Krik's Picks

Last March, I wrote about the opening of a new hotel and condominium complex which consisted of a renovation and new construction surrounding the Ivy Tower . The Ivy Tower had been a dilapidated, vacant office building in downtown Minneapolis . The restaurant in the new Ivy Hotel & Residence is called Porter & Frye . In March, I just stopped in for a drink with a couple of coworkers. Now, three months later, I finally had a chance to give it a try. A public relations agency I’ve done some work with invited me to a lunch meeting. We all agreed that Porter & Frye would be the place. We met promptly at noon. There weren’t too many patrons for lunch. But it was the day after Memorial Day. I was disappointed, however, that the classy lower level dining room was not open. Our table was in the lobby level pub/lounge. It wasn’t like eating in the bar. But it’s definitely not the same ambiance as the dining room. The lunch menu is very promising. There an ampl...

Sometimes, when I sit down to write a review for Krik’s Picks, I have to really think about the meal I’m writing about and I struggle for words to describe the ambiance and/or the food. On the other hand, though I’ve only eaten at Luigino in DC a few times, both lunches and dinners, and the memory of some of those previous meals leaps immediately to mind. The first time I ever had ossobuco was at Luigino. Yum! I also had a wonderful, simple lunch of gnocchi there. And once when my wife was with me, she had an insalata di mare (shrimp, scallops, and squid with white beans, dressed in olive oil and lemon juice) that was so amazing that she still speaks of it to this very day. So on a recent trip to Washington , DC , when I found myself free for lunch and was in the neighborhood, I took advantage of the opportunity to eat there again. When I looked at the menu, I saw that they offered a weekly lunch special, three courses for $20.08. It sounded good to me, so that’s wha...