Holman's Table ... St. Paul Airport Dining

Holman's Table ... St. Paul Airport Dining

"Eat, Drink & Depart" 

Finally, downtown St. Paul at lunch time...picking someone up from Jury Duty (his third chance...maybe he'll get a trial this time).

So, we flew across the river to Holman's Table at the airport!

I have so many wonderful memories of Holman Field...from penny-a-pound plane rides way back when or my dad hiring a pilot and plane a few times to circle the Twin Cities on a Sunday

afternoon...nothing but great experiences.

I love the building (Holman Field History)...and now I love the comfortable decor at Holman's Table.

Holman's Table Ambience

Seating at a high, snuggly booth was cozy on a cool rainy day.   Quite a few people enjoying late lunch...a mix of people in business attire and many seniors laughing it up at tables all across the room.

Holman's Table Dining

The lunch menu includes some starters, fairly standard salad and sandwich options, plus pasta.   Surveying other tables, it looked like the sandwiches were big with mountains of fries.   Maybe something a little more fresh....and maybe not deep-fried.

The harvest salad includes mixed greens, chopped apples, pepitas, craisins, & parmesan, dressed with vinagrette.   We'd have to describe this as a pretty common salad these days....greens with some fall fruit and seeds or nuts.   
Here, John and I had the exact same response instantly.   We said, simultaneously, this salad would be much better with Destiny's bright lemon vinaigrette from Home Street Home Cafe.   The vinaigrette actually on this salad was not very exciting and suffered from being terribly salty.   At first we thought the salt was from the pepitas or just the saltiness of the parmesan.  But each bite of a green leaf brought a lasting saltiness that ensured we drank our daily requirement of water.  

Our main course was a difficult choice...pesto pasta or duck ragout with ricotta gnocchi and topped with parmesan (there are 2 other choices, as well).   It's hard to pass up duck...so we didn't.    The ricotta gnocchi were rich with great ricotta texture and a nice exterior....excellent in the tomato ragout.   We loved that the veggies in the ragu still held a little crispness..difficult with a fine dice,

but well-executed here.   The duck was moist and succulent...and there was a good portion of duck.   Topped with a crisped dill sprig that brought a soothing aroma to the table, overall we'd rate the dish as quite good.   The only problem was that, like the salad, someone in the kitchen has a heavy hand with the salt.   There was nearly enough salt in the cheese to accent the dish, with perhaps a dash in the ragout.   By putting a more salty ragout with the parmesan, the resulting saltiness was a distraction.  Otherwise, we loved the idea and the preparation of the parts.

Holman's Table Service

Our server was friendly and efficient.   He checked on our level of lunch enjoyment and we mentioned that while the dishes were good, we found both overly salty.   He thanked us for the feedback...and returned shortly to offer us a dessert on the House.   We declined the generous offer...but appreciated the great customer service.  

Conclusion: Holman's Table 

A comfortable lunch experience on a rainy day, thinking about memories of past fun, and enjoying lunch served by attentive staff.   The topper would have been taking the time to follow the sign in the lobby to sign up for a helicopter ride...there are 3 options based on the radius they fly.   Next time, for sure.