Porter & Frye's highs and lows reflect the hazards of genius

PORTER & FRYE
1115 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis
612.353.3500 • www.porterandfrye.com
appetizers $11-$26; entrées $13-$65

For breakfast one morning at Porter and Frye, I ordered the Reuben eggs Benedict, and it arrived at the table looking like one of those papier-mâché volcanoes that kids make as science projects: A rye bagel was piled with thick slices of pastrami, sautéed cabbage, a poached egg, and Thousand Island-dressing Hollandaise sauce. Now isn't that a match made in heaven, I thought, as I punctured the egg and let its yolk flow down the mountain like thick yellow lava. My first forkful was so rich and tongue-tingling it could have cued the Hallelujah Chorus. Now this was a fricking breakfast. I looked around. Coffee cups sat silently atop neighboring tables; outside, people dropped change in parking meters like nothing had happened. No one had noticed my revelation, nor could they: I was the only customer in the restaurant.

I guess not as many people were anticipating Porter & Frye as much as I was. In case you haven't heard, the posh new eatery (it's in the ultra-swank Ivy Hotel near the Minneapolis Convention Center) might be the most interesting restaurant to open this year. That's largely because the kitchen is run by Steven Brown, one of the Cities' most talented chefs, who has cooked in this town for more than a decade, at now-defunct restaurants including the Loring Café, Rock Star, and Restaurant Levain. From his signature salt-and-pepper mop to his neon green Crocs, Brown has an easy-going nature that's part philosopher and part funnyman, equally ready to talk food politics or recount antics. He has a penchant for the avant-garde, which leads him to constantly experiment with new techniques, equipment, and ingredients. His style isn't as edgy as the edible menus and burning sherbets being served in international molecular gastronomy hotspots—but locally, he is the only guy serving bacon paper.

Until the Ivy's condos are finished and more of its hotel rooms are rented, Porter & Frye's crowds ebb and flow based on what's happening across the street—at lunch during a recent librarians' conference, the reservation-less might have finished War and Peace while waiting for a table. On my visits, the food at Porter & Frye varied as widely as attendance. While some dishes were the best things I've eaten this year, I had one entire meal full of letdowns.

My first impression of Porter & Frye was of walking through the Ivy's sleek white lobby and being greeted so many times I thought I was in an echo chamber. The staff is certainly eager, if not yet completely comfortable delivering five-star service, and, in my experience (including watching a valet graciously park a pickup loaded with hay bales), thankfully unsnooty. Like the whole Ivy complex, the restaurant feels as luxurious as a caviar facial, yet as grounded as its surroundings—it's tucked into the historic Ivy Tower, a tiny, castle-like 1930s landmark that sat vacant for the past three decades. Porter & Frye's floor plan is like that at Chambers Kitchen, with a bar and dining area on the first floor and the main dining room below. There's lots of dark wood, exposed ductwork and concrete, and warm orange upholstery. Downstairs, there are curvy privacy booths, including a VIP table lit by five chandeliers.

My first meal began with a pork terrine, and when the plate arrived, I almost thought I'd been sent the wrong dish. Instead of a rustic meatloaf, there was a small, snow-white block, as smooth as a marzipan-covered princess cake. Curled slices of pale green and pink radishes perched as delicately as resting butterflies: It looked like it belonged in the pages of Martha Stewart. This was, in fact, the terrine, enrobed in potato butter to mimic coating the meat with gelatin or aspic, and while I loved the pork and the accompanying garnishes, I was turned off by the lard-like consistency of its beautiful shell. Next I tried the celery bisque, which was poured from a pitcher over bits of vegetables, pork belly, and deep-fried wild rice. The pale green froth was such a perfect foil to the nutty crunch of the rice and the chewy pork gumdrops that I considered contacting my legislator and proposing it become the new state soup.

But things went downhill from there. An entree from the vegetarian/spa section of the menu sounded like a delicious harvest—three colorful piles of squash, broccoli rabe, and walnuts—but the greens were greasy and the flavors ultimately forgettable. The walleye, too, had sounded interesting, crusted in Parmesan, with lobster risotto, green apple, and chives. But every way I combined the ingredients—fish, cheese, chives, and...apple? or cheese, apple, chives, and...seafood?, one always seemed the odd man out.