Hell's Kitchen - Minneapolis, MN

Posted by Michael Stern on November 30, 2008

Where, oh where can we begin? It cannot be with lunch, since we have never eaten lunch at Hell's Kitchen, although we sure would love to try the walleye BLT made with cornmeal-dusted filets and lemon tartar sauce instead of the homemade mayo the kitchen uses on its regular BLT. We also wouldn't mind lunching on the house Bread Bucket, which is all the chewy, freshly-made baguette you can eat served along with fantastic homemade marmalade, ginger-berry preserves, and the best peanut butter we have ever sampled, anywhere.

All of which is not to say that we didn't adore breakfast. For one thing, you get chef Mitch Omer's preserves and peanut butter with that, too; and for a few more things, the breakfast menu includes huevos rancheros of the gods – a huge plate of food that includes rosti potatoes along with spicy beans, eggs, cheeses, sour cream, and fresh salsa on a crisp flour tortilla. The potatoes are available as a dish unto themselves, and they are less like the Swiss spuds that are their namesake than they are glorified hash browns, the shreds of potato mixed with bacon, sweet onions, chives, and scallions and grilled in sweet cream butter. A few other breakfast specialties: lemon ricotta hotcakes, extra-spicy maple-glazed bison sausage, and a quarter-pound caramel pecan roll featuring extra-crunchy pieces of nut and a refined glaze that is a sweet tooth's dream.

Probably the most unusual and perhaps the most delicious dish on the breakfast menu is Mahnomin Porridge, a recipe that the promethean Mr. Omer came up with from reading accounts of native Cree Indian meals that featured wild rice. His version includes nuts and berries and is topped with maple syrup and cream. What an amazing hot cereal!

Rather than rave on, let us simply say that if you are in Minneapolis and want to wow your tastebuds, go to Hell's Kitchen. It is inspired and inspiring.

Overall: Worth driving from anyplace

33 out of 34 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

Reviewers "Must Eats" List

Mahnomin Porridge ($7.00)

Caramel Pecan Roll ($3.00)

Huevos Rancheros ($10.00)

Peanut Butter (N/A)

Rosti Potatoes ($4.00)

Toasted Sausage Bread ($3.00)

Grilled Pit Ham ($3.00)

"Chef Omer told us that he learned the recipe for his luxurious caramel rolls from his father. In a city full of excellent caramel rolls, this is the one to eat if you are having only one."
Michael Stern

"Mitch Omer's gloss on Native American cooking, this porridge is made from Minnesota wild rice, blueberries, cranberries, and hazlenuts all moistened with a mix of warm maple syrup and cream. To call it comfort food understates its delicious complexity, but it is indeed a bowl of comfort. This is the smaller "sampler cup" rather than a full-size bowl."
Michael Stern

"In the background are homemade marmalade and ginger-berry preserves. Up front is an amazing peanut butter for which the kitchen roasts its own peanuts and coarse-grinds them with a bit of honey and brown sugar. The result is a sweet-savory condiment we want to spread on just about everything."
Michael Stern

"One of the nicest things on which to spread Hell's Kitchen peanut butter -- or simply to eat toasted with or without butter -- is this dense bread that is faintly infused with the flavor of bison sausage, nuts, spice, and coffee."
Michael Stern

"The most deluxe hash browns you could ever imagine: rosti potatoes, laced with bits of smoky bacon and onions and sizzled in butter."
Michael Stern

"Very light lemon taste that blends well with the fresh fruit topping. No syrup needed."
PrettyKitties

"There are so many excellent breakfast meats available here, it's hard to choose. The rugged, high-spiced bison sausage is a tongue-dazzler and the apple-cured bacon is sliced extra-thick. We love the pit ham, too, a half-order of which is shown here. Ham this good is rare indeed outside the South."
Michael Stern

"Huevos rancheros is a mountain of Mexican-accented food that is breakfast enough for two."
Michael Stern

"The restaurant has plenty of attitude, but don't be fooled... they take their food seriously."
cynthiagerdes