We packed a lunch and at the Forest Service campground "Trails End". This adventure didn't take all day, and allowed time later in the evening when it began to rain harder, to dine at the Crooked Spoon.
This kind of restaurant seems to be a growing trend in Grand Marais, catering to the "City Folk" who have this hoity-toity view of driving up to the "Cabin" on such-and-such lake and dining on lamb in the evening. The Crooked Spoon, while very good, was definitely a hoity-toity greenie restaurant.
The Mother and I ordered the Whitefish, lightly panfried with spring vegetables of pattypan squash and asparagus. The Father ordered penne pasta with a tomato basil sauce and cheese and a bowl of french onion soup with Guyere cheese and a pastry crust. The meal was served with fresh baked bread, nicely sliced and still warm. (I'm a sucker for warm bread.). I honestly don't remember what I had to drink so it must have been water. While we dined, we had a small pampered child screaming at the table behind us while a very good acoustic guitar player sang in the entryway. I will note now, that a grandparent finally took the child away which improved the ambiance immensely. The menu here was not very child friendly. The price range of the menu was all the way from $10.00 for the pasta w/o meat up to $24.00 for kangaroo tenderloin.
The Grand Marais harbor.
4 comments:
Google tells me that the population of Grand Marais is about 1400 people. I can't imagine that they could keep a number of tourist restaurants open all winter long. Could they? Do these places close over the winter?
What do you think of restaurants like these popping up in places they would not be, if not for the tourists? I know the sort of places you mean, and I've no doubt the owners feel that they're bringing class and quality to the area.
But I sniff a bit of pretension about them, but from management and the customers. I can't find the right words to explain exactly what I mean, but there's just something a bit pretentious about the "go to the cabin and have lamb for dinner in an oddly-placed yuppie-catering restaurant in a town that can't support it" mindset.
But I have an irrational nostalgia for little local cafes where you can get a good lunch for very cheap (I'm talking reubens, not seared trout), even though not very many of them actually exist. I guess we all have our own dining fantasies, and these places aren't mine.
Aargh, should have proof-read. The third paragragh should say *both* from the management and the customers, not "but from".
The population of Grand Marais is about 1400 in the winter. It's much higher in the summer. And I know that Angry Trout and Chez Jude are only open from about May 1 to, oh, Oct 1. I can't speak for the Crooked Spoon because it just opened.
And actually, even some of the "local" joints close in the winter time as well: My Sister's Place (burgers), Naniboujou, so I am guessing there are only a handful of local cafe's that serve the year round folks and the winter tourists.
On one hand I agree with you, that there is this pretention from mgmt and customer expectations. But I can see a place for both the local cafes and the greenie-yuppie joints. As a tourist, I don't HAVE to go to the greenie-yuppie place and in fact I frequently don't.
But sometimes it's just downright fun to go to someplace that is local but a tich upscale.
(**I really wish I could spell check on the comments!)
I just wanted to correct Kristin, 'My Sisters Place' restaurant does not close in the winter months. I was just there and asked to make sure. They are open year round and might I add serve amazing food with a casual, friendly environment. Grand Marais is beautiful in the winter, so tourists should check it out!
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