Heidi's

This delightful bistro is the love-child of Stewart and Heidi Woodman, both of whom earned their stripes in NYC. Minneapolis St. Paul magazine, in their February issue, has a nice piece on them along with other husband-and-wife-owned/operated restaurants. My wife recently met a friend there for dinner and they had a wonderful time and meal. They started off with a special tasting menu appetizer, which was a salmon spring roll that has been described as fabulous. They agreed to share entrees and ordered the Pan seared trout with artichokes, gremolata, lemon vinaigrette for $19.00 and the Roasted petite filet of beef tenderloin, braised romaine, potato tuile, “Caesar” sauce 19.95. The trout was delicious. To quote my wife, which seems appropriate, "everything was seasoned, prepared and presented perfectly". Apparently she wasn't too jazzed about the braised romaine when she saw it on the menu, but once she tasted it, "I don't know what they did, but man that was good". They were both members of the clean plate club. For dessert they split some sort of chocolate decadence that they both loved and regret not getting two. Heidi's does take reservations and it's highly recommneded that you make one before you go.

Good Day Cafe

We've been to Good Day Cafe twice. It's kind of in a stupid location and it's much bigger than I imagined it would be. You see, I heard so much about it before I had been, so I was imaging a small, cute, trendy place. Instead it's in a big space and has a Cracker Barrel sort of vibe. I don't mean that in a bad way. Noramlly I would because I'm kind of an elitist, but this time I don't. OK, so we've been twice and both times the food was great. They have a policy where you can call ahead and put your name on the waiting list, which we did. We still had to wait about twenty minutes. Did I mention that we were there for brunch? No, well we were, both times. We had our daughter with us and both times we were meeting friends with kids. This is definitely a kid-friendly place and you're not coming here for atmosphere. Again, the atmosphere is not bad it's just not one of those places. You come for really good food. Even though it was brunch time we split an order of their famous clam chowder and it rocked. My wife got the rueben, which she raved on and on about. I hate ruebens. They are stupid. I got an egg/breakfast burrito of some sort, I'm sure. I remember liking whatever I got, but not what I liked. If I really thought about it I could remember, but you're not here to read what I have to say about restaurants. Wait, what? Oh, maybe you are. Why?


5410 Wayzata Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55416
(763) 544-0205

Pizza Luce

I've only been to the Pizza Luce on Lyndale and 32nd. I've had a slice at Grand Old Days in St. Paul. I've also had pizza delivered from the one in St. Paul when I was participating in a fantasy football draft. In all instances, I enjoyed the pizza. I don't remember the slice I had at Grand Old Days, but it was something appropriately Pizza Lucean with an assortment of toppings. At the draft we had The Bear (Pepperoni, marinated chicken, ground beef, Canadian bacon, homemade Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese on red sauce), and a make your own that had somthing unusual on it, but was very good. When we went to the restaurant we ordered the Baked Potato Pizza (Pizza crust smothered in buttery-garlic baby red mashed potatoes and topped with broccoli, fresh diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of smoked apple hickory bacon. Served with a side of sour cream). I've told friends who aren't from around here about it and there was a range of reactions from angry to intrigued. The angry reaction seems surprising, but if you know the guy it's not. Maybe I shouldn't count that reaction. We also had some nice salads, I had the Ceaser, which was traditional and nice. We ate outside and were attacked by mosquitoes, but I don't really blame Pizza Luce for that. If we had more disposable income and still went out in the evening, we would definitely eat at Pizza Luce more. They have a nice selection or beers on tap and in bottles as well. I think they do wine, too. So to sum up, good, non-traditional pizza, good traditional ceaser salad and nice been selection. I'm sure there's much more, but I'm just telling you what I know. OK then.

Dong Yang

Dong Yang's is a Korean restaurant in the back of a grocery store and it is so good. You're not coming here for the atmosphere, well maybe you are, but the food is amazing. I'm told it's very authentic. I've not had Korean food other than in the states, so I don't really feel like I can truly judge its authenticity. Regardless, it's just good food. It's in Hill Top, part of Columbia Heights just north of the border with Minneapolis on Central. I went them because I was craving bi bim bop and friends told us this was the place to go for Korean food. The bi bim bop was good, but the bul go gee is even better, so that is what I get now. The missus really like the chap chae as do I, so we share entrees a little bit. Each dinner comes with an assortment of strange accompanyments. There's kim chee, sea weed, something like kudzu and a bunch of other stuff. Their hours are limited. I think they close at 7 or maybe 8 depending on the day, so plan accordingly. Now I need to go to Dong Yang's.

Kafe 421

Kafe 421 is a great restaurant "hidden" in Dinkytown. I say hidden because it is an actual restaurant with good, quality food among chains, bars and more campus-type restaurants. There's nothing wrong the latter, it's just not what I think of when I think of Kafe 421. There's a bar as well as table seating both in the front and the back of the restaurant. They serve wine and beer. Their menu is varied and has some real jems. If you like borscht, then you won't go wrong here. Some of the entrees have a Grecian flair, the owner is Greek, so it makes sense. I'm a big fan of their burgers, they have an excellent variety and they're all in the $9-$10 range.

One of the great deals at the restaurant is their Happy Hour, which is everyday from 3-6 and offers $5 appetizers, highlihgted by calamari and spanakopita. In addition they have house wine and a selection of beers for $3. You can easily fill yourself and a friend for under $20.

Longfellow Grill

Longfellow Grill is in Minneapolis, but just barely. It sits right on the corner of East Lake and W. River Parkway. If you had a good arm you could hit St. Paul with a rock from there, but why would you want to throw rocks at St. Paul? Why do you hate St. Paul? Why don't you put that impressive arm strength to good use instead of tormenting St. Paul? Alright enough about your arm and its strength lets get down to brass tacks. For those of you who read the blog regularly, you will notice that all we eat is brunch. We have a daughter who is less than one and we are terrified of leaving her with anyone else, so we are forced to interact with the restaurant world only through brunch. This is our lot in life.

We had a good meal there. I had the Breakfast Tostada ($9.95), which was good. I ordered it because it came with guacamole and the Breakfast Burrito ($11.45) did not. I think I would have enjoyed the burrito more. However, I still enjoyed the Tostada. My wife got the Meatloaf Hash ($9.95) and enjoyed it mightily. Our dining companions ordered the Lox and Cream Cheese ($9.95) and the The Grill's Cheesteak ($12.45), I know it's not a brunch item, but we're not here to judge. Well, other people, we're not here to judge other people just food. We would definitely go back. There were other items on the menu that grabbed our attention.

Cafe Maude

Cafe Maude has the tag line of Civilized Leisure. That seems appropriate. We've eaten brunch there twice and both times have been excellent. It's pretty reasonably-priced and they are clearly a restaurant that pays attention. The ingredients are fresh, simple and delicious, and the presentation is very nice. I'm not the kind of person that really cares about the presentation of what I'm going to eat, but I've found more often than not here in the Twin Cities good, quality food is presented well. So, I guess I've formed a Pavlovian response to well-presented food. Both times we brought our daughter who was between six and eight months. They were very welcoming and accommodating. I would hesitate to call Cafe Maude kid-friendly for fear of giving a false impression. Often times kid-friendly has a negative connotation for those without. So, fear not you're dining experience will not be ruined by wailing children and on the other hand if you have a child with you they'll make you feel welcome. Let me put it this way, if we weren't tied down with a kid and were able to go out to dinner, we would come here in a heartbeat. As it is, we have to suffer with only being able to eat brunch.

Our first meal consisted of Chorizo hash ($7.5) for me and Roasted Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts Omelette ($10) for the missus. We also split a bowl of the Roasted Corn Chowder ($6) and the table had an order of the House-Cut Fries ($6). Our friends ordered the Tempura Fried Asparagus, Haricort Vert and Cherry Tomatoes ($9.5) and the Roasted Sweet Corn Johnny Cakes ($13.5) Everything was good in someone or another's opinion. I phrase it that way because I don't really care for cauliflower or brussels sprouts, so I'm not a good judge. The point is everyone enjoyed their meal. In particular, the chowder was excellent. So much so that we ordered when we came the second time. That meal was a little more hectic, so I don't remember what everyone ordered, but again everyone enjoyed their meal.

Punch Locations

Highland Park

704 Cleveland Ave S
St Paul MN 55116

651.696.1066

Sun-Thur: 11-9:30pm
Fri-Sat: 11-10pm

Lake Calhoun Minneapolis

Calhoun Village Shopping Center
3226 W Lake St
Minneapolis MN 55416

612.929.0006

Open Daily 11-10pm

Wayzata

1313 Wayzata Blvd E
Wayzata MN 55391

952.476.7991

Sun-Thur: 11-9:30pm
Fri-Sat: 11-10pm

Eden Prairie

8353 Crystal View Rd
Eden Prairie MN 55334

952.943.9557

Sun-Thur: 11-9pm
Fri-Sat: 11-10pm

Northeast Minneapolis

210 E Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis MN 55414

612.623.8114

Open Daily 11-10pm

GRAND AVENUE

769 Grand Ave
St Paul MN 55105

651.602.6068

Open daily from 11am-10pm

Coming Soon?
Stadium Village approximately Oak and Washington

Punch

Punch has six locations in the Twin Cities area. We're lucky enough to have one in our backyard. For the uninitiated, this is not pizza as you are used to it. Papa John's is fine and all, but Punch makes pizza that is entirely unique, delicious, and wonderful. Take a look here for a much better description than I could ever do about their devotion to pizza. Their pizzas are pretty reasonably-priced for as loaded with quality ingredients as they are. They range from $6-10ish and number around 18, and then, of course, you can craft your own. I'm a big eater, so I think of the their pizzas as individual, but for the average person they go a little further. I would say they are about 9-10" in diameter and they have six pieces each. They also have 8 delicious salads that you can get in either half ($4ish) or full ($7ish) portions. You get a lot of salad, and while Punch is about the pizza, they certainly pay attention to everything they serve you.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and Punch is where we chose to get our meal. After we put our daughter down for the night, I went to get the goods. I've found what I love and I stick with it, so I always get the Vesuvio, which has spiced salami, saracene olives, cracked red peper, pepperoncini, and basil. As you might guess, it's a little spicy and a lot of good. My wife likes to mix it up a little with her pizza selection. Last night she went with the Palermo. We've had many of their pizzas and they have all been wonderful. Every time my brother comes to town for business we take him to Punch.