Dinner at Victory 44

I've had Victory 44 on my list since it first opened. But, it wasn't until I read We Got Served's review of it that I moved it to the tippy-top of my list. Not long after, I was looking for a new place to try for dinner with friends, and the choice was a no-brainer.

Nestled within an unassuming spot in north Minneapolis (I swear the only other thing I remember seeing on the same corner was a Domino's), the vibe at Victory 44 is awesome. The space was jam-packed with a nice, low-key atmosphere on our visit. And even with a bunch of people all around us, the tables were spaced well enough that you didn't feel like you were part of everyone else's conversations.

Even the light fixtures were cool...

And, cooler yet - Victory 44's menu is ever-changing. The chalkboard serves as your guide. During our visit, we opted for the tasting menu - five courses for $30. Two notes: 1. if you pair it with wine for $50, you get a fairly generous half pour with each course, and 2. it's requested that the entire table participate if you get the tasting menu (that's right...even the finicky eaters...ha).

The first course was the beet in textures. I'm not a major fan of beets, so the beet-driven menu almost made me reconsider the tasting menu option (remember though: all for one and one for all). In the end, even I had to admit that this dish packed a lot of flavor. Beets of varying degrees with a tasty sauce and crumble.

Then came the scallops. I cannot even begin to describe how fantastic these were. SO rich. SO melt-in-your-mouth awesome.

And then, the main event: hanger steak with a bleu cheese butter and...wait for it...more beets. :) Actually, this was so incredibly well prepared and well-paired together that it was my favorite part of the whole meal. I'm still day-dreaming about this amazing steak.

Next up was a composed cheese plate with soft cheeses, a tangy jam and more crumble. This was a great follow-up to the steak and transition from dinner to dessert.

And lastly, the dessert course: coffee, peanut butter banana. If I could think of a critique for our meal, this would be it. Overall, it was pretty good. I don't like coffee, but it was barely noticeable. It did however seem to add to the crunchiness, which I wasn't crazy about. And the filo dough was a mixed bag for me. The ice cream and puree were delish.

It certainly wouldn't be a stretch to say that Victory 44 is the best restaurant I've eaten at so far in 2012. The whole meal was fantastic. The ambiance perfect. And while maybe a bit off the beaten path, well worth the trip.

Lunch at Wise Acre Eatery

I'm not sure whether I should be excited about this or worried, but I've been eating at a lot of good restaurants lately. Apparently so much so that I'm backed up in posting about them. (And maybe just a tad bit worried that I'll forget about eating at home altogether.)

One of the best recent examples is Wise Acre Eatery on Nicollet in south Minneapolis. This is probably our finest local example of farm-to-table (as you can read in this City Pages review from last summer). Even just spending two seconds on the restaurant's website will prove it with the colorful farm-meets-food photos and the Gone Farmin' rationalization for being closed on Mondays.

Located in a former oil station - and still featuring the garage door that opens onto an outdoor patio - the space is adorable.

It's quaint and small and lovely. At the counter you can purchase items ranging from pastries to eggs, and the bar at the back makes everything from sustainable coffee to homemade sodas.

Greenery is strategically placed around the space, making it feel even more natural and homegrown. It's also incredibly complimentary to the overall ambiance.

I'd heard good things about their housemade sparkling sodas, so I tried a lemon verbena version. While it was quite refreshing, I think the combination of its sugary sweetness and it taking a little while to get to me (it seemed our server forgot about it) made me wish I would've just stuck with water.

For my rural dinner/urban lunch selection, I ordered a full meal of beef roast, cranberry macaroni and cheese and brussels sprouts. Ooh la la :)

Oh, you know I totally ate all of this! Because I'm a brussels sprouts fanatic. Because I love grass-fed, tender beef roast. And because there probably is no better pairing than creamy mac n cheese with cranberries. 

What a delightfully satisfying lunch. And with so many seasonally-changing menu items, I'm excited to go back for breakfast or "urban dinner." :)

NYE Dinner at Rinata and Crashed Ice Event

This post is going to bring together two very different events - one that I should have posted about already (New Year's Eve dinner at Rinata) and one that took place this weekend (Red Bull Crashed Ice in Saint Paul).

Let's start with Rinata. I've always heard good things about its Italian fare and had it on a list of spots to visit but just never seemed to find the time. Then, when planning for New Year's Eve dinner at the last minute, I remembered reading this great post from The Heavy Table about five good restaurants people are overlooking. I figured it was a sign I should try to score NYE reservations. And, I did! For six!

Rinata, with its lovely Christmas decorations still hanging, had a lovely, intimate ambiance. With just a few tables in each of three rooms, every nook and cranny was packed when we arrived (I took the shot below on the right just as we were the last to leave so as not to interrupt other diners). The whole space felt warm and cozy on the snowy evening.

As we placed our wine order, our server brought out some fantastic bread with olive oil and tapenade. We were already off to a good start.

We then ordered two appetizers for the group to share; my selection was the bruschetta with cannellini beans, pancetta and roasted brussels sprouts. I give it solid marks for presentation and an interesting combination of ingredients. Overall, though, I thought the beans were just a little too much and ended up drying the app out a bit (of course, this could partially be attributed to my non-love of these white beans, though I keep trying to convince myself otherwise). One friend suggested that it might have been better had the beans been pureed...that might not be a bad idea :)

The second starter was the crostini with roasted mushrooms, caramelized onion and bleu cheese. As a lover of all things mushroom and bleu cheese, I thought this one was very enjoyable.

And then - the main event. I ordered the gnocchi with balsamic braised short ribs and roasted mushroom pan sauce for my entree. OMG. This was outstanding. The short ribs were so tender and flavorful, and the gnocchi perfectly prepared. I was really blown away by this dish and ate every. last. bite.

I was really impressed by how reasonably priced everything on the menu was given the caliber of food. It was all well-prepared and quite generously portioned. And another thing I really enjoyed about our Rinata experience was the staff. We had a fantastic server who was absolutely delightful. Plus, the restaurant was very accommodating when I called to adjust my reservation (even on NYE!).

So, if you haven't yet tried Rinata in Uptown, consider this a little nudge.

******

On to the Crashed Ice event. This weekend, the steps of the Cathedral in Saint Paul became home to a steep, icy and winding track for the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship, where nearly 200 skaters from around the world came to compete. It's estimated that more than 80,000 people swarmed the streets of Saint Paul to take in the action. I joined the mad house for a bit Saturday evening. Here are just a couple of photo highlights from the event :)

Christmas Treats Perfect for Holiday Parties

I meant to post this before traveling for work all last week. Oops...you'll have to appreciate seeing it now even though you're probably so over Christmas :)

If you remember my Thanksgiving pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake post, you remember that I practically had to bribe the family to eat it. So, I decided to go a different route for Christmas - one that didn't require as much time and energy. My parents hosted Christmas dinner, and I opted to provide the pre-meal fare.

It started with peppermint-flavored puppy chow (recipe found on the back of a Crispix box). What a fun, holiday twist on one of the world's greatest guilty pleasures! To make it, you start by melting a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips with a stick of butter. Once melted, add a 1/2 or full teaspoon of peppermint extract (I went with the full teaspoon). Next, mix the cereal and chocolate together.

Place the chocolate-y cereal mixture into a large baggie of powdered sugar. Zip it up and shake to coat the cereal.

Let it cool, and you're ready to put it in a container of your liking and serve to your loved ones. This is my 'cookie jar' that I bought at Sur La Table a couple of years ago. I just love the look of it and that it's easily transportable (in fact, I made this peppermint recipe for two holiday gatherings this year).

I paired the sweet treat with a delightful holiday-themed cheese tray. I saw a friend post this to Facebook in early December and was totally sold. Then it started popping up all over Pinterest as a perfect option for holiday entertaining, and I knew I had to make it.

I used cubes of cheddar, colby-jack and pepper-jack cheeses, along with grape tomatoes and baby dill pickles to make the little tree. Days before Christmas, I picked up the perfect serving tray at CB2, my favorite new home store that just opened in Uptown.

And, what a relief. Family happily devoured these Christmas treats. Maybe I'm on to something... :)

Dinner at Home: Grilled Cheese

As referenced in a recent post about my visit to the Burnett Dairy Cheese Store in Wisconsin, I've been making up a few tasty kitchen creations with my cheese choices. Most notably, I used the cranberry muenster cheese to make fancy grilled cheese sandwiches at my friend's suggestion.

Oh, baby, these were wicked good.

I started by melting some butter in the bottom of a frying pan and placing a slice of whole grain bread in the pan. Next up, a layer of turkey (I like the Healthy Ones low sodium brand you can get sliced up at the grocery store deli counter).

Then, a generous layer of cheese followed by another slice of bread and a tad more butter to brown the second side.

Mmmm....melted gooeyness!

Paired with a nice little side salad (romaine hearts, grape tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese and Ranch dressing), the turkey grilled cheese is perfect for the season. And so awesome, I had it twice in one week :)

Christmas Brunch and Goodies

Christmas brings about one of my favorite holiday traditions: brunch with the girls at W.A. Frost. Not only has Frost grown to become one of my favorite restaurants in MSP, but it also has - in my opinion - the loveliest holiday decorations.

Already offering beautiful charm and character, the Christmas decorations add just a bit more loveliness to the sophisticated atmosphere. It's definitely a perfect special occasion establishment. Plus, the food is generally fantastic.

This year, I decided to spice up my standard breakfast menu selection of bacon and eggs and go with the Classic Eggs Benedict. I've come to truly love Eggs Benedict in my brunch buffet perusals this past year, so I thought I could graduate to having it as my standalone breakfast dish on this visit :)

The poached organic egg and Fischer Farms ham are served with hollandaise sauce atop a housemade English muffin. The two muffins are accompanied by W.A. Frost's signature home fries and fresh fruit. While I still haven't found a way to trick myself into believing that I enjoy cantaloupe or honeydew, everything else on my plate was wonderful. The potatoes were savory and the eggs rich - and all perfectly proportioned so I left full but not uncomfortably stuffed.

Another of my favorite holiday traditions is trying my hand at homemade treats to give away. Over the years, I've gone from caramels to peanut butter bonbons to peppermint patties to Christmas vanilla sugar cookies. This year, I found a recipe for gingerbread truffles on The Cookie Crumbles and felt inspired to give it a try, due mostly to my love of all things truffle.

Gingerbread Truffles (from The Cookie Crumbles)
Two boxes of Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake & Cookie Mix (bake as directed)
1 tub of vanilla frosting
1 package of white almond bark (or white chocolate if you prefer)
Wilton icing (in your choice of colors)

You start by baking the two gingerbread cake mixes together as directed in a 9x13-inch pan. Since it's double the cake in one pan, it will take a little longer to bake - approximately 45 minutes.

Next, you mash up the cake and tub of vanilla icing in a large bowl (mine pictured below isn't so large, as you can tell...good thing I asked for and received a large one for Christmas!).

Then you roll the mashed up cake into truffle-sized balls and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

When you're ready for the next step, melt your almond bark over low heat (you can use some vegetable shortening to thin it out if you'd like...I made these in two waves and used the shortening for the first round but not for the second...honestly, I didn't really notice much of a difference).

Then, dip the gingerbread balls in the melted almond bark and place on parchment paper to cool. This is always the roughest/messiest step for me. I can never figure out how to perfectly dunk, so I just use a spoon since it's easiest.

Once the almond bark hardens and the truffles have cooled, use your colored icing varieties to decorate. I went with Wilton's red and green ready-to-use icing tubes. I have the plastic decorating tips, which might be a bit messier than desired (plus, I don't have the patience of a professional). :)

Yum! So moist and absolutely delicious!

And, I like to think that what I lack in decorating skills, I make up for in presentation :) These cute little holiday bags and tags were available at Target. Another year down, and I'm already finding ideas for next year...

20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge
Oh, and I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to know how I ended the 20 Day Challenge. Well, I flopped big time at the end...but that doesn't mean I can't think creatively at how I might have achieved it ;)

1. Tuesday, Nov. 29: spinning and core classes at the gym
2. Thursday, Dec. 1: spinning and core classes at the gym
3. Sunday, Dec. 4: hot power fusion (yoga) at Corepower
4. Monday, Dec. 5: personal training session with my workout buddy at the gym
5. Tuesday, Dec. 6: hot power fusion at Corepower
6. Wednesday, Dec. 7: cardio and strength training at the gym
7. Saturday, Dec. 10: a game of racquetball at the gym (probably more chat session than kick butt workout)
8. Sunday, Dec. 11: candlelight flow at Corepower
9. Monday, Dec. 12: brisk late-night walk through Uptown (forgot I had after-work New Year's Eve plans!)
10. Tuesday, Dec. 13: hot power fusion at Corepower
11. Wednesday, Dec. 14: cardio and strength training at the gym
12. Friday, Dec. 16: candlelight flow at Corepower
13. Saturday, Dec. 17: cardio and strength training at the gym
14. Sunday, Dec. 18: candlelight flow at Corepower
15. Monday, Dec. 19: cardio and strength training at the gym
16. Tuesday, Dec. 20: lifting bag after bag of groceries while volunteering at the food shelf with my mom
17. Wednesday, Dec. 21: breaking a sweat while unloading a new love seat into my apartment
18. Thursday, Dec. 22: dragging my friends around to fun stores on a walk in Uptown
19. Friday, Dec. 23: power shopping at the mall for my final three Christmas gifts
20. Saturday, Dec. 24: getting my stretch on while wrapping dozens of oddly-shaped Christmas presents :)

While I may not have dominated my final five days, I actually found the challenge overall to be quite rewarding. It was a great motivator for keeping my butt in check, and it also inspired me for greater fitness challenges...I'm still thinking through my 2012 fitness goals but will be sure to share updates!