Thursday, July 26, 2007

Heartland Contemporary Midwestern Restaurant; St Paul, MN

Lenny Russo and Mega Hoehn’ Heartland: A Contemporary Midwestern Restaurant was such a food critic success that Russo was stolen away from his executive chef work at his own restaurant to the Guthrie Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Now that Russo is back home in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, Heartland patrons couldn’t be happier. Everything Russo touches turns to gold, and regulars at the Heartland want their eating quarters to be golden for some time to come.

Heartland, located at 1806 St. Clair Ave., uses only indigenous ingredients from the American and Canadian Midwest. The restaurant includes a pastry kitchen where breads and pastries are made daily. Heartland prepares two fixed priced menus per night, one “flora” and one “fauna.” If the fixed priced menus don’t suit your tastes for the evening, choose from an a la carte menu that ranges from $6 yellow wax beans with walnut vinegar butter to $36 Minnesota elk chop with glazed organic fennel. The dining room has an even 50 seats, with décor dedicated to the early Twentieth Century Arts & Crafts movement. A highly elegant wine and beer bar is located adjacent to the restaurant, a good place for non-reservation holders to enjoy some of Heartland’s superlative aura.

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