Bellecour

John and I visited Bellecour recently. He had not been yet and I was more than willing to go back. I'd managed to get a reservation just the day before. Must have been a cancellation or something. It's worth keeping an eye on openings even if they are booked.

I don't have much to add since the last visit, but I wanted to share the photos of the food so we can remember what we ordered.

 seasonal sidecar and winter cup cocktails

 shrimp cocktail

 endive salad

 We both had the hanger steak.

 hanger steak and béarnaise 

My coat check ticket to hold the leftovers until it was time to go. That's a new one!

hazelnut profiteroles 

The service was excellent once more and the food was very enjoyable as well. I'd like to return for brunch sometime. The menu looks wonderful.

Here's a link to my first visit to Bellecour:
http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2017/09/bellecour.html


Bellecour
739 Lake St E
Wayzata, MN 55391
Phone: (952) 444-5200
https://bellecourrestaurant.com/

Bellecour

Stephanie and I visited Bellecour in Wayzata. We did Spoon and Stable last year and we were very excited to have another Gavin Kaysen restaurant in the western suburbs. I made a reservation well in advance, but it was not too difficult to find openings.

We arrived slightly before our reservation and were seated right away, as it was a very early reservation. Our server was Ricardo and he did a great job even though he also had a large group next to us, though we found the service became pretty slow toward the end of our visit.

We started with drinks and Stephanie had the Beach Bum, a rum cocktail. The lime on top was flaming on arrival. Super cool touch. I think I had the Daily.

Bread basket. Fresh, warm French bread.

Our first appetizer was the tuna nicoise. It had a nice citrus flavor in addition to the fresh fish. Simple, yet a bit complex.

We also shared the chilled shrimp. The garlic aioli was a nice option to the cocktail sauce.

Stephanie’s entrée was the short rib on the bone with mushrooms duxelles and sauce au poivre. The meat was very tender and flavorful.

I had the halibut with peas. It basically tasted like spring and the fish was very light and delicious.

A side of pommes frites with ketchup and garlic aioli. The aioli was great with the fries.

And since we both love dessert was both had to order one. I had the vanilla crème brulee. Plenty of actual vanilla beans in this!

And the chocolate opera cake with espresso butter cream and candied almonds. The hazelnut ice cream was very rich tasting.

We both enjoyed Bellecour a lot. It feels a bit more casual than Spoon and Stable, maybe as it is in the suburbs or near the lake. I'm not sure exactly why. The prices are definitely on the high end, but the quality of the food is very high and you won’t be disappointed.  The service could have been a touch better, but our server was helpful and friendly throughout. I look forward to going back. I think if you order carefully and left off a couple courses, the total bill could be kept lower. The bar would also be a nice option for a quick snack or drink.


Bellecour
739 Lake St E
Wayzata, MN 55391
Phone: (952) 444-5200
https://bellecourrestaurant.com/

Milton's

John and I decided to try heading back to Milton’s in Crystal as we had not been there since shortly after they opened a couple years ago. It is still going strong it appears, so they must be doing something right.

We encountered a short wait when we arrived, maybe 10 minutes, as it was the peak dinner hour. Once we were seated, our server arrived quickly to take our drink orders and checked back as needed during our whole visit. She was very friendly and helpful.

John had the Milton's ribeye a grilled ribeye with Milton’s seasoning and aioli, arugula; served on ciabatta. He liked the sandwich and would order it again.

I had the California club, which was a chicken sandwich topped with Swiss cheese, bacon, avocado, arugula, tomato and aioli; served on a butter bun. It was very good and came with a side of fries. The sandwich was very large and used rotisserie chicken, which was very tender and juicy.

Overall, I feel like this visit to Milton’s was much better than our first visit. The food was much better, maybe we ordered better items and the service was great.


Link to our first visit: http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2013/08/miltons-vino-vittles-and-beer.html


Milton’s Vittles, Vino, Beer
3545 Douglas Drive
Crystal, MN 55422
(763) 535-9373
miltonsvvb.com

Milton's Vino, Vittles and Beer

Oh Milton’s….how I really, really wanted to love this place, but I can’t. It is conveniently located quite close to home in Crystal. The location is in a boring old strip mall, but they have done a nice job with the interior and made it look cute in a shabby chic kind of way. It is a small place, only 12-14 tables or so plus a small bar area. And it is not a chain, which is tough to come by in the suburbs. The tap beer list was short, but interesting. They have a larger selection of bottled beer as well as a selection of wine available. Sounds good so far, right? Unfortunately, our food was the lowlight of our visit.

John had the ribeye sandwich and it was not good at all. The meat did not resemble steak at all, unless you consider Steak Umms to be real meat. It tasted like processed meat and was very dry and salty and certainly not worth the $10.95 they charged for it. The French fries were nothing special either, just your standard frozen French fries.

I had the pork rib nachos which sounded great, but tasted overwhelmingly like salt. The dish certainly looked attractive with sliced avocado, tomatoes and a special spicy sauce drizzled on top . The salted commercial chips and salty pork rib meat made it too much to handle. Maybe if the chips been free of salt and homemade this dish would have been good, but it was not.

I’m not sure if we will give Milton’s another try or not. Maybe in a couple months we should go back and see if things have changed at all. Maybe we ordered the wrong items and need to give it another chance. The menu seems a bit short and limited right now. Hopefully they are still working on refining it. Unfortunately, the food is just tastes like overpriced and dressed up items right off the Sysco truck. I had been hoping for so much more.


Milton’s Vittles, Vino, Beer
3545 Douglas Drive
Crystal, MN 55422
(763) 535-9373
miltonsvvb.com