Eat The Menu: House of Worship

This is my idea of perfect summer evening in the city—lounging on a brick patio under trees brimming with twinkle lights, shielded by bounteous umbrellas while sipping the beverage of one’s choice and catching up with longtime friends as, just beyond a leafy border, the busy world slides by.

That’s the scene at All Saints, a dining delight not far from the river in the East Hennepin neck of town. Since All Saints came marching in, a few years back, it’s won a place in my heart (and diet) as a sweet, modern bistro heralding a menu where not only do veggies get their due, they shine.

Small plates – nearly two dozen of them (most under $20) – are the rule here. My dining pal and I plotted a perfect meal by sharing four of them while making plans for a quick return for four more as soon as we could manage.

 Who steps out on the town to eat beets? Well, we did (and Dining Pal doesn’t even relish them). But this composition of chunky golden beets (milder in flavor, or is that just my imagination?), was abetted by a welcome wake-up via an attention-getting cumin-y, coriander-y shake of dukkah, balanced by generous mounds of limpid, ultra-creamy burrata. A red-beet drizzle melded with the white cheese into a dreamy pink.

We next ordered the grilled peas, elevating what’s too often a mound of boring, carbo-pebbles in a new guise. Crisp unshelled pea pods provided crunch and crackle among leaves of mint-infused salad greens strewn with savory pistachios, all bathed in a suave, house-made ranch dressing. Eat on!

More veggie combos beckoned—summer squash carpaccio to charred cabbage with anchovy salsa verde; Yukon potatoes with chorizo and olives in garlic aioli to salt-and-pepper mushrooms with scallion dip—but we had our eyes on the scallops composition: hunky, sweet and tender critters paired with a creamy, also-sweet carrot hummus kissed with oranges and a crunch of walnut tabouli. Just enough and just right.

Finally, the unexpected winner of the night: meaty, juicy, deeply-flavored duck confit whose fatty nature was balanced by a nest of bitter greens (radicchio, etc.), then brightened by a toss of tiny currants with their mini-explosions of sweetness, all tempered with a banyuls (red wine) vinaigrette.

Next time (which cannot come soon enough): the grilled broccolini with avocado tahini and candied peanuts. The Hamachi crudo, attended by rhubarb shrub, habaneros and shiso. The (yes!) fried chicken in harissa honey. Swordfish in an Asian preparation. Or the Italianate crab orecchiette with seafood sauce and saffron. OK, even the cheeseburger. Four tasty-sounding full-size entrees also are on offer, but why bother?

Indeed, there’s also a pair of desserts, which we couldn’t manage. Had we more restraint earlier, we might have savored the buttermilk panna cotta or chocolate cake with buttercream and sumac ($10).

Service was smooth, informed ands adept. Construction on the avenue was not. To ease it, we Ubered.

All Saints
222 E. Hennepin Ave.
(612) 259-7507
www.allsaintsmpls.com