Revival - October 27, 2015
Social media is a weird and sometimes wonderful thing. It was at Revival, in the last bit of May, that I looked left and couldn’t help but feel I knew the person sitting at the table next to ours. They looked so familiar. I’m a shy person, and they looked like they were on a date, so I didn’t interrupt.
The next day, in my Twitter timeline, I saw their food. I did recognize them! We’d been following each other for a while and had some pleasant interactions. I didn’t think anything of it because Twitter is Twitter, the rest of the the world is outside. But then a few days later I got notified about a mention, they were asking if I was going to the same event they were. I’d been seriously considering it, but wasn’t sure until then.
We briefly met, and ran into each other a couple times at the event. We later met up for dinner at Pizzeria Lola and have been frequent dining companions since. Our interactions have opened up the floodgates to new friends and experiences. My social circles have grown greatly in size and quality since we first officially met.
That’s how I ended up back at Revival tonight. Some times when one of us tweets and a person that the I don’t necessarily follow favorites or chimes in with a reply and I get a notification, I’ll look at their feed and if they look like they tweet frequently enough and have some interesting content, I’ll follow them. Same goes for retweets by this ever growing circle. I’ve grown a little more judicious because I want to see and enjoy the content of the people I’ve chosen to follow. Too many and a lot of tweets get lost to the aether, unless another person I follow performs some necromancy and their recent reply makes an hours old tweet rise from the dead. It was one of these replies that I noticed one of the people I was following was looking for a bourbon pecan pie for their grandfather’s 90th birthday. They’d checked the usual suspects including Revival, which does make a pretty good one with sorghum syrup instead of corn syrup, but it’s not currently on the menu. I surreptitiously checked the menus of all the bourbon and Southern famous spots in town Butcher & The Boar, 4 Bells, and Como Dockside - none of them had it either. So I offered to bake how ever many they needed. I’ve got skills. As payment, barter, or whatever you call it, they treated me to equally great conversation and food. I’ll have a post about the pie(s) either Saturday or Sunday.
Revival Burger with double patty, american cheese, mayo, bread & butter pickles, added bacon - The first time I had this burger I couldn’t give it a completely fair assessment, the bottom bun had been toasted too long, almost to the point of burnt, so it had an off flavor; I felt the burger was probably great, but the flavors were muddled by the over charred bun. I’m happy to say that this burger is amazing. If you’ve read my Borough or St. Dinette Instagram posts, you know I posed the theory that among the fave 5 (Nighthawks, Il Foro, Revival, Parlour, and St. Dinette), it might be a nostalgia for whichever one you tried first that ultimately decides your best, tonight’s conversations didn’t dissuade me from that notion.
Mac & Cheese - amazing as always, a lot of pepper as it should be, cheesy, crunchy top, nice cavatappi pasta instead of the far lesser elbow macaroni. If you’ve ever enjoyed macaroni, or any type of noodle casserole, get this.
Tennessee Hot Chicken - This is their bread and butter (no pickle pun intended), they’re a fried chicken restaurant first and foremost and with good reason. This is hot without being overpowering, extremely flavorful, and inside the great crust, very moist. While Kingfield, the neighborhood of Minneapolis Revival resides in, is one of the neighborhoods I will seriously consider when moving, when walking to the restaurant I noticed an apartment above it and was extremely thankful I didn’t live there. I don’t think I’d want to live above or in the building of a favorite restaurant, but above Revival would be more dangerous than most aside from maybe World Street Kitchen or Strip Club.
White Cheddar Grits - good, solid, could use maybe a touch of white pepper, but entirely enjoyable.
Collard Greens - it isn’t a Southern restaurant if it doesn’t have a preparation of this staple, Revival’s are good, if a touch to sweet for me. Still enjoyable.
Hoppin’ John - A dish that I became aware of while watching one of the seasons of Mind of a Chef when Sean Brock was taking about it. I haven’t had it anywhere but Revival, but the flavors are great - Carolina Gold rice, black eyed peas, onion, and ham. The textures are good too, the peas aren’t too mushy, the rice still has some resiliency.
Biscuits and Sorghum Butter - I enjoy them, they’re a good biscuit, but I don’t think these biscuits epitomize what a biscuit can be. I’m still looking for the biscuits I remember from trips to the southern portion of the country. I’ll sing praises when I do find them.
Banana Cream Pie - should probably be called Cream Banana Pie, so much cream. Whatever you call it, unless you hate bananas and joy, you’ll call it really, really good. Great crust, super banana flavor, and the cream is great. I’m glad I was dining in a group, I would have made a scene if I was eating this alone.
Revival will end up being a restaurant that I lose count of how many times I’ve been there, but somehow will clearly recall every one of them fondly.