Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2015 - Dinner

Saturday, November 14, 2015

First chicken pot pie of the season.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2015 - Dinner and a Movie

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Train wreck. Funny lady, that Amy Schumer.

Silver Hour

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Silver Hour

Dessert with Julie and Eric

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Dale and Julie had sea salt and caramel ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery. Eric and I had pumpkin pie flavored.

Dinner with Julie and Eric

Saturday, November 7, 2015

My friend and former colleague Julie along with her husband Eric joined Dale and me for dinner last night at our place. I haven't seen Julie much since she changed schools a few years ago but whenever I do we have some lovely conversations which always include reminiscences about notable teaching moments. It was nice to have some quality time to catch up on recent events in our lives.

Dale made baked rigatoni (also called baked ziti) with Italian sausage. He also stir fried green beans and served up some garlic bread. I drank a couple sidecars. The rest of the crew wasn't drinking much besides water.

Dinner music included the album Love Songs by Rosemary Clooney and Cugi's Cocktails by Xavier Cugat. 

Although I knew they used to live for a number of years by Mancini's in St. Paul, I didn't know they were fans. We've made some tentative plans to get together there in the next couple weeks.

The Red Stag Supper Club

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Steak Pit Part 1

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Had the opportunity to try a Wisconsin supper club tonight. Warren, Gary, Dale, and I are staying on Madeline for the long weekend and we made a special trip to Washburn to try The Steak Pit restaurant.

Upon walking in we found the decor to be very unassuming, but why would it need to be with its incredible view of the lake? Kathy, our server, was a no nonsense albeit pleasant person who provided excellent service. We could tell shortly after she greeted us that we would be in good hands.

We ordered cocktails to start. I, of course, began with a brandy old fashioned. Warren had Myers run, his favorite dark rum. Gary had Dale both had red wine.

We ordered a couple of appetizers, the shrimp basket and the clam basket. Both were deep fried and fabulous.

The Steak Pit Part 2

Saturday, October 17, 2015

In true supper club style they had a Friday night fish fry. I simply HAD to have it. It was a generous portion of trout that was lightly breaded and lightly fried - not greasy at all! It came with the option of French fries or baked potato. I had had fries with lunch so I went with the baked potato. Dale had the broiled Lake Superior trout. He said it was awesome. Warren had the surf and turf. I think they called it a tug and hoof. Hoof, for the steak and tug (as in tugging the tail) for the shrimp. Gary had a steak.

We all had dinner salads to start. Gary asked what the salad dressing options were and Kathy said she would bring all of them out when serving the salads. When the salads appeared, she brought a caddy of three dressings including green goddess, blue cheese, and French. She also produced four bottles of dressings. I can’t remember all of them. One was a cranberry something or other which Dale loved. Another was a Hawaiian poppyseed which sounded divine. I went with the green goddess which is something I’ve never tried before. I loved it. It’s basically ranch dressing blended with avocado.

The dessert tray which Kathy brought over had a lot of different cheesecake options all under Saran Wrap. One was cheesecake wrapped in a flour tortilla. That’s how it was presented on the dessert tray, although if ordered they would deep fry it and then cover it with something like cinnamon and sugar, possibly caramel sauce. The non-cheesecake item was a chocolate hot lava cake which is what Warren ordered to split with Gary.

After going through all the options on the tray Kathy mentioned that they also had ice cream drinks. I wanted to tell her she was a woman after my own heart but thought better of it since she didn’t come across as a warm-fuzzy kind of gal. Instead I simply asked if the pink squirrel was an option. She said that it was along with the grasshopper. Since I had a grasshopper most recently at Jax I decided to go with the pink squirrel. I almost fell out of my seat when she brought it over as it was massive. Absolutely delicious though.

Our server, Kathy, was exceptional. She was not overly familiar with us but courteous and very attentive. I could tell shortly after she greeted us at our table that she would take exceptional care of us which is exactly what she did.

Lots of supper club hallmarks at The Steak Pit: attentive and friendly service, great cocktails, Friday night fish fry, prime rib, ice cream drinks, and of course, cloth napkins (purple ones at that). Didn’t see any evidence of live music but that’s not to say there isn’t. Next time I call ahead I’ll definitely have to ask. We’ll most certainly be back.

I've heard it said that a supper club is always for sale.  Interesting to find this sign outside.

Cocktail Hour

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Cocktail hour before Sunday dinner. White wine and a Hendrick's martini. 

Sunday Dinner

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Dale made the most delicious dinner. It's been a while since we've had steak and even longer since we've had his most awesome oven baked Brussels sprouts.

Dessert was one of my favorites from Kowalski's. Chocolate dream.

Brunch - Red Stag Supper Club

Great brunch with Dale at the Red Stag Supper Club.  Dale had an egg scramble with sliced turkey and spinach. I had the prime rib eggs benedict. Both came with has browns. Sound good? It was!

They also make an awesome Bloody Mary. It came with a beer chaser - very Minnesotan.

Salmon for Dinner

Photo taken at Lund's in Uptown. We bought filets. Not a whole fish.

Brunch at Jax Cafe

Sunday, September 6, 2015

After church Dale and I decided to head to Sunday brunch at Pizza Luce. There was some kind of block party happening in front of it so we decided to try someplace else instead. I suggested Jax so we headed right over. We parked on Sirloin Strip and were seated almost immediately after entering the restaurant. 

They really had an amazing brunch spread. The lamb was quite the highlight and our server Megan sold me on the Polish Bloody Mary. I asked what made it Posish and she told me they used a Polish potato based vodka. It was an amazing Bloody Mary. Another server named Tommy came to our table and told us he was working with Megan "because they needed to let her sit down once in a while." He asked if we needed anything. We didn't but thanked him. They've got such great service there. They had a piano player this morning and our booth was right next the her baby grand. She performed a very charming Sound of Music medley. 

We toured the patio to take a look at their trout stream. I told Dale that the most elusive trout in the stream is named Captain Jack and that if if you catch him you get a special prize. He believed me. Sucker, but God I love him. 

Jax Cafe

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Dale and I celebrated my birthday tonight and we had the good fortune of being joined by our good friends, Maggie and Cindi. As part of my recent supper club kick I chose Jax Cafe in Minneapolis as the restaurant.

The parking lot at Jax has the rows labeled like avenues. We parked on Sirloin Strip which is right next to Lobster Lane.

The gals met us at the restaurant at 6:30. Our waitress, Sheila, took our drink order. I asked for and Old-Fashioned cocktail and before I could request that it be made with brandy, she gave me the choice of just that along with whiskey or bourbon. I went with brandy (Wisconsin style) as that's my favorite spirit to add to the drink.

While waiting for our drinks to come, the family of four at the table next to us got their food order. The father got prime rib and the portion they set in front of him was HUGE. He put his hands to his mouth and actually let out a giggle of delight when he first saw it. The mother was given the same thing. The son, who looked to be 7 years old or so, was also given the same  although his looked to have a side of mashed potatoes. The daughter, who was about 3 or 4, was given small bites from her mother's plate along with a little bit of mashed potato. They all finished those huge portions of beef. I was impressed.

Anyway, I had originally intended to order the trout which you can net in the restaurant's own trout stream on their outdoor patio. I've heard they take your picture during the netting which they then put in a photo sleeve with the caption "I caught my limit at Jax." They have it ready to send home with you when you leave.

Despite originally wanting the trout, the family with the three huge orders of steak had me salivating for it so badly that I had to change my mind. I just couldn't get that beef out of my head.

We all had a lovely salad of field greens, strawberries, and balsamic vinegar. I had the 14 oz. slow roasted prime rib which came with au-jus, horseradish sauce, and a baked potato with sour cream - totally old school. It was divine. By divine I mean it was soft and tender and practically melted in my mouth. I made the right choice. The trout can wait until next time.

Our server, Sheila, was a great gal. Supper club servers are always awesome and she really is one of the best I've worked with. I think she took a shine to me too.

I'd heard that Jax did personalized matchbooks so I asked the host. He said they made little notepads as well. I ordered four of those for the four of us (see top photo).

For dessert Cindi and I each ordered ice cream drinks. I got the grasshopper and Cindi got the pink squirrel. 

The recipe for the grasshopper is as follows:

1 part ice cream (or cream)
1 part creme de menthe
1 part creme de cacao

When made with cream I suppose a shaker with ice would be the appropriate preparation. With ice cream, a blender. 

The recipe for the pink squirrel is as follows:

1 part ice cream (or cream)
1 part cream de noyaux
1 part creme de cacao

Same preparation.

Great restaurant, great food, great company, great evening. Dale loved it so much he wants to go for his birthday too. I hope the trout is ready for me.

Red Stag Supper Club

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Last night Dale and I dined at the Red Stag Supper Club and what a supper it was! We've been once before in February or March of 2013 and both had the beef stroganoff (delicious). I started with and old-fashioned for a cocktail and asked for brandy instead of bourbon (the Wisconsin way) and was told that that's how they make 'em. Dale had some wine. They weren't messing around with the old-fashioned. It was great. We started with their relish tray which included picked yellow beets, pickled turnips, pickled carrots, and hard boiled eggs. It was all divine and perfectly sized for two people to split. For dinner I had the 8oz. New York strip which came with mashed potatoes, green beans, and wild mushrooms on the side (all divine) and Dale got the fish of the day which was salmon (also perfectly prepared - he gave me a taste). Our server, Andrea, checked on us periodically and at one point I told her that I thought the restaurant doesn't mess around - it's just great food. She recommended the the carrot cake for dessert and Dale couldn't have been more pleased as it's his favorite. He loved it and I did too. Next to Mom's, it's the best carrot cake I've ever had. It was a beautiful Minneapolis summer night and we took a walk through Nordeast for that reason in addition to being incredibly full!

Dining Alone - Tuna Noodle Hot Dish

Dale's on the island and I told him that I would be doing more cooking for myself this summer. Today I experienced success! Turkey noodle hotdish is not one of Dale's favorites but I quite like it. It was delicious although it would probably have been better with some crumbled potato chips on top and maybe a little mustard mixed in with the cream of mushroom soup for some added zing.

Drinks, Dinner, and Cigars with Mike

Mike and I got together at the last minute last night. He made mafalda pasta with meat sauce. Simple but delicious. The drinks and cigars were great too.

Dinner with Dale

Dale left for his annual trip to Madeline Island this past Thursday. On Wednesday night we went to The Lowbrow for dinner. Our favorite waitress, Malory, brought me a Diet Coke with this written on it. 

Dinner with Warren and Gary

Warren had Dale and me over for dinner this past Saturday. Gary joined us as well. Drinks outside. Warren made brats and chicken for dinner. We ate inside and watched The Damned Don't Cry with Joan Crawford. We took and then texted the above photos to Warren's friend Apollo who lives in San Jose.

Thanks, A Latte

Dale and I had brunch at the Grand Cafe this morning but not before stopping at Bull Run (where Anodyne used to be) for coffee and muffins and scones. Dale had regular coffee. I had a latte. Warren got me hooked on these when I visited him in California recently.