Tuesday, January 31, 2012

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." :)

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