The Write Ingredients

Heartland.... Oooooo.....

My wonderful husband brought me to the Heartland Restaurant the other night to celebrate my graduation. The heartland is a small, neighborhood place just across the river from where we live. I had been to the wine bar, but never made it to the restaurant, and I could kick myself for not going sooner.

There has been a lot of press around town, including this review from Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine, and this mention in The Rake.

So, we finally made it over there. We arrived a few minutes early and considered, for a moment, a stop in the adjoining wine bar. It's narrow, but attractive, surrounded in light wood. Instead, we just went straight to the restaurant where they sat us promptly and efficiently. Our table is in an adorable little nook. We were able to see out into the rest of the dining room, but weren't sitting on top of the other tables. The kitchen was open and I commented on how calm the chefs looked. Their movements were under control and far from panicked.

We were immediately offered bread and greeted by our server, who was friendly and outgoing without being overbearing. We ordered a bottle of Chardonnay (Babcock, Ruth's Earth Cuvee), which was fruity and light. Just exactly what I wanted on an 80 degree day.

The Heartland offers two pre-fixe menus each night, one with meat, and one vegetarian. I think they're a really good deal, and even after perusing the rest of the menu, we both decided to order the "Fauna" menu of the night. But we cheated. We noticed the Bison Tartare, and knew we had to have it. Okay, I admit, I'm not a big red meat fan, but after the Bison burgers a couple of weeks ago, and knowing we were in the capable hands of a splendid chef, I figured this was the place to try something as unique as raw Bison here. There's a photo of it below. It was served with insanely thin crostini and yellow tomatoes in a horseradish sauce. I can't really believe how much we both liked it, and there was no hint of raw beef anywhere. The bison was surrounded with horseradish and garlic, and couldn't have been better.


The first course of our Fauna meal was a "Pan-friend catfish in a duck egg-cornmeal crust house-smoked bacon, braised spring greens, red pepper-chive sour cream and freshwater crayfish consomme." I love catfish, which is strange, but the tang of sour cream and the earthiness of the greens matched the strong flavor of the catfish. I could have ordered this for an entree, but I had to remember there was more to come.

The entree was listed on the menu as, "Fischer Farm Yorkshire pork roast with green beans, roasted fennel and wild leek sauce." I am new to both fennel and leeks and rarely get enough of them. The pork is from a farm in Waseca, MN (sorry, I couldn't fine a direct link) and was tender and juicy. The whole dish was a little bland, but I blame that more on the bison and the catfish than the actual dish. How can you follow those two dishes without feeling a little disappointment. Regardless, I knew I still had dessert to look forward to.

Which was more than enough. The menu read, "Chocolate trio of a passion fruit chocolate tartlette, a chocolate-black pepper truffle and chocolate-port wine-cherry biscotti." I could have read the first two words and know the dessert was for me, but when it arrived there were two of each. Hello. Congratulations to me, and to the pastry chef who I was so fortunate to discover. The little tartlettes were crunchy and smooth at the same time. The truffles were rich, and yes, I could taste the black pepper. The biscotti provided a crunch (and something to sop up that beautiful juice).

Needless to say, we'll be going back. Sorry the photographs are overexposed, but we were sitting in our little hole, which was very romantic, and I am using just an everyday digital camera. I have to wonder if people notice I take photographs of the food I am served. Here, at Heartland, there was no wondering. I asked our wonderful server if I could see a menu again (so I knew what I was eating) and she told me to keep it, so I knew what I was taking pictures of. Gulp. So, I was discovered. I don't have a spy cam, so I shouldn't be surprised. Heartland, if you're able to find this post, please leave a comment. I'll be right in for a glass of wine, and I'm really craving the cheese plate!