St. Genevieve: Come to South Mpls. for a French wine bar

There's a relatively new place in south Minneapolis that's getting a lot of favorable buzz. St. Genevieve is a French wine bar in a quiet residential neighborhood. We had a 7:30 reservation on a Saturday night. So, yeah, they take reservations! Big plus in my book. 

Friends had told us it's quite noisy, and in the entryway, it was. But we were seated at a table near the back, and it wasn't too bad. Probably the most impressive thing was the friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating staff. It was our first time there. The hostess sat down next to us and explained how things work - mostly small plates, encourage sharing, wine by the glass or bottle, half glasses of wine available. Very nice. 

When we had questions about the wine, our server was very helpful - accurately describing the ones we were interested in. We liked our choices. My wife usually shies away from Pinot Noir, but when she inquired about it, the server noted that it's a white Pinot Noir - Pfeffingen blanc de noir. It was actually a German wine, and my wife enjoyed it. I also chose something that I'd never seen before - a rose of cabernet franc (Plouzeau Chinon Rose). It was an easy-drinking wine that went well with our food.

We ordered 4 plates to eat, not knowing if that would be enough or too much. The server asked about food allergies, and my wife said she's sensitive to cilantro. No problem; nothing we ordered had cilantro. Except, a couple minutes later, she reappeared at our table to advise us that one of the items (squid) had cilantro in the marinade. We thanked her and canceled that plate. So we ended up having the Gem salad, and like other reviewers have noted, the kitchen split it for us and sent it out on individual plates. (Very Nice indeed.) We also had the octopus and an order of pommes frites. The salad was ample, as was the serving of fries. Our other plate, the octopus, was quite small. We didn't leave hungry, but we maybe could have had another plate. 

My bottom line - great ambiance, great service, they take reservations, good food, interesting wine selections (and reasonable prices), shared 3 plates between 2 people and 2 and 1/2 glasses of wine for $60 plus a tip.