Last Thursday was no potluck with too much pasta salad. Nor was it the type of garden party that has you weeding your friends' garden while getting munched by mosquitos. A wedding like gala with drunken relatives and bad speeches? Think again.
There is a reason that Toast and Taste at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is called "the best outdoor party of the summer". Don't get me wrong, there may be the time and place for parties that require you to do regrettable things like jello shots or -gasp- dance. However, if you want a fully relaxing yet engaging party with the best spread of food and wine imaginable, Toast and Taste is it.
Picture yourself in one of the nicest gardens in the state, walking along a path lit with torches when all of sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, is Joe Hatch-Surisook of Sen Yai Sen Lek. His smile draws you in and the gorgeous little plates bring on the stupor, out of which you can only utter..."yes, please". His offering--pork with tomato, chili, lemongrass, cilantro and kaffir lime served on a cucumber with a small nibble of jasmine rice--was almost mind altering. There I was, in a beautiful garden, thinking that nothing could get better, when I pop that morsel into my mouth and suddenly there were fireworks. I'm surprised that they did not have their own security to keep folks from charging the booth, but this is the Arboretum and rowdy, it wasn't.
That brings me to the beer and wine. Ahhh, yes, it always comes back to that. This might have been one of the biggest surprises. With local food being all the rage, we might tend to take for granted all of the local drinking options available to us. Even for those familiar with many of the local beers available, how do we even keep up with the many state wineries and now, some of the emerging craft liquor makers. Blessed Minnesota!
Scattered amongst the many food vendors and hidden in every corner of the gardens were wine and beer purveyors by the dozen. It took a while to warm up to some of the lingo that comes from growing grapes in a northern climate. I was not familiar with varieties like Marquette and Frontenac, but was soon educated via extreme taste bud stimulation.
Fieldstone vineyards offered a Seyval Blanc that was dry yet well rounded and refreshing on a summer night. Then as I began to dig deeper into some of the edibles from a rabbit rillette created by Vincent, A Restaurant and a wonderful Duck confit from Sopranos Italian Kitchen, I found myself drifting towards the brewers.
Lift Bridge Brewery, out of Stillwater, had samples of its Chestnut Hill brown ale and its Hop Prop IPA. The brown ale was savory and delicious and as it warmed, the nuttiness began to show itself. Another favorite was the Stagecoach amber, by the folks at the Fytenburg Brewery in Mantorville. It was a really refreshing amber with very noticeable hop notes to balance out the malts. It was one of those beers that can be dangerous for a guy like me.
By now it is quite obvious that I was having a good time, and if you stick enough well-prepared, local food, beer and wine in front of me, I give a big thumbs up until I fall down. I will never be one of those people who picks apart something until all possible enjoyment is sucked out of it. What I do really appreciate though, is the attitude and manner of those around me. At the arboretum, it is almost all smiles and goodwill (except for those poor fools who show up late and are desperately trying to shovel as much food and drink into their mouths as possible).
It was quite contagious, especially when you see the owners themselves sweating it out happily behind their products. I've never been to a place where folks like Brenda from Spoon River and JD of St. Paul's Strip Club are so happily dishing out their wares and then will gladly have a conversation about the arboretum, the farmers who contributed or even Nascar (ok, that didn't happen, but I bet it could've).
Throughout the whole event, it wasn't just unhappy hired help slopping food down on plates for minimum wage. It was proud winemakers talking about the challenges of growing and selling wine in Minnesota, brewers talking about policy and sourcing of product, and chefs geeking out about the newest food find.
The crowd seemed to know that they were lucky and had no problem driving down to Chanhassen and spending both their time and money at an event like this. More than 800 folks were willing to give to the Arboretum and everyone I spoke to seemed to think that it was the best deal around. Maybe that's why they were so well behaved. They thought they were getting away with a crime.
On the way out, I had to have a reuben slider with house cured corned beef from the Bryant Lake Bowl and then of course had to wash it down with a Brau Bros scotch ale...and pilz...and their ringneck braun ale. The only thing that might have been missing: an escort to get me the heck out of there and a chaffeur for the ride home. Otherwise, it is like a dizzying maze of deliciousness and when it spits you out, you have to find your own way home...to leftovers and bran flakes. It just isn't fair.
Lawrence Black is a writer and editor at Simple, Good and Tasty. He can be reached at lawrence@simplegoodandtasty.com.
