Free plug: Hell's Kitchen, Minneapolis

[redbird]

If you're looking for breakfast or lunch in downtown Minneapolis, I strongly recommend Hell's Kitchen.

We wound up there semi-accidentally: we'd had breakfast the previous day at Key's (on the Nicollet Mall), because it's easy, but my nephew zorinth didn't want to go back there. Someone had mentioned Hell's Kitchen in the Minicon newsletter, so we gave it a try.

I was charmed, the first day, by the excellent bacon and the lemon-ricotta pancakes. papersky and I were both delighted by the tea: half a dozen choices, loose leaves brought in pots, already brewed. (Papersky has stricter standards for tea than I do, and is almost always disappointed by what she is offered in the United States.) She was pleased by a very helpful waiter, who answered her questions about ingredients cheerfully and knowledgeably (she has food allergies).

We went back the next day, with a couple of additional companions. I had their specialty porridge: wild rice and dried fruit in cream. I wasn't raised on porridge, and the only kind I normally eat is congee, but this looked intriguing and tasted delightful. As we were leaving, I asked our waitress if there was any grain in it besides the wild rice, because I wanted to try to make it at home. She listed the main ingredients, and offered to find me the recipe. When it turned out that the chef who could have answered that wasn't working that day, she asked for my address so they can send me the recipe. Less fancy but at least as helpful, they were able to give jonsinger oatmeal made with water instead of milk (another allergy issue).