Saint Dinette & Strip Club - November 1, 2015
Some days you take a nice leisurely country drive and enjoy lunch in a far off place. Some days you help out a friend with some home projects. Some days you have plans to go out to dinner with friends to one of your favorite restauranteur’s restaurants, sometimes those plans become 2 restaurants. All of that happened this day.
Sometime Saturday while I was out delivering food with Open Arms my good friend, known as “dining companion” around these parts, texted and asked if I wanted to grab dinner Sunday with them, and another Twitter food friend which became real world friend, at Saint Dinette. I was already going to be out and about and I’d only had the - recently named best in the Cities by MSP Mag - burger and churros off the menu, so I was definitely game to get a chance to go a little deeper into menu.
Saint Dinette is a great space. During the day bright and airy, during the evening darker and more intimate with the internal lighting augmented by St. Paul’s street lights. Situated within sight of the new Saints Stadium and overlooking the St. Paul Farmers’ Market, I really want to check it out for brunch sometime. Maybe I’ll ride the light rail over, because parking during the Farmer’s Market is extremely scarce.
I’m not a huge cocktail connoisseur yet, I feel more comfortable talking about wine, and downright obnoxious talking about the characteristics of various beers. So I don’t delve too deep into the liquid components of my evenings unless it’s a paired dinner like the evening I ate at Piccolo. But I had the raisin cocktail at Saint Dinette and it was tasty.
Saint Dinette
Chicharones dusted with powdered cheese: light, airy, crunchy, tasty. What’s not to love about fried pig skin? I’m really glad restaurants are embracing these. Revival has some killer “Funyuns” flavored pork rinds. I won’t say either is better than the other, both are great executions. Totally off topic, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a savory bread pudding dip or spread served along side chicharones sometime, basically as an inversion of the standard bread & pate/rillette.
Tamale of salt cod, pumpkin, candied pepitas, & cilantro: interesting preparation, good taste, the pepitas added a great textural contrast to the soft cod and pureed pumpkin. The cilantro paired really well with the sweet earthiness of the pumpkin.
Matzah Ball Soup with foie gras and consommé: great broth. This being my first experience with a matzah ball, I didn’t have a frame of reference, so by definition this is both the best & the worst matzah ball soup I’ve had. From a textural standpoint I’d say it compares favorably to the drier versions of Thanksgiving stuffing I’ve had. For flavor I wished there were a touch more white pepper to complement the broth’s salt. I recommend the experience.
Turducken with cranberry, and pepper gravy: a tasty variation on the theme. The gravy was flavorful, the cranberry sauce nice and tart, the turkey skin was nice and crispy. I could have gone for more stuffing. If you want to see a picture that better captures the layers, and is better over all, please check out this one my dining companion took.
Agnolotti with lobster, chevré, and herbes de provence: this was good, a nice pasta that had a good texture and salt, sweet lobster, tart and just a little funky cheese, the herbs added a nice touch. The smaller portion was great for sharing, the larger entree portion might be a little overwhelming for one.
Milk & Honey, a panna cotta with honeycomb, burnt honey tuile, and salt: Probably the best panna cotta I’ve had. Amazing flavors and textures. The crunch of the tuile and salt played so well against the panna cotta’s silky smoothness. The toasty flavor of the tuile, sweetness of the honey, and salt were a perfect match. My dining companion declared it the second best they’ve ever had, and they’re a huge fan of panna cotta.
While dining, the three of us were ribbing one of our chef friends working at Saint Dinette’s older sister restaurant, The Strip Club Meat and Fish, via Twitter. Good natured joking about how much we like each restaurant turned into us deciding to go get a dessert beverage at The Strip Club.
What happened once we got to The Strip Club is another matter entirely.
We went with the intention of one drink. That one cocktail led to wine, then to beer, then a digestif of absinthe for me. Oh, and there ended up being food to soak up some of the juice.
The Strip Club Meat & Fish
Cheese Truffles with chèvre, bleu, almonds, pepperonata, raisins, and crostini: I posted this last time I was at Strip Club, but I think this image captures it better. Same notes as before.
Chef’s Loaded Burger the Chef’s loaded…. This is what he wants on his burger: In this case it’s mushrooms, white american, tomato, and bacon. We were lucky enough to get this when the kitchen was closing. It’s a solid burger.
French Fries served with mayonnaise and ketchup: The likelihood I’ll eat your establishment’s french fries automatically doubles when you serve them with mayo like a proper Dutch chippy, even better if it’s house made mayo.
We didn’t get another dessert at The Strip Club, we got something even better. We got to see and hold the chef’s new baby. Being a childless guy with mostly childless friends and childless siblings, holding a baby is a rare experience. During some of my volunteering I sometimes see folks that might be at the end of their journey, as I approach the logical middle of mine, it’s very humbling to meet another human that is at the very beginning of theirs.
The service, food, and experiences at both of these spots bodes very well for the upcoming Mucci. If you’ve not been to either, I recommend braving St. Paul and checking them out.
Some days start out slow, meandering, and distant. Sometimes those days end too fast, where you want to be, close to some of those that make you happy.