Best Restaurants 2010: Critics' Top 10

Bar La Grassa
800 Washington Ave. N., Mpls., 612-333-3837, barlagrassa.com
Restaurant Rater score: 90
Why: Another winner from Isaac Becker, an Italian menu chock full of simple gems, great value, and a room that transports you off the tundra.

+ Becker and his team have a knack for creating dishes you crave and want to eat over and over again. Bar La Grassa, a pasta and small plates–driven restaurant, is not as authentically Italian as some in town, not as refined as others, but it manages to call to you, over and over, I'm here, come and get it. We suspect that this one will have a long run.

D’Amico Kitchen
Chambers hotel, 901 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-767-6960, damico-kitchen.com
Restaurant Rater score: 82
Why: A modern Milanese vibe, exceedingly creative cooking from a truly inclusive menu, and one of the town’s loveliest patios make it a worthy successor to Jean-Georges.

+ If you took the best of all the D’Amico restaurants, kicked the simpler recipes up a notch, threw ’em together with an amazing array of new antipasti from chef John Occhiato, and put it all in the Cities’ smartest hotel and chicest outdoor dining space, you’d have D’Amico Kitchen, an Italian restaurant any town in Italy would be proud to call its own.

Heartland
1806 St. Clair Ave., St. Paul, 651-699-3536, heartlandrestaurant.com
Restaurant Rater score: 92
Why: No one celebrates the Midwest like Lenny Russo, who brings out the best, most interesting possibilities from our local flora and fauna.

+ Heartland remains one of those places to which you are eager to take out-of-town food snobs. Proving again and again that we are more than just the birthplace of Spam, Russo uses a modern eye to create appealing and satisfying food from area farms and growers that gives you a fresh perspective on the landscape. The adjacent, casual wine bar offers the same commitment to local food artisans and farmers.

La Belle Vie
510 Groveland Ave., Mpls., 612-874-6440, labellevie.us
Restaurant Rater score: 92
Why: During a time when fine dining seems locked in a death spiral, La Belle Vie thankfully refuses to compromise on sophistication and splendor, providing a thrilling experience that can only come from pin-point perfection.

+ Beyond all the pomp and circumstance of winning the James Beard Award, Tim McKee and his crew continue to humbly win the hearts and loyalty of local diners who seek a singular food experience, which will ensure its future better than any trophy. With the emergence of the lounge as a hipster destination where the cocktails are as important as the food, LBV is smartly cultivating a whole new generation of future fine diners.

Lucia's
1432 W. 31st St., Mpls., 612-825-1572, lucias.com
Restaurant Rater score: 93
Why: The local birthplace of seasonal, locavore cooking, Lucia’s remains true to its simple essence while others flash brightly and burn out. Its siblings next door round out a true gastrodome.

+ There are those who complain about the small menu and limited choices, that the welcome can be cool at times, that Lucia’s just isn’t exciting anymore. They say that about Chez Panisse as well. But there is no more forthright and honest way to experience the seasonal bounty or austerity of the Upper Midwest with a great glass of wine, a marvelous pastry, or a good cup of coffee than in Lucia Watson’s empire. Her singular vision remains the steadying voice of a food movement still searching for equilibrium.

Meritage
410 St. Peter St., St. Paul, 651-222-5670, meritage-stpaul.com
Restaurant Rater score: 93
Why: There is no more reliable or charming French table in town. Here the hospitality is exceptional, the ambience brilliant, and the food often superb.

+ Russell and Desta Klein’s French bistro is a highlight of the Twin Cities dining scene. Warm, professional, ambitious but unpretentious, the highlights range from a crusty crock of French onion soup, to frites with hanger steak and béarnaise, to beautifully thought-out cassoulets,
venison, and small plates that demonstrate seriously chefy flourishes. The summer patio and Parisian dining room are both delightful.

112 Eatery
112 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-343-7696, 112eatery.com
Restaurant Rater score: 96
Why: The uncomplicated menu is surreptitiously packed with powerful flavors, just as the high-style cuisine is slyly disguised as affordable, easy-eating comfort food.

+ What can be said that hasn’t already been said about 112 Eatery? A place with so much local and national press should rightly get an oversized attitude and inflict high prices and surly service on patrons. And yet 112 remains accessible, comfortable, and supremely on its game as Isaac Becker’s team continues to execute perfectly
balanced, compelling food at a price far below what it’s worth.

Restaurant Alma
528 University Ave. SE, Mpls., 612-379-4909, restaurantalma.com
Restaurant Rater score: 88
Why: In the current landscape of chefy bravado and self-promotion, Alma is a quietly elegant and unpretentious restaurant where the fresh, elevated scratch fare is allowed to take center stage.

+ Alex Roberts has a way with the perfect bite. He assembles flavors and ingredients on the plate in such a thoughtful manner that his dishes never seem fussy, overwrought, or complicated. He lets the ingredients speak for themselves. Given the pleasing, temperate setting and the accommodating, hospitable staff, it’s quite a loud statement, indeed.

Saffron
123 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-746-5533, saffronmpls.com
Restaurant Rater score: 80
Why: Taking a cuisine that is understood locally as hummus and pita, Saffron invites a world of interpretation and exotic flavor into a warmly refined room that makes you forget your sadly bland upbringings.

+ Braving the Midwestern palate with traditional Middle Eastern fare may be worthy enough, but Sameh Wadi makes room for imagination and innovation. His menu is just familiar enough not to scare diners off, but with just enough edge to tempt you out of your comfort zone. If you can’t go for the lamb brain with tomato confit, you’ll have no problem with kofta meatballs or deviled eggs with preserved tuna.

Sea Change
Guthrie Theater, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-225-6499, seachangempls.com
Restaurant Rater score: 93
Why: A softer remodel-ing of a hard space, a Tim McKee–inspired menu that is as intriguing as it is ethical, and a raw bar that redefines the concept are a few of the things that make Sea Change more than just a pre-theater feed.

+ Purchasing seafood sustainably is a worthy endeavor in and of itself, but when you apply the talent that is currently behind the line at Sea Change, you get an entirely new ambition that sets a benchmark in this land-locked state. Not content to simply shuck oysters, the raw
bar is a font of culinary inspiration, offering a view of the hard-working kitchen. It is one of the
hottest seats in town.

Readers Poll Results

Top Minneapolis/West Metro
1. 112 Eatery
2. La Belle Vie
3. Manny's Steakhouse
4. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
5. Crave

Top St. Paul/East Metro
1. St. Paul Grill
2. Pazzaluna
3. Kincaid’s (includes all metro votes)
4. W.A. Frost
5. Meritage