Dinner Club last night was at Vino 610. I had a good time there. The company was good. The wine was reasonably priced. The appetizers were good. And my dinner was good on the second try. When the waitress looked at the sad, gray slice of steak I’d cut off the first attempt, she said That’s way overdone, isn’t it?
and took it back. I’m sure it didn’t hurt my case that when ordering, I’d asked whether medium-rare meant a red center. The next attempt arrived just right: Red warm center and will have a springy firmness.
It’s a common failing, and we’d slammed the place by having a dozen people order entrees all at once, so I wasn’t upset — I know how easy it is to forget something on the grill for the extra minute or two it takes to go from medium rare to medium well, especially when things are really hopping in the kitchen. But I also wasn’t going to spend $20 for a steak that wasn’t done the way I’d asked for.
The downsides? Well, as I hinted at above, they don’t seem to be set up for getting a large group all at once. Our food arrived in waves, leading me to suspect that a table of four would be fine, but larger groups may be disappointed. Understandable, but it would have been nice to know that when Kat phoned ahead to see if they could handle twelve people.
The biggest problem was the noise level. The room is hard. Hard concrete floor, hard wood walls, hard glass windows, and a high hard ceiling all contributed to a loud room. On top of that, the sound system was turned up high enough to require everyone to raise their voices to be able to converse over the music. If you’re expecting a quiet romantic dinner, this might not be the place for you.
So I’d rate it pretty solidly in the upper middle of the pack. The service and food were good, but the ambience could use something to soak up the noise. And be clear that they’re a wine-bar with food, not a restaurant with a good wine list. If you set your expectations that way, there’s a lot to enjoy. The staff were friendly and patient with us, and the prices were reasonable for the quality of the food and drink. Call it a seven out of ten.
- First off, here’s a very good chart of Steak Doneness. I wish more cooks and chefs would take a look at it.
- If you’re in the Twin Cities and don’t hear something at 1:45 this afternoon, you may want to ask yourself Where are the sirens? [press-patch]
- The St. Paul Art Crawl is this weekend. Friday 5-10 pm, Sat noon-7 pm, and Sun noon-5 pm. Thanks to Rose for the tip.
- It’s possible to Fly for free on RyanAir. And yet the airline has an
industry-leading 22 percent net profit margin.
When I booked a flight recently, I paid $1500 for a flight, even after askingis there anyone other than Northwest?
And from the looks of it, I’m going to be flying in a nearly-full DC-10. I’m pretty sure I’m not getting $1500 more worth of value out of the deal. [flutterby] - This article on Sleeping on Planes has some good tips, but the most interesting thing I found was a note that
airline seats are inclined at a similar angle to chairs used for torture and to extract confessions from criminals–the theory being that this particular angle will cause enough discomfort over time to exhaust the confessor and make them spill everything.
I don’t find that at all surprising. [fark!] - Did you know there are Few Protections for Migrants to Mexico? If you sneak across the border into Mexico, you’ll be considered a felon by the government, be hunted by police and soldiers at railroads, bus stations and fleabag hotels, and have to fear detention, rape and robbery. And if the police do catch you, it’s a toss up as to whether they’ll take your money and throw you in jail or deport you. And yet the Mexican goverment complains about how illegals are treated here in the north. I wonder what would happen if we tried to make them feel right at home. [fark!]