Haute Dish Reinvents Grandma's Classics

Born and bred Minnesotans have got to love the name: Haute Dish, moniker for a restaurant that dares to tinker with prosaic home-cooking traditions, creating meals much more glamourous than grandma ever dreamed. 

I finally got there to find out what the fuss has been about since it opened and began earning awards and accolades.

Its Warehouse District location (119 Washington Avenue N. in Minneapolis) sandwiches it between two landmarks—the time-honored Runyon's restaurant and Sex World.

Maybe the latter has rubbed off, because Haute Dish food is sexy in a downhome way, with its homemade tater tots oozing creamy-centered warmth, egg in a hole and raw meat steak tartar alongside an oyster shooter, pork belly in the Picnic Salad, and sweetbreads done General Tso style.

In my food career, I have seen countless recipes for Tater Tot Hot Dish involving hamburger, mixed vegetables, canned soup and frozen potato nuggets. Eating various versions is a Midwest rite of passage, a church supper staple—good but not thrilling.

Tater Tot Haute Dish, the restaurant's signature dish, provides thrills with a chunky hunk of totally tender short ribs tangled with slender green beans, porcini bechamel (mushroom soup gone upscale), and those homemade "tots" with their sensuous creamy potato centers that flow when touched with a fork.

My only complaint: three "tots" were not enough. I could have demolished mounds of them.

The menu changes every couple of months, so the succulent Lamb Meatball Casserole with couscous, eggplant, dill creme and curvaceous red piquillo peppers is considered seasonal, only there until the autumnal menu revision.

Some things won't change, however. Count on the Tater Tot dish, Mac and Cheese with king crab, Tallegio cheese and truffle, the charcuterie plate with homemade head cheese among the irreplaceable items.

Fish changes nightly; pink snapper was on my dining companion's plate and he wasn't sharing. Five of us all tore into Fry Bread (really a pizza dough round, not Native American style) draped with mangalista ham, roasted bell peppers contrasted with hot pepper slices, centered with soft burrata cheese. Good, but I am partial to fried dough, good and greasy, which I expected because of the name.

Another dinner companion let me taste her Summer Chicken and Dumplings with heirloom tomatoes and gnocchi, afloat on a basil parmesan broth—the best part. And me without a spoon.

So how does one define Haute Dish fare?

"We tell people that it's upscale Midwest cuisine—which puzzles them even more," said David Walters, manger and one of the ownership partners.

"Rethink" is what they do-take familiar Minnesota-style foods and shove them in unexpected directions, adding French or Asian touches mom never considered. 

The genius in the kitchen is Landon Schoenefeld who has worked at an array of edgy restaurants such as Sea Change, Brasa and Cafe Barbette. Now that he has his own place, imagination just bubbles, allowing frequent menu changes and constant surprises.

You've got to go, but forget about lunch; Haute Dish doesn't do it. They do their creative thing for Sunday brunch, however, and I'm definitely returning to sample their melding of two of my favorite dishes, Eggs Benedict and a Reuben sandwich. Their Reuben Benedict layers corned beef, charred (grilled?) cabbage in place of sauerkraut, heaped on a pumpernickel muffin, drenched with Thousand Island Hollandaise. Talk about hitting a double home run.

For reservations, dial 612-338-8484. And leave your preconceived notions about Minnesota cuisine at the door; you'll be entering new culinary territory.