[MSP] Five

[Schneier]

I thought Five (the website is about as annoying as possible) opened this week, but our waiter implied that they have been serving food for a few weeks. He kept using the phrase "soft opening," which is something like a Broadway show being in previews. In any case, I had dinner there last night.

I'll write about the experience, but please understand that any restaurant this new is still a work in progress. There are likely to be substantial changes to the menu and the style in the coming weeks and months. Most restaurant reviews don't review a new restaurant for a few months, to give them a chance to settle down. Because Five is such a big deal, we're likely to see "first look" sort of articles before then. We had a terrific meal and a great time there, which bodes well for these early articles.

Five is Stuart Woodman's new restaurant. Woodman is one of Minneapolis's star chefs, most recently from Levain and before then from New York. He has the sort of pedigree you rarely see in this town. Among the foodies, his new venture is the most anticipated new restaurant in a couple years.

The restaurant is in South Minneapolis, on Bryant just north of Lake street -- around the corner from the Bryant Lake Bowl. It seems like an odd location for such an upscale restaurant, but it looks good from the darkened street. The building is the old police 5th Precinct house, a pretty stone structure with large windows. Some neon announces the building.

The inside is modern and moody, and mostly pretty. Downstairs is a trendy looking bar area. Dara Moskowitz has reported that the bar has "a short Asian bar menu," but I can't confirm or deny. Upstairs are two restaurants: a large room with a what Woodman has called an "American bistro" menu, and a smaller fine-dining room that will open in a few months.

We mostly liked the decor. It was pretty and sparkly, but the bright lights from both the kitchen and the staircase were jarring. That's something easily fixed, though.

The menu consists of 9 appetizers, 10 entrees, and 7 desserts. The waiter took pains to warn us that we should order our appetizers and entrees at the same time, and went on to claim that many customers find this strange. Does anyone know of any "good" restaurant where you order appetizers, eat them, and then order your entrees? Whatever.

The food was mostly fantastic.

Appetizers:

"Fall Lettuce Soup: Light cream soup of lettuces and sweet vegetables." An absolute winner. Good flavor and texture.

"Tomato Terrine: Pressed tomatoes, pacotized tomato sorbet, smoked salt." The dish of the night, I thought. It was a block of intensely flavored tomatoes, a scoop of intensely flavored tomato sorbet, with a fascinatingly smokey taste from the salt. (Near as I can tell, "pacotized" just means "made with a Paco Jet.")

"Duck Salad: Roasted breast, confit of leg, lobster vinaigrette, macerated celery root." A bit fo shredded confit, some breast slices on top, sauce around, and a pile of celery root. I thought it was okay. The duck and sauce was delicious, and the celery root was good, but I don't think they worked together as well as I wanted them too. I also wanted this dish to be hotter.

"Beet Salad: Goat cheese parfait, melange of beets, yukon golds, truffle vinaigrette." Standard beet and goat cheese dish with a nice hint of truffle.

Entrees:

"Scallops: Corn waffles, frisee, bacon vinaigrette." Absolutely delicious. The corn waffles were made in a waffle press, and were intensely flavorful. The scallops were delicious, and went well with the sauce. The frisee pulled it all together. Nice job.

"Tilapia: Sauteed, braised brussel sprouts, mustard sauce, fox nut risotto." Also delicious. Nice piece of fish on a bed of risotto with brussel sprouts and sauce arranged around it.

"Tuna: Grilled tuna stea, pomme frites, peppercorn sauce. Not bad, but nothing special. The pomme frites were not what you'd expect; they were bug blocks of lightly fried potato.

"Chicken: Minnesota dirty rice, Calabrese sausage, piquillo sauce, basil oil." Surprisingly tasty chicken in a good preparation.

"Lamb: Grilled rack of lamb, parsley puree, cracked wheat, cardamon crust." This dish was far away from me at the table, so I only got to taste the cardamon-crusted lamb. Delicious. Rumor was that the rest of the dish was good, too.

Desserts:

"Ode to the Crisp: Chocolate feuilletine, coffee creamaux, chocolate coffee wafer, cocoa nibs." Good.

"Tart: Confit pineapple, coconut ice milk, shiso syrup." Delicious.

"Beignet: Dark chocolate filled, black cardonon dipping sauce." The beignets were delicious, and I thought were better without the sauce.

Five has a nice wine list, with an emphasis on reasonably-priced food-friendly wines from around the world. Their by-the-glass list is slimmer than I'd like, but they do have some half bottles for sale.

Cost is very reasonable for what we got. An appetizer and entree per person, a bottle plus a glass of wine, and three desserts came to $50 per person plus tip. When it opens, the fine dining room will be more expensive -- and only serve tasting menus. (At least, that's what the current plan seems to be.)

Service was a bit rough around the edges, but mostly very nice. They weren't crowded (it was a Friday night, but it was also before any real publicity), so I can't comment on the noise level.

My main worry about Five is its location. It's got the same problem as Levain: it's a special-occasion destination restaurant. It's too far from downtown to get a lot of walk-in convention and business-traveller business. And it's too expensive for a typical night out for the typical Minnesotan. Levain is surviving because Turtle Bread makes enough money to subsidize it. My guess is that Woodman hopes his bar/lounge downstairs will make enough money to subsidize the restaurants, or at least the expensive fine-dining one. But the neighborhood is more Bryant-Lake Bowl sorts of people. I hope Woodman can pull it off.

[Brad Ballinger]

Thanks for this post, Bruce. The web site doesn't offer anything in terms of letting the surfer know about the menu, wine list, etc, yet. But I'm sure that will change soon.

Your comments about it being a "destination restaurant" not located near any other destination is a valid one. However, as you comment, if the bar gets enough Bryant Lake Theatre spillover as well as some spillover from the not-too-far-away Lake and Lyndale district. Heartland (in my 'hood) has a similar situation, but they've now added on a wine bar to get more non-special occasion business.

[Betts]

"they were bug blocks of lightly fried potato."

Bruce - you aren't one for restaurant cliches are you! That is an image that will stay with me.

Nice review and we will probably go.

Maybe Stuart and JP can carve out a dining destination in Lyn-Lake.

[dahlsk]

Your review was great. It reminded me that Five was now open and inspired me to make a reservation for this Friday. I will write about my experience afterwards.

[Schneier]

There was a big article about Five in the Star-Tribune yesterday.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, Bruce, for the link. Rick Nelson is a great journalist. It's easy to see why he's won Beard Awards . . .

The team spent the summer of 2004 on eating tours through Las Vegas, New York City and San Francisco to collect ideas and spin them back home.

"We don't want to create a New York restaurant, or a San Francisco restaurant," Stewart [Woodman, chef/partner] said. "We want to create a Minnesota restaurant. We want it to grow organically from this place. And frankly, it's easier to create our vision here in Minnesota rather than in any of those other places.

"The work ethic here is amazing. And so is the talent level," he said. "In this marketplace we can put a help-wanted ad in the newspaper and assemble a better staff than we could ever hope to get in New York. And the quality ingredients are here, too."

=R=

[jbrogan]

I was looking forward to Five. I was, in fact, ecstatic to try Five. I loved Woodman's cooking at Levain (and still love Levain now that he is gone). I tried Five. It was awful. And overpriced. And it had an atmosphere that I can only describe as painfully pretentious without justification. The only thing I liked of the dishes I tried were the short ribs, which I can cook better and for a tenth of the price. Thank God La Belle Vie has now reopened, although I have not yet had a chance to go.

[Schneier]

Dinner at Five Friday night, our belated Valentine's Day dinner. (I don't like going out to eat on Valentine's Day. It's amateur night at fine restaurants.)

Five now has three dining rooms: the downstairs bar, the upstairs bistro, and the fine dining room. We had eaten in the bistro, but had not yet had a meal in the fine dining room.

It's a pretty room, obviously designed primarily for couples. One of the walls is scallop-shaped, with little alcoves for people to sit in. Another wall has a row of deuces, and there are some four-tops in the center. And the room is quiet even when full.

The fine-dining room advertises tasting-menu only. Actually, that's only sort-of true. There's a menu of ten items. You can order any three, five, seven, or all ten -- plus dessert if you want it. (The three option was not there originally, but they were forced to add it.) Different people at the table can order different courses, and a different number of courses. The only rule is that you have to follow the order on the menu. We ordered all ten courses, five each.

They also offered a wine pairing: small pours of wines specifically chosen for each course.

I didn't take very good notes, but I'll include some thoughts after most of the dishes.

"Salad: 'Caesar' pain presse, quail eggs, anchovy, Grana Padana."

'00 Argyle Willamette Valley, Sparkling Wine

"Soup: Honshimeji mushroom broth with fried sage and smoked pineapple."

'04 Alphonse Mellot 'La Moussiere' Sancerre

I liked this a lot, although K wanted more stuff in the soup. Think of it as an interesting sweet and sour soup, and you get the idea. The wine was a complete dud, though. I don't know if it was the wine or the bottle....

"Risotto: Sauvignon blanc, escargot, garlic, confit, and parsley."

'04 Caymus 'Conundrum' Napa Valley

Delicious risotto. And although I really don't like that wine, it did go well with the dish.

"Longing for Spring: Foie 'en torchon' with pickled hibiscus and its peppered syrup, served with brioche points."

'87 R. Lopez de Heredia 'Vina Tondonia' Rioja Reserva Blanco

Great foie gras tureen, great wine. The two did not go well together.

"Scallops: Sauteed scallops with capers, and caramelized cauliflower drizzled with Pedro Ximenez reduction."

'04 Domaine Tempie Bandol Rose

This was probably my favorite dish of the night. The scallops and cauliflower went really well together, and the capers and vinegar were both delicious. Nice wine, too.

"Study in Tuna: Blackened with soy coulis, tartar with piquillo pepper, sliced with soy caramel, carpaccio with harcot vert."

'02 Elk Cove Willamette Valley, Pinot Noir

The prettiest dish. Four small bites arranged on a large square plate. The blackened tuna and the sliced tuna with edamame sauce were my favorites.

"Striped Bass: Steamed in a truffled mussel jus with celery root and salsify."

'04 Livon Colllio Pinot Grigio

Delicious.

"Pork: Pulled pork 'sandwich,' bar-b-q sauce on pecan waffle with grilled scallions and napa cabbage."

'02 Maurice Ecard 'Les Serpentieres' 1er Savigny les Beaune

Another great dish. The pork was very well prepared, and the barbecue sauce was delicious. The rest of the dish, including the wine, worked.

"Lamb: Grilled Colorado rack with eggplant bulghur wheat stew and a carrot curry sauce."

'96 Lopes de Heredia 'Vina Bosconia' Rioja Reserva

Okay. dish. Great wine.

"Beef: Smoked all natural beef strip loin with red wine porcini sauce, petite salad greens and allumette potatoes."

'98 Giacosa Fratelli ;Rio Sordo' Barbaresco

Very tasty, although the super-fine fried potatoes were more grease than anything else.

Dessert was additional, and we ordered two from the menu:

"Ode to the Crisp: Layered coffee cream, delicate chocolate wafer, crunchy chocolate praline and Brooklyn Blackout Cake with candied cocoa nibs."

We had this before in the bistro. Tasty.

"Pineapple: Roasted with bananas, vanilla, ginger, and spice with sour cream and macadamia nuts."

Very good.

Service was an absolute mess. It started when we showed up and they told us that the heat had been out in the room, and had just returned half an hour ago. That must have put everyone off their game. We received our menus and ordered, and then another waiter brought us menus. Meanwhile, the people at the table next to us were ignored, until someone finally came to them and explained that each of the two waiters thought the other one had their table.

And the pacing was off. Dishes weren't coming out of the kitchen evenly. Once I saw a waiter walk into the dining room with two plates, walk around, and then walk back into the kitchen. Another time I saw a waiter walk into the dining room with a pen and a piece of paper, look around, take some notes, and walk back.

The chef's wife started serving plates by the middle of the evening.

I finally asked one of the waiters what was going on, and she said that someone hadn't showed that night. That, and the heat problem, combined to make a mess of the front of the house.

I believe her. It just can't be that this restaurant is that incompetent all the time. I'm sure you'll have a better time of it if you go.

It's not cheap, though. Total cost -- food + wine + tax + nice tip -- came to $300; $150 per person.