Spill the Wine: Minneapolis, MN

Spill the Wine

1101 Washington Ave S

Minneapolis, MN 55415

Website: http://www.spillthewinerestaurant.com/

What Makes This Place Unique?

It's a very neat wine bar that has a good small plate menu but to be honest, I hadn't heard anything about the chef, food, or wine selection and reacted on an urge to buy a $50 Groupon for $25 there and give it a chance!  

I even tried to find a bio about the Executive Chef or something unique about their business online or through a magazine review but besides being recognized for the atmosphere and the restoration of the building...I was unable to find anything.  If Spill the Wine is reading this, put up something on your website or an "About Us" section!  No background or connection to what you're trying to do!

What Do They Serve Here?

Spill the Wine offers a wide variety of small plates, as well as a decent selection of larger lunch and dinner portions.  As far as dishes, pretty predictable for a wine bar but good.  Small plates that caught my eye include: roasted baby beets with goat cheese, pecans and balsamic, duck rillettes and fig marmalade, chorizo & ham, machego and piparras, mussels & curry broth, ahi tuna.  Prices range from $4-13 and like I mentioned, they are pretty predictable but there is a variety.

Bigger plates include: pork belly burger with parsley aioli and pickles, lamb chops with a sage brown butter, truffle gnocchi with foraged mushrooms peas and brown butter.  The menu also offers a tasting menu and over lunch they did have a soup and sandwich option that wasn't listed on the online menu.  Pricing ranges from $11-19 on the bigger plates.

Their drink menu and wine list has a TON of wines (duh - it's a wine bar) and according to an article that I read online, they do offer a lot more wines by the glass than many wine bars in the area and are known for their intuitive drinks, to which I can attest. 

What Did We Get?

Well, I had a Groupon and so I had to spend $50 over lunch so my coworker Shannon and I headed over to do just that, let the binging begin! 

Ginger Rogers: Hendricks gin, mint, ginger syrup, lime juice, ginger brew ($9)

Roasted Baby Beet Salad: beets, goat cheese, pecans, balsamic ($7)

French Fries: no description on the menu but they are actually truffle fries, amazing ($9)

Tuna Small Plate: olive tapenade with greens and olive oil ($13)

Shannon also ordered the lunch combo which was a grilled skirt steak that has a celery root, onion and apple slaw with arugula and was served with cup of chili.  That day they had chili and minestrone for soups as I recall and the combo was very reasonably price (under $10).  

As far as taste, the truffle fries were the clear star for me.  They were awesome; I would get them again and that's a lot to say about fries that cost $9!  The Ginger Rogers house cocktail was also very unique and mixed well with the right amount of booze. The rest (beet salad and tuna) was on par; the flavors and textures were all there for me and I have nothing bad to say about the food.  It met the standards that I have for food priced out where it was.

The atmosphere was very warm and inviting with great restoration elements but there was something that wasn't so warm and fuzzy.  The server situation that we had was one of the worst service experiences that I've ever had.  My coworker tipped her 20%, but neither of us was sure why.  Maybe we felt like she was just having a bad day or something, but, I wish that I would have asked or told her some of the following questions and thoughts about our extremely poor experience:

1. I have a Groupon, and obviously telling you that at the beginning of the meal was a BIG mistake.
2. If we ask if we can get the soup that was ordered with the sandwich before the meal with the appetizers, is that really that big of a deal? Alright, well as you said, apparently you usually don't do that so let's NOT be flexible.  You hold your ground.
3. If we ask "What's good?" and you tell us "Everything.", then you should probably try something on the menu.  You're at a wine bar and there are probably foodies in your presence...try something on the menu and be able to speak to it...
4. Would I have had a $50 bill and then tipped you 15-20% of that on a normal lunch day?  Then why are you being so rude to me?
5. Another tip: If you want a diner to have a good experience, maybe you shouldn't say things like "you're going to get that too?" when I'm ordering a dish.  Yeah, I'm a fat cow.  THANKS.
6. Last tip, I promise: Stopping by the table might help.

While I understand that was pretty harsh, I was a server for quite a few years and if there is one thing that I can't stand it's situations like this.  I feel terrible for the owners and chef because they weren't privy to seeing this behavior when it happened but if I'm seeing it, other people are too...and if your ratings aren't where you want them to be, then how else can you find out but through resources like this?  The good, the bad and the ugly about the internet.

I've seen that in most cases Groupons are used as a marketing tool to get people through the door for a great experience and to get these first time customers to become patrons...and this server was not helping your mission and it's sad because little did she know that we worked right down the street (within walking distance) and if we would have had a rockin' experience, then we probably would have been back.

Would You Go Again?

I want to say yes, but, the answer unfortunately is no.  Until I start seeing more positive reviews online and a more inventive food menu I probably won't be back.  There are just so many options over on that side of town and if I don't have good service or an inventive menu....nine times out of ten I'm not going to leave my house for wine alone.

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Operation Fridge: Crappy Surgery Fast Track

I've decided to go through with writing about a pretty common medical condition (but not for someone my age or in my health) that I’ve dealt with for the last few years.  While I don’t want to seem like an elderly person writing one of those depressing Christmas card, if I am able to help just one person that was like me, embarrassed about having pretty severe acid reflux issues/GERD at such a young age and that lives a pretty healthy lifestyle but not sure where to go from there, then it will have been worth it.

While it might not seem like a big deal this next paragraph should put it into perspective.  An article that I recently read gave a list of the worst foods for people with acid reflux issues and I've taken the liberty of highlighting ones that I absolutely love and can not imagine living without: tangy citrus fruits, tomatoes, garlic, onions, spicy foods, peppermint, cheese, nuts, avocados, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, carbonated beverages.  Let's just say that it sucks.

How am I supposed to say no to a face like this?

So here beings the journey down the GERD road, while be it a nasty one.  A few years ago I started noticing that I felt pressure in my chest, like there was a lump sitting there, found myself short of breath and yawning a lot but not being tired quite a few times during the day.  While I thought that it was all normal or just blamed it on something that I ate, the more time that I spent in the working world, the more that I realized that it wasn't normal and that it was getting more and more in the way of my daily life.  After looking into it, exploring the fact that it might be asthma, cutting soda almost entirely out of my diet, and other steps…nothing seemed to be working.

Goodbye to you too soda.

From there I did more research and realized that I might have acid reflux.  For example, I have not felt good enough to have a glass of orange juice for over 3 years.  I love orange juice…and thinking about it gives me a sad puppy face!  So then started the endless attempts of various PIP’s (proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec).  Then cutting out coffee, then tomatoes when I could part with them, and spicy foods.  Still with no big changes.  For example, I would have a glass or water or a bowl of cereal and have the same symptoms. 

Then began the tests.  The first one was the esophagogastroduodenoscopy or an upper GI endoscopy, where they put you almost all the way under with sedatives and shove a little scope down your throat to your stomach, checking to see if there has been acid burn damage or if you have Barrett's esophagus, both of which can lead to cancer.  Another thing that they look at while down there is weather or not your lower esophageal sphincter works.  The concluded that I didn't have burning yet but that they really wanted to do another test after seeing an potential issue with the lower esophageal sphincter. 

Well the next one, called a esophageal pH test was a really fun one.  You don't take your heartburn medicine for 7 days (oh my goodness this was horrible).  Then they put a tube from your nose and run it all the way down to your stomach, and leave it there for 24 hours while you carry around a little computer with an arm strap.  They also let you know that you can eat things that you have issues with then hit the buttons and keep a journal every time that you have a symptom (heartburn sensations, reflux, puking).  Let's just say that I ran out of lines and had to add my own sheet.  

GREAT look while doing my pH test.

It turns out that, in the easiest explanation, I have GERD and my lower esophageal sphincter is broken and instead of what is in my stomach staying there, it goes back up because it's not sealing shut.  So after lots of research on the options, reading feedback from people with the same condition, scary phone calls with my friend Josie that sees post-op patients as a nurse and thinking about this as a lifelong decision...a choice is finally being made that has been pondered over for a year. 

I'll be going through the recommended surgery that they call a Nissen Fundoplication where they'll take the upper curve of my stomach and wrap it around my esophagus so that it actually closes.  The hope is that everything goes as planned and it will be done by five small incisions on my stomach laparoscopically and I will be in the hospital for just one night and recovering for a few weeks.

Few things that majorly suck about this:

• That it's surgery...and surgery is freaking scary
• The fact that there is a chance that they can't do this via scope and they need to do it via a vertical incision which is a much more intensive recovery timeline
• That they fill your body cavity up with CO2 and from what I have read it hurts really bad for a few days, especially in your shoulder
• That I can't go to Zumba or yoga class for 4-6 weeks (No!  What am I supposed to do without you Leslie!?)
• That it's surgery...and surgery is freaking scary

Oh yeah, and I can't have solid foods for essentially two months.  Minor details.  Like I said to Adam, what a crappy reason to get on the Operation Fridge fast track...surgery.  The diets that I have seen go from a clear liquid diet, to pureed foods, then up to items like cream of wheat or mashed potatoes for the first 6-8 weeks.  Bring on the protein shakes packed with vitamins because I just don't see myself being able to go through a normal day on chicken broth alone!

Yummy?

But onto the great news...I won't feel like I'm going to puke every time that I eat spaghetti and meatballs or want to enjoy a glass of red wine :) and here are some more things that I will LOVE after this:

• Bloody Marys.  I still indulge sometimes but MAN do I pay for it.
• Meetings...being in meetings can be kind of scary for people with this condition
• Not having that disgusting acidic taste in my mouth all the time
• Public speaking...I used to love it but having this has made me more nervous about it
• That I don't have to bring my toothbrush into the bathroom at work (people probably think I'm behlemic or something!)
• Not worrying as much about having gum at hand ALL the time
• Eating what I actually want!
• Vino

Lastly, I don't want this to be a downer or a recommendation of what you should or shouldn't do...I'm not a doctor and I simply want this to be an informative post to let other young adult that are embarrassed and unsure that it's alright!  It's a big decision and it's different for everyone but you're not alone!  There are more of us out there dealing with this and if you have any questions, please feel more than free to email me at annmariescupoftea@gmail.com and I'm sure there will be more about what is going on post surgery once I'm up to it! 

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Kramarczuk's: North Minnepolis

Kramarczuk's

215 East Hennepin Avenue 

Minneapolis, MN 55414

(612) 379-3018

Website: http://www.kramarczuk.com/ 

I grew up with Czechoslovakian Grandparent's on one side in Northern Wisconsin so I'm a woman that can appreciate cabbage, poppy seed noodles and some hand-crafted sausage.  No pun intended.  So I was excited to hear that my coworker and friend, Dusty, was taking me to a Eastern European deli. 

What Makes Kramarczuk's Unique?

Per their website: "In the late 1940s, Wasyl Kramarczuk and his wife Anna traveled from their beloved Ukraine to the United States in hopes of achieving the American dream, and after years of hard work, they founded Kramarczuk’s.  Wasyl with his skills in sausage making, Anna with her skills in cooking and baking, and their idea of making the best possible products, created the Kramarczuk’s that today is considered a Minneapolis Landmark".  

Honestly, how can you beat a place that has stood the test of time and kept their American dream living on for generations?  Kramarczuk's is also not only a restaurant, but a bakery, sausage counter and delicatessen as well!  

Kramarczuk's restaurant line and a busy employee!

Kramarczuk's Dining Area

What Do They Serve at the Restaurant?

Kramarczuk's restaurant is cafeteria style and the day that Dusty introduced me to the restaurant it was right before Christmas and quite busy.  But, what was I expecting?  I'm going to a ethnic food spot right before the masses come to pick up their Christmas sausages and baked goods!

The restaurant serves a variety of foods including Eastern European dishes like: cabbage rolls, goulash stew, Ukrainian meatballs (the size of a softball), and verenyky (dough dumpling stuffed with yuminess).

Some of the Eastern European dishes

Some cold salads

How good does that special sound?

Hungarian Meatballs over noodles: huge, hearty and hittin' the spot

Soups and salads include a savory (not spicy) chili, borscht, chicken noodle, and both kinds (German and American) of potato salad.  Highlights on the sandwich menu include: the Cossack (Ukrainian sausage served with kraut and Swiss cheese), the Reuben, and a pulled pork sandwich for those of you feeling less adventurous.  For dessert there are a few great items listed that I saw but I only have one word, kolachi.  And if you don't know what a poppy seed kolachi is then you need to come to my family's place over the holidays. 

Say it with me, ko-la-chi.  Yum-ee.

Would You Go Again?

Yup!  I love this place because it reminds me of home and the holidays.  While I know that it's bias since I have family associations with this food, I recommend you check it out at least once to see hustle and bustle, try some authentic Eastern European food (which is slightly neutral in nature but very hearty), and get some homemade sausages to take home. 

Also, don't forget to pick up some poppy seed bread or a poppy seed kolchi on your way out!  You won't regret it!

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