The Heartland

     The Midwest is the portion of our great country that is nestled in between the West Coast and the East Coast.  Many refer to it as The Heartland, the heart and soul of the nation.  Folks there are straightforward and uncomplicated, without pretense.  They are meat and potato kind of people.  And so is the cuisine.

     Only in the Midwest can you find things like bierock and breaded steak, hoppel poppel and halushka, and Green Bay chili.  All local delicacies but with a common theme.  They all get to the point of satiating an appetite without a lot of bells and whistles.  It's good food prepared well and heartily enjoyed.  Such is life in the Heartland.

 

     So I guess it's no coincidence that I found a restaurant in St. Paul called appropriately enough, The Heartland.  Located in an old warehouse down in the Lowertown district it is strategically right across 5th Street from the farmers' market.  One of many interesting features about the place is that they print their menu daily.  That's because it changes each day, depending on what is delivered that is fresh and local.  I stopped by on August 30 and the menu reflected the best of the land and lake.  Consider some of the small plate items listed that Friday: chilled sweet corn soup, field greens, tempura squash blossoms and elk terrine.  The large plates included steelhead trout, Duroc pork chop, whitefish and black Angus strip streak.  Sides were equally tantalizing, serving up golden potatoes, cauliflower, tricolor string beans and summer squash.

     But for my meal I opted to try the 3 course fixed price dinner under the heading of Fauna.  Here's how the menu described it:

     Rainbow trout/baby tomatoes/pickled cauliflower/mustard sauce/basil sprouts
     Limousin beef/cornbread gnocchi/eggplant/red onions/maitake mushrooms/ smoke pepper coulis
     Chocolate pot de creme/heirloom pear relish/hazelnut shortbread ice cream sandwich

     It was an amazing meal indeed!  And each course came to the table ready for complete consumption, not adorned with useless decoration like ornamental kale or inedible flowers.  The food, the service, and the ambiance all reflected the friendly, but let's get down to business style of the Midwest.

     After dinner I strolled through their market place and found some local delights for sale.  Rainbow trout, honey and even pickled peppers!  Life is good in The Heartland.