MSP: 112 Eatery

[dahlsk]

My husband and I tried the 112 Eatery this weekend. It has received some good reviews lately (see City Pages) review

It is a small restaurant, and they were very accomodating to get us a table as we were a walk in. The host even called me on my cell phone to let me know of a cancellation as we went to Nami to have a drink while waiting. Overall, the food was very good. This is what my husband and I shared:

sweet and sour crab salad (wonderfully refreshing, with mint and cilantro)

scallops with wild mushrooms (well cooked, nice earthy taste)

monkfish entree with sweet potatoes and red wine reduction (everything went together really nicely in this dish)

side of choucroute bread pudding (great taste, but a little too crunchy. I think we got a "corner piece".)

tres leches cake for dessert (great white chocolate taste, very moist)

Has anyone else been here recently? I would definitely recommend it.

Cheers, dahlsk

[dahlsk]

Oh, I almost forgot. We also shared a half order of the stringozzi with lamb sugo, which was fantastic! I look forward to hearing about other's experiences.

dahlsk

[dahlsk]

Star Tribune reviewed 112 today very favorably. See here:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/438/5308809.html

[ronnie_suburban]

From the review, by Jeremy Iggers:

Duke Ellington would have liked the new 112 Eatery in the Minneapolis Warehouse District.

The legendary composer and band leader once remarked that there are two kinds of music -- "the good kind and the other kind." At the 112 Eatery, chef/owner Isaac Becker demonstrates that the same holds true in the world of food. He does beautiful work with such high-brow fare as sea scallops with wild mushrooms and seared ahi tuna with chimichurri sauce. And he shows that basic bar grub, like the short ribs with chili salsa and the bacon-and-egg sandwich can be just as delightful when they are prepared with the same loving attention to flavors and textures. . .

=R=

[oneidaone]

Aloha! I'll be flying in to MN for the Elton John concert on 4/29 and have reservations for that night, apparently we were the second party to reserve for that reason. We are looking forward

to a nice meal! Will report back on that and our meals around Naperville and hopefully one or

two in the city. This place sounds REALLY GOOD!!!!!! A hui ho

[MaryMN]

dalsk, thank you for your review. I just read the article about it in Star Tribune and am eager to check it out!

[Schneier]

Dara Moskowitz also gave the restaurant an excellent review in City Pages.

I'm trying to work a dinner there into my schedule.

Bruce

[ronnie_suburban]

From the Moskowitz review:

. . . try the choucroute bread pudding, a $7 side dish. This stuff is crazy. Crazy how? It's a savory bread pudding made with sauerkraut, chunks of ham hock, shimmers of pork belly, beads of onion, and lumps of Italian sausage, all baked into an eggy, custard-knit bread pudding. It's echoing with caraway; it's rich, creamy, salty, chewy, and has texture to burn; there's a whole world in that sucker. Pair it with a big, bready beer, like a Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale ($6.50), and you will likely be so full up with the intensity of life that you won't even be able to speak.

Wow! Does that sound delicious!

=R=

[oneidaone]

Aloha! Hey, I'm on dial-up here in Naperville for a few days.......we went to 112 and all I can

say is RUN don't wait to dine there!!!!!! We ate almost everything on the entire menu and it

was more than I could have ever expected. From the fennel marinated olives and sugar/spice almonds to start to the special caramel corn at the end which we took to the concert

my tastebuds were reeling with delight! I will post photos when we finally get home. Everyone there was so nice and service was top drawer, the kitchen is so small and you can

watch them enroute to the bathroom. DEFINATELY GO!!!!!!!!!!! It was packed but they were

even with the pace and able to handle the crowd although the night of EJ those who just walked in were politely turned away, a few people sat at the small bar area hoping for some

no-shows. What a lovely atmosphere, menu, staff, the whole magilla. A hui ho and by all means GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ulterior epicure]

I'm bumping this thread for any recent reports, experiences?

[pansophia]

I'm bumping this thread for any recent reports, experiences?

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I was there about a year ago and fell in love. My parents were back again last weekend and got in on short notice thanks to the blizzard. Apparently the stringozzi is still fabulous but my mom and her friend shared the stracci with braised pork and found it overwhelmingly salty.

Also, I seem to recall they aren't doing the pressed chicken (for which they were somewhat known) every night anymore, so ask ahead if you're hoping for that.

The second level is open and my folks said it was fun to sit and look out on the snow covered city!

A second hand report, but hope that helps.

[ulterior epicure]

I'm bumping this thread for any recent reports, experiences?

←

I was there about a year ago and fell in love. My parents were back again last weekend and got in on short notice thanks to the blizzard. Apparently the stringozzi is still fabulous but my mom and her friend shared the stracci with braised pork and found it overwhelmingly salty.

Also, I seem to recall they aren't doing the pressed chicken (for which they were somewhat known) every night anymore, so ask ahead if you're hoping for that.

The second level is open and my folks said it was fun to sit and look out on the snow covered city!

A second hand report, but hope that helps.

←

Hi pansophia. Thanks for that report; it certainly does help. They actually have the flattened chicken pictured on their website, and between that and the scottadito, which are both well-spoken of by many, it looks like they've got a pretty decent menu. I'm eyeing those sweetbreads.

I still have a few weeks before I plan to head toward the Twin Cities, so I won't have to finalize my reservations for a little while, yet.

[maftoul]

We had great food at 112 Eatery. The cauliflower fritters were wonderful as was a very nice Berkshire pork chop. We also had the sweet and sour crab salad, halibut cheeks, and several pastas. All wonderful. Most of the food was summery, it was July. The service was excellent.

[ulterior epicure]

We had great food at 112 Eatery. The cauliflower fritters were wonderful as was a very nice Berkshire pork chop. We also had the sweet and sour crab salad, halibut cheeks, and several pastas. All wonderful.  Most of the food was summery, it was July. The service was excellent.

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Would I rather be here on a weekend night or a week night? It's either here on a weekend night or Restaurant Alma. Which restaurant will be less frenetic?

[maftoul]

We had great food at 112 Eatery. The cauliflower fritters were wonderful as was a very nice Berkshire pork chop. We also had the sweet and sour crab salad, halibut cheeks, and several pastas. All wonderful.  Most of the food was summery, it was July. The service was excellent.

←

Would I rather be here on a weekend night or a week night? It's either here on a weekend night or Restaurant Alma. Which restaurant will be less frenetic?

←

We were last at 112 on a Sunday night. The place was hopping! Very crowded with lots of energy, the good kind. Alma has a much quieter atmosphere to me. What a choice, though, both are terrific.

[ulterior epicure]

Was anyone else confused as to how to enter this restaurant?

I had the great pleasure of gluttonously stuffing my face at 112 eatery a few weeks ago. It was *freezing* cold outside, which awakened the hearty appetite in my friend and me. Despite having had a nice a three-course lunch at Vincent, a Restaurant, my friend and I managed to down a good portion of the following feast for dinner. You can see photos and more comments about each dish on my Flickr account.

Sweet and Sour Crab Salad

Bibb Lettuce Salad

Lamb Scottadito

Sea Scallops

Tagliatelle with Foie Gras "Meatballs"

Sauteed Sweetbreads

Marinated Bone-in Pork Chop

Cauliflower Fritters

Escarole

Tres Leches Cake

Cheese Platter

In retrospect, the two of us ordered *way too much* for five. Yet, notwithstanding dining fatigue from four days of eating, eating, and more eating (La Belle Vie, spoonriver, Lucia's, Restaurant Alma, Vincent's, and Heartland), 112 eatery's food managed to stand out and impress. Its food is the simple, hearty, bold, and gutsy fare that has captured the focus of foodies and chefs in the past couple of years.

The food is strangely international. I encountered everything from Asian accents to Italian flavors to Cuban sweets.

The stand-out dishes included:

Sweet & Sour Crab Salad

Wonderful! This was the best dish of the evening. The dressing was key - sweet and sour (as the name suggests) with a definite hit of chile heat. The crispy fried shallots added a wonderfully savory, crisp texture. I don't generally like mint, but the use of whole fresh mint leaves was just perfect.

Tagliatelle with Foie Gras "Meatballs

That's right, folks: foie gras "meatballs." In flavor, these fluffy boules tasted not unlike chicken. In texture, they melted like fine velveteen - just a bit of sturdiness, but mostly melt-away soft. I would liken them to mini matzo balls that weren't as wet or heavy. There was only a slight hint of liver-yiness. The pasta was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I was pleasantly surprised that the course wasn't as oppressively heavy as I had feared. Probably one of the finest pasta dishes I've had in a long time.

Seared Scallops

For me, this dish was a highlight. The scallop was perfectly caramelized on the surface with a creamy, sweet, and barely-cooked interior. I was slightly disappointed that the chef had used king oyster mushroom; I had expected regular oyster mushrooms, which I think would have imparted more of a sea briny aroma. The chef also decided to use truffle oil, which tickled my nose before the dish hit the table.

I also really enjoyed the side of escarole with anchovy with nutmeg. It was a bit greasy, but the flavor was fantastic.

Portions were generous, if not obscenely large. At the end of dinner, I ordered a cheese plate thinking it was, like most cheese plates, just a sample. The server carted out enough cheese and bread on one plate (inelegantly piled one on top of each other, which was a little annoying since I generally like to enjoy each cheese's flavor on its own, instead of having, say, blue cheese mashed into my Brie de Meaux) to - well - feed five.

The wine list (by the glass and bottle) was fun and eclectic; something for everyone.

The restaurant - bar, tables, and booths alike - was packed from the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out. We got lucky and snagged a booth towards the back, away from the congested front of the house.

For the amount of volume the restaurant saw that evening, service was amazingly on top of things. The team work and coordination was noticeable. Our server was patient, accommodating, and extremely friendly, and opinionated (about the food) in a helpful way.

112 eatery is a place I'd highly recommend and would gladly go back to.