jP American Bistro

On a Friday night whim, Rick and I decided to go out for a nice dinner. I wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere we had never been. So we called jP American Bistro, a restaurant I have been wanting to try, and were able to get an 8:30pm reservation (and we were calling at 7:45pm). The restaurant is located in Minneapolis, at 2937 Lyndale Ave S, very close to the Lake Street intersection.
The picture shows the dining room, and we were seated at a great table along the left wall, very close to the kitchen. We began our dining experience with a beer for Rick ($4.50) and JP's Rustic Pizza with Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cashew/Currant Pesto and Pecorino-Romano ($12.50). It was very good, albeit very rich (fairly warned by our server). I really enjoyed trying it, but it would have been better suited split amongst more people.

For our entrees, we ordered the Pan-Seared Diver Scallops with Baby Bok Choy and Leeks Warmed in a Soy Beurre Monte ($29.50) and the entree of the day: Smoked Duck Breast with a Red Wine Reduction, a Risotto cake and Swiss Chard with Roasted Tomatoes ($28.50). When our dinners came out, our server brought the Duck and a Chicken entree...oops. He was so genuinely apologetic and since we were splitting both dishes, we really didn't mind. It actually worked out well because we were able to enjoy the Duck, and then enjoy the Scallops. The Duck Breast was fantastic, absolutely delicious, as were the sides it came with. Rick and I left not a morsel on the plate. Then came the Scallops, which I must say were the best scallops I have ever had. Along with the bok choy and leeks, these also came with potatoes, which were far too buttery for my liking.

Greg, our server, nicely informed us that we were welcome to order a dessert on the house, due to the entree mix-up. We were quite full, but who can pass up free dessert??? I went with a light choice of Strawberry Sorbet, which came with two small cookies and a spring of mint ($5). The restaurant gets its ice creams from Sonny's, and that sorbet was perfectly light and refreshing. So after our free dessert and my buy-one-get-one-free-entree coupon, we got out of there for an impressive $49.

I was very impressed with jP American Bistro and would absolutely go there again. Owner JP Samuelson was working the kitchen, which is always reassuring. Our server Greg was honest, knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. The dining room was calm and relatively quiet, and the food was excellent. We definitely fell below the average age of Friday night's clientele, but no matter. Overall, I would highly recommend jP American Bistro. A friend at work just told me they have "the best" calamari in town, I will be returning soon to find out.

Let's Dish!

A few of the gifts I gave this year involved finding ways to spend time with my special recipients. For Meggie, I told her that I would take her to Let's Dish!, which is one of those make-and-take-home meal joints. How it works is you sign up for the location, the date and time you would like to come in, decide how many meals you want to make (4, 8 or 12) and choose the meals off that month's menu. You can either go in alone and make full meals (to serve 6 people each) or bring a friend and split the meals (to serve 3 people each), which is what Meggie and I did.
Last Thursday, we went to the Arbor Lakes location to make our meals. Upon arrival, we received bandanas, aprons and snacks. The staff member brought us to our fist meal station and gave us brief instructions before letting us loose. Basically, you make a meal, label it, stick it on your shelf in the freezer, wash your hands and find your next station. Meggie and I quickly realized that we were the only novices in the crowd. Once we figured out how to split everything and determined that we should read all the directions, we were good to go. Meggie made our 4 menu selections, which consisted of Tortellini with Walnut Sauce, Chicken & Asparagus Risotto, Asian Barbequed Pork Wraps and Raspberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin.

Our sign-up time was 5:30pm and we were all done by 6:20pm. We both agreed that this was something we would do again. That very night, Meggie made the Tortellini and it was very good. A couple nights later, I made the Risotto and that also was tasty. Each of those meals only served 2, but I am expecting the pork wraps and the tenderloin to actually serve 3. I am most excited to try the meat dishes, I will make comments on this posting with how those turned out.

Happy New Year!