Firelake Grill House & Cocktail Bar - 31 7th St. S, Minneapolis

As our mission is to experience restaurants that focus on local and sustainable ingredients, we visited Firelake for the letter 'F'; an establishment that employs regionally selected products from small farms. Firelake has an expansive exhibition kitchen where diners can watch the wood-burning rotisserie and the mesquite open flame grill. The menu is a blend of classic Midwestern cuisine with a Mediterranean touch. They have a nice selection of wines, including some local options, and beers, hard cider, and some interesting sounding cocktails. The bloody Marys are highly recommended!

After starting to sip our wine, we realized that an appetizer was a must! We settled on the Five Layer Spinach Fondue with Asiago Flat Bread. Neither were amazing. The bread had a nice light, garlicy flavor. The fondue was on the thin side, almost like a queso dip, and nothing that anyone in our group couldn't whip up at home.

As we were quite famished on this particular evening, a soup and salad were our next order of business. The Minnesota Salad and Fresh Corn & Crawfish Bisques were ordered! The Salad consisted of mixed greens topped with cranberry-wild rice croutons, Stickney Hill chevre, onion, bacon, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, and a balsamic vinaigrette. The bisque was fabulous! The succulent pieces of crawfish were swimming in a delicious blend of pureed corn and cream.

Since the corn and crawfish combination worked so well, I thought I'd keep it going with the Heirloom Corn Crusted Walleye. This one didn't work so well for me! The corn breading was unimaginative, the fish had many bones still in place, and the fact that it came with fries instead of a vegetable was a letdown.

Luckily, the other fish we ordered wasn't so disappointing! The Hardwood Grilled Pesto Salmon topped with a tomato-basil relish, and served with white cheddar and herb mashed potatoes was tasty. It didn't really have a pesto flavor, the salmon had a nice smoky, woodsy flavor. The potatoes were a typical cloud of flavored mashed potatoes.

Another of the entrees that we sampled was the Dry Aged Heirloom Pork Porterhouse. This was a great cut of meat cooked perfectly, however, it had a major sweet overtone due to the, raisins, pine nuts, sweet & sour onion compote, and bacon caramel.

One of the highlights of the evening was the Mushroom & Asparagus Gnudi. We added the grilled salmon option, which was coated in a delicious rub. The Gnudi was blended with oven dried tomatoes, woodland mushrooms, hazelnuts, white balsamic vinegar, and mushroom stock. This dish was a great balance of protein, carbs, and vegetables.

The Rotisserie Angus Strip Loin & Prawns was uneventful. The hand carved, smokey flavored, beef was over cooked and dry, and the tomato scampi butter sauce lacked any zip! The prawns were good and the white cheddar-herb mashed potatoes were a repeat of the other entree's.

Though it has become tradition to end our meal with an offering from the dessert menu, we did not indulge ourselves on this evening. Since it took us so long to get both our drinks and meal, there just wasn't enough time left in our evening for the Cherry Rhubarb Brown Betty!

Firelake is located in downtown Minneapolis and is attached to the Radisson Hotel. The decor and ambiance reflected both of these characteristics. The service upon our arrival was quite attentive, but as the evening progressed our waitress seemed to lose interest in our group (and therefore we didn't get dessert). The menu items were reasonably/average priced, however, we were quite disappointed with the selection of items. Firelake uses local ingredients and since it was the height of summer harvesting in Minnesota, we felt they should have utilized more of those fresh produce options. Most of the menu had a heavy, 'comfort food' feel. If you are looking for a wintery happy hour destination, Firelake might be for you. If you want something as fresh as cut grass, go elsewhere!

Other recommendations from our club that start with an 'F':
-Fat Lorenzo's, amazing deep-dish pizzas, with a selection of hoagies and pastas
-French Meadow Bakery, an all day menu of delicious, fresh, organic fare
-Fuji Ya, in my top two for Sushi. Their creative rolls are both beautiful and delicious!!

Next month's destination - Good Earth (Roseville)

Bon Appitte!!

Everest on Grand - 1278 Grand Ave. St. Paul

For the letter 'E', we embarked on a journey to Everest on Grand, a Nepalese restaurant, with a varied and extensive menu of samosas, momo, pakoras, and both vegetarian and meat curries. They had a short list of wine, beer, and cider. Our samplings included a Taj Mahal (brew from India), Angry Planet Pale Ale (from Flat Earth - a local brewery), and the Rush River Cider (from River Falls, WI).

We began our climb through the culinary offerings of Everest with Yak Momo, a steamed dumpling with ground yak (local, grass fed www.yak-man.com), a mix of veggies, cliantro, caraway seeds, and other spices. It was steamed to perfection (there was none of that typical crispy bottom or under cooked skin) and was served with a delicious Momo Achar, a house made sauce of cliantro, tomato,and Nepali spices. The Anchar is what made this dish memorable! It was reminiscent of a Mexican salsa, but the tangy, roasted tomatoes added a surprising twist.

Our next sampling was Daal, a lentil and urad (mung bean) soup. The lentils and beans were blended with garlic, butter, and ginger to create a grainy texture that made a great dipping medium for the Poori, a fried wheat dough. Porri tastes like a flatbread; rather bland on it's own, but it makes for great dipping in the many sauces that were served!

The Bhedako Maasu (Lamb Curry) was anything but a typical curry dish. It combined a succulent, cubed leg of lamb with ginger, garlic, tomato, and a blend of spices. This delicious curry was much heavier on the tomato than a typical curry and was somewhat similar to a chili or sorts (though eaten over rice).

Another of our samplings of Nepali cusine was the Maasu Dalla (Turkey Meatballs). These meatballs consisted of a ground turkey combined with onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro and tomato sauce.

I reached the top of Everest when I had my first bite of the Bheda-Ko-Sekuwa (Boneless, Roasted Lamb). I didn't need to consult the Dahli Lama to know that this was by far the best lamb I have ever tasted! It was marinated and then perfectly grilled with a slightly charred crust and thoroughly cooked but still moist inside. This decident lamb was served over a bed of green peppers, onions, and tomatoes and a side of a fresh, house made cilantro and mint sauce. All of the flavors were so distinct but in unison.

If you are looking for what one might think is typical of Indian cuisine, the Tikka Masala (Marinated Chicken) would be for you. The chicken is cooked in a flkka (heavy cream) sauce with a mixture of herbs and curry flavors. This had a creamy, heavy on the milk, flavor when compared to most yellow curries.

Every great meal ends with dessert, and we ended ours with Jerri (Julebi). A wheat flour batter that is deep fried into rings and then soaked in sugar syrup. It was somewhere in between a funnel cake and a fortune cookie dripping with syrup. It was rather interesting, but with one bite I had ingested my daily amount of oil and sugar.

The building and decor of Everest were quite simple. Many pictures of Mt. Everest dotted the walls and tables. The service was quite slow, however on the night of our visit it was packed wall to wall the entire time we dined. The menu items were reasonably priced (we also used Restaurant.com to purchase a $25 off coupon on top of that) . If you are sharing, the combo would be the way to go. We rated Everest as our second favorite restaurant that we have been to so far!

Other recommendations from our club that start with an 'E':

-Ecopolitan
-Egg & I
-Erte

Next month's destination -Firelake Grill House and Cocktail Bar
Bon Appitte!!