Northeast Minneapolis

Why are we doing this? Read our intro article.

Up to this point, we have been rather amazed at our luck in choosing Latin eateries. We started with a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis that was heavy on the seafood. Then over to St. Paul for a long established Mexican restaurant that blended in some American ways. Third was an Ecuadorian restaurant. When would our luck run out and we either find terrible food or become redundant? 

 

I’ve always been lukewarm about solstice celebrations. While the winter solstice almost seems like a cruel joke – “welcoming” sunshine and longer days as we brace ourselves for four more months of blizzards and frigid temperatures – summer solstice is more joyful, but still is accompanied by that nagging thought in the back of my head. Wait! Summer has barely started – already we’re celebrating its peak? What about all my big plans of farmers market trips, bountiful garden harvests, dinner parties… 

In early December 2010, Native Minnesotans -- and brothers -- Andrew and Adam Sieve opened Hazel's Northeast (named for their grandmother) on the corner of 29th Avenue and Johnson Street in NE Minneapolis, just two doors up from Amici Pizza and Bistro. As luck would have it, the restaurant's opening weekend was the same weekend as one of the largest Minnesota blizzards on record, with more than 17 inches of snow. Amazingly, people came. Remembering the opening, Andrew shook his head and smiled. "We had cross-country skis and sleds out front. We hoped people would embrace Hazel's, but never expected a response like that!"

I recently sat down with Cameron Adair, chef at Amici Pizza and Bistro in Northeast Minneapolis, to talk about the restaurant, which celebrates its first anniversary on February 28. The owner, Greg Pratt, and Adair, leading the kitchen, opened last year in the redecorated space formerly occupied by Snap Pizza.

Here are the details for tonight's dinner:

Where: Red Stag Super Club, Minneapolis (http://www.redstagsupperclub.com/)When: 7/29, 7:00Cost: $35 for 3 course meal, not including tax, tip, or boozeContact the Red Stag: 509 1st Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413, 612.767.7766Contact me: lee@simplegoodandtasty.com

And here's a sneak peek at the menu, just to get you excited:

Much thanks to Katie of the terrific Minnesota local food and photography blog Les Petites Images.

This is a big local, sustainable, and organic food weekend in the Twin Cities, so I thought I'd dedicate this post to a few of the events I'm most likely to try and make it to this Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26:

Brasa, a self-described "premium rotisserie" in Northeast Minneapolis (just down the block from the Red Stag Supper Club), serves only three meats:

Although it's just over a year old, I finally had a chance to visit Northeast Minneapolis' Red Stag Supper Club. Sometime between the flatbread appetizer (local butter, farm raised pork, greens) and the special chocolate dessert (4 kinds of chocolate in the cake, house-made mint ice cream), Red Stag became my favorite restaurant in the city. Here's what came in between: