Solera - Minneapolis

I've been wanting to go to Solera for a long time. Sadly, dining downtown is not a common thing for me. But recently I discovered that Solera has rooftop movies twice a week, for free! On this particular night, they were scheduled to play my 2nd favorite movie; Across The Universe! I took some tucked away money and off I went (and Mr. H too!)

I made my reservation via Open Table. Open Table was unknown to me, until this dude blogged about it. Basically you just make reservations through them, and get dining points when you complete a reservation. After so many points, you get gift certificates. I figure it may take me a long time since I only go out a few times a month, but they have a wide selection of restaurants that give you 1000 points (as opposed to the normal 100 or so) and Solera is one of them.

We arrived a little early, and opted to sit at the bar. I've heard that Solera is beautiful, and it's 100% true. It isn't annoyingly trendy (Azia) or too pretentious (I Nonni.) The lighting is dim without being too dark, and the space feels comfortable and stylish. They serve a full menu at the bar, so we started browsing the small plates and Tapas menu.

The Tapas menu features 3 things for $8. We decided to order from that, and a few other small plates. For 3 for $8, we ordered: Olives with Lemon and Garlic (can't find this on the websitemenu though..), Manchego Pimenton, and Shrimp and Tetilla Croquetas. From the small plate menu, we opted for Beef Shortribs and Scallops “a la Plancha” with Serrano Ham and Saffron.

Shrimp and tetilla croquetas

These were heavenly. They didn't taste too "fried", and they were very rich, which is appropriate to make up for the lack of them. I've never had tetilla cheese before, and it seemed to be similar to a rich, slightly less tangy goat cheese. I don't know what the sauces were but they were good, if a bit salty. My only disappointment was that there weren't about 10 more of these things.

Beef shortribs
(No pic - it was really dark!)
These came with couscous and a harissa sauce. I was quite underwhelmed with this dish. It was gristly (so much so that my poor Mr. H didn't even want the last one) and very salty. The couscous was ok, but the spinach on top was buttery and awesome. The harissa was so so; more tangy than spicy or savory. Who'd have thought that the vegetable would be my favorite part?

Scallops “a la Plancha” with Serrano Ham and Saffron.

Unfortunately, I've only had scallops a few times, but they are always SO GOOD. These were no exception. The scallops themselves were like BUTTER. Melt in your mouth, light and sweet. The only downfall was that they were very salty - the sauce as the culprit.

Manchego:
This was a little disappointing. It's literally: 5 pieces of triangle manchego slices and 2 paltry pieces of toasted bread. I understand that these are on a 3 for $8 menu, but come on now. A little something more? It lacked balance, and though I love manchego, there was just no oomph.

Olives
We didn't get a pic of stuff because by this time, I was in a super hurry to get up to my movie, and they apparently forgot about these last 2 orders. The olives were fine. I can't say what kind they were, but they were small, green, pitted, and oily. They come in a tiny little bowl, but I brought them up with me (in the elevator!) and snacked on them like popcorn. The garlic and lemon come through well. Not too strong, although my hands needed a good washing after eating them.

The rooftop really is quite nice. The occasional bounce that you feel is a bit alarming, but I'll leave that to the pro's. They show the movies on a big projecter screen, and it was packed up there. So much so that I didn't have anywhere to sit for the first 30 minutes. As I waited for a seat to open, I sipped the special drink of the night. An electric lemonade, with bacardi dragonberry and some other stuff. It tasted like cotton candy and lemon. I finally found a spot, and stuck to my regular after that. I was in bliss, like a kid watching Sesame Street (do kids watch Sesame Street anymore?)

Greats:
-Varied seating! They have a main room, bar, tapas bar, and dining room, in addition to the rooftop.
-The bathrooms are quite nice. I'm always looking out for unique or swanky bathrooms.
-Watching Across the Universe on the rooftop and seeing like 50 other people be mesmerizied by it.
-The scallops and olives

Not so greats:
-Beef ribs- way too gristly
-The electric lemonade.
-The occasional rooftop bounce
-Manchego dish- I could gussy up my house and slice 5 pieces of cheese for cheaper.

http://www.solera-restaurant.com/

Houlihan's - Chanhassen

Mrs. D and I decided to do lunch at Houlihan's after seeing Ramona and Beezus (which was AWESOME) on a hot Sunday afternoon. Houlihan's is no stranger to us, but we like the food and so off we went.

We arrived about 2:30 or 3 and sat in a booth near the bar. I haven't been to Houlihan's for awhile, so I was pleased to see they have a new "small plates" menu , along with FOUR varities of fries (disco fries: Canadian ‘poutine’ (poot-sin) style with melty mozzarella, slow cooked pot roast and gravy - $4.) If you know me, you know about me and small plates. I relish variety, and small plates are made for this personality. I was doubly pleased to find they have happy hour ALL DAY every Sunday and monday. 2 for 1 rails, taps and house wines. Also, they have a list of "big small plates", which is basically standard appetizers (Spinach dip, Calamari), and they are on special during all happy hours for $6.75 for anything! I really like this. I could save up and easily spend the better part of Sunday here, and I intend to.

Since this was just a lunch, we didn't do the small plate feast. Instead, we ordered Goat Cheese and Artichoke Poppers (with fresh thyme and lemon zest- $5), the Farmhouse Club Sandwich (me: brown sugar and honey cured ham, mesquite turkey, bacon, basil pesto aioli, buttery gouda, whole-grain bread, with greek orzo as a side- $10.95) and Buffalo Chicken Tenders for Mrs. D.

Goat and Artichoke Poppers

Overall these were pretty tasty, but Mrs. D tried one and she was right..the goat cheese was kind of...perfumey tasting. I attributed this at first to the lemon (the white sauce was some sort of lemon sauce, the dark sauce was more salty) but then tasted it without and decided it was the goat cheese. For some reason, I've been hearing a lot of people who don't like goat cheese lately...I do not know how this is possible. I love it, but this was not the best I've had.

Club sandwich w/ orzo:

I didn't get a pic of anything else, but this sandwich was quite good. It was a little bread-ey for my tastes, but I just pulled it off. It certainly didn't ruin it for me, as the sandwich itself is nicely structured and not sloppy (my biggest sandwich pet peeve.) The orzo was good, but it doesn't wow me. I get it to pretend I'm being healthy.

The buffalo chicken was not as good as I remember it. I'm suuuuper picky about my buffalo wings. They are bad much too often. I like the Spring Street Taverns, but am still searching for the perfect "wing". I will accept donations to send me to the Buffalo Wing Fest in New York at any time!

For 2 rail drinks and all this food, our final bill came to $29 and some change.

Greats:

-Atmosphere. It's nothing special, but it's comfy, big, with varied seating. I just hate it when there isn't good seating. Fat girls lament.
-The happy hour
-The small plates
-Food is consistently good.

Not so greats
-Perfumey goat cheese
-Nothing here has wowed me yet
-Buffalo chicken isn't as good as I remember

http://www.houlihans.com/home.aspx