A couple weeks ago we had lunch at the beautiful El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon Village. Excellent food, surpassing service, and quite reasonable prices.
Then this Wednesday night we went to dinner at Rinata in Uptown, Minneapolis. It is owned by the same guy as another restaurant we enjoy, Al Vento, in south Minneapolis.
Allison found out about a wine dinner they were having on Wednesday. It was four courses each with a paired wine including Swordfish as the main entree. It sounded very good and was priced at a very reasonable $40 per person so we got reservations.
A day before the dinner Allison got a call from the restaurant that they had had a number of cancellations and had fallen under the minimum number for the wine rep to show up. So while they were still going to do the four courses with paired wines they were changing the menu a little bit and wanted to make sure we still wanted to go. Allison talked to them and the menu still sounded good but they had traded out the swordfish for pork tenderloin. A disappointment to be sure, but not enough to scare us away.
The evening started out interestingly as I took a bus from downtown to just meet Allison there. Turns out that while Nicollet and Hennepin are only a block away from each other for most of downtown, I assure you, they are in very different places in Uptown. So I was wandering around the corner of Nicollet and 25th wondering where this restaurant was hiding and wondering where my wife was. Allison was parking in the parking lot at the corner of Hennepin and 25th and wondering what her husband meant when he texted that he was standing at the corner of Nicollet and 25th. After finally realizing my mistake I hoofed it the mile to the correct location and dinner was able to start!
First of all, I just want to get this out of the way. If you decide to give Rinata a try (and you should) you should absolutely ask if you can be put into Ben's section. Ben was our waiter for the night and I really can't remember a better server in all my life. We weren't his only table but whenever we needed anything he was there before we had to ask. We had our food as soon as we would have wanted it. Our glasses (of wine or water) never fully emptied out. He explained each dish fully so we knew what deliciousness we were about to enjoy.
Before the first course even arrived we had our first glass of wine. We were served a Prosecco that was quite good. Both Allison and I enjoy red wine more than white but we both enjoyed this. Right before the salad came out Ben stopped by to refill our glasses. We were both pleasantly surprised by this as we had only been sipping on our wine. The last wine dinner we attended was pretty strict with only one glass per course. Clearly this was going to be a fun night.
Before our first course was brought out we were served some bread and a olive tapenade in olive oil. A note about the bread: I loved it. It is the same (or at least very similar) focaccia as they serve at al Vento. It has the perfect density and a dusting of Parmesan cheese (maybe?) baked into the crust and a garlicky taste. Dipped in the olive oil and with the tapenade it was a delictable start to the dinner. And another point to our server, Ben. He quickly picked up on the fact that I loved the bread and kept us supplied with fresh bread and tapenade for the entire dinner.
Very soon our first course was brought out. It was a micro-greens salad on a base of sliced beet with chopped almonds and julienned parsnips and celery root. Over all of it was a Processo Parmesan dressing (using the same wine we were drinking).
I'm don't normally enjoy beets very much but this was a very tasty salad. In the last year or two I have discovered that I enjoy parsnips and celery root (they are very similar) so that was definitely a strong addition to this salad and the texture of the salad was very good. The dressing was good but the similarity to the wine was too subtle for me to really "get" the pairing.
After our salad was cleared away we were poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc that was paired with our second course. Another white that we wouldn't normally drink but was very dry and very good. We were both excited about this course: mussels steamed in the Sauvignon Blanc with housemade fettuccine tossed with pepper flake, garlic, and a touch of butter.
This dish was outstanding. Allison is much more familiar with mussels than I am and she said they were prepared very well. I definitely enjoyed them. The pepper flake gave just the right amount of heat that I could still feel after the dish was done. The wine matched up excellently with each bite. The coolness and dryness of the wine was a nice counterpoint to the heat in the pasta. The noodles themselves were delicious if a little thinner than I would prefer. My favorite housemade fetuccine remains Vescio's. The broth left over after everything was eaten was a nice bonus that was delicious when wiped up with some fresh bread.
Once again, soon after our completely cleaned bowls were cleared away a new glass of wine was poured. This time is was a red to go with the main entree. This was by far our favorite wine of the night, a Banfi Centine Toscana. It was so good that after we had finished our third course I asked to see the label so we could look for it in stores and instead of just letting me take a look Ben said "Of course you can see, here let me just leave the bottle with you." Marvelous!
As I mentioned before the original third course was swordfish which I don't think I've had before and was definitely looking forward to tasting. Instead we got a roasted pork tenderloin over a bed of polenta with sauted spinach and a roasted red bell pepper sauce. He had a particular word for the type of sauce but I cannot remember what it was.
The polenta and spinach were both prepared excellently and were delicious. The tenderloin itself was very good but not good enough to make me forget about the swordfish. It was seasoned well but not as succulent as I would have wished. The sauce over it all was extremely delicious and something I'd like to have again. A good dish but not quite as good as the previous one. The wine went very well and again was our favorite of the evening.
The final course was a dessert of housemade limoncello sorbet with their housemade limoncello.
Allison found the sorbet a little too tart and by this point in the evening the limoncello was a little too strong. I found both an excellent ending to the evening. The limoncello was definitely strong, but not strong enough for me to refuse a second glass when offered. The sorbet was smooth and refreshing and I felt the tartness was just right.
If you can't tell, we had a marvelous time. We were there for a little over two hours but the time flew by. We were never waiting for anything and never wanted for anything. The food was all more than satisfying and delicious. And the price was definitely worth the experience. I can't recommend Rinata highly enough. And remember, ask for Ben, he will take care of you.
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