Nicollet Island Inn

When Larry Abdo bought the historic Nicollet Island Inn, its restaurant was in need of a culinary overhaul. The twenty-four room inn—which is perched on the Mississippi River and has some of the best skyline and riverside views in the city—found a willing chef last year when Erick Harcey, a young cook with desire and passion took over the kitchen. Harcey’s food has taken the dining room miles beyond where it was the last decade, but recent meals I sampled revealed a restaurant that’s trying too hard and competing in an arena that invites unflattering comparisons.

Some of Harcey’s dishes show incredible promise, including his handmade pastas and house-cured salumi and terrines. His bold plating style is impressive. From the gutsy pork sausage to the pickled vegetables and lavender mustard, the charcuterie assortment I sampled was delightful. A seared diver scallop, set atop a warm bean salad spiked with earthy guanciale (cured pork), was perfect. And a seared beef fillet with wild mushrooms and chive emulsion was nicely turned out. But for every simple dish that worked, there was a complex plate that didn’t. Braised oxtail, in an overly reduced wine sauce, came perched alongside an ice-cold shelled-and-sliced butter-poached lobster. A dish called Pork, Pork, Pork combined flavorless pork belly, mushy sliced tenderloin, and a homemade hot dog, each with its own side dish. It was cute and stylish, but only the wiener was cooked properly. Desserts were a disappointment, echoing the worst of hotel baking. They were also out of place with the ambitious new menu.

For Harcey and his team, executing grand cuisine in the modern style is evidently thrilling. An inn of this size allows a chef the latitude to do a lot with a menu, but his is too big, and the plates themselves have far too many ingredients and are too complex for the staff to properly execute. The menu is an appealing read, but in reality many dishes are less thrilling than their descriptions suggest. Too many of my dishes arrived well below optimal temperature. With $12 appetizers and $30 entrées, the Inn’s price point begets comparisons with Levain, Cosmos, and La Belle Vie—which is inevitably a losing equation.

Abdo should update the dining room, whose views and location make for a wonderful destination restaurant and banquet facility. The décor is faded and boring, given what he is so obviously trying to create—a boutique inn with world-class food. With The Ivy Tower and Chambers Hotel’s openings on the horizon, the competition will only get tougher. 

95 Merriam St., Mpls., 612-331-1800