Saturday Night Dining
Probably 5 years ago or so DH and I flew into the Twin Cities for a mini-vacation. We opted to stay in the metro rather than go out to the farm to keep DH from being overwhelmed by my entire family. This way he got to meet my parents, my sister, and a few relatives I was closest to. On that visit we met up one evening with my mom’s cousin, Dawn Rae. Now, Dawn Rae is a free spirit and was attending the U of M in the women’s studies department. She took us to Gardens of Salonica in downtown Minneapolis and DH and I were hooked. We haven’t managed to make it back there before now and were happy read that they were still in business. So, when it came time to choose a place to dine on Saturday night there was no question that if our host, Rob, was up for it we would be headed there.
What I hadn’t planned on was being the one to drive us there so I hadn’t printed out directions or that, I just had their address and phone number. So, Rob was navigator and we got turned around a few times as I guess Rob usually hangs in St. Paul. But we found our way to 19 5th St NE (that’s across the river, if you are like me and not in downtown Minneapolis much). It looks like a bit of a hole in the wall and I’m not sure there any other eating establishments on that block, but the inside is very nicely decorated in an understated mediterranean manner. It gets a bit noisy in the first room, but the food and service was excellent!
Arriving a bit after 7pm on a Saturday night meant we had a bit of a wait for a table, but it was just right as we sat at the bar and debated on how to attack the menu to get the most exposure to the food as we could without bursting. It was decided the best way to attack was to order two appetizer combo plates. As a bonus, each combo plate held three appetizers of your choice and there were three of us so we each chose two from the menu. That gave us exposure to nearly all the vegetarian appetizer options. We ordered one plate of Piperies (marinated roasted red peppers), Tyro (a puree of feta, red and hot peppers, garlic, and olive oil) and Anginares (marinated artichoke hearts) and the second plate had Piaz (black-eyed pea salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing, onions, and parsley), Skordalia (a puree of potatoes, garlic and olive oil), Melitzana (an eggplant puree similar to babaganoush). These items were accompanied by all you could eat pita. I have to say the pita bread there was AMAZING! It was soft and moist and hot and it stayed hot until you had finished the plate. Being of German and Scandinavian farmers it made my bread-loving self soooo happy (though it probably wasn’t great for my weight loosing self).
At DH’s urging we also order a vegetarian mousaka to split. I wasn’t terribly excited about this, but knew DH was curious to have an authentic (well, as authentic as you get once you make it vegetarian) mousaka. Boy, I should have been excited! It was so good, filled with a complex combination of spices that you couldn’t quite pinpoint. We decided there was probably clove and perhaps nutmeg involved, but we’re not sure. You know the old saying “When in Rome…” Well, when in Minnesota, do as the Minnesotans… We kept halfing the mousaka over and over again until there were only two bites left and Rob finally just took that last little bit, LOL!
We also did a trio of desserts. It was great because the desserts are smaller and more appropriately proportioned so we each chose one. The one I chose was sold out so they advised me to try the lemon cream boughasta, saying it was quite similar. DH chose the figs and Rob chose an apricot cream boughasta. We of course split all of these too and every one of them was delicious!
Aside from the spectacular food and great service, it was *very* affordable as well. Our tab was around $40 and that included one beer, two iced teas, and a coffee. The entrees were mostly around $9-$10, the appetizer combos were just under $9. Very reasonable for a downtown meal on a Saturdy night!
If you enjoy Greek food I would highly recommend Gardens of Salonica in Minneapolis.
