Krik's Picks

I don’t think I’ve ever purposely gone to a restaurant knowing that it was about to go out of business. I certainly never have written a blog post about one. But today I couldn’t help myself. I had to have one last visit to Vincent on the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. The restaurant’s last day of business is Dec. 31. I went there for lunch. I have been to Vincent several times in the past. My wife and I have celebrated special occasions there. Once, I was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by the person who was my current boss and three former bosses to commemorate my 35th anniversary of working at Land O’Lakes . ( Here’s the post I wrote about that experience.) It also was a great place for business entertaining. I’ve commented before that my favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities is Meritage in St. Paul. Like Vincent, it features French food. But the ambiance at Meritage is more casual bistro. The dining room at Vincent was big and open with tall ceilings and...

There’s a lot of hype and excitement about all the new Italian restaurants opening in the Twin Cities. (Check the third paragraph of Rick Nelson’s year-in-review article for a list.) I’m excited. I’ve often lamented that so many of our Twin Cities Italian eateries just don’t match the quality and creativity of meals I’ve eaten at in other cities. So really, it’s my own fault for not having discovered La Grolla sooner. Partly, it’s my parochial attitude about going to St. Paul to eat. There are so many good restaurants west of the Mississippi that I usually don’t consider driving to St. Paul. But, I must admit, it seems like my list of ‘exceptions’ – St. Paul restaurants that are worth the trip – has grown to the point where I may have to change my attitude. (See especially Meritage (my favorite Twin Cities restaurant), Ngon Bistro , Muffuletta , and the St. Paul Grill (for lunch). Also, there’s Caffe Biaggio which is a really good Italian restaurant in St. Paul, and s...

I almost didn’t write this review. There have been so many raves about how great Spoon & Stable is, what more is there to say? Spoon & Stable definitely deserves the accolades. Still, there are a few highlights worth noting. First of all, they take reservations. Yeah! Not that they’re particularly easy to get. No matter how eager we were to dine there, we weren’t going to show up at 5:30 to get a table or eat at the bar. We tried several times during the fall and finally got a table at 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend. Next, it’s a beautiful room – warm, comfortable and inviting. You enter into the bar area where you’re greeted by a bustling buzzing bar scene. We were on time for our reservation, and the hostess assured us that our table was being set – 5 minute wait at the most. One minor quibble – it’s one big open room. The dining room opens into the bar area with only a waist-high divider. Our table was in that first row adjacent to the bar. At o...

If I had discovered Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube sooner, I might be driving a different car today. As I’ve written in a previous post , I bought a Jaguar when I retired. Easy to say. But after I finally decided to do it, I had to decide whether to get a new car or a restored classic. I fairly quickly discovered that the price would be pretty close to the same. You can pick up a classic E-Type for less than I paid for the new XK that I was looking at. But then I’d have to pay for restoration (because I have neither the ability nor inclination to do the work myself, not to mention no garage to do the work in or tools to work with). So a nicely restored E-Type would have cost about the same as the new car. Ultimately, I let ‘practical’ considerations carry the day. Now, I know it’s probably a stretch of the definition to say that buying a Jaguar is a practical thing to do. But my considerations all were practicalities about what I needed in my retirement car. I only have a two-car gar...

I always said that while Krik’s Picks is mostly about food, it also would include thoughts about other things, such as music and politics. (And lately, cars too.) But this post ties together several different strands. Kinda what makes life interesting. So let’s start with music – Edina Bands . You may know about Next Door , the online social network for neighborhoods across the nation? My neighborhood, Parkwood Knolls, participates in Next Door. One day in early August, I got an email alert from Next Door about a kid selling peaches as a fundraiser because he was going into the Edina Marching Band in the fall. Ok, as a band kid myself (Albert Lea High School band, 1968-70; University of Minnesota Marching Band, 1970-74) I was sympathetic to his appeal. My own children graduated from Edina High School, but they weren’t band kids. But the clincher (and segue to the next strand) – I saw that he’s the grandson of a former Member of Congress who I knew fairly well – David Minge . I had...

There are so many good restaurants in the Twin Cities. Yet I still get excited when I find another one that’s truly delightful. As my wife and I walked out of La Fresca with a couple of friends, we were already talking about when we could plan a return visit. Not that we should have been surprised. La Fresca is the self-described ‘nouveau Mexican’ iteration of Chef Hector Ruiz family of restaurants. ‘Family’ is a good term to use. Each of the restaurants in his small group (now numbering 4) shares familiar similarities – Latin influences and creative combinations in generally small neighborhood locations that appeal to local residents and, yes, families. But like a family, each individual member has it’s own distinctive features. Café Ena , where we have enjoyed many delicious meals, is ‘Latin fusion’ with influences from South America and Central America. Click here for a previous blog post. Rincon 38 features Spanish and Latin small plates, tapas if you will. We’ve enjoyed d...

In a recent post (click here ) I wrote about a day driving an Alfa Romeo sports car. As our destination, my wife and I took the car to Stillwater for a late summer lunch. Our only requirement was that our restaurant had to have a view of the St. Croix River. Actually, we’ve been to Stillwater often enough so that we had a pretty good idea where we’d like to go. The Dock Café was the first place we checked. For a mid-week lunch we had no problem getting a table right away. We chose a table on the patio. The weather wasn’t the most pleasant (overcast and a little damp from overnight rain). But it turned out pretty nicely for us anyway. You actually can’t get any closer to the river. From the Dock’s patio, the river bank slopes steeply to the water. You’re right there with nothing to block your view. The lunch menu at the Dock offers a lot of variety. There are several appetizers and small plates. More than a dozen sandwiches, salads, soups, and combo plates are available. And for...