Restaurant Mania!

Dine Well also seems like an excellent place to post restaurant reviews from around the country! One of the few perks of my job. I think it's been well established that I have a gift for finding a funky restaurant with local flavor and fabulous food in pretty much any city. What better way to share my gift??

The city: Minneapolis, Minnesota
The restaurant: Azia Restaurant and Caterpillar Lounge
The cuisine: Asian Fusion "with a Minnesota Flair" (I didn't even know Minnesota had a flair!)

I was very impressed because the executive chef (whose picture I had just seen on the website when I found the restaurant) was running around, checking on tables, chatting with patrons, even delivering food! I love that.

The drinks: blackberry vodka mojitos

The appetizer: A cheese plate of sage havarti, ash sheep's milk, and stilton with mango, crackers, and green apples.

The dinner: We couldn't resist going with all appetizers because everything sounded so amazing. We had chicken "wings" in a spicy sesame sauce, crisp avocado spring rolls, and tuna carpaccio with mango-mint sauce.

The dessert: I was fiending for the Limoncello Tart, but we ended up sharing these huge white and dark chocolate covered strawberries ("tuxedos") and an Irish Red and Gold- which is a large mug of coffee with Bailey's and Frangelico, topped with a mound of real whipped cream. *thud*

We then stepped next door into the Caterpillar Lounge (love the name!) and had a couple of glasses of wine and discussed the physical aspects of heaven.

Perfecto!