The Food Building‘s newest addition, The Draft Horse, is a restaurant featuring meat and cheese made by other tenants of the building. It feels like a Brooklyn deli in a basement. On a blustery Friday afternoon we joined a mix of neighbors, visitors, old and young, suited-up and jean-clad.
We sought out the freshest and simplest sandwich, one that would highlight the hyper-local meat and cheese: the Red Table Speck with Arugula and Cheese, and we added a side of butternut squash soup. Featured with the thinly sliced, smoked and cured pork leg was the Lone Grazer’s Northeazy, a buttery, Tomme de Savoie-like cheese.
The strength was in the balance of the ingredients. The crunchy baguette from Patisserie 46 was soft on the inside, and unlike the result of eating the coarser Breadsmith bread at France 44’s Saint Paul Cheese Shop, the roof of my mouth remained unscathed. The arugula added a bitter and almost spicy note that undercut the light mushroom flavor of the cheese, leaving the savory meat front and center, where it should be.
Although the sandwich itself isn’t a far cry from what could be made at home, its simplicity is ideal for a quick work lunch — it feels fresh and delightfully familiar.
The Draft Horse, 1401 Marshall St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413; 612.208.1476