Dara
Artisan Plaza smoked ribeye with bone broth gravy
Artisan Plaza smoked ribeye with bone broth gravy and mashed potatoes
I confess, it took me a long time to make it down to Falls Landing at Artisan Plaza, the Cannon Falls roadside restaurant that opened last spring with chef J.D. Fratzke, late of dear departed, much lamented steakhouse The Strip Club. I think it was because at first he said it was a consulting arrangement, and I imagined he wouldn't be there long. But Fratzke kept extending his agreement and now it's a permanent arrangement, so I took the longish drive—about an hour south of downtown St. Paul. You guys. It's worth the drive.
First, be warned: It looks like nothing from the access road, like any random furniture store or hastily converted church. There's a big parking lot, some doors. Inside those doors: A convenience store. Like any convenience store, anywhere. But, what's that in the deli-case? Big fat chicken wings, herb-coated and roasted, pans of meatloaf, interesting vegetable salads? That's not usually what's in a convenience store deli case. Look more carefully and you'll notice it's like a fancy urban gourmet market—if most everything was from near Cannon Falls, from onions to cheese curds. Look even closer and find, at the back of the convenience store, a doorway to a room with a 100 year old bar, and a roaring fireplace. It's Fall's Landing! Suddenly this convenience store spills into a supper club! Weird.
Dara
Artisan Plaza pickle plate and fried perch
Artisan Plaza pickle plate and fried perch
Weird but very good. Get an old fashioned, get the pickle plate which is old supperclub perfection: deviled eggs, house-pickled beets, apples, jalapeños, and baloney sticks—yes, pickled baloney sticks. They're delightful. I tried the fried perch—delicious. Just fresh, light, and not messed with, as perch should be.
Then, I tried the ribeye, some Brussels sprouts, sweet potato gnocchi, and a walleye roulade stuffed with crabmeat. Walleye stuffed with crabmeat? Yes, it's 1958 in here, but brand new. The one thing that blew my mind was the steak. It's briefly cold-wood-smoked before grilling, and the smoke makes it taste like it was cooked over a campfire. Of course, Fratzke is the Cities' unchallenged grassfed beef master, and I adore the chewy, gamey yet still tender steak he is able to achieve. Now, don't get me wrong, I also love a buttery, cut-it-with-a-fork American wagyu that has been so in vogue lately, but this more primal, caveman, campfire taste just sends me.
And I haven't even told you about the "bone broth" gravy that comes with it, alongside the mashed potatoes. Remember how last year I spent months of my life driving in circles, lamenting the state of real gravy in our time? I have thus found the new champion. Artisan has an in-house butcher, so they're taking all the many bones they get, roasting them, and doing the full-roast-and-reduction that is the glory of traditional French, and at one point American, kitchens. This gravy—it floored me. So meaty, so thick, so glassy—I was lamenting that I had no plastic fork to stand up in the gravy-boat, because I was sure it would have stood stock-still and straight up. Such thick gravy! And just soul-stirring.
I tried a few more things, and after I mentioned that I would stop in the convenience store out front and get a meat-loaf on the way out now that I knew how good it was, the server popped one into the leftovers bag and added the $6 price to the bill. I haven't baked it yet, but I never yet got to buy a chef-made meatloaf on my way out of a restaurant, and I'm crazy about the idea.
On my way home, something kept tickling at my mind: What did this great food remind me of? Something so specific ... and then of course. The most obvious answer in the world. The Strip Club feels reborn—50 miles south. J.D. Fratzke's food, so soulful and anchored, exactly as it ever was, and worthy of accolades. If you loved the Strip Club, don't make the mistake I did. Don't wait so long. Find a road-trip buddy, and maybe even pack an ice-chest so you can eat J.D. Fratzke cook-at-home dinners all month?
1223 4th Street S., Cannon Falls, 651-829-1640
