review: travail kitchen and amusements

Oh my gosh... if I had my own restaurant, it would have a striking resemblance to Travail... it would be quaint and narrow. A "touch your neighbor's elbow kind of place," with a chalkboard wall menu, reclaimed wood bar and rugged floors. Who needs lots of tables, with lots of overhead? Customers will wait if you deliver on food and service.

Travail Kitchen and Amusements - Robbinsdale, MN

Jeff and I had the most amazing 10 course menu for two, with wine and local Surly tap. We sat at the bar to avoid the two hour wait (already at 5:00 pm on a Saturday.) This place had everything polished - from music to coffee to wine to ambience to entrees and accompaniments... Each course was like a miniature work of art, worthy of a picture in a gourmet food publication, and to top it off, they all tasted divine, each course outdone by the next.

Something to be savored for sure.

We had a tasting menu of beet salad, foie gras, chicken, quail eggs, butternut squash soup, steak tartare, agnolotti, charcuterie, scallops, pork belly, octopus, and more. While everything was worthy of smacking my lips, my ultimate favorites were the agnolotti pasta and the butternut squash soup.

Agnolotti

I can't wait to go back and maybe even try to recreate some of the dishes myself. Cheers!