Late Lunch at Hazel's NE in MPLS 1/12/2018

I don't know where the time goes.  Delivering products to stores, John driving back from working 'up north'...it's now after 3 p.m., surely a late lunch.

Leaving Shoreview, predominated by corporate food venues,  is step #1 in 'finding something tasty.'    

We're starving and decide to head to a corner where if one place is not open, the other one will be. Without a specific destination, having a Plan B is critical in the search for food.  You can't find a good team of horses in a one-horse town, so Northeast...here we come!

One of our favorite go-to places when out of time and ideas is Coffee Shop NE.  Consistently good coffee, a variety of salads, basic decent quality sandwiches and bars and cookies...how can you miss?   I've told Jenny, the owner, that we've come to rely on Coffee Shop NE as a regular stop for something quick and tasty in a friendly neighborhood setting.

But our quest today was Hazel's Northeast.   And, YES, they were open.  

Good time of day for a quick lunch/brunch....only 1 other table of diners, so immediate seating and quick service.

The menus arrived and I asked about the quiche of the day.  Clearly, we had made the right decision today--the quiche was duck with currants.  Didn't have to look any further.  John debated a few great sounding choices...and chose the Rachel (he likes to compare to Anne's expertly crafted Rachel at Marianne's and to The Local, a standard destination during his downtown MPLS gig).  Both of our orders were served promptly with a mixed greens salad dressed with vinaigrette.

The food was terrific.   The salads were perfectly dressed and in my case, how can you beat quiche with duck?  We sometimes served duck at Marianne's---people always did a double-take that our little place could serve up house-made duck soup or other fun ducky dishes. 

John said his Rachel was really, really good--I don't know---he didn't share : (   The turkey had great flavor and texture, excellent kraut and tasty bread.   He compared it favorably to Marianne's Kitchen offering, but Anne served our Rachel on a house-baked roll...black rye or caraway or pumpernickel...and you know that we're suckers for decent bread.  We felt that Marianne's offered a slight upside on the bread over Hazel's.

Our server, Colleen, with a great amount of food service experience, was very good.  We had a great conversation sharing food destinations. She updated us on a few things in the MN food world that we'd lost track of...like Sarah Master closed her lakeside restaurant up north on Swan Lake.....she made great food (and many of you saw her during many TV appearances on "The Taste") but apparently the local crowd was looking for deep-fried cheese curds. Too bad when such talent goes so unappreciated.  I would eat a Sara Master meal any time, any place...including in a fish house (not my first choice of places to go...but I would 'sacrifice' my seating standards).  Now that Sarah Master chefs at the Red Stag Supper Club we're putting that venue on our 'next' list.

Hazel's was a truly nice afternoon adventure.   I've sworn I'm not going to eat corporate junk food if I can drive, walk, crawl to a place that makes decent food and hopefully has local ties.   Hazel's fit the bill today and we'll certainly keep it on our 'A' list.