Visit with Josh's parents

Josh's parents got into town about 4 Friday afternoon. We hung around the house until 7:30 or so, and then headed over to The Strip Club in Saint Paul. We got there about half an hour before our reservation, and the place was very crowded and noisy. Luckily, we were able to grab four chairs at the bar so the wait was tolerable. Fay ordered an appletini that was more cider than pucker; it would have been nice if they had explained it was not your standard appletini. However, the service was very good and attentive.

For apps we ordered the poutine, and what I would call an upscale version of the corn dog, which was Thousand Hills sausage with corn breading and bacon ketchup. Fay and I ordered the "Love you long time" New York strip, Josh ordered the "Shrimp Trampi" strip and Doug ordered Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce, which he said were delicious. As good as the steaks at The Strip Club are, it might be impossible to beat their carrots. Carrots come on the side of every steak and I actually made a point of finishing my carrots over the steak - that's how good they are! The four of us were stuffed but still decided to share a dessert called the candy bar that was quite good.

Saturday morning we got up and I made breakfast, with Josh giving me a hard time about cooking the entire time. I had made a hash brown casserole thing since Josh doesn't like eggs, but it still got called "crap". It will be a sad day for him when I stop cooking entirely! Also made honey wheat pancakes (out of a box) that came out pretty well on the griddle Fuzzy gave me a while back. May have to dig that out more often.

First stop was the Japanese Garden at Normandale CC, which is such a great, serene little place. We then headed up to Chisago City to Winehaven, a family-owned winery that Josh and I had never been to. They were having a festival of sorts to introduce their latest batch of raspberry wine. The wine tasting was free, and there were maybe eight fruit wines, six whites and six reds to taste. We tasted pretty much all of it, though later I saw a note that said to limit your tastings to six. Oops. Fay and Doug picked up a couple of bottles they liked; Josh and I didn't purchase any.

We also did the tour. Our tour guide was a Mr. Peterson, who owns the farm/vineyard. He has a great Minnesota accent and you could tell he was really invested in his business. It was fun to listen to him talk.

We then drove down to Stillwater to have lunch at Smalley's Caribbean BBQ. Overall, a disappointment. The apps were good – corn fritters and sweet potato fries – and I had a great rum punch, but I thought the food was blah at best. My pulled pork sandwich hardly had any sauce on it at all, and our server didn’t stop back to see if we needed anything. No one else was overly flipped about their food, either. Josh did have a "Walk the Plank" rum flight, two of three of which were very nasty in my book. On the plus side, we did have a great table outside in the sun, but I can't say I would recommend ever going back there. Which is unfortunate, because it is co-owned by Tim McKee, who also owns La Belle Vie, which is absolutely fabulous. I realize they are very different types of restaurants, but you think the quality would come through on both.

Next stop was St. Croix Vineyard. Tastings were $5/each and our pourer was a young kid named Chris, who was nonetheless very knowledgeable. I didn't think their wines were as good this time as they have been other years, but I still liked the vignole and the raspberry dessert wines the best. But, we didn’t buy any. With the 30 bottles of rioja we have right now, it is hard to justify buying another bottle of wine that we have no room for.

Next stop was home and a quick nap. Josh and I meant to cook burgers on the grill, but we were all too stuffed. We were in bed by 10 and Josh's parents left first thing in the morning. All in all, a nice – if too short – visit.

Miscellaneous

Surly Brewery
On February 13 we went to the Surly brewery tour in Brooklyn Center. (We can’t be wine-centric all the time now, can we?!) The tour is free but you have to sign up in advance, because the tours fill up pretty quickly – even though there are about 100 people in each tour.

Tours start at 7 but by the time everyone gets wrist bands and has a drink or two, it’s 7:30 before the tour even starts. The owner, Omar Ansari, has a great story to tell but needs to work on his presentation skills. The tour got a little long for us and since it’s not the first brewery tour either of us have been on, we bailed out early. (Other tours to check out: Summit in St. Paul and Lake Superior Brewing in Duluth.) You do get tickets for five free beers, and they don’t pay much attention if you turn your tickets in or not, so you can easily try one of every beer if that is your goal.

My favorite beer is the Cynic, which tastes kind of like a Blue Moon if you need a frame of reference. I am not a fan of the Furious, which is too hoppy for my tastes. Also not so hot on the Bender which, to me, tasted like coffee. There is also one called Coffee Bender, which I didn’t try for obvious reasons. I also tried a Mild, which lived up to its namesake, and a 3 which, if I remember right, tasted like a garden. My advice? Go for the Cynic!

Best of the Best
On February 16 we attended the “Best of the Best” party at the Guthrie. Last year it was at the Walker and we had an absolute blast, so we decided to go again. It is sponsored by Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine and consists – allegedly – of 25 different “best” restaurants handing out samplings of their food. Josh only counted 16 this year, and one of those was Caribou, which I don’t exactly count as a high-end restaurant. But, it was still a fun event in that you get to try a bunch of food, get free wine and teeny ’tinis, and get to check out what everyone is wearing. Many of the restaurants also handed out coupons, which I attribute in part to our down economy.

Last year’s event was way more fun in that there were more chefs, it was a more festive atmosphere, more space to move around in and there was an overall theme to the party. In every area there was a different take on the theme, so maybe it was the 1950s and there was an Elvis impersonator and everyone got Elvis sunglasses, or it was a ’60s room and there was a Beatles cover band playing. Last year there were also photo booths, martini luges, etc. This year didn’t have any of the special stuff, although there was a band. The Guthrie just wasn’t as good of a venue to hold it in because all they really have are those converging fourth and fifth floors. I’m sure we’ll go to it again next year, but I hope the event incorporates a little more of last year’s flair than it did this year.

The Strip Club
We had been talking about going to The Strip Club, a steak place on the East Side of St. Paul, for a while now, and finally decided to go one night when we were going to be in the area for a concert. It is in a surprising area of town, almost residential. The place is pretty small, but the ambience is instantly cozy and cool. Our server was none other than owner Tim, and his wife was also working that night. It’s a small staff and a small place with a huge amount of charm.

First thing to know is, if you don’t like steak, don’t bother going there! Steak is the heart and soul of their menu, and if you don’t order the steak then you are a fool. The primary steak they serve is – of course – a New York strip steak. You can get it “plain,” or you can purchase one of the sauces, which include sassy names like “Whip me, Beet me” and “Shrimp Trampi.” Josh got the Love You Long Time, which was an Asian blend of ginger, soy, etc. I got the Moulin Rouge, which was a red wine glace with mushrooms and rosemary. The steak also comes with exceptionally tasty buttered carrots.

The steak is about $30, so it’s not a cheap place, but well worth it. I thought my steak was out of this world delicious – until I tried Josh’s. As delicious as mine was, his inexplicably managed to be 50 times even more so. Seriously – go to this place!

Last, when you go – and I do *not* mean IF – get the poutine of French fries, gravy and cheese curds. The State Fair never had it so good! (Josh recommends drinking lots of red wine to counter-balance the heart attack on a plate.)