Pizza Frustration: Luce, A Review

The Twin Cities has some good pizza places. There's the old standbys: Punch, Red Savoy, and Cossettas; and the more recent additions: Nea, Black Sheep and Lola. But in the Chinook Book, there are only coupons for two: Pizza Luce and Galactic Pizza both of which offer tasty pizza and good beer.

It's clear that Pizza Luce has committed to the Chinook book-they've taken out a whole page providing 3 coupons each for $5 off $25. Luce is a go-to option for us. They're close and consistently good with some fun options like mashed potato pizza. As we have 9 coupons (3 per book x 3 books), we've actually used a few already. So when we were deciding where to get food for family dinner, Luce was an easy choice.

As we've made the mistake of not reading the fine print before, we checked the coupon to be sure there were no restrictions (none listed), agreed on our order (Spanish Chicken and a Ruby Rae plus a Caesar Salad), and made the call.

At the end of the order, we mentioned the coupon and were informed that it was not valid for delivery. What?! We've actually used it for delivery before, so this was a bit of shock. We were told management sent a memo saying that the coupon could not be used for delivery. We offered to pick it up ourselves - no dice. Frustrated, we placed the order as the prospect of group decision-making on a new plan didn't sound appealing.


Is it even legal to change the terms of a coupon like that?

Anyway, when we informed the family of this wrinkle, Maggie took the matter in her own hands and called Luce. The manager acquiesced (Maggie can be quite convincing when she senses injustice) and credited our card $5, but likely to get Maggie off the phone rather than to admit defeat.


The pizza was good and we had a lovely evening on the porch - an otherwise perfect Friday evening in July. However, the coupon deal left a bad taste in my mouth and given all the other Pizza options, Luce will likely get less business from us in the future.

Total miles biked: 6

Location, Location, Location - Spoonriver a Review

As we were headed to the Guthrie to see God of Carnage, dinner at Spoonriver was the logical choice.


We jumped on our bikes, rode the Hiawatha Trail downtown and were there in no time. Spoonriver is right next to the Guthrie and the Mill City Museum. It's a great location - one that affords the chefs primo access to the fresh produce at Mill City Farmers Market (actually, I believe the farmers market was founded by Brenda the owner of Spoonriver).


We opted for two types of mojitos instead of wine or beer. Kate had the Moroccan with cardamom and I had the Minnesota with cranberries. The Moroccan was better - it had a more traditional flavor profile for a mojito, but an added spice that I liked.


As a fan of Minnesota beers, I do have to say that I was disappointed by a restaurant committed to showcasing local food that only had 2 Minnesota beers on the menu - one of which being Summit. Really?

But I digress. Although almost everything on the menu looked good, we decided to split a couple appetizers: the shrimp & avocado salad, shrimp quesadilla, and cheese/fruit plate. The ingredients were fresh and spoke for themselves. Nothing was over-prepared and the quesadilla was piping hot. The cheeses of the day: a blue from Iowa, a french brie and an Amish cheddar. They were good, but rather pedestrian as far as cheese plate offerings.


The dessert tray didn't speak to us, so we choose to skip the sweets. Note: I almost never think a tray displaying today's dessert options is a good idea. The items rarely look appealing, why was the sorbet not melted?, when they've been sitting out on a tray carried to and fro.

The crowd was pretty old and we realized that the location right next to the Guthrie placed some constraints on Spoonriver. Namely, that they need to cater to an older audience and families, who are likely to keep the chefs from pushing the envelope in menu offerings. Location, location, location - but location comes with a specific market.

Overall, we had good experience at Spoonriver. Our coupon was for $5 off.

1/2 Off for Laid-Off State Employees: Heidi's - A Review

This morning, I noticed a tweet from @hotdishblog that Heidi's (29th & Lyndale) was offering laid off state workers (that's me) 50% off tonight. Kate's sister Maggie also alerted us to the offer. We had never been to Heidi's, but a quick review of their website was enough to know this would be a place we'd like.


For a Tuesday, this place was hoping - almost a full house. We managed to grab a table on the patio shortly before 8. We were delighted to learn that Heidi's is brought to you in part by the letter Y and the number 13.


First course: Although we were tempted to roll the dice on the "Shefzilla Surprise" appetizer, which our waiter indicated was "exotic," we instead opted for Beets 2.1 The 2.1 is significant - this was a step up from a typical beet salad. I could say a lot about this dish, but the key ingredient for me was the truffled golden beet sorbet. Hard to imagine without actually trying it - it was a powerful, sweet ice cream that hit the taste buds fast and delivered immense flavor.

 *perhaps, the beet schmear was a bit much

Second course: Kate had the black truffle pappardelle (thin strips of pasta) with lobster, which was rich and smooth. I only had a couple bites, but it was amazing. I opted for the special of the day: pan roasted quail with baby artichokes in a rabbit/bay leaf sauce. It was hearty and very tasty.

Dessert: we finished the meal with donuts, but not just any donuts: honey-cream filled donuts. They were served with a blueberry ice cream and a candied mint leaf. Really wonderful - we fought over the last drops of melted ice cream.


We'll definitely go back.