Restaurant Review: Heidi's

Have I mentioned before how much we love going to brunch around here? The multitude of choices at reasonable prices, its like the best of both worlds. Our friends Ben and Angie also enjoy brunching so we sometimes meet up for a double date. One Sunday morning this Fall we all met at Heidi's on my "suggestion" as a place to try out (I will have to give props to Mpls - St Paul Magazine for the heads up).

Being smart we decided to go on a Sunday morning in hopes that it wasn't too crowded. Score one of us, it wasn't! After we were seated everyone (except me) ordered bottomless coffee, reminding us of college when people would drive 45 minutes to the nearest Perkin's at 11 pm at night and do the same thing. To put into perspective as to why anyone would drive that far that late for coffee: We went to college in a small town where everything closed at 8 pm. Got it? Thought so.

Back to Heidi's, after receiving our drinks the waiter brought us out Banana Muffins with whipped salted butter on the house! You heard that right: On. The. House. Just because. Score two for us. They were delicious to say the least. The tops were as crisp and sweet as muffin tops get, and the middle was chewy and full of banana flavor. I'm not sure what kind of salt they use in their butter but that butter was AMAZING!

Restaurant Review: Zelo

As much as I love spontaneous dates, sometimes I get disappointed with the way they turn out. What can I say? I'm a planner y'all. So imagine my disappointment when I took the bus downtown one summer day for an impromptu lunch at our favorite spot, just to learn it closed 15 minutes before we arrived.

After whining for about 10 minutes hunger took over and we hopped on over to Zelo. Given it was a hot summer day we chose to sit on the patio, perfect for people watching. We were given menus and brought out a bread basket to enjoy while we waited for our meals to arrive.

I ordered half a brazilian salad with salmon and a cup of tomato basil soup. The salad came with mixed greens, hearts of palm, celery, tomato topped with a lemon vinaigrette. To ensure that I got some protein I added a piece of salmon and was (pleasantly) shocked to see that it covered practically the entire salad. The salmon was seared to perfection and paired well with the lemon vinaigrette on the salad. The soup, while flavorful, was just too heavy for me. I felt like I was eating a bowl of pasta sauce, so I will skip this soup in the future.

Do you see the size of that piece of salmon?

Before I get to what Mark ordered I need to share a conversation Mark and I had while browsing the menu:

Me: Do you know what you are going to order?

Mark: I actually think I am going to get something lighter for lunch. *half a second later* I'm getting the lasagna.

That is probably my favorite quote from Mark ever. He didn't even take a breath between saying he was going light and deciding on probably the heaviest menu item. Maybe you had to be there to get why its so funny?

Anywho, on to his dish: lasagna with sausage. Overall, it was very 'meh'... The piece was enormous, more than any one person needs in a sitting. The sauce was heavy, the sausage wasn't predominate enough, and the ending impression was that he wouldn't order it again. The one positive: he was beyond full until dinner.

About to take on his lasagna, which is much larger
than this picture makes it seem

Zelo was perfect for Nicollet Mall people watching but just ok when it came to the food. I loved my salad and if I ever go back would order it again. However I'm not sure if that is because of how good it was or out of fear of being disappointed in my choice of dish.

8.21.12

Tempeh Spring Rolls with Pseudo Peanut Sauce

A couple weeks ago we went out to eat at a Thai restaurant which had spring rolls on their appetizers menu, we didn't order any but I had been thinking about/craving ever since. Fast forward to last weekend when strolling through the aisles of the grocery store I came across spring roll wrappers. Having never used them on top of my unusual yearning for spring rolls meant only one thing: I was buying the wrappers and would attempt to make my own, with a fail-safe meal in mind of course.

I looked at a couple recipes online but decided to just use what I had on hand and hope for the best. I sliced up some raw vegetables and tempeh (which I marinated) and then came the fun part: figuring out the magical powers a little warm water has on a rice paper wrapper! Seriously, I pulled out the dry wrappers and thought for sure I was going to crack them and the rolls would just fall apart, but after dipping them in water for 10 seconds they were instantly rip-proof and semi-flexible. So one by one I dipped, filled, and folded until all my rolls were done. It was THAT easy.

Ingredients

Basic Lentil Soup

Now that fall has arrived full force here in the midwest my body is in soup-desire overdrive. There hasn't been a day in the last week that I haven't had an aching for some kind of soup. A couple days ago I wanted a light lentil soup and came up with this not-so-imaginitive recipe, but hey its exactly what I was looking for. Served with some drop biscuits, butter, and honey my rather boring soup became infinitely more swoon-worthy.

I would highly suggest serving this soup with a more calorie dense add-on as it is, albeit healthy, extremely low in the calorie department. So get everything simmering, make yummy Panera-like sandwiches, and in 30 minutes time you will have a body-warming meal on the table.

Served with aforementioned biscuits

Basic Lentil Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

4 cups broth of choice

1 cup water

1 cup dry green lentils, picked over and rinsed

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrot, chopped

1/8-1/4 cup salsa (or a can of diced tomatoes)

4 teaspoons of your favorite herbs (I used basil, oregano, and thyme)

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

Directions:

Bring broth and water to a boil in a large stock pot over medium heat.

While liquid is heating chop carrots & onion and mince garlic cloves. Once broth is boiling stir all remaining ingredients into pot.

Bring everything back to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer.

Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

Serve with a side salad and bread.

Enjoy :)

Restaurant Review: Black Sheep Pizza (Warehouse District Location)

Coal fired or wood fired pizza? That is what debate over the best pizzeria in Minneapolis comes down to. If you like wood fired, Punch takes the cake; if you prefer coal fired then Black Sheep is what gets your mouth watering. Having already tried Punch earlier this summer Mark and I made time to trudge back over to the warehouse district for some coal fired action.

Obviously Black Sheep had some big shoes to fill. Mark and I loved everything about our pizza from punch, this might not seem fair to Black Sheep for having to go second but someone had to do it. Trust us, as with all restaurants we went in with a completely open mind. Walking in felt like we had just entered a friends' basement, which was a good thing. There was a bar and a bunch of custom-made tables; we were sat at one of the tables. This was fine by us because it gave us a chance to admire the pictures on the tabletops.

One thing I really liked about Black Sheep is that, besides some appetizers, their menu consists of just pizza. That's not to say you don't have choices; there are, but all have to do with pizza toppings. We decided to order two 12 inch pizzas and share so that I could get mine meat-free. Mark went with a hot salami & dried chili pepper because salami is amazing and we had never had it on a pizza before. I chose the tomato & oregano pizza from the menu, but it didn't come with cheese so I went big and added ricotta & artichoke.

Look at the ricotta blob goodness

Super Quick Chunky Tomato Soup

This soup was the invention of a busy weeknight. Going into it we had no idea how well it would turn out, definitely a welcomed surprise. We served it with some grilled cheeses and called it a well balanced meal. I scarfed it down too quickly to take any pictures so just take my word. If you find yourself hungry and wanting some tomato soup and grilled cheese give this 20 minute fix a try.

Super Quick Chunky Tomato Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 can whole tomatoes, chopped

1 8 oz. tomato juice

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 carrot finely, chopped

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onion, garlic, and carrot. Stir and sauté until onions are translucent and carrots are soft.

Place tomatoes, tomato juice, paprika, basil, cayenne, bay leaf, and salt & pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and add onion mixture.

Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Divide between 2 bowls and serve.

Enjoy :)

Spicy Three Cheese Quinoa

Quinoa is Superfood (the superhero of foods). The flavor options seem to be endless and the nutrition profile gets an A+ in my book. Now that we got that out of the way let's talk about what I did with quinoa over the weekend for lunch.

I added cheese.

And garlic & onion.

And vegetables.

And adobo sauce.

Did I mention cheese?

The end result was creamy with a little bit of a kick (thanks to the adobo). The veggies added a little texture to give some life to the tiny beads of quinoa; chicken or hot dogs would work nicely as well. Or bacon. No judgement here. If you don't like spice, leave out the adobo sauce and if you don't have any adobo on hand use red pepper flakes.

Thanks to the quinoa and cheese this dish was filling and satisfying. Next time I am going to put some breadcrumbs on top and bake it for awhile.

Yum.

Spicy Three Cheese Quinoa

Serves 2 as a main course for lunch / 4 as a side for lunch or dinner

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry quinoa

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp olive oil

1/8 cup milk

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2-4 tablespoons grated romano cheese, divided

2 tsp adobo sauce

salt & pepper to taste

1/8 cup finely chopped carrot, optional

1/4 cup chopped broccoli, optional

1/4 cup chopped kale, optional

Directions:

Rinse quinoa and cook according to package, set aside.

While quinoa is cooking, chop onion and veggies, mince garlic, and shred cheese if needed.

Heat olive in a skillet over medium heat, add onion and garlic, and allow to cook until fragrant (about 2-3 minutes).

Add veggies to skillet and turn burner to low.

In the meantime combine milk, cheddar, mozzarella, and 1/2 of romano in a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir occasionally until everything is melted, then lightly salt & pepper cheese sauce.

Check vegetables and make sure they are soft, then add then to the cheese mixture stirring to combine.

Stir in adobo sauce and taste, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Stir in quinoa and mix well. Turn up burner heat to medium and allow to cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Divide evenly between two bowls and sprinkle with the remaining romano cheese.

Enjoy :)

Be'wiched Deli

Dessert

Restaurants with the word "deli" in the title always get my attention. To me a deli is a place sure to have sandwiches, one of my favorite meals because they are endlessly customizable, quick, and, cheap leaving everyone satisfied. Obviously when I first heard of Be'Wiched Deli in the Warehouse District I thought it would be a great restaurant for Mark and me, no research necessary. Upon further inquiry (aka googling) I inserted it on the top of my "must-try" restaurants.

One day earlier this summer I happened to have a doctors appointment right around lunch time, so Mark blocked off a chunk of the afternoon and we hopped on the bus down to the restaurant. When we arrived it wasn't too busy, but filling up quickly. The place was set up a lot like a diner, complete with a display case full of baked goods, booth seating, and a chalk board at the counter menu.

After mulling over the menu for a few minutes (they have some unique and tasty sounding sandwiches) Mark settled on the smoked turkey on ciabatta and I went with the cup of soup and 1/2 sandwich combination of tomato gazpacho & veggie burger.

Restaurant Review: Colossal Cafe (St. Paul Location)

Our food ticket (named after streets in St. Paul)

Apparently we couldn't get enough of St. Paul because two days after Meritage we found ourselves back in our not-so-old stomping grounds! We met up with our friends Ben & Angie who had been telling us about this restaurant called Colossal Cafe (as seen on Diners, Driver Ins and Dives*) that apparently served up a mean brunch menu. *I should note that they do have a Minneapolis location but it only accepts cash and we didn't have enough on hand.*

Doing brunch had been on our summer bucket list so meeting up one Saturday after our Farmer's Market trip was an excellent opportunity to fulfill that bullet point on our list. On the ride to the restaurant Ben & Angie warned us that the place was small and had fend-for-yourself seating, something that would have thrown me off had I not been briefed beforehand. Sure enough and true to the description the place was small and extremely busy. Knowing we were newbies, Ben & Angie ordered quickly and hustled to find us seating while Mark and I mulled over the menu. After finally ordering we took our seats on the two stools at the bar that Ben & Angie had secured for us and waited for our food to arrive.

Mark went with a full stack of flappers complete with apple, brie, honey and walnuts on top. I wish I could have snapped a picture of the look on my face when Mark's HUGE plateful of yeast-based pancakes arrived. They were smothered in the above mentioned toppings and were delicious.... for a few bites. After a while they were just too heavy for me. As luck would have it Mark loved them, especially the thickness of the pancakes. He could see how these flappers worked as sandwich bread (one of the ways you can order any of the sandwiches on the menu). Mark also thought the brie was a great addition to the pancake toppings. However, he noted that there was just too much honey. The honey was literally covering the plate, he couldn't even eat the bottom flapper due to the saturation.

Ready to dig into his stack of flappers

Close up of the apple, brie, walnut flappers with honey

I ordered the artichoke, spinach, tomato, and feta frittata. It was wonderful, eggs with vegetables and cheese... the ideal "Tara" meal if one were to exist. The ingredients mixed together to form the perfect flavor tones. The tanginess of the artichoke, the saltiness of the feta, and the mellow undertones of the spinach and tomato thoroughly satisfied my palate. It came with two slices of lightly buttered homemade toast which were obviously an appreciated and enjoyed side.

My yummy frittata

Mark and I really liked the food and were grateful we had chaperones to lead the way through our busy first Colossal experience. Next time I would probably order the frittata again (THAT good), and I bet Mark would order one of their savory sandwiches on a flapper.

Notes:

*The Minneapolis location is the one featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.

7.14.12

Restaurant Review Restaurant Week Summer 2012 Edition: FireLake Grill

Every time that restaurant week comes around, Tara and I spend hours researching and debating which restaurants we want to visit. This summer, we had narrowed our lunch restaurant down to a few finalists, and the winner was Fire Lake Grill. While Fire Lake isn't one of the celebrated restaurants in the Twin Cities, it had some great choices on the restaurant week menu.

We visited Fire Lake on a weekday. I got off of work, and we walked over to the Radisson hotel. The host showed us to our table where we were seated in generously-cushioned chairs. When our waitress came, we had to specially request restaurant week menus, but she was happy to provide them.

Restaurant week menu

Restaurant Review Grand Marais Edition: Hughie's Tacos

Hanging on the wall at our booth

After our hike up Lookout Mountain and a quick nap our stomachs told us that we had burned off all the energy that our breakfast of donuts had supplied. This made us extremely happy, as we were anxious to try another restaurant on our pre-made list. While driving into town, we settled on Hughie's Tacos for our lunch.

Upon entering Hughie's you walk through the roomy seating area and around their mini gift shop to a small counter to place your order. The order counter kind of reminded us of the one at Jose's Burritos back in Morris.

One of the things I really like about places like Jose's and Hughie's is that the menu isn't long. You have a choice of tacos, burritos, or, salads of which the only difference is the type of meat. It makes my indecisiveness settle down.

Given I hadn't had a taco salad in quite awhile, I went with that. It was a gigantic deep fried tortilla shell filled with lettuce, tomato, refried beans, and cheese with sour cream and salsa on the side. Since I ordered it vegetarian it came with extra beans and corn. It was absolutely delicious, but WAY too big. Even after our run and hike I needed Mark's help to finish it. And it kept me full for the rest of the day. Next time I will probably go the taco route.

My taco salad.... Like I said, huge

Mark ordered the special, which was fish tacos with rice and beans. He was excited to see the taco wrapped in a chalupa-like shell, as the chalupa is what he loves at Taco Bell. His taco came filled with fish, lettuce, cheese, and chipotle sour cream. He thought it was very scrumptous. I did as well, and was a little jealous that I hadn't ordered the same thing.

Tacos aren't very photogenic

Even though we were beyond full, we made the bold move of ordering dessert (hey, we were on vacation). We went with the fried cinnamon tortilla topped with warm cinnamon apples. The tortilla was just like the shell Mark's taco came on and was nice and crisp, but airy. And while it was good, we probably could have skipped it after having the skizzle a few hours prior.

Cinnamon apple tortilla

All-in-all we thought that Hughie's Tacos were good, but nothing spectacular. It fulfilled our craving for "mexican" food, so we left happy campers.


Other Grand Marais Posts:

Grand Marais Part 1

Grand Marais Part 2

Grand Marais Part 3

Dockside Fish Market Review

Cascade Restaurant & Pub Review

World's Best Donuts Review

6.19.12

Easy Individual Vegetable Frittatas (a.k.a. Mega Frittata Muffins)

On the weekends we try to come up with something besides cold cuts and salads for lunch because as much as we love sandwiches and salads, having a couple days break is nice. We like to try and use the same basic ingredients (usually the leftover meat and veggies from the week), just in more creative ways. This past Sunday I was in a pinch for time and was going to resort to sandwiches but was cravings eggs so I threw together individual vegetable frittatas using frozen veggies (to save time). Both Mark and I liked them well enough so here is my very basic recipe for the dish that Mark named "mega frittata muffins". I can't wait to play around with it! I will be posting updates and variations as I try these with different meats, vegetables, cheeses, and spices.

Easy Individual Vegetable Frittatas

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 eggs

4 egg whites

1/4 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup frozen chopped broccoli

1/2 cup frozen peas, carrots, lima beans mix

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt & pepper

Directions:


Place two 1 cup ramekins in a larger baking dish and set in oven. Turn oven on to 450 degrees.

In a small skillet heat oil over medium heat, add onion, and cook until translucent; set aside.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk, garlic powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper.

In a separate bowl place frozen veggies and microwave until thawed, then add to egg mix.

Once onions cool, add them to egg mix.

After the oven has preheated, remove ramekins  and spray with cooking spray.

Carefully pour 1/2 mixture into each ramekin and place back in oven.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until pouffy, golden brown, and knife comes out clean.

Serve with buttered toast and enjoy :)

Restaurant Review Grand Marais Edition: Dockside Fish Market

Looking tired and waiting for our food at Dockside Fish Market

One of the many reasons Mark and I were excited to be going to Grand Marais was for some fish. We figured that since the town was on the shore they had to have some good fish and TripAdvisor confirmed our hunch with some pleasant reviews about a couple restaurants. Since we were only going to be in Grand Marais a few days we knew we wouldn't be able to try all the seafood restaurants, so we narrowed it down to two and make sure to try at least one.

As soon as we arrived at the lodge I was feigning for some fish so we checked in, threw our bags into the room, and headed into town for some grub. We quickly located all of the restaurants we planned to try, but I was still in the mood for fish. So we headed over to Dockside Fish Market to get me my fix.

Restaurant Review: California Pizza Kitchen (Maple Grove Location)

Lunch date at California Pizza Kitchen

Every Sunday we take Chloe to the dog park because it's our day off from running and she deserves to be able to sprint at her speed every once in awhile. We usually take her to the Fish Lake dog park over by where we go grocery shopping. It’s a nice fenced in area within a big park, but sometimes we like to spoil her and make the drive over to the massive Elm Creek dog park.

The Elm Creek dog park is 30 acres of fully fenced dog paradise. It also has a swimming pond for the dogs to cool off in so yes, this is quite the treat for Chloe.

One Sunday at the beginning of June (6.3.12) I needed to go to Victoria’s Secret to look for a strapless bra and there just so happened to be one located relatively close to the Elm Creek park meaning on this day Chloe would be a lucky dog.

Getting ready to run into the pond

Cooling off at Elm Creek dog park

Fast-forward past wet, smelly dog and success at Victoria’s Secret and it was lunch time. We usually try to plan when we eat out as it keeps us conscious of the fact that we are doing it. Something that has helped our overall physical and financial health, but when hunger calls we listen.

Restaurant Review: Vincent A Restaurant

Vincent Burger

Back during the winter session of Restaurant Week in Minneapolis Mark and I picked out a French place on Nicollet Mall called Vincent A Restaurant. I have always been drawn to all things French because I took four years of French in high school, and we liked that it was close enough to Mark's building that the walk over wouldn't be too bad. Long story short, we loved it and vowed to be back. We stayed true to that vow and on a gorgeous day in May (5.15.12) we had a lunch date. Luckily we had a seasonally warm winter here and by May the patio was open and we were able to eat outside.

Once we were seated our waiter came over and gave us a basket with a loaf of bread. Unlike the bread at Buca, the bread here is delicious, and we instantly scarfed it down. We also recognized that this was the same waiter we had on our first visit. We were thrilled about this because he was part of the reason we enjoyed our last trip so much.

Weekend Recap

Friday (7.6.12):


There are no pictures for our Friday night. I was feeling a little under the weather so we stayed in and lounged. We did watched Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time and were pleasantly surprised that we thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we were expecting a semi chick flick/romance, but appreciated how different the movie was as opposed to if it were made today.

Saturday (7.7.12):

Morning:

Farmer's Market Swag:
-Bok Choy
   -Swiss Chard
-Broccoli
-Onions  
 -Tomatoes
  -Blueberries

Turkey Momos with Tomato Chutney

Us enjoying our momos from the farmers market

Restaurant Review: IKEA Cafeteria

For my sister's birthday, we got her an IKEA gift card. We were looking for an excuse to see each other one day (5.5.12), and decided to meet at IKEA for breakfast and to do some shopping.

As it turns out, everybody was running late that day, so our breakfast date was postponed and turned into a lunch date. Since we are huge fans of IKEA breakfast and had talked it up to Tara, who had never had it we were a little bit disappointed. But hunger has no emotion so by the time we arrived we were ready to eat!

Tara ordered a buffalo chicken wrap with a cup of three-bean chili. We both agreed that the buffalo wrap was good, and the chili was delicious. The two worked really well together too, as we found that the wrap dipped in Chili was AWESOME.

I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous, so I ordered the chicken tenders and fries with a side of ranch. It had been a while since I had a meal like this, and I was happy that I ordered it. Both the chicken and fries were surprisingly good for cafeteria food, and they put me in a good mood for some furniture window shopping.

On top of the food, we shared some of the IKEA coffee that we got for free since we are IKEA family members. We agree that this is a pretty sweet perk, even if the coffee isn't anything spectacular. But the best perk of signing up for the IKEA family program is the free froyo cone coupon; its the best food item at IKEA in my opinion. My niece also got free food since we were there on the weekend of their grand reopening. How could we be unhappy with all of that free swag?

All in all, we were happy with our food and had a fun experience seeing my sister and her family at IKEA. The highlight of the trip was walking over to the Mall of America and watching my brother in law, Jake, get a straight razor shave. He hadn't been clean shaven in years and it was the first time any of us at seen someone get a straight razor shave. It was like a scene straight out of Sweeney Todd!

Before

Getting foamed up

Shaving

After

Garbanzo Bean "Burgers"

Bad picture of garbanzo bean burger with a side salad

Often times around here we get busy doing a million things that when it comes time to eat we have no patience to wait around for food to be ready. So having a couple quick, go-to meal ideas or freezer ready meals is a life saver.

Another life saver is vegetarian protein sources like tofu, tempeh, or beans. Why are they life savers you ask? Because you don't have to wait for them to cook through, meaning food gets into your stomach that much sooner. And while Mark and I are definitely not vegetarians, we enjoy the flavors and textures these sources offer.

Today's post is going to focus on beans, specifically garbanzo beans, and no its not a hummus recipe. Its a "burger" patty recipe for those nights when you want a bun topped with lettuce, tomato, and cheese but don't have the want to wait for ground beef to cook.

"Restaurant" Review: Target Field

View of skyline from inside Target Field

Even though April has a tendency to be unpredictable when it comes to weather, its still one of my favorite months. It's finally Spring (spend a winter in Minnesota and you will understand), the days are getting longer, and BASEBALL SEASON is finally here. Mark and I are big baseball fans. I can't think of a much better way to spend a weeknight then relaxing at a ballpark and watching some baseball. What makes it even better is that Target Field is an outdoor stadium and we live 10 minutes away.

Luckily for us the winter was kind this year and uncharacteristically warm. So when our friend Daren offered for us to tag along to the April 14th game against the Rangers we jumped on it. Not only were we excited to watch our first baseball game of the season, we made a pact to try different food items at the ballpark this year. Usually, we go with the reliable and delicious hot dogs or a bag of Angie's kettle corn, but Target Field offers a lot more, and this year they added some items that sound too good not to try.

Of course, I did my research before we went to the game. This is a must for me because I like to actually sit and watch the game, not stand in line and wrestle my way through the crowds. New Target Field food choices for 2012 include: a mega meatball, a baked potato bar, fried pickles (totally up my alley, but Mark isn't a fan), garlic fries, buffalo mac n cheese, and a bacon sloppy joe.

Restaurant Review: Ecopolitan

Tara and I both grew up in small towns, and were always dreaming of the day we were able to move to a metropolitan city. That dream finally came true almost two years ago. The thing that excited us most was probably the incredible, but daunting, choice we had of restaurants.

The first restaurant that I can remember Tara telling me that she really wanted to try was Ecopolitan. Being uncomfortable with vegetables in general, I was hesitant to try it. After about a year of steady conditioning (working up to eating an entire serving of vegetables in a day!), I was finally ready to take on the raw food hippie haven that is Ecopolitan.

(4.6.12) It was a study day for me, and I decided to drill some problems at Dunn Brothers in Uptown (they roast their beans fresh on site, but that's a whole other post...). Before long, it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, my head hurt, and we hadn't yet eaten lunch. I packed up my things, and turned my thoughts to where we ought to go to lunch. The first place in the area that I thought of was Ecopolitan, and that's where we ended up going.