Special Occasion Eating- Cafe Levain

[Guest guest]

Today I celebrated my 50th birthday with my family of 4 at Cafe Levain. (My 13

year old kindly says I'm holding at 42 though.) This 8 year old restaurant is

located behind the Turtle Bread Company in South Minneapolis that Will had

mentioned at one time or another.

To start, I had a gluten-free Bard's beer. It had a pleasantly sharp taste and I

couldn't even tell it wasn't just a regular beer.

Surprisingly (with the bakery connection) the most disappointing part of the

entire meal was the bread at the beginning, which was cold (as in maybe

previously frozen) and not that tasty, and served with a tiny dollop of butter

for us all to split. I could have put the whole thing on one slice! More butter

was forthcoming when we asked, but we declined the offer of more bread. Why fill

up on something that isn't that enticing?

We quickly moved on to the (grass-fed beef) steak tartar served with brioche

toast. It was tender and tasty, flavored with egg yolk and capers and served

with crispy, startlingly tart, cornichons on the side. I think this appetizer

could easily be a light dinner, especially with the delicious, very

fresh-tasting, shell pea soup, garnished with beautiful, delicate flowers. But

we didn't stop there!

I had gifted the young chef Adam with some garlic scapes from my garden and he

returned the favor with an extra course of charred mustard greens, fennel and

garlic scapes, seasoned with chili flakes and topped with freshly grated cheese.

This was a taste sensation!

Our main courses were a short rib sandwich. that one of my daughters ordered,

which turned out to be a burger (with American cheese on it???) but yummy just

the same. This was accompanied by skinny, crispy steak frites which were to die

for. No, I didn't ask what kind of fat they were cooked in, so I might mean this

literally. I would like to think it was beef fat or coconut oil, but I doubt it.

My other daughter had roast chicken, skin-on, all white meat (which she likes),

with carrots, peas and cauliflower in browned butter. It was so moist and

succulent that I asked about the technique used, which I will share with you at

the end. My husband had skirt steak, which was lean and tender. Too lean for me,

I would have oredered a well-marbled rib eye, but it suited him well. I had wild

Alaskan halibut, which was in season. It had a golden crust with a succulent

interior. It came with baby pattypan squash (so cute!) and more mustard greens

on the side.

We also ordered fingerling potatoes, brussel sprouts and roasted mushrooms as

extra sides (I guess we were afraid that we were going to leave hungry. We

shouldn't have been concerned...) The only other complaint we had was that the

brussel sprouts were cut small and also charred. We got a little tired of this

taste after awhile and would have preferred steamed so that they remained meaty

and moist. The potatoes were mediocre, but the mushrooms (shitake) were very

good.

I was told that most of the vegies and herbs come from Riverbend Farm or their

own garden out back.

Since this was a special occasion, we topped this all off with some desserts-

vanilla bean creme brulee for me, bread pudding with blackberry coulis for my

husband and a s'more cake for the girls. (Too bad I couldn't talk anyone into

the rhubarb cake.) These were all really good, not too big and not too sweet,

which I appreciated. Even the Morningstar coffee was a cut above and served with

" real " cream.

I would say the service was superb. Our server was helpful and efficient. I

didn't have a chance too wish for water or a coffee refill before it was there.

Granted, we arrived for our reservation for dinner at 5:30 when the place was

empty, but it started to fill up over the next 2 hours while we were there.

Now for the cooking tip...Adam says that the procedure is to season the chicken

quarter generously with salt and pepper and place it skin side down in a pan

with hot oil and let it cook about 1/2 way. Flip the chicken over and place into

a hot oven to crisp up all over. The trick is to remove it from oven before it

is completely done and let it rest and continue cooking. I'm telling you, you

can't believe how juicy this chicken is! It makes white meat as moist as dark!

Just do this 1000 times and you'll have it down (according to Adam).

The " icing on the cake " was that I also got to see my old Trad Foodie friends,

Mark and Joe, just around the corner. Thanks for the birthday hugs and wishes

guys!

Kathy