Ernesto De Quesada

The Hangover 6/6/09

Well made film about a four men that go to las Vegas for a bachelor party, 2 days before the wedding. Three of them wake up the next day in their hotel suite with huge headaches. The suite is in shambles. They can’t remember a thing about the previous night, and worst of all, they have lost the groom.

The rest of the film, is about the three friends following clues to find the groom, with the wedding approaching and time running out.

Stella’s Fish Cafe at the Rooftop Deck. Went after a long swim at the YWCA and a couple of hours in the sun at Lake Calhoun. Walked up the stairs as usual. The rooftop was busy, but not too much. Got a table immediatelly. Hostess said that this was her favorite table in the whole place, and it was. Should I have given her a tip for that?. Maybe in NY.

Sat down and ordered a beer. Corona with a lime for me and Sierra Nevada for LB. We also got 1/2LB of the Peel and Eat Shrimp. Our intention had been to come for a beer and shrimp and then go somewhere else, but that would soon change. It was nice and warm with the sun still out in force, and the view of downtown Minneapolis, especially once the sorming clouds rolled in, was great.

So after the shrimp we ordered some fish tacos and another beer, and after that we shared Stella’s Fish Sampler; a pairing of Grilled Salmon, Swordfish, and Scallops, each in a different sauce. The Fish Sampler was good, except I would do without the pineapple over the Salmon.

The storm approached slowly throughout the meal. We wnt from a sun drenched start to rain beginning to come down as we left. The roar of motorcycles arriving at Cowboy Slims below, punctuating the evening.

20.21 after Hoipolloi Theater. Sit at the bar and order the special tasting menu. Three courses for $20.21. We order the Spring Pea Soup (with Mint, Chilli oil). Then we want the MockDock Lomein, but they are out. They offer anything from the regular menu. I get the Hong Kong Wild Caught Salmon with leeks and and a soy based sauce. Linda gets the Seafood Green Curry (scallops, prawns and bock choy) with rice. For dessert we get the Spoon and Cherry (chocolate soft mouse covered with hard chocolate, vanilla ice cream and cherries). Linda gets the Panna Cotta with cherries and sherbert. We also get a couple of glasses of tempranillo.

The soup is very good. It is hot, colorful, light and fragrant. Linda’s green curry is fantastic. Big pieces of scallop and prawns with bock choy and the curry is very hot and flavorful. My salmon is also very good. A smaller portion over vegetables with rings of sauteed radishes and leeks on top. Of the desserts, the panna cotta was the better one. The Spoon and Cherry was a much smaller version and not as good as the last time we had it a couple of years ago.

Then again, for $20,21 you can’t go wrong. This deal goes on through the end of June (at the bar only) 

Cafe Barbette for dinner. Get the one open table outdoors, almost on the corner with Hennepin. Linda feels like Pommes Frites. We go for half order of Frites and the Asparagus Shitake Tart to start with. LB gets the Seared Wid Caught Salmon for an entree and I go for the fish special (the server can’t pronounce, and I soon forget what it was).

The drinks arrive quickly. A Tempranillo for lb and a Pierre Amadieu Gigondas for me. The wine goes well with the tart, not so much with the frittes. The half-order of Frites is gigantic. It comes with a aioli style sauce reminisent of the aioli at the New French. There are way too many frites, but we devour them anyway. The tart is pretty good.

Our entrees arrive. Linda’s looks and turns out to be very good. It has a nice piece of salmon above a bed of orzo with dill. Mine, on the other hand, not so good. The fish tastes like pork, maybe it is the sauce it was glazed with. It comes over rice.

Ok, so you can’t bat 100% everytime, even at a place you like. 

Followed the WeatherBug calling 65F and sunny to Lake Calhoun. Biked from home through the Greenway, parked on the bike-racks by the fish cafe. Walked out to the peer and sat there soaking the warm rays; the peer rocking slowly.

Walked around the lake, took pictures, sat at a bench, stopped by Pooper’s Point (can’t see the marker we left anymore), watched dogs and runners.

Stopped at 20.21 for Calamari and drinks after the Jason Moran performance. We’re pretty lucky to get a table by the bar. Soon after we sat down, a large crowd from the theater came out. Got our favorite appetizer. Calamari Salad. Linda ordered her usual: Bombay Saphire, straight up with olives. I had an Absolut Tonic.

 The Absolut Tonic went too fast. At least Linda had olives with her Bombay Saphire

Went to hear Jason Moran and the Big Wagon perform “In My Mind”, a Jazz/media performance at the Walker. The performance included a video that ran the full lentgh of the concert. The Jazz ensemble included Jason Moran at the piano, Logan Richardson, alto sax; Aaron Stewart, tenor sax; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Howard Johnson, tuba; Isaac Smith, trombone; Tarus Mateen, bass; and Nasheet Waits, drums. David Dempewolf did the video design and David Oaks the sound.

In My Mind, .. “with a multimedia performance built around the extraordinary “tentet” recording of Thelonius Monk’s legendary 1959 Town Hall Concert. Integrating samples of Monk’s original music, conversations, and photos with his own interpretations of Monk tunes, Moran leads us deep into the historic jazz event while simultaneously bringing us headlong into the 21st century. “It’s much larger than a tribute project,” Moran says. “Monk is the reason I started playing piano… .” (from the Walker)

We had been waiting with three other couples for tables at Fugaise. We were standing at the vestibule, waiting for the hostess to get our tables ready, and since you can’t see the dining room until you go in, I wondered if they had over-reserved. Especially, because the hostess took our name and then disappeared for more than five minutes. Fortunately the wait was not too long and I was also able to hear how some people live. In between talking with Linda, I overheard this man say to his wife(?) that he wanted to install a 6-burner stove and that updating the kitchen would be two-hundred grand. More talking to Linda, then something about how that was on top of ten thousand he had spent last month…

So after a while, the hostess came in and brought us to a small table in the main dining room (last time we were here, we had sat in a smaller room beyond the main dining room). The small dining room was completely full, and a few waiters moved this way and that serving people. Our server brought menus, lit the small votive candle on the table and told us all about the special five-course Valentine menu.

The small two page menu contained four appetizers and four entrees. We selected the Scallops in Salsify, Butter Lettuce, Sauce Choron, the Root Vegetable Tart with Sweet Onion Puree, Gruyere Fondue, Poached Egg, and for the entrees I got the Monkfish with Parsnip, Portobello Mushroom, Bacon, Red Wine (minus the bacon), and Linda got the Salmon with Roasted Mushroom Polenta, Zucchini, Tarragon Cream. To drink Linda had the Paul Zinck, Pinot Blanc (Alsace 2006), and I had Bouchard Pere & Fils, Bourgogne Rouge (Burgundy 2005). For dessert we had the Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla ice cream, Cinnamon Crème Anglaise, Prune, Macadamia Nuts.

So about the food. Soon after we sat down they brought a amuse-bouche; a potato-croquette with some sauce, I now forget. Since we told the server that we were sharing the scallops and the tart, he brought the scallops in two plates, one scallop for each of us (nice touch). The scallops were great. Very tender and well balanced. The root vegetable tart was also very good. The tart itself had caramelized onions, the root vegetables were just right, and the poached egg made for a nice contrast to the vegetables, particularly with the soft yolk. Of the fish, mine was better than Linda’s. All together, as we expected, the food was very good.

In the middle of dinner we order a second glass of wine, and the server told us it was on him (the restaurant), for our patience waiting to get a table. Another nice touch.

To end the meal, we decided to ask for dessert and skip the coffee (last time here we wanted espresso and either they didn’t have any or it was pretty bad, so I did not want to repeat that experience). The dessert, as last time, was just ok. I don’t know why I keep asking for warm chocolate cake. Most restaurants have pretty much the same thing, and it becomes too similar from place to place.

Tonight we went to see great Mali singer Rokia Traoré perform at a very crowded Cedar. By the time we arrived it was pretty crowded, but we were lucky to get a couple of spots against the side wall where we could sit on a ledge and have a pretty good view over people’s heads.

She started the concert with a slow song and then transitioned into fast tempo music. The band played a long set without intermission. After which they took a short break and then came back for a great finale.

Although the Cedar had placed chairs throughout, people began to gather on the sides and dance. Of course, by the end everyone was dancing.