The Rake Magazine

Tag: Saffron

  • Logging Those Frequent Diner Miles

    What’s next, green stamps? With the cost of food and dining
    going up, and the economy going down, restaurants are scrambling to find new
    ways of keeping diners coming in the doors. Both Parasole, Inc. and the Twin
    Cities Originals     have recently introduced customer loyalty programs that use
    member cards to track purchases and reward customers. With the Twin Cities
    Originals reward card, you get a point for every dollar you spend at a
    participating restaurant, and once you reach 150 points you get a $10 credit.

    Over 30 independently owned restaurants are in the Twin
    Cities Originals, ranging from the Dakota, Saffron and Murray’s to Vescio’s
    Cucina, The Herkimer and Broder’s Pasta Bar. For a complete list of TCO
    restaurants, click here. The TCO rewards card is also good at participating
    restaurants in other cities, including Kansas City, St. Louis, Tucson, and
    Birmingham – see www.PowerCard.com for
    details.

    The Parasole Club program adds another wrinkle: if you spend
    $1,000 to $2499 per year, you get 1.25 points per dollar, and if you spend
    $2500 or more, you get 1.5 points. The Parasole chain includes Manny’s Steakhouse, The Living Room and Prohibition Bar
    (all in the Foshay Hotel), Chino Latino, Figlio, Salut Bar Americain,
    Muffuletta, Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse, and the Good Earth.

    Twin Cities
    Originals has another money-saving offer: gift certificates for 30 percent off, available for purchase on the PowerCard site. Only a limited number of certificates are available each quarter, and right now most of them are sold out, but a few are still available for The Herkimer, Great Waters and Birch’s.

     

  • Dracula, Paella and Drinking Organically

    Where would Count Dracula dine if he visited the Twin Cities? We don’t have any Romanian restaurants, but if he misses the cooking of his native Transylvania (now a part of Romania), he’ll have a once-a-year opportunity on Saturday, July 26, when Saint Stephen Romanian Orthodox Church, Saint Paul, sponsors its annual Twin Cities Romanian Festival. The menu will feature Romanian sausage, grilled chicken, salad, Romanian pastries, beer and more. A Romanian music ensemble will perform in traditional costumes, and tours of the church will be offered.

    On second thought, this probably isn’t a good bet for the Count: the festival will be held only during daylight hours (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and the tour of the church is sure to include an abundance of crosses.

    July Special At Saffron: I’ve never really understood why the 112 eatery always seems to be jam-packed, and the terrific Saffron, right across the street at 123 N. 3rd Street is often half-empty. Don’t get me wrong – Isaac Becker is a great chef, and I love the food at 112 Eatery, but the decibel level can be awfully high, and the last couple of times I have tried to dine there, the wait for a table was longer than I could handle.

    I have never had to wait for a table at Saffron, which, for my money, ranks as one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities — and offers a much quieter and more relaxing setting. Some of the entrées are a bit pricy, but there are also a couple of options for under $20, and sometimes we just share a few of the mezze (Middle Eastern tapas, $4-$6) or small plates (mostly $8-$10).

    The owners call the cuisine "Mediterranean and Middle Eastern," but that doesn’t really convey the sophistication of chef-owner Sameh Wadi’s cooking. They’re offering a three-course tasting menu again this month, but this time it’s a dinner for two, for $55 — or $50 for a vegetarian version. The July menu starts with a selection of mezze, followed by paella for two — made with chicken, seafood and saffron-flavored rice, with assorted ice creams and sorbet for dessert. Call 612-746-5533 for reservations.

    Drinking Organically at Agri: The cuisine at Cafe Agri, 4300 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis, may be a little too healthy for my tastes, but I would gladly go back, grab a sidewalk table and try some of their extensive list of organic and sustainably produced wines and beers, especially at these prices: lots of choices wines from Argentina, Chile and Italy, priced at $4.50 a glass or $18 a bottle, plus an interesting selection of organic and gluten-free beers, both domestic ($4) and imported ($7).

  • Midtown Goes Downtown; Great Deal at Saffron

    A little taste of the Midtown Global Market will be making an appearance on the Nicollet Mall this Saturday night, as the Minneapolis Mosaic kicks off a summer of multi-cultural arts and entertainment. Manny’s
    Tortas, La Loma
    Tamales, Pham’s Deli and Holy Land Grocery and Deli will all have stands
    on the Nicollet Mall, selling everything from spring rolls to shawirma.
    For the full program of Minneapolis Mosaic activities, check out
    http://www.minneapolismosaic.com/. The party runs from 6 to 10 p.m.,
    with over 40 entertainment acts.

    Elsewhere downtown,one of my favorite Twin Cities restaurants, Saffron, is offering a three course $35 dinner special, with optional wine pairings for an additional $15. The offer is good Monday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., through the end of this month.

    Chef Sameh Wadi’s menu starts with chilled asparagus soup with yogurt cheese and olive oil crostina, accompanied by a glass of Juve y Camps Cava. The main course is duck breast with cauliflower, sultanas and preserved lemon, served with a Guenoc Petit Syrah, followed by a dessert duo of passionfruit curd tart and sorbet, with a Palladino Moscato D’ Asti.

    Saffron is at 123 N. 3rd Street (across the street from the 112 eatery); call 612-746-5533 for reservations.

  • Highlights of a Year of Eating

    I don’t do ten best lists, but looking back over the last
    year, I can recall some memorable dining experiences. For now, at least, I am going to limit myself to the new places – the
    list will just get too long if I try to work in more than just a mention of old
    favorites like the Grand Café Vincent, and Atlas Grill.

    My nominee for best new restaurant of 2007 is Saffron, where
    chef Sameh Wadi brings together the flavors of the Middle East and North Africa
    with the techniques and presentation of contemporary haute cuisine in very stylish
    surroundings. Highlights of my visits included an entrée of fork-tender lamb
    shoulder, over a savory bed of chick peas and a tagine of salmon and clams with
    roasted peppers, olives, fennel and saffron.

    Other favorite new places:

    Heidi’s Café: The
    same talent that the husband and wife team of Stewart and Heidi Woodman
    demonstrated at Restaurant Levain and Five (both now defunct) is again on
    display at Heidi’s, but this time at much more affordable prices: poached
    pheasant breast with cauliflower arugela salad for $19; a vegetarian entrée of
    pappardelle Bolognese for $12 .

    Meritage: Chef
    Russell Klein, cooked Regional American at W.A. Frost, but as chef-owner at
    Meritage, (in the former A Rebours space in downtown Saint Paul) he is free to
    return to his first love, French cuisine – which he delivers up with some
    playful and creative twists (like a Nutella and matzo sandwich for dessert.)

    Rotisserie Brasa, which Alex Roberts opened this summer in a
    former gas station on E. Hennepin remodeled to look like a Caribbean chicken
    shack. Roberts, known for much pricier and refined cuisine at Restaurant Alma,
    sets out at Brasa to show that local and sustainable can also be affordable.
    Only two meats are offered – rotisserie chicken and a terrific roast pork shoulder,
    along with a bunch of classic southern sides like cheese grits and collard
    greens.

    Keefer Court Bakery & Café. This funky little Chinese
    bakery at Cedar and Riverside recently hired Jack Ma, one of the most talented
    Cantonese chefs in the Twin Cities, to run their kitchen, and now serve a menu
    of traditional rice plates, noodle soups and stir-fries, at bargain prices.

    Pagoda in Dinkytown: The décor is much trendier than the
    usual noodle house, but the menu here, too, is traditional Cantonese street
    food plus a smattering of Japanese, Thai and Korean dishes in very stylish
    surroundings, at student-budget prices.

    Shiraz Fireroasted Cuisine: The chicken and lamb koubidehs
    (ground meat kabobs) at this new Persian restaurant at 61st and
    Nicollet tasted so authentic to me that I assumed that the chef must be from
    Iran, but it turns out it’s the same Mexican chef who ran the kitchen when the
    place was called Cintia’s of Mexico.

    Little Szechuan: The best Sichuan cuisine in the Twin
    Cities, plus some amenities you won’t find at many other Chinese restaurants in
    the Twin Cities, like a small but decent selection of wines. Try the fish
    fillet and tofu with spicy tasty broth.

    Café Ena: I live a few blocks from El Meson, and I have been
    a fan of chef-owner Hector Ruiz for years. His new Latin American fusion
    restaurant at 46th and Lyndale is just a tick more upscale, but the
    cuisine is just as lively and imaginative.

    Ngon Vietnamese Bistro: A lot of the restaurants that attempt East-West fusion wind up with the worst of both worlds, but this stylish storefront in Saint Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood is an exception: smart combinations of Asian and Western flavors in dishes such as Vietnamese beef over pappardelle noodles, ahi-tuna mango
    salad, and a succulent lamb shank with pho spices, served over
    lemongrass rice.

    Well, that’s about as many highlights as I can think of at the moment, but check back – I’ll probably add a few more to the list.