Dining: The Big Blue Sea
Sea Change's name has several meanings. The Guthrie Theater's principal dining venue, formerly known as Cue, has switched management (Dallas-based Culinaire), hired the region's highest-profile chef (Tim McKee of La Belle Vie, Solera and Barrio) and been transformed into a seafood-focused restaurant. And by pledging to source all underwater proteins from what he calls "sustainable fisheries and environmentally responsible farms," McKee is communicating a break from harmful production practices. But to this diner, the name signals an exciting new epoch in the local seafood dining category.
Much of the food is sublime, due to both McKee's prodigious culinary gifts as well as his deep talent pool. Prices rarely land above the low-$20s, which represents another about-face. Let's face it, when Minnesotans hear the word "seafood," our brains automatically start thinking "Ka-ching."
But not at Sea Change, particularly at its raw bar -- the seafood shrine -- where a small investment can yield outsized results and where subtle incursions of unexpected flavor combinations add to, but never overwhelm, the pristine seafood.
Plush cubes of ruby-red yellowfin tuna melt in the mouth, their cool flavor chased by a gently spicy heat. Hefty chunks of sweet crab, rearranged in the shell like a nautical twice-baked potato, are lightly dressed with a preserved lemon emulsion. Shears of supple albacore tuna and rich, translucent lardo play nicely against tiny cubes of crunchy vegetables. Shimmering prawns, split lengthwise and garnished with red chile flakes, finish with a teasing rosemary tang.
Other small plates similarly delight. Delicate croquettes sing with fresh clam and tarragon flavors. Octopus, slow-cooked for 10 hours until it's mouth-meltingly tender, is finished on the grill and paired with a lively salsa. Pairing rich pork belly and gently fried oysters, slider-style, is a stroke of genius. A green curry-coconut milk broth adds distinction to steamed mussels.
Appearances matter here. Raw oysters are artfully arranged, and steamed shrimp are plated to spotlight their lovely C-curve. A contemporary Niçoise tastes as good as it looks. Smoked salmon is admirable not just for its luscious flavor but also for its meticulously sliced garnishes, and the eye-catching roasted beet salad seems inspired by the onion domes of Russian Orthodox churches.
The slightly more conventional seafood entrees still bear McKee's sure-handed touch, and with an average price of $21, they're within reach of the rush-ticket crowd. The deconstructed bouillabaisse, fragrant and satisfying, just might be the dish I'll return to all winter for internal warmups. I loved how pickled burdock and gently braised butter lettuce brought additional color and texture surprises to gorgeous orange-fleshed ocean trout. Swordfish has replaced sturgeon in a memorable cassoulet brimming with shrimp and zesty garlic sausage, and artichokes and perfectly cooked white beans were a fine foil to crisp-skinned arctic char.
The menu's "Not Fish" section features well-crafted crowd-pleasers that range from comfort-minded short ribs and a succulent grilled duck with cherry accents to an elegant beef tenderloin. In that same vein, a handful of beef, pork and chicken starters are perfectly pleasant but are frankly outshined by their far showier seafood counterparts.
Lunch grabs a few greatest hits off the dinner menu, then adds a few terrific sandwiches -- a stack of thin-sliced veal, grilled trout with a curry aioli, a crab-cake BLT, an exceptional burger topped with blue cheese and sweet caramelized onions -- and the bar's superb fish and chips. Most prices fall in the $12-and-under range.
