This week’s adventures in dining were a bit of a mixed bag of Lenten fish fry, catching up with a friend and fulfilling a craving.
If your budget allows, it’s really important that we get out there and support local restaurants, which are still trying to recover from months of reduced business.
I am worried that we are going to see a wave of closures in the coming months. If you are looking for a way to help beyond eating out, consider a donation to The Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund (thesaltcurefund.org).
The Commodore
The salmon at The Commodore in St. Paul, foreground, and porcini ravioli in the background. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)
I was a little leery about returning to this gorgeous Art Deco bar and restaurant on Cathedral Hill after an awful experience during the holiday season, but a friend suggested it, so we went.
Last time I was there, the restaurant was not taking reservations, and it was pure chaos. We had been hoping to eat dinner, but got seated at a super low table in a corner where we were ignored for an hour. We ended up having one drink and eating elsewhere.
I wonder how many other people had that experience, because although they are now taking reservations (thank goodness), the place was nearly empty on a recent Wednesday evening.
I’m happy to report that we had a very pleasant dinner this time around, with attentive service, tasty food and delicious drinks.
We started with a charcuterie platter, which was honestly the least exciting thing we ate. A pretty ho-hum selection of cheeses (little mozzarella balls, brie slices and cheddar slices) and meats (pepperoni, salami and prosciutto) felt like something I could have rustled up from my deli drawer for unexpected company.
My cocktail, the Fitzgerald, fared much better. A super refreshing mix of Far North Solvig Gin, sour mix and Angostura bitters, it’s a balanced, simple and craveable drink.
And the rest of our food was tasty, if a little overpriced. Four large porcini ravioli for $40 is pretty outrageous — that’s seriously $10 per. But the punched-up mushroom flavor and creamy sauce were quite dreamy, and they were very filling, so I guess we can chalk that price up to inflation.
We also ordered the salmon, which at $45, at least included a decent-sized piece of fish. The salmon was perfectly cooked, drizzled with a very nice umami-packed char siu glaze and served with nutty, fluffy wild rice and broccolini.
Overall, it was a pleasant dinner accompanied by even nicer company. I’ll be back.
The Commodore: 79 N. Western Ave., St. Paul; 651-666-2394; thecommodorebar.com
Potsticker
Grass-fed ribeye noodles at Posticker in St. Paul. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)
I was craving Asian dumplings after seeing the viral dumpling lasagna all over my Instagram feed, so I rustled up friends who are always up for some fun and set out for a potsticker extravaganza at this cute Randolph Avenue spot.
I love the cocktails here — we all sampled different, creative drinks, many of which included fun ingredients like lychee, matcha and Japanese whiskey.
We started dinner with a tour of handmade potstickers, a platter that included two of each of the eight kinds they make. The colorful, flavorful wrappers are as fun as the fillings (which range from cilantro or kimchi pork to butternut squash and shrimp to tofu, mushroom and kale), and the variety of dipping sauces (classic, ginger smash, gochujang and old godmother spicy peanut) make every bite an adventure.
The tour includes an entree, so we chose grass-fed ribeye noodles. One friend uttered an expletive after taking a bite of the super-tasty, uber-tender steak, and soon after, the meat disappeared. The noodles were good, too.
Spicy kimchi fried rice, vegetable-packed Buddha’s Delight vegan stirfry and excellent scallion pancakes rounded things out for us, and we had enough leftovers to send home to a friend who was climbing while his wife was enjoying dinner.
A word to the wise: This restaurant is small, but it does take reservations. Make one if you don’t want to wait for a table.
Also, I did end up making that potsticker lasagna later in the week, and let me save you the trouble: It wasn’t good. Stick to the real thing, preferably made by professionals.
Potsticker: 1214 Randolph Ave., St. Paul; 651-699-4590; mypotsticker.com
Urban Growler
The walleye fish fry at Urban Growler in St. Paul. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)
I knew this St. Paul brewery would be packed on a Lenten Friday, but I also really wanted their fish fry. So my family and I drove over and arrived to find exactly one parking space, right near the door, which I took as a sign that a fantastic dinner was meant to be.
The operation is counter-service, but there’s none of the chaos of waiting for a table. You put your name in, and when a table opens, they lead you to it. Then you order at the bar, and given that they open their event spaces to regular customers on these busy days, it’s nice that there’s a second bar in the back.
We all ordered the excellent walleye fish fry, which comes with two sizable filets of walleye, which are panko breaded, not battered, which means they are crisp outside and tender inside, the way fried fish should be. (I dislike most beer-battered fish because there’s often an undercooked sludge beneath the crispy exterior if the fish is properly cooked, or the fish tends to be overdone if the batter is fully cooked.)
You get homemade tartar sauce (flawless), plenty of fresh coleslaw and your choice of side. My boys went with the classic, battered French fries, but I chose the heavily spiced savory potato wedges, and they were great, too. I love that they also include a slice of pillowy pumpernickel bread as a nod to Wisconsin fish fries. In eastern Wisconsin, where I was raised, they also include sliced, raw onion so you can make your own little onion-butter sandwich, but I’m guessing Minnesotans would find that weird.
Urban Growler serves its fish fry all year round on Fridays, so if you don’t want to wait for a table, my advice is to wait until Lent is over.
Urban Growler Brewing Company: 2325 Endicott St., St. Paul; 651-340-5793; urbangrowlerbrewing.com
Dining and Cooking