Good Real Food

For Russo, building that audience will either mean educating neophytes on how to enjoy his unorthodox approach to food, or creating a connection with people who already understand the language he’s speaking. The night I went to Heartland there was a Wild Acres Farm free-range chicken breast with organic fingerling potatoes, preserved tomato relish, and duck stock reduction. Because of past experience as a restaurant reviewer, I wasn’t put off by the description, but I could see how someone might have a hard time seeing through all the descriptors and get intimidated. “The food combinations aren’t crazy,” says Russo. “We’re not putting Nestlé Quik in the sauce. It all makes logical sense, even when we push the envelope.” The issue here is often comfort and not taste, with many diners responding to Russo’s food even if they don’t know exactly what they are responding to. Russo tells the story of a recent diner who came in and wrestled with the menu. “He said, ‘I just picked anything, and everything was great,’” says Russo. “He said, ‘I didn’t know what I was eating but it was a spectacular meal.’”

But this is not to say that Twin Cities restaurant-goers are hopelessly ignorant or provincial. In fact there’s been a rise in the sophistication of diners. “In the past fifteen years so many people travel,” says John White, a veteran of the Twin Cities food scene and one of the principals in the Pickled Parrot’s move into Uptown. “There are very few people who won’t try an Indian dish or a Caribbean dish.” When Chris Paddock decided to branch out from the chef-driven Bobino to open Mojito in the new Excelsior Commons, he made a conscious choice to spice his steakhouse with a South American theme.

“Minnesotans are well-traveled and they are well-educated,” says Paddock. “We coined the term ‘crossroads cuisine.’ You don’t always get authenticity, but the important thing is, you get this cross-cultural dialogue.” Mojito has been such a success that Paddock is working on opening two more locations (though they may not both be Mojito outlets).

A number of restaurateurs speak of finding the balance between creativity and commerce, between surprising diners with new tastes and comforting them with familiar dishes, methods of service, and dining environments. It begins to sound a lot like trying to program a radio station, salting in the Rolling Stones along with the Goldfrapp. “It’s about compromise,” says JP Samuelson, who opened JP American Bistro in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood in April 2003. Samuelson says he is constantly trying to find the balance between great food and accessibility. A veteran of D’Amico Cucina, Samuelson, like Russo, has the skills and the pedigree to pull off a chef-driven restaurant, but he has decided on a more casual environment, and he supplements his dining room with a reasonably priced bar menu. “I didn’t set out to be the King of Calamari, but at some point you have to pay the bills,” he says.

This struggle for perceived value is harder for places like Heartland, where Russo has put the food first. Taste is only half the equation—the other is size. Because of a combination of cost and philosophy, Russo serves smaller portions than many Minnesotans are accustomed to seeing, especially at the mid-level casual chains, but even at higher-end steakhouses and American bistros. “People can go to a place like Manny’s and drop way more money than they can here and not blink an eye,” says Russo. “Then they come here and tell me it’s expensive.” More casual independents like the Pickled Parrot also deal with this issue, which in part stems from the fact that chain restaurants can use advertising to push the perception of value, even if it’s not entirely true. “It’s a fallacy that chains are cheaper,” says John White. “For dinner we’re up in the sixteen-dollar range, and a lot of chains are in the same area.” But ultimately the issue isn’t total price but context. Samuelson says that Minnesotans have a different mindset when they’re traveling than when they eat at home. “When they’re traveling it’s, Hey, we’re in New York, let’s go out to a restaurant that costs a hundred dollars. But here they have to see the value.”