Heartland

1806 St. Clair Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
(651) 699-3536

http://www.heartlandrestaurant.com/

Category: American-Upscale

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 6
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Very Good. A great concept executed well – traditional Midwestern ingredients sourced from family farms, prepared masterfully with a creative touch.

Chef Lenny Russo (formerly of Cue) and his wife Mega Hoehn opened Heartland in 2002. Their ingenious idea was to source the best in-season ingredients from local farmers and create culinary masterpieces that showcase the best that the Heartland of America has to offer. This is why you can find game such as elk, rabbit, and boar on a nightly changing menu. The restaurant also has an adjacent wine bar with generous pours and a separate menu. The exterior of this restaurant is muted and not as lavish as some of the neighborhood cafes coming up lately, but the interior is a good mix of old world and contemporary – the extensive use of wood in the paneling and flooring matches well with the Midwest concept, but the baby blue paint and contemporary décor give it a gentle modern touch. The open kitchen allows for the odors to permeate the room and it’s a pleasure to watch Russo and Robert Moore, his chef de cuisine at work – the whole kitchen is calm and composed as orders from a full dining room fly in.

The menu has two fixed priced 3-course options – the Fauna and the Flora. We were greeted with the amuse bouche – a stellar preparation of pork with sweet sour cabbage and spicy mustard. For the first course we would highly recommend the Veal Sweetbreads with a Grilled Red Bosc Pear (from the Fauna fixed price menu) as well as the Foie Gras Terrine with Wheat Croustades and Poached Pear. The Sweetbreads had great flavor ending in a hint of bitterness. The Foie Gras was exceptional – rich and creamy. In the entrees, the Duck Breast with Harissa Cream was our favorite – the sweetness of the cream really cut through and accentuated the spices in the dish. The Pork Sirloin Chop with boar bacon and caramelized cabbage wasn’t bad – this heartland-sized portion of pork was a tad dry and could have used more flavor. The Spiced Minnesota Elk (from the Fauna menu) was cooked medium rare, sliced and served over a yam and apple puree. It was quite good, although one of our friends found what we thought were several pieces of plastic in her puree, but the kitchen insisted that it was an apple core! For dessert, we were impressed with the rich flavor and melt in your mouth texture of the Dark Chocolate-Cassis Ganache Torte (from the Fauna menu). The Sugar Pumpkin Pot de Crème was perfect for the season. Even though the food arrived quickly, we have to ding the service because of the issue of the plastic in the yams and our server’s lack of enthusiasm.

$$$$. The Fauna fixed price menu is $40 while the Flora is $30. Dinner for two with a glass of wine each was $120.