The Rake Magazine

Tag: Strip Club

  • Weekend Hot Dish Surprise

    Okay, this is the day to check and see what’s left in the
    fridge and needs to get served up before it spoils, and it looks like we have
    enough left-overs to make up a meal: a half-cooked review of the new Strip Club
    in Saint Paul, news of an upcoming beer dinner at North Coast in Wayzata, and a
    Mardi Gras dinner at Barbette.

    Carol and I stopped in Wednesday night at the
    Strip Club, the night after it opened to the public, and had a delightful dinner. Then Thursday, as I was half-way
    through digesting the experience for this blog, I discovered that my esteemed
    colleague Cristina Cordova had scooped me. It’s too early for anybody to write
    a full-fledged review of the place, but Cristina covered all the basics very nicely, and
    sampled a lot more dishes than we did.
    So check out her post for more details, but here are a few random thoughts:

    I knew enough not to expect naked ladies, but I
    did expect to find a big menu of steaks, plus baked potato sour cream, etc.,
    just like the downtown places, only maybe a little cheaper, because it’s a
    neighborhood joint (in Saint Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff, across from the Metro State
    campus.)

    Turns out chef J.D. Fratzke, (late of Muffuletta) and the
    owners (from the Town Talk Diner in Minneapolis) have created
    something much more interesting. There are a couple of steaks on the menu, and
    a few gourmet items like foie gras, (locally produced at Au Bon Canard in
    Caledonia, MN), and escargot. But basically, Fratzke, who grew up in Winona,
    pays homage here to the kind of plain cooking that doesn’t usually make it onto
    restaurant menus: deviled eggs, beans on toast, even a Braunschweiger sandwich.

    There are a couple of trendier entrees on the list, like a
    bone-in duck breast with wild rice polenta, roasted mushrooms and port wine
    glace ($19), and seared ahi tuna with root vegetables, French olives and
    preserved lemon ($22). But Fratzke’s inclination is towards heartier, earthier fare:
    Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and a black truffle gravy, ($14); a pork shank for two with mashed potatoes,
    Brussel sprouts, apples and roasted garlic jus.

    We enjoyed everything we sampled – especially the grilled
    Caesar salad the ahi tuna, and the lean but flavorful ball tip steak (all their beef
    is grass-fed, from Thousand Hills near Cannon Falls.) The big challenge with very lean grass-fed beef is to compensate for the lack of juicy marbling, and Fratzke met the challenge beautifully, pairing the flavorful meat with savory white beans and grilled onions. I suspect that the best
    time to sample Fratzke’s culinary artistry will be late summer, when fresh
    local produce is at its peak, but I expect to return long before then.

    The Strip Club, 378 Maria Ave Saint Paul, MN 55106 651-793-6247.

    I have been a long-time fan of chef Ryan Aberle’s cooking at
    North Coast in Wayzata, but I never felt that the casual atmosphere – and the
    13 flat-screen TVs in the adjacent bar – quite fit the cuisine. But that’s
    about change. "We are closing to the public on the night of January 19 and
    reopening on January 23," reports Aberle. This will complete the first phase of
    the remodel… allowing us for the first time clear definition of where the
    dining room ends and the bar begins. The new bar (to be completed by
    Valentine’s Day) will retain a single plasma TV and it will barely be visible
    from the main dining room."

    Aberle, a beer connoisseur, has put together what might be
    the ultimate beer lover’s dinner – a 15-course extravaganza on Saturday, Feb. 2, featuring just
    about every brew Sam Adams makes. Courses range from a sweet potato pancake with Morbier, duck
    leg confit, burnt orange syrup, accompanied by Boston Ale, to pan-seared
    Minnesota foie gras, port lacquer, and wild mushroom risotto served with Black
    Lager, and a course of Pho with shaved prime rib, rice noodles, cilantro
    and a glass of Winter Lager. Cost is $80, plus tax and tip.

    North Coast Restaurant, 294 Grove Lane E., Wayzata, 952-475-4960.

     

    Barbette’s Mardi Gras menu, served February 4-5, should be
    pretty authentic: Barbette’s
    new chef, Sarah Master, went to culinary school in New Orleans, and studied
    under Susan Spicer at Bayona in the French Quarter. The menu sounds terrific,
    especially for the price ($32): baked oysters Laveau, followed by a choice of crab cakes or
    sausage gumbo. The main course options are chicken etouffee, blackened catfish
    with macque choux and collards, or fried mirliton (chayote), collards and
    spoonbread. For dessert, your choice of king cake, pecan pie or bananas Foster.

    Barbette, 1600 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612-827-5710.

     

     

     

  • The Strip Club Steak House

    Thanks to Rich Goldsmith for the use of his camera, and for his photos.

    The Strip Club finally opened last night in Saint Paul, and while it perhaps lacked the expected tits-and-ass show, many a mouth was watering throughout the evening.

    I must confess, I had absolutely no intention of going — after all, this is Iggers and Bauer turf I’m stomping on here, and they’re hardly run-of-the-mill opponents. But several email exchanges later (the power of the internet), I found myself with boots in hand. Maybe I was swayed by the misguided idea that three or more people wanted to see me. (I’m sure they hardly cared, but it’s so hard to tell with you stoic Minnesotans. Perhaps it’s merely a convenience to think so.) Maybe I finally caved into a self-imposed sense of responsibility to get out more and offer first-hand accounts. Or maybe I just needed a drink.

    Thanks to Max Sparber and Courtney Mault, I got one. (And you can blame them, and a few other, for this post you’re getting as a result.)

    The Strip Club — a joint venture between Tim Niver (who greeted us with great enthusiasm) and Aaron Johnson, of the Town Talk Diner, and Chef J.D. Fratzke, previously of Muffuletta — sits in Dayton’s Bluff, on the corner of Maria and 6th Street. The space is beautiful, charming, in fact — smaller and far more refined than the Town Talk, with the elegance of Muffuletta. The main level has a beautiful bar in which I could easily see finding a regular stool, and somewhere around 10-12 tables from which to choose. The decor is simple and elegant — white painted brick loosely speckled with mirrors (a wise choice given the relatively narrow quarters).

    To the left of the entrance, however, stands a quaint old spiral staircase leading to the sweet-spot of the house. The second level, a balcony of sorts, overlooks the main floor, gives a fabulous sense of privacy (despite the fact that it contains almost as many tables as its lower half), and brandishes many fine points to admire: a wall of varied glasses (which for reasons I cannot explain, I found quite beautiful); an ornate, seemingly iron, black railing (matching the staircase); and a fireplace embedded into an actually functional door.

    This is not the most flattering photo (everyone looks so mean), but you’ll notice the fireplace mantle behind Courtney (left). Try to ignore the hideous blue ribbon on the plant — the only touch of gaudiness to be found. That entire wall panel, upon which the mantle is built, opens up into another room behind it. It is, in fact, a big square door. Precious!

     

    The menu.

    Drinks first, of course. The drink menu boasts numerous prohibition-era cocktails: the Joker, the Sidecar, the Old Fashioned — all quite good, though at your typical $8-a-pop prices. Two beers on tap — a great blonde (also at $8) and an unconvincing porter (with a strangely bitter afterbite). Numerous bottled beers. And a great looking, somewhat modest, wine list. The wine list actually surprised me by not emulating every other wine list in town. A nice selection indeed.

    The food.

     

    I’ll go anywhere for a good glass of wine with escargot. When I was three years old I took my own bag of snails (from the beach) to a restaurant in Spain and asked them to cook them for me. The waiter took the bag, winking at my bewildered mother, and brought me out a dish of their escargot — which I eagerly devoured, thinking they were mine.

    The Strip Club escargot did not disappoint — though, I must say, it’s almost a crime to not serve some bread with which to wipe the plate. (The bread is a bit pricey at $4 a plate — which includes about five pieces.)

    This is, of course, just one of many Small Plates offered on the menu — making that regular stool at the bar that much more desirable.

    The Lady’s Night Shrimp Scampi, served in a champagne glass, was quite good. And the deviled eggs have a wonderfully spicy touch of curry and chili oil.

    Max went nuts over the whole scallions served with the Ploughman’s Lunch — essentially a port wine cheese plate. At least this came with crackers. And the crackers were quite wonderful, though oddly, despite their perfect plainness, they seemed to overwhelm the cheese.

    I didn’t try any of the main courses — no strip steak for me — but those that did seemed more than satisfied.

    The set-up is great. Steaks come with a choice of eight different toppings (or none, like the one above) — ideal for all tastes. A couple members of our party raved about their steaks, while one lone member seemed unimpressed. "It’s ok." (More stoicism perhaps?)

    The burgers were a hit all around.

    Cooked to perfection. It’s nice when medium really means medium.

     

    If presentation were everything, I’d have to give it up to the dessert.

    Our party ordered this beautiful pear dish.
    But when it came time to actually eat it…

    They had a little trouble getting the forks in. The pear wasn’t cooked, you see; and pears aren’t exactly the softest of fruits. I’d guess a little baking time — perhaps poaching to preserve the juices — would soften it up, bring out the flavor, and better swathe the chocolate at the core.

    Overall, the experience was delightful: the space charming, the drinks intoxicating (and, yes, delicious), the food satisfying, the presentation all-around lovely, and the service absolutely fabulous — but, judging from Tim’s visits to the table and a final round of shots on the house, I gather we may have had somewhat special treatment. A smart man (men, actully, since the other owners were involved), indeed. It’s never a bad idea to treat a group of local bloggers well on opening night! Never a bad idea at all. See for yourself: Aaron’s post, Ed’s post, and Courtney’s photos. Trust me, their photos are far better than the ones here. (Sorry, Rich. Don’t take it personally. Your camera has a better sense of humor.)