprise the majority of the menu. Several of these are available in cheese, meat, seafood, and vegetable categories. A few items will give the reader an idea of what’s in store: warm camembert with caramelized onions (about $3), baked Stickney Hill goat cheese with oven-dried roma tomatoes and basil oil ($5), warm meatloaf of beef, pork, and veal ($3.50), grilled homemade poultry sausage ($3.50), maryland blue crab cakes with red pepper sour cream ($4.50), seared tuna with wasabi aioli ($7), assorted marinated olives ($3), wild mushroom paté ($3). The sample plates can be ordered individually, or, for a small price break, in combinations.

Soups and salads and sandwiches are also available, with daily specials in each category. On this day, these were a carrot shrimp bisque, a smoked pork loin sandwich with blue cheese and mustard, barbecue pork with red bean chili, and a spinach salad with poached bay scallops with fresh strawberries and ginger walnut dressing. Entrées are prepared for dinner and come with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables.

B started with the bisque, I with a small mixed green salad, and we then split three plates: grilled Grain Belt steamed bratwurst, sautéed shrimp with roast garlic olive oil, and roasted asparagus with balsamic drizzle. The bratwurst was mild, reasonably lean, and accompanied by a sharp mustard with whole mustard seeds providing it an almost horseradish-like potency. The large, meaty shrimp were nicely if not delicately done. The asparagus, although tasty, came as spindly spears with crispy tips and a surfeit of balsamic—the drizzle had been turned into a bath.

The wine list changes seasonally; it was limited in summer but currently lists over 20 that are available by the glass. The sampler concept extends here too; each of five flights provides a sample of three wines. For example, the "Muy Cool Vinos" flight consists of three Spanish reds and the "Rhone Blends" flight has a Cotes du Rhone, a Californian, and a South African. More than 30 beers are also available, including half a dozen local brews, and a full bar can satisfy urges for other libations too.

I ordered an Australian, the Lengs & Cooter "The Victor." This was blackberry-heavy, ripe, and luscious. Just that and the excellent bread basket, which contained slices of baguette and a brown bread with raisins and also pieces of rye cracker bread, would do nicely for lunch in a pinch.

In summary, I recommend Sample highly, as much (actually, more) for the atmosphere, concept, and friendly service as for the food.

Finally, let me apologize for the late penning of this review. Over the weekend, B and I drove to Kansas City and back to meet a good friend of mine. Among his several accomplishments, this friend quite likely holds the world record for most miles on one four-cylinder engine: the odometer on his 1985 VW GTI is about to turn over 800,000 miles. He doesn’t live in KC, however, but it’s where his favorite restaurant is and he drives there often from his home in New Hampshire! Fans of fried chicken should check out Stroud’s in KC.

As a rule we (or I, shouldn’t speak for A) generally disapprove of gentrification, especially when it’s at the cost of some unique facet of a community or location. In this case, however, no one is going to shed a tear for the Polish Palace (I am willing to be set straight on this score. E-mail me if you think I have wronged a fine establishment). The Sample Room has got its name right – it’s just a rectangular room, with a bar on one side almost merged with the kitchen in the back, the remaining area makes up a tiny dining space. The image is one of a bar with a restaurant thrown in as an after thought. The bar retains some of the characteristics of its predecessor and perhaps some of its former patrons were present around it this day. Unhappily the smoking policy is not very clear, although I couldn’t see anyone smoking (no one to glare at!) yet the smell of tobacco was omnipresent; this, perhaps, could be a hold over from its Polish days.

The décor is effectively simple. There is a (slightly) ornamental fake ceiling that overlooks freshly painted walls. I could only discover one piece of art on the wall, a portrait of a portly, seventeenth century European; Porthos, I laughingly dubbed it.

There are six whites and nine reds by the glass on the menu – nothing too adventuresome here. Besides the lunch menu the special of the days are written on a small chalkboard besides the bar, which on this day included carrot-shrimp bisque soup, smoked pork sandwich with blue cheese, poached bay scallop and barbecue pork chili. The menu is divided into platters of cheese, meat, seafood and vegetables; it also lists soups and salads and sandwiches (hamburgers, chicken, and bratwurst). I ordered a glass of Guigal Cotes du Rhone (inky with full body and smooth tannins) and enjoyed it. I started with an order of the carrot bisque soup which I found disappointing, it tasted (and looked like) beer cheese soup to which a solitary large shrimp had been added. From the platters we ordered the grilled grain belt steamed bratwurst, sautéed shrimp with roast garlic olive oil, and roasted asparagus with balsamic drizzle to share. Some of the other offerings that stood out were the baked Stickney hill goat cheese with roma tomatoes, warm three meatloaf, and mussels provencal. The bratwurst was, as expected, somewhat fatty but still managed a nice spicy taste. The shrimps seemed to be drenched in butter/oil and were not particularly good. The asparagus, for my money, was the best thing we ordered; it was crisp with the ends slightly burnt – I don’t know if this was intentional but it did make them more interesting to eat! The Sample Room has yet to invest in an espresso machine so A had to forgo his traditional ending. The bill for this extravaganza came to $43.00. I would, dear readers my low rating not withstanding, recommend this place to you for at least one lunch.

I’d like to end on an entirely different note. This weekend I went on a road trip with A to Kansas City. As you’d expect we tried some of the restaurants there and as always I was pleased to note that we are so lucky in the Twin Cities with our dining choices. The sophistication of our restaurants puts us in the first tier of cities in the world. Now if it could only be twenty degrees warmer!

B