Unexpected Travail

Last night our Robbinsdale boys gave us a tour down memory lane.  We rented a car service to drive around Robbinsdale, the oldest suburb in Minneapolis and saw their old houses and hangouts.  We followed that with dinner at Travail Kitchen & Amusements, a new American gastropub.  We had a reservation at the "hot tub" table, a round booth sitting on an elevated platform that was just perfect for eight.  Mike, our waiter, indicated that as part of our tasting menu, the food would come in dishes to be shared for each couple with a number of amuse bouche in between.  

In total we had 17 courses and they were all surprising, terrific and in many ways unexpected.  Most definitely a place worth visiting again.  Below are pictures of our courses (except one of the desserts that somehow I missed, a Cheesecake lemon shots streusel).

Olive Bomb

Chinese deep fried beans with miso emulsion

Beet salad w prosciutto and walnut purée

Reuben cheese fondue corned beef thousand island dressing
with sauerkraut and pumpernickel cracker

Shrimp banh mi with ponzu sauce

Brisket with pickled radish and conish pickels horseradish
yogurt sauce and sous vide egg yolk

Sunchoke soup with popovers and chive mouse

Tortellini with ham and cheddar foam

Scallops with fried cream grits, micro sunflower sprouts and powder chorizo

Sea bass with carrot orange purée, navy beans and fish fume
foam, black béarnaise and chive powder

Potato gnocchi with egg yolk creme fraiche and bacon

Rabbit leg stuffed with sausage and wrapped in pancetta
with balsamic reduction and butternut squash purée

Black  currant dipping dots

Pork tenderloin with asian daikon radish pork belly sous vide egg yolk

Fudge browny with peanut butter powder and lemon macaroon

Liquid nitrogen frozen dipping dots with chocolate
ganache and jalapeño marshmallow

Two of our Robbinsdale boys with Kelly