Month: October 2007

My esteemed colleague Ann Bauer is one tough critic. Last month, she claimed that there were only two restaurants in Saint Paul where you can get a decent upscale meal – I Nonni and Heartland, and in her most recent blog posting (see below) – she added Zander Cafe to the list.

My list is a little longer – I’d rate Muffuletta as one of the best restaurants on either side of the river. Chef J.D. Fratzke’s ever-changing menu combines local ingredients and global influences in dishes such as Moroccan spice-rubbed beef short ribs with preserved lemon relish, or pan-seared Arctic char with braised leeks, wild mushrooms, prosciutto and lobster-citrus sauce.

And what about Jay’s Cafe? The decor may be too modest, and the prices too reasonable, to qualify as “upscale,” but I have thoroughly enjoyed chef-owner Jay Randolph’s’ Midwestern cuisine. I’ve also had some pretty decent meals at Cafe Biaggio, Pazzaluna, and the Downtowner Woodfire Grill, though I haven’t dined at any of them very recently.

I do share Ann’s preference for contemporary creative cuisine, but when I am in the mood for classic Americana, The Lexington serves up a perfectly decent dining experience.

Been gone for awhile attending to biz. That being said, I have a few immediate automotive observations to share.

1) The New Accord shows Japan at its shameless best, again. I coulda’ swore I saw a BMW pull up beside me the other day, but NO, its a direct Bangle-butted four door rice burner called the new Accord: flame surfacing, jutted headlights, the works.

The funny thing about Chris Bangle’s influence on cars is that other designers seem to have one upped him in refinement.* The new Accord is well resolved and looks far more emotional than a Camry, still.

2) On the personal front, I acquired a new M550 a few months back in a very quick deal. The 550 is the first E class with the new S-class V8 and its quite the restrained muscle car. Specifically this car is what they call a “fat car” in Germany that is designed to drive well in excess of 100 MPH on the autobahn.

Because of this, I cannot say I have fully bonded with this car. In fact, because I am a ski racing fanatic and transport ski racers all over the Midwest during the Winter (and French School girls in the summer) I have been wondering WHY I gave up the finest SUV I have ever known for this car–The Toyota Land Cruiser.

The Benz is comfortable but not large. It is tractable but not terrifying–yet. I bought this car primarily to make my long ski trips more interesting while the family sleeps. That has not happened yet but hope still springs eternal. And, alas, the French girls have all gone back to France.

* THIS OBSERVATION IS SHARED BY A READER–FROM A PREVIOUS POST: “How true! BMW’s are finally coming out of the Bangle mess (I’m sure you will know what I am talking about here) and the 3-series still isn’t very good looking.”

When A Rebours closed earlier this fall, I — and just about every other food writer in the Twin Cities — bemoaned the dearth of fine dining in St. Paul.

“I don’t know what’s happened,” I wrote on September 20. “There’s practically nowhere left in St. Paul to get a decent upscale meal. The only exceptions are Heartland and I Nonni.”

But how could I have forgotten Zander Cafe, which has been serving terrific, reasonably-priced and very fine food and wine in Cathedral Hill for nearly ten years? I just don’t know. Perhaps it’s because this modest little brick building on Selby Avenue has a polka-dot sign in kitchen appliance blue that reminds me of the early 1970’s and my mother in stirrup pants doing exercises in front of the TV with Jack La Lanne. Or it could be because Zander closed for three months this summer for a renovation that was completed in the long, slow days of late July.

In any case, consider the omission corrected.

I went to Zander for drinks on Friday, ended up staying for a bite to eat, and was utterly charmed. First, there was the wine list — note, this is where wine mogul Sam Haislet of Sam’s Wine Shop got his start as a server and ad hoc sommelier — which included a Domaine de Piaugier Rhone wine by the glass. It was smooth, full of cranberry and raisin, with a nice, hot finish, for only $8.25. And the full wine list offered some incredible values, such as a Foris Pinot Noir for $25 (I pay about $17 retail) and an entire section devoted to Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

I shared an order of Pappardelle Monte Cristo, a mosaic of noodles, fresh basil, pan-fried eggplant, goat cheese, and roasted red pepper tapenade, which was chewy and crisp, earthy with herbs and cheese, smoky and thick and warm. But best? I talked to Alexander Dixon, the eponymous chef “Zander” who — if you don’t mind my saying (Who else will, after all? Jeremy?) — is one of the cutest, most unassuming chef/owners in town.

He’s a hirsute and rather rumpled fellow, with owlish eyes behind heavy horn-rimmed specs. And he slinks through the restaurant like some random guy who was sent to check the heating ducts. In fact, Dixon stopped by, even before introductions were made, to talk about the strange, aching gospel-ish music (Nina Simone) that was playing in the bar.

And about his renovation — a clean bit of sprucing with terra cotta walls in butter and moss, tatami carpet, and desert photos in frames — Dixon said, simply, “It was time.” The man who created what he called a “crude, urban bistro” in 1998 was ready to dress things up.

His customers, apparently, are not. There were diners in jeans and terry cloth sweatsuits, scruffy in that unmistakable St. Paul style, supping on Three-Soup Mosaic, Salmon en Papillote, and Moroccan Lamb Kabob. Afterward, dressed down as they were, these same patrons might have stepped into Zander’s piano bar — Ferdinand’s, according to the retro sign outside — to listen to a group called the Tributary Jazz Ensemble.

The Dakota this is not. There were no sleek suited men or women carrying lizard bags or people taking money at the door. The piano had worn keys and the menus were paper, not leather-bound. But I’d put Dixon’s cuisine up against any in town. And there are few places I’d rather hang out than at his little 7-seat bar. Drinking Rhone wine and listening to the throaty grace of Nina Simone.

In St. Paul. Now, isn’t that a wonder?

The Mill City Farmers Market wraps up its 2007 season tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a Fall Harvest Festival. Highlights include a tasting of local wines and beer; a cooking demonstration by local chefs making fall stews, appearances by market mascot Roostini, and a mother hen and her chicks, music by the Light of the Moon band, and a pumpkin puppet-making class taught by puppeteers from Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. The market is located between the new Guthrie Theater and the Mill City Museum on the Mississippi riverfront in downtown Minneapolis.
For details, visit the Mill City Farmers Market website.

Winner of the best opening line of the day: On Labor Day weekend, a midwife’s favorite holiday, Louise Sloan, a 41-year-old lesbian, had semen Fed Exed to her mother’s summer place in Kennebunkport, Maine. Read the rest of the article here.