Kyndred Hearth

We checked out the Kyndred Hearth restaurant in the Omni Lakes hotel at the Viking Lakes development where the Vikings practice facility and headquarters is located in Eagan. The hotel sits on the edge of the small Vikings stadium on the site, so it has a bit of a view. We normally would not drive quite so far but cabin fever has made us willing to go out of our way apparently. It was a beautiful hotel and restaurant. The hotel would be a nice spot for a local staycation. 

wood fired meatballs with pomodoro and ricotta

mixed mushroom pizza with cremini, shiitake and portabella mushrooms, taleggio fontina, tarragon

Orecchiette pasta with fennel sausage, garlic, charred rapini

smoked manhattan cocktail 

The server knowledgeable and attentive. The food was all very good and arrived hot and fresh. We had plenty of food and took some home for lunch the next day. 

The restaurant is an Ann Kim restaurant. She operates several other restaurants in Minneapolis we like a lot, including Pizza Lola and Young Joni. I am not sure this was as good as Young Joni, but it was certainly similar. 

Kyndred Hearth
2611 Nordic Way 
Eagan, MN 55121
Phone: (651) 689-9850
https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/viking-lakes-minnesota/dining/kyndred-hearth

Bar LaGrassa

Bar LaGrassa has been around for quite a few years now, and somehow we have never dined there, which is too bad because we were really missing great food and service. It is a busy place, even still, so reservations are recommended, though I'm sure you can sneak in at the bar or pasta bar pretty easily.

Complimentary starter snack-  it was a few types of beans. I think we also had some bread. 

Seared sea scallops with fresh peas

Langoustine crudo- very fresh and delicious. These taste sort of like lobster. 

calamarata with raw tuna. I had read about this dish audit was as fantastic as it sounded. Fresh cold tuna on a hot pasta, so flavorful.

penne rigate with shrimp- it was basically shrimp scampi. This was a very tasty and filling dish.

Roasted carrots with mint, yogurt and sesame. These carrots were amazing and so full of flavor. Just seeing this photo makes me want to go back and order them again. I can't even being to guess what all goes into this dish, but I suspect it is more complex than it sounds.

The service and food were all very good throughout our visit. I look forward to returning again.

Bar La Grassa
800 N Washington Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 333-3837
http://www.barlagrassa.com

Caio Bella

John had received a Ciao Bella gift card from his team  at work for the holidays, so we recently went for dinner. We made a reservation in advance, I am not sure it was necessary, this is a very large restaurant, but we did not have to wait for a table this way, even though it was not crowded when we arrived.

John had never been to Ciao Bella and I had not been for many years, probably since I worked in Bloomington, so it took us awhile to decide on our selections from the large menu.

John had the cacao e pepe, the grilled shrimp with pecorino, cracked peppercorn and parmigiana reggiano served over spaghetti. There were six large shrimp over the spaghetti and it was a large portion.

I had the short rib and roasted tomato ravioli with caramelized onion and thyme. The ravioli were stuffed with the short rib meat and were cooked perfectly. The tomato and onion were served on top and added a lot of savory flavor to the dish.

The service was very good and we both enjoyed all of our food a lot. For some reason we usually do not crave Italian food, but whenever we have it, it is very good and we enjoy it a lot, when it is done well, so we should give it a try more frequently.


Ciao Bella
3501 Minnesota Dr
Minneapolis, MN 55435
Phone: (952) 841-1000
http://ciaobellamn.com/

Loring Pasta Bar

We went back to the Loring Pasta Bar recently as we were in Dinkytown for hockey game recently. I had called ahead for a reservation, which was probably a good idea since it filled up pretty quickly as they had been closed for a wedding earlier in the afternoon.

key lime martini was rich, creamy and fantastic!

John had the flat iron teak adobo with baby red potatoes, watercress salad, chimichurri burgundy demi-glace, mushroom and eggplant risotto. He said the steak was excellent and cooked medium even though the server never asked how he wanted it cooked.

I had the goat cheese ravioli with house made ravioli, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, chicken. It was very filling with lots of tender ravioli and I loved the goat cheese as opposed to dairy cheese.

The food was excellent once again and the service was pretty good. The room and ambiance were great as always, there was a three piece band playing on stage throughout the meal. This is defiantly one of the more upscale choices in Dinkytown as the area is mostly fast food and bars.

Loring Pasta Bar
327 14th Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 378-4849
http://loringpastabar.com/

D'Amico & Sons

We recently visited the D'Amico and Sons location in Golden Valley for dinner because John signed up for their loyalty club and received a coupon for a buy one get one free entree. It is so close, but we rarely think to visit for some odd reason.

John had the oven roasted garlic shrimp with spaghetti. It was a generous portion and had excellent flavor. John inhaled it in short order.

I had the Tuscan pot roast with beef, carrots, roasted garlic, parsley, and horseradish sauce with roasted Romano potatoes. The meat had a bit of tomato sauce in it and was very tender. The carrots were lightly sautéed and excellent and the horseradish sauce was the real deal and very strong. I really enjoyed this and will order it again.

The food was excellent and even though it is just counter service they stopped by the table to ask if the food was ok. We enjoyed it a lot and intend to return very soon. The menu has a nice variety, though sandwiches are only available at lunch, they offer salads, soups and pastas as well.


D'Amico & Sons
7804 Olson Memorial Highway
Golden Valley, MN 55427
Ph: 763-546-1166
http://www.damicoandsons.com/

Amore Victoria

We visited Amore Victoria in Uptown recently to enjoy a nice Friday night on the patio and to use another one of the Chinook book coupons. We were seated on the rooftop patio right away. The patio is quite nice, though it lacks the impressive views of some of the other patios in Uptown, it is cute, quiet and laid back.

We started with a couple of happy hour beers and ordered the bruschetta to start. The happy hour version is a smaller portion for just $5 and it was quite tasty.

For my entrée, I ordered the Fusilli Milli Gusti, which the menu described as fusilli pasta prepared in a creamy garlic Bolognese sauce,  with fresh zucchini, asparagus, peas, walnuts, mushrooms, red peppers, Kalamata olives, capers, carrots, wine and prosciutto. Baked with mozzarella. It was ok. The sauce was not creamy in the slightest and it ended up tasting more like vegetable soup. The portion was certainly large though. $15.

John had the Grazies Sweet Basil Sauce that had tender chicken breast, shiitake mushrooms, prosciutto, white wine, oven roasted roma tomatoes, red onions, fresh ground basil and a touch of organic cream  atop house made fettuccine. John liked his entree more than I liked mine and finished almost all of it. He thought the noodles tasted freshly made. $18.

The service was OK, we found we were waiting for our server to come back a few times to take our order for food and bring additional beverages. Based on the average quality of our entrees, the prices seemed a bit high, though the portions were generous. The atmosphere on the rooftop was nice and there is a small parking lot for off street parking in the back, so that made visiting much easier.

Deals & discounts: $10 off a $40 purchase in the Chinook book. Also they have an excellent daily happy hour with food and beverage specials. Current information is not on the website, so call or visit for more information.

Amore Victoria

1601 W Lake St

Minneapolis, MN 55408

(612) 823-0250

http://amorevictoria.com/

Loring Pasta Bar

Since our anniversary was coming up and we wanted to try someplace a little different, we decided to go to the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown last week for dinner. Our wedding reception was held at the Varsity theater, which is owned by the same people that own Loring Pasta Bar, so they do all of the catering for the Varsity. The food was one of the many reasons I chose the Varsity for our venue.

It looked like they had rearranged some of the seating areas and added more balcony seating, but otherwise the Loring was pretty much unchanged from six years ago. (Has it been that long since we’ve been back? I guess so!) Anyway, we made a reservation, but it was probably not needed, as the restaurant was not that full and they have lots of seating. Though our table was very tiny, hardly enough room for our plates and drinks and it was in the walkway so John kept having people bump into his chair. For ambiance they had a band playing downstairs, and the sound levels were perfect. It was loud enough you could hear the music, but not so loud that you had to yell to converse.

I had the chicken ravioli napolitana, which had mozzarella and chevre cheeses, tomatoes, roasted garlic and olive oil on top. I really liked this dish. The pasta was cooked perfectly and it had rich flavors in every bite.

 John had the spaghetti with meatballs. Make that meatball. A gigantic meatball. The spaghetti was cooked to a perfect al dente.   The meatball had a nice spice to it too.

We ordered the crème brulee for dessert. It sounded so good, I could not pass it up. And it was excellent.

The service was good, though the server was a bit slow to refill the water glasses on a couple occasions.

By the way, we learned the hard way that the Loring pasta Bar offers valet parking for just $3. We did not see that until we were walking up to the door and have driven around the area and parked in a ramp for far more money.

Deals and Discounts: 20% off for students excluding Fridays and Saturdays 5-close.


Loring Pasta Bar
327 14th Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 378-4849
http://loringpastabar.com/

Broder's Pasta Bar

We visited Broder’s recently because I was in the mood for some butternut squash ravioli and I saw they had it on their menu online. We arrived on a Friday night around 6pm and, as expected, encountered a 30 minute wait.

We waited outside in the heated patio area and enjoyed a drink while we waited. We were seated right on time and at the bar itself. I think this restaurant is always busy. But there is a good reason for that!

We started with the calamari with cucumber, radish, ricotta salata and caper tartar beneath it. The calamari was perfect. It wasn’t greasy at all nor chewy, light as air. We both liked the radish and cucumbers underneath. The caper tartar was great for dipping the calamari in.

When we were seated our server told us about the two daily specials and I was distracted from my ravioli mission. I tried the daily pasta special which was stringozzi with butternut squash, langostino, herbs and cream sauce. So it still had squash in it, just a slightly different format. The stringozzi pasta was like a thicker and slightly flat version of a spaghetti noodle. There were bits of cubed butternut squash mixed in the sauce along with langostino. The sauce was rich and creamy, but there was not so much of it that it was smothered in the sauce. I really enjoyed this dish.

John had the stringozzi alla spoletina which was house made pasta with tomatoes, olive oil and  garlic with chicken. This was the same noodle type that I had in my dish, except his dish had a ton of fresh tomatoes and tons of garlic flavor. It was also very good.

The service was quite good. Nothing memorable, though he was there when we needed him and our water glasses were filled regularly. Overall, our visit to Broder’s was very enjoyable and I look forward to returning soon. It is certainly worth the wait.


Broder’s Pasta Bar
5000 Penn Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 925-9202
http://broders.com/

Parma 8200

Stephanie and I met for dinner the other day and decided to try Parma 8200 in Bloomington. It is located in one of the office buildings right off 494 and 100, but it is not in  visible location, so I tend to forget all about it.

The room is very open and yet cozy and comfortable all at the same time. Definitely and inviting atmosphere. And it is easy to forget you are in an office building. They even have a nice patio out back. They even had a jazz trio playing in the bar while we were there. The music was at a good level, not loud at all. We were seated right away, though I had made a reservation on Open Table in case it was busy. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but it filled up later on.

We started with the fried Sicilian rice balls at the recommendation of our server. They sounded odd to me at first, but they were very tasty. The red sauce on top was very tart and I liked the contrast of the crisp exterior against the soft rice inside. Stephanie also ordered the apple salad, but I forgot to take a photo of it. It was amazing with a wonderful gorgonzola dressing, candied hazelnuts, apples and romaine lettuce.

I ordered the Friday special of the shrimp risotto. It had a generous portion of shrimp, asparagus and risotto. I could not finish it and ended up taking the leftovers home to eat the next day. The sauce was very rich and creamy.

My poor photo skills are in play again here. Stephanie ordered the broiled lemon chicken and it was amazing. I had a few bites and it had a tart lemon sauce with perfectly cooked chicken and delicious roasted potatoes and arugula.

Our entrees took a long time to arrive, but we really had not even noticed as we were visiting and having fun. The manager stopped by to let us know what the delay was and offered to take the lemon chicken off the bill and also offered us a complimentary dessert as well. So we were very happy about that as we were probably going to order dessert anyway. Too bad more establishments do not stay ahead of issues in such a professional and proactive manner.

For dessert we ordered the butterscotch panna cotta with sea salt chocolate shortbread. This was amazing and almost as good as the butterscotch pudding we had at Tilia awhile back. Maybe better. The panna cotta was very rich and creamy and the generous amount of caramel on the top put this dessert over the top. The sea salt shortbread helped cut the sweetness of the panna cotta if your palate needed a break. I would not hesitate to order this dessert again and I’d maybe stop in just for drinks and this dessert!

Even though we had some slight issues with our food taking a long time to arrive, we had a great visit to Parma. I’d like to go back and sit on the patio sometime.

Parma 8200

5600 W 83rd St #100  

Bloomington, MN 55437

(952) 896-8888
http://www.parma8200.com/

Cosetta's

We finally made it over to St Paul the other day to check out the new and improved Cossetta's. The place is huge since they finished the new addition! The grocery store has a lot more space, as does the eatery and pizza lines. Everything is setup pretty much the same as it was before, but the room is a lot more spacious. There is even some outdoor seating for the eatery patrons on a second floor terrace.  We were there over lunch time, so the new full service sit down restaurant Louis was not open yet. The menu looks interesting and more options in St Paul are always good.

We just had pizza on this visit. Cossetta's. Best. Pizza. Ever. I think a lot of people would agree with me as well. The crust is hand tossed and just the right thickness. I love their pizza sauce as well. It is just a little bit zippy. The cheese and peperoni are good quality and plentiful. And I need to go back very, very soon!

Cossetta's
211 7th St W
St Paul, MN 55102
(651) 222-3476
http://cossettas.com/

Butcher Block

Sometimes it takes a great deal, discount or coupon to get us into a restaurant we have never been to before. I had heard a lot about Butcher Block when it opened a few years ago, but nothing ever motivated us to try it, until I saw a Crowd Cut deal awhile ago. We made reservations for a Friday night, though I'm not sure they were necessary. Upon arrival, it was pretty quiet, though it did fill up before we left.

The storefront is very small, so you have to watch for it a bit, but once inside, you go down a hallway and the room opens up to a pleasant, open, brick lined room. We started off with a couple of drinks and some bread. We skipped salads or an appetizer and decided to see how full we were after our entrees and maybe order dessert.

I had the fettuccine with chicken and artichoke hearts. It was a very basic dish, but a very good one. The pasta was cooked perfectly and so was the chicken. The artichoke hearts added a nice tart bite to the dish. It was very delicious and I would order this again.    

Sorry for the bad photo. I need to slow down and take more time with the pictures! John had the rigatoni alla norcina, which is house ground pork sausage and truffle cream. The pasta was al dente, perfectly cooked, sausage was flavorful, but not spicy. Very, very good.

We decided to try the creme brulee for dessert. It was very tasty, with the crisp top you'd expect and a rich, creamy, custard below. I liked the cute butcher knife outline on top too!
We both enjoyed Butch Block a lot and plan to return again. I think we were pleasantly surprised. Sometimes, places offering discount certificates are a bit hit or miss. This was definitely a hit. There were a few other items on the menu we'd like to try next time. The food was great, the service was great, prices were affordable and we had a wonderful night out.

Deals & Discounts: As I mentioned before, I bought a Crowd Cut certificate awhile back for this restaurant. It was a $40 certificate for $20 and it was good on food and beverages. I must admit, in this case, the discount certificate really pulled me in and made us try a place I normally would not have visited. However, the food and service were great and we plan to return, even without a coupon.


Butcher Block
308 East Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 455-1080
http://thebutcherblockrestaurant.com

Zelo

I visited Zelo a couple times recently for weekday lunch with friends, so I thought I'd share photos of both visits. I have not been there in many years, so I was excited to go back since I have never heard anything but good things.

On the first visit, Kelly and I were able to sit outside on one of the last warm days of the fall. The patio is really nice and it faces Nicollet Mall, so there are a lot of people to watch if that is your thing at all.

Kelly had the walleye sandwich and french fries. She said it was very good and just the right amount of food for lunch time.

I tried the ahi tuna burger with fries. It was cooked perfectly to medium rare and the avocado really made the sandwich great. There was also a touch of wasabi aoli to give it a bit of extra spice and flavor. I really liked the french fries though. The menu says they are house cut fries and they were very light and crispy and not at all greasy, which is perfect.

A couple weeks later I went back with my friend Tracy from work. On this visit I tried the walleye sandwich. Kelly's looked so good last time, I thought I'd try it on this visit. I'm glad I ordered it, it was really good. The walleye was great, very mildly flavored with a really light, crispy breading. I really liked the lemon aoli sauce that gave it a nice tart bite overall. The bread was wonderful too, very light and fluffy, it tasted like milk bread that has become rather popular lately. The fries were really good again as well.

Tracy had the tortiglioni rossa and really enjoyed it. She also started with a ciao baby salad that I forgot to take a photo of. I had a bite of the salad and the pasta and both were great. The pasta was very flavorful with a wonderful tomato sauce. I really liked the sausage in the dish; it was flavorful without being spicy.

On both visits the service was excellent overall, very friendly and efficient. We were in and out of there within an hour, which is nice for a weekday lunch. Every now and then a nice sit down meal is a great change of pace from the usual cafeteria and skyway options, so I can't recommend it enough.

Deals & Discounts:
Zelo does not have too many deals that I am aware of, but they do have a happy hour Monday through Friday from 3-6pm where they offer a variety of food and drink specials for $5 each. I suspect the lineup changes, so I would suggest checking the website or calling for the most up to date information.

Zelo
831 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612.333.7000
www.zelomn.com

Campiello

I visited Campiello with a couple girlfriends on a beautiful Saturday afternoon a couple weeks ago. We sat on their patio, which is very leafy and lovely. You can hardly tell you are in a strip mall parking lot. I tend to forget that Campiello is still open since the Eden Prairie location is tucked away off highways 62 and 212. The food and ambiance were still very good even though I had not been here in some time.

Since we arrived pretty early, we were offered the early dining menu in addition to their regular menu. This is available from 5-6pm daily. I'd call or visit their website for details as I'm sure the selections change often.

Kelly and I both started with the Caesar salad. I had anchovies on mine. I have no idea why I said yes to them when the waiter asked if I wanted them. They just taste super salty, but I don't really care for them all that much. I especially liked their Caesar dressing as it had a nice strong garlic flavor.

Michele ordered the Sicilian meatballs for her appetizer. I had a bite and the sauce had amazing fresh tomato flavor.

All three of us ordered the penne pasta for our entree. This is one of my all time Campiello favorites.  The pasta has chicken, artichoke, basil, garlic and lemon in it. The chicken is the rotisserie chicken you can order as an entree, but they pull it off the bone for the pasta. It is very rich and delicious and the pasta was cooked perfectly.

The service was very attentive without being overbearing, which I prefer. The servers and busers were very good at keeping our water glasses filled as well. We had a great experience and I look forward to returning again soon.

Deals & Discounts: An early dining special menu is available from 5-6pm daily. For $24.95 you get a choice of appetizer, entree and a glass of wine. We felt this was a great value and we were able to change out the menu's wine selection with another for an additional change if we wished. There is a nice variety of appetizer and entree choices, which includes some of their most popular items such as penne, hanger steak and roasted chicken.

Campiello

6411 City W Pkwy
Eden Prairie, MN 55344

(952) 941-6868

http://www.damico.com