Sushi at the 17th Avenue Grill

Starting in October there is going to be a new menu option in Grand Rapids. The 17th Avenue Grill at the Timberlake Lodge is going to start offering Sushi every Monday evening, along with a selection of sake's.

Previews of these new offerings were the focus of a fundraiser for the Special Olympics on Thursday. The offerings at the fundraiser included a variety of sushi and sushi rolls.

For people unfamiliar with sushi, most sushi is raw fish on seasoned rice. There are also offerings with egg and tofu. It is often eaten with a mixture of soy sauce and wasabi, which, as usually presented in the United States, is a green horseradish concoction. (Real wasabi is a different plant grown in Japan. It is very expensive even there and rarely seen in the United States).

The offering Thursday included tuna, salmon and shrimp, as well as several others. These were served as nigiri, a slice of fish on top of a cake of sushi rice. They sometimes have flavoring under the fish such as wasabi or other sauce. There was a tofu offering and what looked like a scrambled egg offering in addition to the fish, but I didn't try these.

There were also several maki rolls, where a mixture of ingredients is rolled up with the rice in seaweed and then cut in slices. The maki rolls may or may not include raw fish. They may include radish or cucumber instead of the fish. Standards are an Alaskan Roll that includes smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese. There is also a California Roll that is avocado, cream cheese and crab(or imitation crab). I didn't notice whether these were offered, but there were number of more creative options that were very tasty.

It appears the 17th Avenue Grill will offer a wide variety of sushi, including plenty of options for people who don't like raw fish. Its not clear whether they are going to offer people choices or some kind of fixed menu. We will have to wait for them to start regular service in October.

The offerings for sake at the fundraiser were a pear infused sake and a peach infused sake. Both were served cold. While I would have preferred the warm traditional sake, I can understand the difficulty of offering this to a large group at a fundraiser. Its not clear whether the Grill will offer that option when it begins its Sushi Mondays. The fundraiser also offered a couple of asian style "martinis", but they seemed pretty sweet to both Marcia and I.

In any case, this is exciting. Marcia and I get sushi in both Duluth and the Twin Cities when we visit. Its going to be great to have the option available closer to home.

Timberlake's 17th Street Grill

Marcia and I went to the "Grand Opening" of the patio area at the 17th Avenue Grill, the restaurant at the Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids. We had actually been there once before. Both times we road our bikes and sat out on the patio in the sun. It is a very nice space, While it faces west and gets full afternoon sun there is some shade if you want it.

We just had a couple appetizers, which taken together really provided enough for a light meal. Marcia had an Italian Flatbread with sun dried tomatoes and cheese. It was delicious and they have another Mediterranean Flatbread on the menu that looks like its well worth trying, given this one's success.

My first choice was the seared tuna with wasabi mayo, but they didn't have the tuna that night. They also didn't have the Fried Greenbeans. So I settled for the Bruschetta. It had a good pile of tomatoes with balsamic vinegar. I would have preferred a lot more garlic, but then I love garlic, and a crustier bread. But it was very good.

The previous time we had stopped there they had a slightly different menu. But we had the Minnesota Wild Cakes that are still on the menu. They are a delicious version of crab cakes using walleye, that come served with a dill sauce.

My only criticism is that they need more craft beers. Fat Tire and Summit Pale Ale in bottles is not a wide enough selection with the wide range of beers these days. Since we were sitting in the sun, I had a cold Fat Tire. Marcia had one of their specialty cocktails, which she found very sweet.

This is a place we will be back to. The folks having dinner looked like they were enjoying their food. And its a great place that's in town, easy to get to on a bike (although they need a bike rack) and a great place to take in some sun while dining on creative food.

Let us know about your experiences there in the comments section.

Recipe: Farmers Market Chicken with Garlic and Fennel Seed

Farmers Market Chicken with Garlic and Fennel Seed

Ingredients:
Chicken thighs and legs from local farmer market free range chicken
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon fennel seed
¼ Teaspoon hot red pepper
2 Cups chicken stock
Cloves from one head of garlic, pealed

salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Heat oil on medium heat in skillet large enough to hold chicken in one layer

2) Add fennel seed, red pepper and pinch of salt and let cook for 30 seconds (if the fennel burns the oil was too hot, start over)

3) salt and pepper chicken on all sides and place skin side down in hot oil, pressing into the fennel seed

4) When the skin is nicely browned on one side, turn over and cook until other side of legs are brown

5) Add as much chicken stock as possible without covering the the browned thighs and legs.

6) Add garlic cloves and cover, cook until thighs and legs are done (check with thermometer if you are uncertain) and sauce is thickened. Add more stock as needed if sauce thickens too much before the chicken is done

Serve two pieces of chicken per person with a little of the sauce including pieces of garlic around the chicken

Sugar Lake Lodge "Wine Down" to "Sun Down"

We went out to Rutger's on Sugar Lake last weekend to check out their new evening offerings on the Otis' Deck at the main lodge. This is not to be confused with Jake's Grill at Rutger's which has a full menu and bar. The Otis' special menu has a limited list of appetizers and a selection of wines (beer is also available, I am not sure about full bar service). It is served Monday through Saturday from 5-9 PM on the deck overlooking the lake.

We tried two of the appetizers and two of the wine selections. Along with the wine, they brought us a good crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in.

Marcia ordered the "Moules Provencal", Mussels in garlic and white wine sauce with grape tomatoes. It was a very large plate of mussels with a an extra large bowl to handle the spent shells. The garlic, wine and tomatoes created a nice sauce to sop up with bread.

I ordered the "Pettinidi Gorath", described as cornmeal crusted jumbo scallops with lemon garlic dill sauce. As a result of a mixup, what I got was the "Piccante Gamberi". This was a large dish of sauteed shrimp in a mildly spicy creole sauce. There was a cocktail sauce provided for dipping. They were wonderful, although messy to eat since the shrimp were oily with creole sauce and required shelling before dipping into the cocktail sauce.

I was not disappointed by the mixup of my order, except that I ordered a glass of white wine in anticipation of the milder scallops. I much prefer red wine and Marcia ordered a red Malbec that was much better.

We treated the appetizers as a meal and they were plenty filling. Either would have been plenty alone as a snack for a couple of people to go with glasses of wine or beer. The deck has sun on it and is a great spot to sit an look out at the lake. There were even a couple of hot games of croquet to watch just below the deck.

We planned to ride out bikes out to Rutgers (its about 10 miles from Grand Rapids) along 63 and 17. The ride includes a separate bike trail for a portion of the ride and wide shoulders for the rest. But we ended up driving this time. We will no doubt be making that bike trip this summer. Its a really a great spot to sit in the sun in the evening and relax with some interesting menu choices. If you want a full meal after your appetizers, its just a short walk over to Jakes.

Brewed Awakenings

We have eaten at Brewed Awakenings many times. Unlike many coffee shops, the food is not a sideline. Its a reason to go there for lunch whether you like coffee or not.

As you would expect from a coffee house, they serve espresso, made with Alakef coffee from Duluth, with a variety of homemade sweets. For more nutritional fare they offer a variety of sandwiches made on Great Harvest breads and unique soups that change every day. They offer a few other food specials, including a vegetarian lasagna. There is a link to their full menu on the right

In addition to their own unique fare, they also offer panini and gelato in multiple flavors. The gelato is made on site and is excellent. The panini are good, but you will find similar sandwiches at many coffee shops.

They have also created one of the nicer spaces to eat in Grand Rapids with rotating variety of works by local artists. With free wi-fi its a place to sit and work for many people. They also occasionally have music.

You can also buy Alakef coffee and loaves of the Great Harvest bread to take home.

Bella's Cafe - Bovey MN

We have visited this cafe located in Annabella's Antique Mall on old Highway 169 in downtown Bovey. Its only a couple blocks off the Mesabi Bike trail and makes a nice stop on a ride from Grand Rapids. The first time we stopped, we were really there for coffee, but I got one of their latte shakes which is essentially espresso and ice cream. It was great. Marcia got a plain latte that time.

Then yesterday we stopped again just before closing at 5:00 PM. It was getting close to dinner time but we were only looking for a light snack to hold us for the rest of the ride. So we split a Cesaer salad which came with tasty home baked artisan rolls made with whole wheat flour and a little honey. We also got another one of the espresso shakes, which was again great.

We didn't try the house specialty, sarma, since it has pork in it and Marcia does not eat red meat. But there were people there the first time we stopped talking about how good it is.

The Cafe has free wireless. Its menu includes salads, soup and sandwiches as well as a variety of soft ice cream concoctions and other sweets.