Photos by Caitlin Abrams
golden duck at Eastside
Duck, duck, golden duck: This two-to-four-person dish comes with scallion pancakes and braised cabbage.
Eastside was pleasant enough in its original version: a downtown eatery that fed Buffalo shrimp to new condo owners. But when you attach Jamie Malone and Nikki Klocker to a place, you should bet they’ll turn up the volume. When the chef-and-manager pair took over the space late last year, they talked about creating a naughty sister to Grand Cafe, their fancy (yet homey) neighborhood joint in south Minneapolis.
The décor—now darkened a little, with a hit of neon—could still use a bit more of that promised attitude. But after just a few months, what’s really evolved is a downtown restaurant that can attract the happy-hour crowd and still draw the burgeoning neighborhood for dinner. The kitchen, under chef Ryan Cook, puts out elevated and technically tight plates. You’re not getting ordinary mashed potatoes with your braised short rib; you’re getting a layered potato pithivier, which turns out to be a delicate French potato pastry of sorts. And yet, the menu doesn’t take itself too seriously. Don’t sweat the pronunciation of pithivier! The concept is really about sharing bites with friends.
During happy hour, which starts blessedly early at 4 p.m., order the crispy tempura-fried prawns on skewers to dip into rich curry mayo. More finger food: the smoky cocktail wieners on toothpicks. Or the raw-bar oysters with frites on the side. Try a few plates, take a bite or two, and mix it up with Barb from accounting. The first impression may be that the happy-hour prices look a bit high. But the $11 burrata with lemon oil and crackers will beat up some $4 mozzie sticks any day.
If this is your dinner hour, go for the bar-menu Smash Burger. This luxe bit of beef—a double—drips with cheese and arrives on its own pedestal. If you order the single, sided with French fries and fancy sauce, you’re still under $20.
The dining room picks up a little later. And it has already become one of the go-to spots I recommend when girlfriends text me for night-out ideas. Ask for the round table in the corner with the lazy Susan, and order one of the family-style feasts. A whole wood-roasted duck, crisped and carved, is a decadence. You wrap it up in little scallion pancakes, topped with braised savoy cabbage and a pinch from the little pot of quatre épices spice. Other sharable platters that dazzle include a whole grilled bass, pork schnitzel and ribs, and the grande dame: a 36-ounce rib-eye with lobster thermidor and lobster spaghetti.
Not the sharing kind? A wood-roasted quail or roasted monkfish in a Madeira sauce would do quite nicely. And that lobster spaghetti comes in a small order, too.
305 Washington Ave. S., Mpls., 612-208-1638, eastsidempls.com
It’s Bar Time!
Beautiful people deserve beautiful cocktails. Here are a few of our Eastside favorites.
The Swan at Eastside
The Swan
Sips for two to six people from a golden bird. Bonal (an herbal apéritif) with sparkling wine makes this a fizzy lifting drink that keeps cocktail hour light.
The Bottled Manhattan at Eastside
Bottled Manhattan
No waiting for this batch-mixed beauty. Rye gives it a hot kiss. Or go for the Bottled Martini, with a bit of bitters, or the Bottled Bijou, a mix of gin and Green Chartreuse.
The Oaxacan Old-Fashioned at Eastside
Oaxacan Old-Fashioned
Don’t get hung up on the definition of an old-fashioned. This one is a smoky take on the standard: mezcal and reposado.
