Girl Friday

Il Gatto Now Open

If you're looking for the website for Il Gatto, the new Parasole restaurant in the former Figlio space at Calhoun Square, you can find it at IlGattoMinneapolis.com (or even Figlio.com for the time being). Browse the menus and you'll see that Il Gatto is carrying on the legacy of Figlio's famous $3 happy hour as well as the same emphasis on Italian specialties (in case the name didn't tip you off already).

I was fortunate enough to get invited to a test run dinner at Il Gatto on Saturday and I was wholly impressed. I tried the artichoke appetizer, which was a small glass jar of chopped artichoke hearts, mint and red chile flakes. Scooped up and piled atop the accompanying olive oil grilled bread, it was snappy and satisfying without being heavy.

The pasta and entree menu is not overly vegetarian-friendly but I found solace in the standard cheese ravioli with marinara. Nearly all the pastas at Il Gatto are made in-house, and my ravioli had a pleasant chewy texture that only fresh pasta can have. The pureed marinara was very reminiscent of Figlio's ravioli but, thankfully, the 3-cheese blend inside was mostly ricotta and not the cream cheese situation previously presented at The Fig. Also, props for dusting the plate with a little bit of parmigiano as opposed to the heaping handful of mozzarella most mid-priced restaurants gob on top of an already cheesy dish. The other vegetarian pasta option was a tagliatelle with beets, however I loathe those vile root vegetables and await the day when our beloved chefs who are endlessly (and admirably) dedicated to cooking seasonally realize that I am far from alone.

My dining companion ordered the baked oysters with shrimp, pancetta and parmigiano, as well as the boiled gnocchi with lamb ragu. I tried neither, of course, but the man had no complaints.

We attempted to order the limoncello tiramisu for dessert but it was completely sold out, leaving us completely heartbroken.The pain subsided when the chocolate budino arrived at the table, courtesy of the always-amazing Adrienne Odom. It's a warm chocolate pudding cake with a gooey crown of molten chocolate, served alongside a scoop of heavenly salted caramel ice cream. I barely had room for a bite of the spumoni (much less three bites), which was a trio of chocolate, strawberry and pistachio ice creams from Sebastian Joe's topped with hazelnuts, maraschino cherries and pistachios, respectively.

I think it was about this time that the limoncello made its way to our table, served Italian-style from a smiley server toting a freezing cold bottle of the house-made concoction. The presentation here is noteworthy: the bottle is fused inside a small steel bucket of frozen lemons and lemon leaves. The digestif itself is also noteworthy, as it's an ideally sweet, tart, and icy finish to a great meal.

Our server recommended the Pistol Tease cocktail, a sweet citrusy rocks drink with St. Germain elderflower liqueur and a muddled edible orchid. I loved the floral flavors but was a little too sweet for my taste. I did fall in love with my friend's Smitten Kitten, though: a martini of pineapple-infused vodka, cracked black pepper and a kiss of simple syrup.

Price points at Il Gatto are ridiculously reasonable, particularly for a seafood-focused restaurant, with small plates at $4-9, wood-fired pizzas at $9-13 and entrees at $12-25. Martinis top out at $10, house wines (served in Il Gatto's soon-to-be-famous "glass and a half" are just $5 glass/$14 bottle/$26 double bottle, and even top shelf scotches and brandies will only run you between $8 and $11.

Even on a test run night, the service was seamless, friendly and well-versed in the menu, and the course arrivals were timed perfectly, with nothing cold or out of order. We can safely chalk this up to Il Gatto retaining much of the same overall staff as Figlio, not changing the kitchen layout one bit, and putting Executive Chef Matt Kempf at the helm.

I'm not so good with the quantitative math, but I'd say the space's remodel added a metric assload of seating. The main dining room feels about the same, but the bar has moved completely (it now divides the restaurant in half, stretching from the main entrance to the bathrooms), making room for a string of 4-tops in the bar proper, as well as creating an entire second dining area, complete with booths, along the windowed side of the restaurant that overlooks Lake Street.

Oh! And you no longer have to walk through the service stand to get to the bathrooms. They're still in the same spot, but with a less-intrusive entrance that doesn't suddenly make you feel like you should start rolling silverware with the wait assistants.

Dude, Parasole got skillz. Il Gatto will be around for a long, long time; as long if not longer than Figlio's 25-year run at one of the most historic corners in Minneapolis.

Il Gatto: 3001 Hennepin Avenue South, 612-822-1688
Hours: Monday-Friday, 4:30pm-2:00am
Food served until 1:00am Sunday-Thursday, 2:00am Friday-Saturday
Happy Hour: 4:30pm-6:30pm daily, 10:30pm-12:00am Sunday-Thursday

Pantry Check: Veggie Moroccan-style Curry

I haven't done a full-on grocery shop since moving into my new place a few weeks ago, so I haven't been able to do the amount of cooking that I like to do and hence haven't posted any recipes lately. Tonight I wanted home cooking for dinner that was slightly exotic, but I didn't want to leave the house (still wearing pajamas at 11:00pm, thankyouverymuch). The result was delicious -- savory, sweet and fragrant -- and, best of all, made with simple ingredients I already had on hand. This recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Veggie Moroccan-style Curry
© 2009 by Alexis McKinnis
Yields: 4 servings, with rice

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup dried Mediterranean apricots, cut into thin strips (raisins would also work well)
3 handfuls fresh baby spinach (very scientific measurement, I know-- it was one of those plastic cartons minus a salad's worth)

In medium skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil until soft. Add all remaining ingredients except spinach. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in spinach, cooking for 2 minutes or until it fully wilts. Remove cinnamon stick and serve over rice.

*****

I posted the question to Twitter a few days ago, but I want to ask it here: What coffee shops offer rice or almond milk as an option?

My body hates cow and soy milk equally, so I'd love to know about a place I can go for yummy coffee drinks and not feel like total crap afterward.

megacita suggested The Wedge's coffee bar, since they have both rice and almond milk, and kjtten suggested Dragonfly Coffee at 50th & Penn, which offers hemp milk. Anybody know of a place in or closer to Northeast, or am I asking too much? Not being a regular coffee drinker, I'm not super hip to the scene.

Stories from Exile Tonight at LUSH

I meant to post this last night but social obligations can really occupy a girl's time. Here's your social obligation for tonight:

Stories from Exile Presented by Red Card Production

Join us tonight at LUSH for the premiere of 9 short films (and when I say "short" I mean like 2-3 minutes) by Erik Janzen of Red Card Production. Each film is a visual interpretation of a different poem by poet (and podcaster) Ragan Fox, from his collection, "Exile from Gayville."

Doors open at 7:00pm and the short films will run from 7:30-9:00pm, with a little music in between films. The event is free, but you have to buy your own drinks. LUSH is located on Central and Spring Street, in the former Healy Spring Co. building. They're not usually open Tuesdays, except for incredibly sexy people who are having incredibly awesome events.

Happy 32

It's my birthday! I'd like to thank all the readers of Girl Friday over the last nearly five years for checking out this blog and making it a regular stop (and let's not forget those of you who were following me on LiveJournal before I moved the blog to Typepad).

Here are the last 4 posts from October 23rd on Girl Friday:

2008

2007

2006

2005

And here's a song that Pandora re-introduced to me today. I can't believe I'd forgotten all about it, since it's totally one of the best songs from my adult formative years. Download it, put it on your iPod, play it for some hottie and get lucky this weekend.

In honor of my birthday.

OM: You Should Go Here

Cristina celebrated her birthday last Friday and a bunch of us headed to OM, the new Indian contemporary restaurant downtown, to celebrate.

Shortly after I got there, I chatted with Chef/Culineer Raghavan Iyer a little bit and we bonded in our vegetarianism. I asked him what the best snacks were on the menu and he recommended I get the Mumbai Crackers (crackers with mango, potato, red onion topped with two chutneys) and the Patiala Cakes (potato crisps stuffed with fresh mint, chiles, red onion with tamarind-date sauce and mint-cilantro chutney). But here's the tragic part: I had no appetite that night so I ended up not ordering any food. I did have a couple bites of the Palak Paneer Parantha, a grilled flatbread stuffed with spinach and fresh cheese and spiced with crushed chiles and, I believe, mango powder. It was cold by the time I got around to it, so fresh from the grill would've been better, but it had a pleasantly high spice level and I'd definitely try it again. (Actually, I would totally take some of that right now.)

Tell you what I did try, though: the cocktails. The Agni was a crowd favorite, so much so that I had to order a second one 5 minutes after I got the first one because two other people wouldn't stop sampling it. Fresh muddled limes and dried chiles are shaken with Grey Goose Citron and strained into a martini glass (my least favorite drinking vehicle, but folks seem to like it). A fresh Thai chile floats on top of the drink and the result is simple and delicious. Spicy enough to knock you back a little, with the heat balanced out by the tang of the lime and a dash of simple syrup.

I also tried The Slumdog, a spiked up lemonade with Grey Goose Citron, ginger, lime and fresh cilantro. Points for being served in a lowball on the rocks, but I was having issues with the tiny pieces of cilantro. The bits kept sticking to my lip gloss and were sort of messing with my game. My advice to the OM bar is to invest in some cute, short drinking straws or maybe just shake the drink with a couple whole sprigs of cilantro, strain them out, then garnish with a fresh, unbruised one.

Prices are completely reasonable. If you judged OM solely on its fancy looks, you wouldn't guess that select cocktails are just $2 during happy hour (4:30-6:30 pm daily), specialty cocktails are $7-8, small plates start at $6 and entrees start at $14. (Valet parking is a whopping $10 but hey, it was raining, I was wearing heels and I had a birthday gift in one hand and a silk handbag in the other.)

I'd take a small tweak in the restaurant's temperature (up just 2 degrees would be perfect) but otherwise I was totally comfortable in the upstairs bar and lounge. The elevated seating overlooks the corner of 1st Avenue and 4th Street so, if you feel the need to tune out your friends for a minute, you can gaze outside and watch the people go by. OM's lounge was built for mingling; our group moved effortlessly through the room, changing seats and visiting with other tables. I highly recommend the space for small events.

Overall, OM really isn't that large, certainly not as huge as r. Norman's or Bellanotte, and Randy Norman went the subdued route with his latest venture. The decor has its share of glamour (the grand staircase to the dining room encircles a giant, illuminated, crystal spiral chandelier that drops down to a reflecting pool below) but the space is almost cozy, with warm woods, soft metal finishes and muted lavender, teal and yellow gold touches throughout. The style in which OM was decorated actually reminds me of some parts in my apartment; namely the bedroom and my own dining room.

The staff consists of a bunch of rockstars. Our wait assistant (whose name is on the tip of my tongue because he worked at Azia for years), server (Jesse), manager (Kari), Randy and even Raghavan took the time to stop and make sure we were having a great time.

Love OM. Can't wait to actually eat there. I think I may do that soon, as they're currently offering a 4-course, $30 tasting menu every Sunday.

Behind the Scenes of Jeremy Messersmith's "Dead End Job" Video Shoot

I worked on a fun project yesterday with Erik Janzen of Red Card Production and Jeremy Messersmith. Erik is shooting Jeremy's next music video for "Dead End Job" and I have a small role as a sexually frustrated 1950s housewife. Wardrobe by Blacklist Vintage.

This may be a situation where you kind of had to be there, but Jeremy picked up a guitar on the set (Dan Phan's house) and started singing about what was going on around him. Dan has a lovely shrine to the Virgin Mary.

"What's the Deal with Virgin Mary?" by Jeremy Messersmith

D'Amico Kitchen Opening Monday

I was just driving north on Hennepin downtown yesterday, wondering aloud to myself when in the heck D'Amico is going to tear the paper off the windows and open up the new restaurant at the Chambers Hotel. Lo and behold, the 411 shows up in my inbox today:

D’AMICO KITCHEN, the casual, contemporary Italian restaurant being developed by D’Amico & Partners, Inc. will be open for business on 8/24.

Eden – This is the re-branded name for the street-level patio area. There will be some design, layout and cosmetic changes that will be occurring as well. New plantings will not begin to mature until next year, with part of Eden will be set up for dining instead of being dedicated to lounging. Guests will able to reserve a private cabana for dinner.

Eden will host Friday Champagne Happy Hour from 4:30 to 7:30 featuring live jazz or DJ’s (weather permitting). 

There will be live entertainment and/or a DJ on at EDEN on Weekends and select weeknights. Closed to public on weekends if the space is booked.

Movie Night – Sunday nights there will be movies shown at Eden, again weather permitting. We are even considering hosting Monday Night Football events.

TBD – the rooftop terrace bar, formerly Red, White & F*#%-ing Blue Bar, will be renamed. Name TBD. There will be DJ’s there most weekend nights, save those when private events have rented the space.

And Doug Flicker, who was in the kitchen when D’Amico Cucina opened 20+ years ago, is back in a D’Amico kitchen for the opening, as he wants to be a part of this very special restaurant.

Hours of operation:

BREAKFAST: Mon-Fri 6:30-11:00 AM, Sat-Sun 6:30-10:00 AM
LUNCH/BRUNCH: Mon-Fri 11:00 AM-2:30 PM, Sat-Sun 10:00 AM-2:30 PM
DINNER: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00 PM, Fri-Sat 5:00-11:00 PM, Sun 5:00-9:00 PM

D'Amico Kitchen Breakfast menu PDF
D'Amico Kitchen Lunch menu PDF
D'Amico Kitchen Dinner menu PDF

So when I was driving by Chambers yesterday, I was on my way to have dinner at Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza with Cristina. We had a great meal, splitting a house salad with creamy vinaigrette ($6.00), a half-carafe of blended house white ($12.00) and a 12-inch pizza with pureed tomato and oregano ($6.00), smoked mozzarella ($2.00), artichoke hearts ($2.00), calamata olives ($2.00) and sliced garlic ($2.00).

We both agreed that everything was delicious, but that $2.00 per topping on a small pizza is a little much. It was particularly ridiculous of us to pay $2.00 for a clove's worth of sliced garlic.

Do you know how many whole heads of garlic you can buy for $2.00?! Like two armfuls, that's how much.

Garlic is a seasoning and should be free, like black pepper or salt or the crushed red pepper flakes on the table at Black Sheep.

We're bringing our own sliced garlic next time.

Sea Change, LUSH Food Bar & Kings Wine Bar

Okay, I know this is a lot to cover in an abnormally short blog post but just bear with me. I'm still out and about checking out new places, but I'm also working hard at home on two really big projects. Nay, three really big projects. And I'm doing them for you. So you'll just have to be patient for now while I toil away and soon I'll be able to shift more attention back to this blog and its purpose. (Also, I'm at the mundane data research part of my business plan, so if anyone enjoys gathering crap like census data, let me know.)

First up: Sea Change, the new restaurant at the Guthrie. I was expecting scant vegetarian options at a restaurant heavily focused on seafood, and I got exactly what I was expecting. There's actually only one vegetarian item on the Sea Change dinner menu: the cold beet salad. I can barely type the word "beet" without making a Mr. Yuck face, so I requested that the kitchen prepare a vegetarian entree and that our server make haste with the bread basket. (I was starving and my dinner companion, Inari, decided to take a 4-course tour of the menu.)

Have you ever had a poached, panko-breaded and fried egg? It's a very interesting array of textures, especially when you pierce the yolk and it starts oozing out all over the place. I got two such eggs, which I don't believe were from a chicken -- my apologies for hazy details; Inari and I went to Sea Change about three weeks ago -- nestled around a plate of sauteed, steamed and fried vegetables and smears of vegetarian emulsions.

I didn't love it. Don't get me wrong, for a plate of vegetables, the entree had so many fresh and complementary flavors that I was chasing the last green pea around the plate with my fork. But I, like many vegetarians, do not like uncooked egg yolk. I was served something similar at Nick and Eddie once (pre-Steven Brown) and politely ate around everything the raw egg yolk touched. I'm sorry, but it skeeves me out. Another area of improvement for my entree would've been a touch more seasoning, as in herbs. The focus at Sea Change is fresh, sustainable and local; this certainly applied to my vegetables, unadulterated as they were, but the dish was missing more savory flavors (which the eggs were not providing, either).

I'd like to go back to Sea Change on a night when Executive Chef (and 2009 James Beard Award winner, lest we forget) Tim McKee is in the kitchen. He wasn't there when Inari and I were, and I suspect I'd get a more flavorful, inventive, La Belle Vie-caliber meal if he's in the house. Inari was ooh-ing and ahh-ing with every bite, using words like "perfect," "amazing," and "never had better," and I was insanely jealous.

LUSH Food Bar in Northeast Minneapolis is a little hard to find in the dark, despite being in a giant square building right on the northeast corner of Central and Spring. LUSH's interior matches its unassuming exterior, with concrete floors, art-less cinder block walls and stark blue lighting. For an establishment that claims to put food before liquor -- either by choice or by Northeast's weird zoning laws which put BOOM/Goodfellows out of business and are allegedly pushing Tickles to relocate downtown because their liquor sales consistently surpass food sales but it's just a rumor I heard so don't quote me -- the setting is kind of cold and uninviting. I can see LUSH being a successful bar and nightclub, but nothing about the atmosphere says "cozy" and nothing about the menu says "food-driven," so I haven't eaten there yet. However, LUSH is a fine place to grab a drink and socialize, which I highly recommend that you do. They have great happy hour specials and a $20 Bottomless Champagne Brunch on the weekends, which might be a great opportunity to check out what the kitchen can do. Also, my friend Erik bartends at LUSH now so go see him.

Kings Wine Bar will officially be open for business tomorrow, August 15th. Leif was invited down for the test-run night this past Tuesday by one of the co-owners, and he was nice enough to take me along with him. Kings sits at the cozy corner of 46th and Grand, directly across the street from Chef Hector Ruiz's Cafe Ena, which makes it an instant neighborhood destination. The room is soft and inviting while still playing at plenty of bold colors like gold and red. My only quibbles with the interior decorating are that A) the chair backs are just a smidge too short (or maybe I'm just too tall), and 2) when you're washing your hands/checking your hair situation in the mirror after finishing up in the bathroom, one-quarter of the restaurant is directly behind you. Watching you. Some kind of door or draped curtain or something might make customers feel more comfortable during a normally more private moment.

I also invited my friend Cristina along, so the three of us ordered a handful of plates. Leif raved about the chicken and cheese ravioli, which of course I didn't try. None of us could resist the goat cheese fritter, served on top of balsamic-dressed greens. It was a giant nugget of tangy, creamy chèvre surrounded by a thick, crunchy breading and topped with a spicy shallot and crushed red pepper relish. That sucker is sized for sharing, so make sure you bring a friend or two to help you out. Having the mild hangover that I did, I went for the comforting baked shells and cheese, topped with breadcrumbs and a tiny drizzle of truffle oil. We also tried Kings' take on gazpacho, a dark red concoction bursting with leafy green flavor, but absent of that bready, olive oil essence found in the traditional Spanish soup. None of us could identify a particularly mysterious flavor, but we ended up getting too deeply involved in our conversation to remember to ask. Next time.

Kings is a relaxed, bistro-style restaurant with good food, wine, beer, coffee and a nice patio. They will be open from 8:00am until midnight, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and bar plates, 7 days a week.

Tego to Minneapolis

We need you. I need you.

It all started with a little Tweet after I began following Tego Calderón, the greatest reggaetón artist in the world, on Twitter. Feeling particularly empowered that day, I declared the kick-off of my mission to bring Tego Calderón to Minneapolis.

See, Latino artists don't make it up this way much and Tego, along with several other musicians that I absolutely love, has never been here. This is a damn shame because the Twin Cities are packed with lovers of reggaetón, dancehall, salsa and good hip hop; just check out one of our weekly Latin dance nights. (Actually, check out AQUA downtown this Friday. They're kicking off a new weekly "Caliente" dance night that will be an ass-shaking mix of reggaetón, salsa, bachata, hip hop and top 40. There are also 2-4-1s and $3 Coronas until midnight. It should be really hot, and you will hear plenty of Tego Calderón.)

It's also a shame because it's not just Latinos that listen to this incredible dance music. M.I.A. (maybe you've heard of her) has been borrowing beats from the Caribbean since "Hombre," which is a straight-up reggaetón song. In fact, I've been trying to figure out why Tego hasn't reached the level of popularity that world artists like M.I.A. and Damian Marley have.

Is it because he doesn't rap in English? I say who the heck cares when the man can make music like this:

(The chicken meets his end in that video, just to warn you.)

In addition to being one of the world's most talented artists, Tego is also a conscientious celebrity. In 2007, he was asked to appear in a film called "Bling", a documentary about the high price of blood diamonds. Using the hip hop culture's obsession with bling as a springboard, the film follows Tego, Raekwon and Paul Wall as they head to West Africa to talk to miners, amputees and former child soldiers who were used to plunder the blood diamonds of Sierra Leone.

But back to my mission. Joining forces with my pal and fellow mega-Tego fan Guptan, we've started a Twitter account and a Facebook group dedicated to the cause. We've got both vita.mn and District Del Sol on board to help spread the word once we find a promoter and a venue committed to a show. Any help in the promoter/venue department would be much appreciated so, if you've got contacts, please let us know. We can reach the vita.mn readership and a huge chunk of the Latino community, which are both major assets in trying to book a show here.

Oh, and Tego? He replied to my Tweet to say "I'm down!" We're going to email him this week or next, to tell him how much the Twin Cities really wants to bring Tego to Minneapolis. But we need a little help-- we need strength in numbers!

If you love Tego, please join up with us on Twitter and Facebook. We promise we won't clutter up your pages with a bunch of unnecessary crap, we'll only keep you updated on bringing Tego to Minneapolis.

If you're not sure if you love Tego Calderón or not, Tweet at us, leave a comment on Facebook or just leave a comment here saying so. We can help you out with that by recommending a few songs to download.

We can do it! We can bring Tego to Minneapolis!

Our 48 Hour Film

Team Red Card Production didn't score many points with the judges at this year's Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project (unlike last year when we totally slayed 'em) but we're very proud of our 48-hour film, "Greener on the Other Side?", a pro-feminist open commentary on the concept of wanting a life not your own.

So why did we do so well with the judging panel last year versus this year?

Erik Janzen, our talented team captain, director and editor extraordinaire said it best: "I think the trick to 'winning' these is how creatively we incorporated the 3 random elements. In 'Shades of Orange' the HUGE revealing moment was based around the line of dialogue... in fact, the whole movie was an explanation of that post it note. And the character (substitute teacher) was the element in the story that Changed EVERYTHING."

We'll get 'em again next year. Congratulations to this year's finalists and winners!

How it works: On Friday at 7:00pm, each team draws a genre, a character, a prop and a line of dialogue. Teams then have exactly 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and submit their film, which can be no longer than 7 minutes.

Our genre: Film de Femme
Character: Kathleen or Kevin Schnabel, Expert
Prop: A sandwich
Line of Dialogue: "I hope they decide soon."

Me, Erik Borg, Tim Davis, Kate Nelson, Erik Janzen