Spoonriver

750 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-436-2236
http://spoonriverrestaurant.com/

Category: American, International, Vegetarian

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

Recommendation: Good. Located in the newly revitalized Riverfront district and located right next door to the new Guthrie, Spoonriver serves a primarily organic and natural selection of food.

Spoonriver is the creation of Minneapolis chef Brenda Langton who is well known for her commitment to the organic and locally produced food movement. It is located right next door to the new Guthrie making it a great option for a pre-show meal. It is also very close to the Metrodome, the Mill City Museum, and the Stone Arch bridge. Chef Langton also owns Café Brenda in the Warehouse district, which has been a Twin Cities institution on locally grown and vegetarian food for over 20 years. In addition to the locally grown ingredients featured on Spoonriver’s and Café Brenda’s menus, chef Langton has also created the Mill City Farmers’ Market located on the plaza by the Guthrie and continuing into the Mill City Museum’s train shed. The market, that started as a Saturday morning only market last year has now expanded to Thursday evenings also. It features different local farmers selling various food items, arts and crafts and flowers.

The restaurant itself is in a very narrow space inside, although the floor to ceiling windows and the bright orange walls make it look more open and spacious. Outdoor seating is a much better option.

We’ve only been to Spoonriver for lunch and found our meal to be average, at best. This was a huge surprise to us given the accolades this restaurant has received. It was listed as one of top restaurants in Minneapolis’ foodie scene in a recent New York Times article. We started out with their Grapes of Wrath Sangria that had frozen grapes at the bottom. The drink was awful. It tasted bitter and was essentially flavorless. Our server replaced it without any issues and also mentioned that several other customers had made a similar comment. We’re not sure why they continue to serve a drink several customers have complained about. The next drink which was a Prickly Pear Margarita was great. It contained pineapple infused vodka and Prickly Pear liqueur. The drink was a very pretty fuchsia pink. The taste of the drink was sweet and earthy and it grew on us after a few sips.

For appetizers, we tried their Wild Mushroom and Pistachio Terrine, which we really liked. It was served with Cranberry coulis and ultra thin Crostinis on the side. The cranberries were delicious…they tasted very fresh. Although the mushrooms completely overpowered any pistachio flavor there might have been we found the dish to be innovative and tasty. The Thai Noodle Salad with Pan Seared Jumbo Shrimp was a huge disappointment. Note that they serve 4 jumbo Shrimp with the salad with their heads on. The shrimp was very delicious by itself. The salad was supposed to be flavored with hoisin sauce but didn’t taste like it. It was flavorless and very watery. When we asked for extra hoisin sauce, the kitchen couldn’t provide that for us and gave us soy sauce instead, which didn’t do much to revive the flavor. The other dish which was a Sea Bass with Pesto, Spinach Risotto, and a beautiful display of yellow and red heirloom tomatoes was much better. The pesto was delicious.

$$$. They give you a 10% off coupon for Café Brenda.

Update (May 15, 2008) – This is a tough review to write. Our last experience wasn’t spectacular and we were hoping this time around, the dinner would wow us. The outside patio was open and it was a pleasure sitting outside and watch the theatergoers go by. We tried the Moroccan Mojitos and loved them. The cardamom and rose water accented the drink and gave it a nice fragrance and zing (very creative.) The Duck and Chicken Liver Pate appetizer had a very strong flavor but grew on us – it’s a simple and classic preparation. On the other hand, the Spoon Dips (White Bean Dip and Carrot, Red Pepper Dip) served with veggies was average. We don’t doubt the ingredients are fresh and local, but the preparation was nothing spectacular. For entrees, the Halibut Special with Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc and Lentil Stew was nice – mild in flavor but a great preparation none the less. The New York Strip Steak with Bulgar Rice Pilaf and Steamed Broccoli that Nick ordered was a major disappointment. Nick rarely orders steak when he goes to a restaurant but the server really recommended the grass-fed beef. The steak wasn’t overcooked but was tough and chewy. A saving grace was the home made steak sauce which had a sweet, spicy flavor. Both desserts were good – the custard in the Lemon Tart was light and the Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse had nice flavor tones. In our view the quality of ingredients is at the heart of the restaurant; however, the preparations are very simple (some too simple for us) so keep that in mind when you visit Spoonriver.