I finally got around to trying out Crave. I know I’m late to the game but now I can see what I was missing.
I visited the Crave at The Galleria in Edina on Friday night about 6 p.m., so I got in just before the dinner rush began. We were seated quickly and courteously and escorted to the back dining area, a well-lit room due to the floor-to-ceiling windows. There was a fire crackling in the fireplace at one end of the room. The fire, the lighting, and the uncluttered solid wood tables contributed to an ambiance of comfort and elegance.
We had yam and beet chips for an appetizer and I was surprised to learn that they are delicious…just something about the word “yam” that has always struck me as inedible-sounding.
I had a gin and tonic for a cocktail because most places don’t know how to make a good gin and tonic. The waitress asked what kind of gin I wanted. Sapphire. The trick to a good gin and tonic is 1) using good gin, 2) going easy but not too easy on the gin, and 3) a tall glass. Crave got everything right but the tall glass. It was wonderful.
For my entree I chose the Roasted Chicken & Penne, made with roasted red pepper, kalamata olives, Donnay Farms goat cheese, and organic basil. I wasn’t too hungry so I chose the small size. The meal arrived served in a tilted bowl and proved delicious, as they mixed the aforementioned ingredients with shaved garlic and topped it off with a sprinkle of pine nuts.
I was full by the end of the meal; the small portion proved more than enough. The prices are a little on the steep side but the food is well worth the extra dinero. The chocolate-covered raspberries from nearby Bissinger’s were the perfect desert.
I’ll be back.
Crave at The Galleria
3520 W. 70th Street, Edina, MN 55435
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Popularity: 8% [?]
I had some Hop Henge Friday night at The Muddy Pig in Saint Paul. They served it in these very glasses. The beer is made by Deschuetes Brewery out of Portland, Oregon, and, according to Deschuetes: “Hop Henge started its life as an India Pale Ale, but this year it was bumped up to ‘Imperial IPA’ status, with a hefty dose of additional hops.”
If you like Surly’s Furious, you’ll like Hop Henge.
Popularity: 6% [?]
It’s amazing what a good camera will do to your ability to take interesting photos! It makes all the difference in the world. While I don’t pretend to know what I’m doing, I am having a lot of fun with my new camera as I try to figure it out.
On Friday I met up with some friends at the Leaning Tower of Pizza on University by Dinkytown and aside from the abysmal service (I have never ever in my life not left a tip, so this was a first), I had fun and part of that fun was taking pictures.
It’s funny. The one photo I thought would turn out to be pretty interesting wasn’t that at all but one that I just snapped, not thinking much at all about it, turned out pretty nicely. I just like the way the people are framed, engaged in conversation. I especially like the contrasts in light: The dark interior with the lighted exterior and how the blue light from the Cocktails sign highlights the booth, table and plant:
Popularity: 9% [?]
The Veteran, Delicious and I went to Stub & Herb’s Friday night to watch the Gophers hockey game and after the game a band set up and played–well, practiced, in the other room. They were too loud and not particularly good and not once while we were there did they play a whole song.
Stub & Herb’s is a Uof M college student hangout and a sports bar near Dinkytown that has entirely too many Packers fans. They have plenty of small screen TVs and two very underwhelming large-screen TVs for watching sports. Their food is decent and reasonably priced–the French dip sandwich is particularly good and their chilli is decent, as well. They ocassionally have live music, which is really unfortunate because the place is far too small for the too-loud garage bands that seems to be the only "talent" they employ.
They have pool tables and they serve Summit Beer but they do not have wi-fi access. The place is owned by Sue Jeffers, who is running for Governor of Minnesota as an independent candidate because she’s pissed off about smoking bans. I really can’t blame her.
If you park in back, MAKE SURE THAT YOU GO INTO THE BAR IMMEDIATELY or they will put a boot on your tire and tow your car away. Once, after a Lions game in 2004, I went across the street to get sme gum at the drug store and they already had a boot on my Jeep. I practically went into a righteous rage until I got them to take it off. Minneapolis sucks. Here’s the notice they left on the Jeep:
But getting my vehicle booted wasn’t the most interesting thing that happened that night. As we were watching the Packers game, a girl in the next booth started flirting and I’m game, of course, ’cause flirting’s fun. So it’s back and forth flirting here and there throughout the night but when it comes time to pay the bill and I’m digging in my wallet, she says something to the effect of "twenty-five bucks to look, fifty to touch."
?!?
I was shocked. I was speechless. That was the last thing I expected because this cute young woman looked and acted nothing like what I imagined a prostitute to be. But, I guess, having no experience with them, I wouldn’t have known what to expect, anyway.
Just so you know: Watch out for the boots and the hoes.
Check out more cool places around the metro at my Twin Cities Bars, Restaurants & Entertainment Hotspots map.
Technorati tags: stub and herbs | restaurant | bar | sports bars | minneapolis | dinkytown
Popularity: 8% [?]
Okay, this is a new thing I’m going to do in conjunction with my Twin Cities Bars, Restaurants & Entertainment Hotspots map. I will occasionally write up a little blurb on places in the Twin Cities that I like for one reason or another and then link to these posts from my Twin Cities mashup. We’ll see if it drives traffic deeper into my blog. Without further ado, then…
My eldest sister is the best! I absolutely love Tavern On Grand and she knows it because I took her there when she visited from Vermont for her annual trek through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. She remembered and sent me a gift certificage from Tavern On Grand for Christmas. Sweet!
Whenever I have friends or family in from out of town, I take them there for the Walleye dinner. It’s about seventeen, eighteen bucks for a two-fillet dinner but it’s worth every penny. Uhhhhhhhh, so good. They’ve got plenty
of seating but a small bar, so if you’re going there to hang at the bar and take
in a baseball game, good luck.
Not only do they have the best Walleye
ever, but they serve Summit
Beer as well. They have wi-fi access, but it’s restricted. ASIDE: You
might want to mention something to them about that 
.
Check out more cool places around the metro at my Twin Cities Bars, Restaurants & Entertainment Hotspots map.
Technorati tags: tavern on grand | walleye | minnesota walleye | saint paul | st paul | minneapolis | twin cities | restaurants | food | bar | summit beer
Popularity: 23% [?]
