Scena Tavern - December 6, 2015
“Multiple discovery” is a phenomenon in science whereby multiple teams or scientists discover a theory or actualize an invention at roughly the same time. Calculus was formulated independently by a lot of folks in 17th century. The same thing happens in media as well but it’s called “Dueling Works.” Think “Antz” vs. “Bug’s Life,” “Deep Impact” vs. “Armageddon,” or “She’s All That” vs. “Drive Me Crazy” (not really on the last one, but they were slightly similar).
It seems Minneapolis is experiencing this lately with restaurants. Specifically Italian themed ones that have crudo. Monello, Il Foro, Parella, and now Scena Tavern.
I wanted to check out Scena specifically because of the people doing the menu design, both food and drinks. For food it’s Food & Wine best new chefs Jamie Malone and Erik Anderson, they’re getting ready to buildout and open the highly anticipated Brut mid-next year. For drinks it’s the always great Bittercube team, they always seem to come up with some amazing cocktails. Opening wine program is no joke either with a list curated by sommelier Bill Summerville, formerly of La Belle Vie and Spoon and Stable.
I was fortunate enough to score an invitation to one of their pre-opening evenings by interacting with them on various social media platforms. I was able to bring a few friends. Some of the usual suspects weren’t available, but thankfully I have deep well of good friends to draw from. I invited Rachel, another Rachel, and Andrea. We’d all dined together previously at both Libertine and Ramen Kazama. The second Rachel had been to restaurant soft openings before, but I think it was first Rachel and Andrea’s first. I’ve been to a few, either as part of Kickstarter rewards, being a regular, or winning silent auctions at charity events.
It was a trip going the night we did. A lot of chefs of my favorite restaurants were in the room. Spoon and Stable, Zen Box, Haute Dish, Nighthawks, Birdie, Surly Brewer’s Table, and a few others were well represented.
The space is eerily reminiscent of another restaurant in the same complex of buildings, with a few more rounded edges and much better lighting.
We sampled a fair amount of the opening menu. We were notified that the crudo of steelhead with brown butter had been extremely popular and was no longer available, I still want to go back and try that one.
Crudo of Red Prawns with citrus, oregano, and black olive: good, but not the favorite crudo of the night. I liked the texture, and the flavors were fresh.
Crudo of Scallops with isot pepper, lardo, and shallot: We thought this was great. The scallops were nice and firm, and the characteristic sweetness definitely presented itself. The various preparations on the shallot lent to a great combination of textures and flavors. I’m sure the lardo lent something, but can’t quickly recall its contribution.
Scena has a great bread program. We really enjoyed the variety and some of the novel takes on traditional styles like a pretzel Pain d’Epi.
Piadini of Wild Mushrooms with summer savory honey and taleggio: Great mushroom flavor, lots of umami that was accented by the salt from the cheese and the sweet and savory from the honey. Given the excellent bread program I think the crust was just a tad bit off, I’ll probably give it another shot in the near future to see if it was just an aberration.
Pappardelle with veal tongue bolognese: good, great texture on the noodles, the flavor of the bolognese was good. One of the members of the dining party was a little wary about eating veal tongue, but then forgot that was one of the dishes we ordered and had some of everything. I think she ended up liking it, even if that declaration included some choice language.
Bucatini with ‘Nduja, egg yolk, and garlic and herb breadcrumbs: We really liked this one, it had a great spice and the egg yolk added a good amount of fat to help balance it. The noodles had a good texture.
Grilled Swordfish with olives, herbs, and chilies: This was really good. Nice firm flesh, great moisture in the filet, the olives and chilies were reminiscent of Chicago style giardiniera, in a good way.
Charred Broccolini with chilies, olive oil, and lemon with shredded parm: I’m a sucker for grilled or charred vegetables from the brassica genus. I usually prefer that carbonization to be adorned with Asian spicing, but this was really good too. Great textures and flavors, I’d definitely order again.
Marsican with plantation 5 year rum, coconut water, cacao nib liquer, cinnamon syrup, Blackeye nitro cold brew, and pistachio dust: Marco, recognizable Eat Street Social barman and frequent Bittercube collaborator wanted us to try this so he graciously split it into four kids’ tea party sized glasses. It’s a long list of ingredients, but they work really well together. Would definitely recommend.
Zeppole (ricotta donuts): Tasty. What’s not to love about fried dough that has cheese as an ingredient? These were especially tasty dipped in the remnants of the Affogato with milk chocolate gelato (not pictured).
We also had walnut gelato in brioche, which remind me of the similar ice cream and bread Philippines’ street food. I don’t think that desert was easy to share so I can’t make a good comment on it. When I go back, if I have it, I’ll make sure to get a picture and indicate how it is as an ice cream sandwich as intended.
I’m wondering if Uptown can support two similar restaurants (Scena and Parella) in such close proximity. I wonder how Scena will do when Jamie and Erik step away and put their energies into Brut. I wonder if we’ve reached peak crudo.