Sunday Brunch: Hell's Kitchen

Wow, it's been a long while since I had brunch...although it was great to blaze back into it in the best form with Kelsie and her friends! They had a great day of holiday shopping and the Macy's 8th floor planned, and we kicked it all off visiting a Minneapolis institution...Hell's Kitchen! 

Location/Ambiance: 

Obviously a restaurant called Hell's Kitchen is bound to be a bit unorthodox, decor-wise...located in the basement of a downtown office building, the entrance is unassuming enough, apart from the fun marquee. 

Get inside, though, and it's...well...hellish. Wrought-iron gates, giant "stone" angels and demons, and some very interesting artwork. Not the brunchiest atmosphere, but the novelty of it was definitely fun. 

Ambiance-wise, we didn't know that the Hell's Kitchen weekend brunch featured live music! While it was a bit loud and hard to converse at times, it added a fun spin to a girls' brunch to have a (fairly good) band to watch and listen to while we sipped our drinks! 

Score: 7/10

Beverage: 

The big selling point at Hell's Kitchen is the dual Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar, which features absolutely insane build-your-own mimosas and bloodies. For $15, and not bottomless, however, it seemed a bit rich for our group (especially considering usually my Prosecco costs less than $15 for an entire bottle!). Instead, we stuck to the classic drink menu. A few of us tried Tequila Mockingbirds and Salty Dogs, but I went with the "Dante's Screw," a classic screwdriver with infused vodka. Remembering how good the vanilla vodka concoction was at Haute Dish, I went with vanilla and it was fantastic. 

Score: 8/10 (points off for the ridiculously expensive mimosa bar)

Food: 

Hell's Kitchen was always one of my favorite places we'd order dinner from during public accounting busy season...BiteSquad delivered and they were open super late, so it didn't matter when we got hungry. My favorite dish back then was and still is their "Ham and Pear Crisp" sandwich. The combination of thick-sliced ham, cinnamon-poached pears, and fontina is ridiculously decadent...even more so on cinnamon-spiced sourdough. I ordered it with sweet potato fries and barely dented it...enough leftovers for lunch the next day is always a win. 

Score: 10/10

To check out Hell's Kitchen for yourself, head here...or else visit one of my other favorites from my Brunch Challenge! 

Sunday Brunch: Aster Café

Although we've had the most gorgeous fall ever here in Minnesota, patio brunch season is definitely and irrefutably over. I had so much fun popping back into my photo archives to revisit this beautiful early-fall breakfast date with Eva! 

As my favorite miss, soon to be Mrs. is tying the knot at the Nicollet Island Pavilion next summer, we decided to take advantage of a gorgeous Sunday to enjoy a little al fresco brunch action before strolling around St. Anthony Main! We headed to her venue and strolled up and down the adorable brick streets, scouting out photo locations and building (very) pre-emptive anticipation for all the wedding day fun we're all going to have. Of course, before our stroll, we made sure to fill up at the ever-so-charming Aster Café!

Location/Ambiance:

The Aster is located right on Main Street, facing the river and replete with gorgeous views. Their interior is quirky and offbeat, full of dark wood and stained glass and wrought iron, but we wanted to take advantage of their spacious patio: 

Gorgeous, right? The river view was especially pretty with the first leaves beginning to change, and as an added bonus, there was a surfeit of precious dogs and babies for me to coo over. 

Score: 10/10

Beverage:  

The brisk morning called for hot drinks rather than boozy ones, so I went with a pot of Evening in Missoula tea, my favorite. Eva's chai tea latté was the true winner, though...sweet and spicy in just the right proportion. I totally should have followed her lead on this one. How cute is this girl!? 

Score: 8/10

Food:

Eva's waffle looked sinful, and my quiche couldn't have been yummier. The Aster rotates their omelette of the day and quiche of the day weekly, and this week's was a spinach, sun-dried tomato and Gruyere option that had me cleaning my plate. 

Score: 9/10 

To check out the Aster Café yourself, head here. Otherwise pick another favorite from the Brunch Challenge! 

Sunday Brunch: The Freehouse

Oh man, you guys. So behind on brunch. Both eating it, and writing about it. Way the heck back in early September, my sister Emily came home to visit for ten whole days, and we had an absolutely amazing brunch at The Freehouse the day she left! 

Location/Ambiance: 

The Freehouse is the newest member of the Blue Plate restaurant family, home to several of my favorite Twin Cities brunches including The Highland Grill, The Lowry and the Edina Grill. In my opinion, The Freehouse knocks them out of the water as far as appearances go, at least. As a brew pub, the decor leaned heavily on beer...from the keg ceiling lights to art made out of bottle caps. The big bar was super sleek and cool and the outdoor patio looked beautiful as well. 

core: 10/10

Beverage:

I enjoyed a "Molly Pitcher Martini," which was a blend of cherry vodka, lemon, a dash of vanilla bitters, and prosecco. It was DAMN good. We also tried their beers, and I enjoyed the wheat...nice, unoffensive, and flavorful. 

Score: 9/10

Food:

SO good. I had the breakfast sandwich, which was served on the lightest, fluffiest English muffin I've ever seen: 

We all also really wanted to try the special, the "Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes," but nobody was in the mood for a whole serving of them. Devin, our AMAZING server, was kind enough to bring a half-order to the table as a surprise for us after hearing how we dithered over whether to order them or not. On top of that, he comped them as a "taste test" for the table. WHAT fantastic service...he truly added to the entire experience with candid reviews of the menu and that action. (In case you were wondering, the pancakes were divine. If they have pancake specials, you should go for it.)

10/10 (plus a bonus point for Devin!)

To visit The Freehouse, head here! Otherwise, check out some of the other amazing places I've been and let me know if you have suggestions! 

Sunday Brunch: Sun Street Breads

I don’t even know if you can really call this one a brunch, but I like breakfast and I like cute little local places, so here goes!

A few weeks back my parents and I met up to take a lengthy morning walk around the Chain of Lakes…it’s one of our favorite summer activities. Afterward, we usually swing over to Isles Bun & Coffee for giant cinnamon rolls and fresh-squeezed orange juice, but we weren’t in the mood for pastries on that day. I suggested Sun Street Breads, just south of Lake Harriet, and we headed over that way for a quick al fresco breakfast!

Location/Ambiance

It’s kind of funny…Sun Street is located in a strip mall, so on first glance you sort of assume you’re not in for anything special. They’ve done some really cute things with the interior, though…I love the daily riddle, for example:

Add to that the ample opportunity to admire the bakery case while waiting in line, and you’ve made me a happy camper.

In the summer, their outdoor patio is as charming as can be, too, which helps.

Score: 6/10

Beverage:

N/A. We all stuck with water because it was crazy-humid and we had sweat out approx. a gallon.

Food:

Sun Street is, above all, a bread bakery…so each of us went with a breakfast biscuit sandwich. My mom and I got turkey sausage, aged cheddar, and scrambled egg, and my dad went with a barbecue pulled pork offering. We also split a blueberry-peach turnover and ordered these really weird matzoh-ball gordita things. The turnover was delicious, but we each threw in the towel after one bite of the matzoh. Just not our thing. The biscuit sandwiches were delicious…fluffy eggs, flaky, buttery biscuits and the sausage was super good. All in all though, a bit disjointed. Good for a super quick breakfast or grabbing something on the go, but I would never treat it as a destination, per se.

Score: 6/10 (the matzoh was so bad it subtracted like…2 points!)

Sunday Brunch: The Red Cow

Ready for me to blow your brunch-loving mind? Two words, my friends. 

Pancake. Flights. 

That's right. 

Kelsie and I ventured to The Red Cow in Edina a few weeks ago before our bi-weekly A La Mode manicure, and I have to say, the concept of a pancake flight pretty much made brunch all on its own. The execution of a pancake flight? Beyond perfection. Without further ado, let's get to the good stuff. 

Location/Ambiance: 

Meh, you don't go to The Red Cow for the location or the ambiance, although I have to say I'm a sucker for 50th and France. The ambiance was sort of an odd yuppie cowboy sports bar...there was cow print on the walls and a lot of TVs around. Their patio looked cute despite its microscopic size...I'd be interested in trying that if we make a return trip! 

Score: 6/10

Beverage:

We went with the standard mimosa, and I have to say, it made me fairly sad. In my opinion, nothing ruins a perfectly good mimosa quicker than using pulpy orange juice, even if it is fresh-squeezed or whatever. This mimosa was super-pulpy. That said, we still managed to choke down two...and as you can see above, they were generously poured. So maybe it wasn't thaaaat bad...

Score: 5/10

Food:

PANCAKE FLIGHTS. Feast your eyes. 

Three different pancakes: red velvet with peanut butter cream cheese spread and bacon syrup, sweet potato with bacon-maple butter, Guinness caramel and candied pecans, and blueberry sweet cream with almond cookie crumbles. 

I was in HEAVEN. My personal favorite was the sweet potato...perfect combo of savory and sweet. You really couldn't go wrong with any of the three, however, which is what made the "flight" option SO enticing. Other Twin Cities restaurants, take note: I WILL fall in love with you if you offer me a breakfast flight. (I ate less than half and was full, too...so this could be a cute girly split-brunch option for those less ambitious than Kels and I!)

Score: 10/10

To visit The Red Cow for yourself, head here. Otherwise, pick any of the 100+ other locations on my brunch list...and don't hesitate to leave a recommendation!