A fairly amazing-sounding Better Beer Society brown bag series event at Butcher & the Boar, some revised menus at local restaurants, a local foodie’s epic Mother’s Day feast, tasting notes for Summit Pilsner and Steel Toe’s Provider, the Star Tribune’s Taste 50, and a new urban farm in Minneapolis.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
The following essay is not intended to detract from the magic of Northeast Social, a relatively new and instantly popular restaurant that is winning friendly reviews from all corners of the Twin Cities. The menu is nicely balanced, the food is well-executed, the staff is gracious and enthusiastic — as restaurants go, it’s a clear winner.
And yet.
Northeast Social is doing a thing that a number of local restaurants do.
It is not a good thing, and it needs to be talked about.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
There is a four-top just inside of Northeast Social’s front door. On a recent 10-degree night, a party of four seated at that table grumbled darkly about the temperature for the entire two-hour duration of the meal, because every time the single front door opened — and it opened a lot — a blast of weather would enter and chill the hell out of everyone.
A nearby space heater was a thoughtful but ineffective gesture — it helped speed up recovery time, but did nothing to blunt the constant stabbing of cold air that made the entire meal an exercise in recurring annoyance.
To greater and lesser degrees, there are a number of other restaurants that suffer from a similar problem. Due to a lack of (insert one: heavy velvet curtain, double-paned vestibule entry, sufficient distance between door and closest table), the restaurants have one or more tables that are at the mercy of the elements, particularly when those elements are, for example, hovering right around zero.
The honorable thing to do would be to retire that four-top until the weather crawls back up into the 40s and 50s. A good hostess does not let her guests sit somewhere that’s subject to intermittent icy blasts, and neither should a restaurant, regardless of the potential impact on profit.
But maybe that’s just not practical, and nor is building a vestibule or some other kind of properly insulated buffer between world and diner. A very bad thing to do is to nervously pretend the problem is not a big deal. “It’ll get better soon,” said our waiter, which was a big fat load unless he was referring to “soon” in geological terms, as in, “it’ll be summer again in no time because millennia pass in the blink of an eye once you’ve got the right perspective on things.”
If ditching the table just isn’t an option, here’s something to consider: be forthright about it.
“So,” the waiter might say. “The only table we have open is The Cold Table. If you take that, all your hot drinks and soups are free, and we shave 10 percent off your bill. Or, you can wait for the next regular table, which should take 20-30 minutes.”
You’ve given your diners fair notice, and given them a choice: Suffer a bit — but enjoy a novel experience and a bunch of free soup and coffee — or wait a bit, and be seated somewhere where you can enjoy a proper civilized meal.
God knows we tolerate winter around here, but we shouldn’t have to do it while eating dinner indoors.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Ted Cook’s 19th Hole is home to some of the most reliable barbecued pork ribs (and quite likely the best sweet potato pie) in Minneapolis. The takeout eatery has long looked and felt worn-out and downmarket, qualities beloved by old-school BBQ aficionados, but not necessarily conducive to bringing in new trade.
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Thus: a whole new look, implemented in the late summer, consisting of a new awning; fresh new inviting window treatments clearly stating “Real Pit Barbecue,” “Catering Available,” and “Award Winning Barbecue”; and a series of three exterior wall murals.
The murals are drop-dead fantastic. Painted by Annie Lee, an artist widely known for a style often referred to as “Black Americana,” (and whose art appeared in Coming to America and Boomerang), the illustrations tell the story of the restaurant: They vividly connect the place with ribs, sauce, sweet potato pie, the smoking of meat, and the game of golf.
2814 E 38th St
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612.721.2023
OWNER / MANAGER: Moses Quartey / Michael Davis
HOURS:
Tue–Fri 11am-10pm
Sat-Sun 1pm-10pm
ENTREE RANGE: $10-18
BAR: No
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN: No
RESERVATIONS: Takeout only
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Last night, I put on my one decent shirt and headed out with my wife to Manny’s Steakhouse in its new Foshay Tower location. The goal: Celebrating our second anniversary with some pricey but world-class steaks. But within five minutes of being seated — immediately after the arrival of the bread basket — the two of us were headed out the door to the car, and then to Rainbow Foods, where we would purchase two of a particularly excellent brand of frozen Italian dinners.
One year ago, we’d had one of the best dinners of our lives at Manny’s. The service was exemplary — gracious, professional, friendly, prompt, jovial. I’d noted the anniversary on the OpenTable reservation; the maitre d’ heartily congratulated us on our first year of marriage on the way in. The food was meat and potatoes elevated to the peak of its potential. I’m not typically a steak guy. Manny’s steak, I’ll eat and enjoy, regardless of the price. The overall experience was impeccable, as in, there really wasn’t anything to criticize. Another visit, with friends, was equally great — a full, lively house at Manny’s, but a hell of a lot of convivial fun.
This time around, in the new location, the experience was different. After pushing our way through a churning scrum of customers milling around the podium, we were whisked off to a table for two — immediately next to another table for two, which in turn was next to another table of two, which in turn was surrounded by what felt like hundreds of tables wedged closely together, packed to capacity. The entire room was a sea of diners, all speaking incredibly loudly in order to be heard. In terms of volume, it was comparable to Grand Central Station in New York, or Town Talk Diner on a busy night.
To be fair: Grand Central Station has really, really high ceilings, and you can generally make yourself heard if you enunciate in a loud speaking voice, and the typical check at Town Talk is probably 1/4th that of Manny’s. When a busboy asked us how the weather was outside, we had to ask him to repeat himself and then shout our replies. The two-hour long $200 perfect dinner that we had been looking forward to had suddenly shaped up to be about as much fun as eating at Six Flags Great America.
It should be stated that we saw no evidence that Manny’s service has slipped (under the conditions, you can’t fault the maitre d’ for being to the point), nor the food. And the economics are impeccable — pack a place like Manny’s to the gills with business travelers utilizing expense accounts, and the few random local couples splurging on a romantic celebration look pretty insignificant by comparison.
That said: It’s a different restaurant now. If anyone knows a good place to celebrate a second anniversary, we’re in the market.
Recent Comments