Heartland - MSP
We went to Heartland over in St. Paul last night with a couple of friends for a birthday celebration. It has been a couple of years since I have been to the dining room half, although to be fair, it has also been about a year since I have been to the wine bar. We got there a couple minutes early for our 7:30pm reservation and were seated immediately. In fact, the restaurant was only about 1/3 full when we stepped in the door. I think there were another couple of 7:30 reservations as it filled up to about 3/4 full fairly quickly, but it was never completely full the whole time we were there. I think I may have been extra sensitive to this because at lunch I had come upon an old Minnesota Monthly (from April 2008) in our lunchroom, was reading an article about 6 local restaurants including Heartland, and realized that 2 of the 6 are now closed a year later: JP American Bistro and Fugaise.
Now, on to the meal..We sat down and ordered a nice sparkling rose from the Loire Valley while we were perusing the rest of the menu. After we ordered, we were immediately brought an amuse bouche. I love restaurants that do this. Ours was a game bird liver mousse "cream puff" of sorts (and my friend that ordered the flora menu got a vegetarian amuse bouche automatically). It was very light and I really like it (which is saying something since I am generally lukewarm on liver in general - including foie gras). I had a fairly difficult deciding what to order since so many things sounded good, but in the end I decided to get a red potato salad with feta, really baby arugula, cucumber and a nice tangy dressing. It was very light and "springy" with a fair amount of acid. For my main course, I went with something a bit more appropriate for the weather outside (a bit cold and rainy) and ordered the cassoulet. It came with an amazingly tender 1/4 duck on top and the beans were cooked perfectly and had a selection of very tender braised meats mixed with the beans. My only complaint would be that the pieces of meat in the cassoulet were so small that it was difficult to tell/distinguish that there were several different kinds of braised meats. As a sausage lover, I also kind of wished there was some sausage in the cassoulet too. However, despite these minor complaints it was very tasty. I think I loved the cassoulet at Strip Club a tiny bit more, but they were very close. With our entrees we had a grenache/syrah/mourvedre blend from Paso Robles that was nice (and I think a good value). For dessert I had an apple concoction with ice cream, caramel and apricot. It was tasty. The waitress had overheard that it was a birthday and brought over two small glasses of moscato d'asti for the two of us that had not already ordered dessert wine. I thought this was a nice touch.
Some of the other things that were raved about at the table were the onion soup with veal meatballs, the parsnip-buttermilk soup and the veal shank. Overall, it was a really nice meal with good service. I am definitely planning to head back there in the near future.
By LauraB
on Mar 21, 2009 07:21 AM
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Thanks for this review! I *still* haven't been to Heartland, but this is one more push for me to get there soon. The almost-spring menu sounds great.
You're a cassoulet fan, too, eh? I suppose it's unlikely to stay on Heartland's ever-changing menu, so it's good to know about the Strip Club.
Anne
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Anne, i love your contributions to this board but i have to say your cred just dropped a tiny bit with this one. Ill content myself with the thought that you havent been there because you have some sort of outstanding warrant in ramsey county and are afraid of apprehension if you cross the river.
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Drat, my secret is out! :-)
No, it's just procrastination and life issues that have kept me away so far. That, and my stingy nature - I rarely go out for expensive meals (meaning anything pricier than Saigon or Punch). Plus, I don't like dressing up - yeah, I know it's Minnesota and you can go anywhere in a T shirt and jeans - but I'd feel uncomfortable at Heartland unless I made a mild effort.
I *almost* got there a few months ago - I planned an outing to Heartland's wine bar for my wine tasting group - but I had to leave town (that warrant again) and so missed the event. They loved loved loved it. So I've been recommending it to everyone I know. It's time I took my own advice!
Anne
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P.S. Adding the Places link to tie in this thread. (And because I'm too lazy to google for Heartland's web site - I wanna check today's menu...)
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If you want to try Heartland but aren't in the mood for an expensive or full meal, try out their wine bar. Many of the things on the dining room menu are on the wine bar menu. They will bring you an amuse bouche. And you can have a small plate or two and a glass of wine or beer. The menu is always changing and always seasonal. I think you'll like it.
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OK, so I *finally* got to Heartland tonight, and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long. It was fabulous.
Mr. Tastebud and I had mache salad with julienned vegetables, goat ribs with red cabbage, duck confit with homemade plum ketchup, and potato gnocchi with fiddlehead ferns, morel mushroooms, and burdock cream sauce. Wow. Best of all were the sorghum-rye rolls - I knew we were in for a great meal as soon as we tasted them.
And I loved eating in the wine bar - I put on a clean shirt and my "dress-up" jeans, and I felt right at home. (Perhaps because I was wearing my fancy Mississippi River pearl earrings...) It's a warm and cozy space with great service. Yeah, it was a bit pricy - $100 for two (including tons of food and four glasses of wine) - but we definitely got our money's worth.
Don't be like me and procrastinate - y'all gotta go!
Anne
P.S. I wish they would expand next door as a goat BBQ place. Those goat ribs were incredible! My husband isn't a big goat-meat fan, and he fought me for the last rib. I think that "goat-averse" people would love these ribs, especially if they weren't told what they were before they took a bite. But goat isn't always available - I'm just happy that goat ribs were on the menu the night we were there!
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Glad you finally made it, Anne. Your talk of the goat ribs, which I haven't had (but will now keep an eye out for), reminds me of their amazing potatoes, roasted in goat fat. So simple, yet addicting. I love rye rolls, too. I really have to be careful not to load up on those!
I think you'd feel equally as comfortable in the dining room in your nice jeans and a nice blouse or sweater, (Mississippi pearl earrings? there is such a thing? I must google that!). Their prix fixe menu is really a fantastic deal, if you are interested in dessert. We almost always order one "flora" and one "fauna" so we each can get a taste of everything. The atmosphere feels to me like dining at a friend's house, though, none of my friends can cook like Russo.
I have never been disappointed there. Once in awhile I've had a dish that didn't quite work or I didn't quite love, but in those situations, I've always thought that it was an ambitious dish. At that level of dining, I'd rather a chef be ambitious and occasionally hit less than a home run, than be too safe all time.
~TDQ
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The shoe repair store next door has some pretty heavy brown paper in the window. It would be a great thing to increase the seating in the Wine Bar. It would still be small, but might diffuse the Yogi Berra "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" incantation.
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