Tuesday night at The Strip Club

by Brian Moen, East-Lake.net • 10/1/08 •

Arts Orbit is a multisource blog about the local arts scene, featuring both original contributions by Daily Planet writers and entries reprinted from partner blogs and online publications.

We assumed that we wouldn’t have trouble getting a table at 7:00 on a Tuesday night, but we were pleasantly surprised that the place was mostly full. Thankfully there was an open table so we didn’t have to wait. The waiter later told us that they had a group of 30 that were split up among the main dining area tables. Having a big group like that couldn’t have been easy for JD Fratzke (the head chef), but he did take the time to come out and say hi, which was very nice. JD lives across the street from my brother, so Tricia and I have talked to him quite a bit.

When we were there for the opening, I was really worried that the location was going to hurt them, but nine months later, they still had a packed house, so I guess I was wrong. It’s good to know that great food, and a really cool atmosphere can work, no matter where it is.

The food was outstanding like we expected it to be, and when we left we talked about how we can’t wait to go back.

To start we had the Caesar Salad and Heirloom Tomatoes, both of which were excellent. I really enjoy the knife and fork presentation for the salad, and while I’m not a huge tomato fan, I’ve become more of one this past year.

Next we ordered a few of the small plates. The Duck Confit is my favorite, but the Devil’s Eggs might be a close second. The amount of chile oil and curry was perfect, not too spicy but just enough. And the Seared Scallop was very good. I really like the small plates, and hot we not been looking forward to a steak, we probably would have just ordered a few more and called it a night.

But we wanted a steak.

Last time we got the New York Strip with the “Le Moulin Rouge” sauce accompaniment and Jeff and Shannon got the Braised Pork Shank, so we wanted to try something different this time. So we went with the special, the 10oz Rib Eye, which was perfect for us to share at that point. It’s still strange for me to eat a medium-rare steak, due mostly to how I grew up eating low quality steak, but everytime I do, I’m reminded of just how good it is.

For this visit to the Strip Club, I really wanted to have an old school cocktail. Tricia had a Sidecar, and I had the Poop Deck Cocktail (Brandy, port, blackberry), that I really enjoyed.

It was an outstanding meal and a great way to celebrate our anniversary. But it also put The Strip Club right up there with some of my favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities. The food is awesome, everyone there is super cool, and the atmosphere is just perfect. Though next time I need to call ahead so we can get the front table with the perfect view of downtown St. Paul.

Photo courtesy Mr. Outdoor Guy.