Meritage 1/10/09

This Saturday (1/10/09) was my second visit to Meritage where Jeff and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary (no offense to Coffee News Cafe where we first met, but after a year a more classy establishment.) Chef Klein has had an uphill battle to uncover an appreciation for french food in me after some bad "french" experiences, but he consistently wins me over with high quality and rich flavors.

What I ate:

• Amusements: Citrus-cured mahi mahi; housemade lamb bacon; confit pig tongue with white beans
• Maine oysters on the half shell
• Roasted rack of Iowa lamb, lamb shoulder en crepinette, cranberry knodle, chestnuts and brussel sprouts

The Review:

Ambiance: In downtown St.Paul on St. Peter, Meritage is in a historic building with great architecture and stone carvings. The restaurant itself transports you to a french brasserie (cafe that serves food) with lots of windows looking out onto the street, intimate seating area with a romantic tone. Dress up a bit and enjoy a night out.

Amusements: The citrus-cured mahi mahi was my favorite with its light, refreshing, slightly buttery taste. I sampled a small bit of the lamb bacon and found the cure impressive since they do it all in house, but I'm not a huge bacon fan. It was with some reluctancy I got the pig tongue, but the primary recommendation by the waiter pushed me over the edge. It was rich, slightly earthy, but a little too salty for me.

Oysters: I don't usually like oysters because the brine and slippery texture can send me over the edge of comfort. However, these oysters were so clean and fresh and the accompaniments were too good to pass up, so I stole two from Jeff with his blessing. Very, very good.

Entree: The little guy was the big star on this plate. The brussel sprouts were a haven of juicy, complex flavor on a plate I might have sent back otherwise. The lamb must have sat too long before reaching the table as the meat and fat had cooled considerably which was odd as the rest of the elements on the plate seemed overcooked or dried out (perhaps again from sitting.) The chestnuts were rich, very dry, and too numerous. The knodle seemed burnt on the outside, but when the outer layer was disposed of the cranberry/bread dumpling was adequate. The lamb shoulder en crepinette looked like a portabella mushroom and was tasty shredded meat and seasoning, but needed to be cut by the brussel sprouts for moisture.

RECOMMENDATION: If you want to impress your date, take them to Meritage with its romantic setting and plan on leisurely walking through the menu's offerings. If you make it to dessert, you've accomplished more than me (the desserts include full portions and bite size tastings and involve izzy ice cream.) Last time I visited, I had the Vegetable Trio and found it superb. They offer a three course $24 meal on Sundays for dinner which seems like a real deal.

Definitions:

confit: a preservation method which involves immersing the item in a substance (usually a herb-enhanced, rendered fat from the animal)

en crepinette: small, flattened sausage made from a meat wrapped in caul fat (caul can be the filmy membrane that surrounds either a pork liver or a newborn mammal)

knodel: a poached or boiled dumpling of potato or bread