Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Review - Runny Eggs and What Service?

The Modern Cafe
337 13th Ave NE Minneapolis, MN 55413
Phone: (612) 378 9882
modernmpls@gmail.com

I wanted my first review to be a good one, but I need to get this one done so that I can stop looking at the pictures.

I ate at The Modern Cafe by myself for lunch and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it with a friend. So, we went for breakfast last Saturday. The weather was wonderful and we took advantage of the outdoor seating. A young man greeted us and gave us menus right away. Then, our server arrived and we ordered drinks. When he returned with the drinks we ordered our food. In a very timely manner the food was brought out. That was the last time our server stopped by our table. I saw him walk out and across the road the say hi to someone, but he did not look in our direction.

This might of been ok, it the food was ok, but it was not. I ordered the Scramble. I was expecting fluffy eggs. When I first looked down at my plate I was disgusted! I was looking at slime! Part of the eggs were nicely cooked but those parts were swimming in the completely raw globs that were staring up at me. I wanted to simply ask the server to have them cook more, but as I have already stated, he was not around. When my friend was done with his food, I went inside to find our check. Then he had to bring it to the inside to the bar to pay. Since both the food and the service were a huge let down to us I don't think we will be returning to The Modern Cafe.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tomato, Swiss Chard, and Asparagus



After going out to a big breakfast this morning, and anticipating a decent Sunday dinner, I wanted something light and quick for lunch. I started by boiling about a cup of veg stock in a sauce pan with a small pad o butter (just for fun). Then, I added 1 diced tomato, 1 large roughly chopped garlic clove, and a 1/4 cup or so of chopped rainbow char stems with s/p. For extra flavor, I threw in a bay leaf and a slice of jalapeño, which I discarded before serving. After tasting for seasoning and adding a pitch of salt, I reduced the tomato mixture by half.



Then, I added a hand full of chard leafs and sliced asparagus. This cooked covered for a minute or two over low heat, till the char just wilted.



This would be nice on pasta or rice. It would also make a great vegetarian meal simply mixed with a can of warmed beans. For this lunch, I incorporated breakfast leftovers by mixing diced turkey sausage into the veggies. I served the colorful dish with reheated hash browns mixed with a little feta cheese to add a creamy element to the dish.



It took me about 20 minutes to cook this gluten free meal, not bad for a three hour cook. Tony didn't need that much time to eat it though. His plate was clean in about 2 minuets!