Our Landmark: Birchwood Cafe

When people ask me where we live, I often say that we're close to the Franklin bridge and the Seward Coop, but most of the time I say we're one block north of the Birchwood Cafe. It's my go-to landmark for our neighborhood.

We love Birchwood. It's got great food, about as relaxed an atmosphere as you could image and a wonderful commitment to all things local, seasonal and organic. They're also big bike advocates and sponsor a bike team as well as a Nice Ride station.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert are all great. However, my favorite is breakfast/brunch and I always get the savory waffle. What's that?! you say.

It took me a while to try it, but once I did there was no going back. The exact ingredients change throughout the year, but the waffle is always something savory and each of the four sections (it's a Belgian-style waffle) have a different topping. There's always a sunny-side up egg, bacon lardoons (super thick chunks of bacon), some type of fruit, nuts and herbed butter served with syrup. Here's the description of the one I had this morning: "Parsnip, Gruyere & Black Barley Waffle. Pear slaw, cranberry almond butter, almonds, bacon lardons & sunny-side egg"

Birchwood is also where I have picked up turkey the last two Thanksgivings. Super convenient.

All around, one of our favorite spots. Highly recommended. 


Coupon: $3 off $10
Total Savings: $3

Travail Kitchen and Amusements

Well we resisted for quite a while. Reports of a two-hour wait in Robbinsdale were enough to keep me away from this joint, in spite of all of its glowing reviews. Long and short, we were wrong to wait so long to go here. This "small plates of awesome food at affordable prices" thing is a trend I hope to follow into 2012 and beyond.

Emily joined us on a Thursday at 6 so that we could avoid the wait. For the blog, here are a few items to discuss...

1) Tiny amuse bouche of foie gras. Disclaimer: I did not know anything about how this stuff is made nor did I do any research on Travail's practices.

2) Steak Tartare under cellophane. Here is Emily to explain...

3)  Tiny bacon bite with blue cheese foam and a drip of balsamic vinegar served on the bottom of this tiny metal cup

4) Reinvented lunch tray complete with a pack of ketchup

Good! You should go too but stick to the weekdays so you don't get pissed off about the wait.

Crispy Pig Ears

Victory 44 in North Minneapolis is my new favorite restaurant. We have been three times since August and think about going most nights. A good eating story is the one about the time that we ordered marrow and were served a femur, cut in half vertically...then we scooped out the fatty jelly marrow from the inside and spread it on toast, and ate it.  Here I am with my crispy pig ear.

 

So this place has no coupons, it's just good. Small plates great for sharing and ordering many different things. Traditional burgers for the less adventurous types. Not particularly veggie friendly.  Great atmosphere, typically crowded with little to no wait. and not too spendy. We eat/drink/dessert for $60-70. Great date night, especially if you are looking to broaden your palate a bit.

 Victory Salad

 Skirt Steak

 Ahi Tuna

 Short Rib Dumplings

Peanut Butter and Jelly