Spoonriver

Rating:

That chomping noise you hear is the sound of me eating my hat.

OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But in the three years following its debut, Spoonriver has shed its strong sisterly resemblance to Cafe Brenda and matured into its own singular self.

It's funny how things work out, because the restaurant has evolved into a far more appealing precurtain destination than the Guthrie Theater's own dining establishments. The food at girl-powered Spoonriver is lighter, more approachable, less expensive and, frankly, more imaginative than what the big corporate boys are cooking across the street. No wonder Cue is going in for a top-to-bottom overhaul.

Chalk up that victory to owner Brenda Langton, who has been banging the local-organic-sustainable and vegetarian-friendly tom-tom around these parts as long or longer than anyone. As Minnesota's whole-grain-croquette capital, Langton's landmark Cafe Brenda has always occupied a narrow yet important dining-out niche. But when Langton nabbed Spoonriver's golden chunk of riverfront real estate, her eat-healthy practices suddenly found themselves in front of a much more diverse audience, namely thousands of hungry Guthrie ticketholders.

Co-chefs Lisa Carlson and Liz Benser have obviously crunched the demographics strolling through their door and are cooking accordingly, with winning results. Interested in a robust mushroom-pistachio-soy terrine, or hummus flecked with tangy preserved lemon, or delicate ricotta- and herb-filled ravioli? Not a problem. Or how about a superb pulled-pork sandwich, one of the city's best chicken salads or thick slices of shoulder steak popping with big, beefy flavor and finished with a shimmering, garlic-kissed demiglace? Yep, they do that, too. Beautifully.

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