La Belle Vie

Mark and I celebrated three years of dating bliss last week! As a surprise evening out for me, Mark arranged for us to have dinner at the extraordinary La Belle Vie.

I have been begging Mark to take me to La Belle Vie for at least two years now. The French-Mediterranean restaurant is consistently named one of (if not THE) best restaurants in the city by critics. Comments and awards include "The best restaurant in the history of Minneapolis" and winner of Award of Excellence by both Zagat and Wine Spectator Magazine.

An evening there is quite the to do! I was so excited when Mark told me that we'd be going there for dinner.

Our reservations weren't until 8:15pm, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We decided to start the evening at Willie's, a new wine and coffee bar located just blocks from our old apartment. We'd seen it a few times and have always wanted to check it out.

Willie's is adorable inside. It's got a very bistro feel, and the bar is lovely. They have wines by the half glass which is nice if you're just stopping by, like we were. They of course have wines by the glass and bottle as well. We both had a light half glass of white wine before heading over to La Belle Vie.

Upon arriving at La Belle Vie, I knew that I was in for a night of excellence. The restaurant is located in The 510 Building in downtown Minneapolis. The building itself exudes wealth and old-world charm, almost like stepping back into the days of Gatsby. We valeted our car and headed into another era.

We reached the top of the staircase, peered into the lounge area on the right, and were escorted into the back of the restaurant to be seated. I was immediately impressed by the beautiful decor of the place - elegantly set tables surrounded by high ceilings and draped walls. It truly radiated brilliance and beauty.

We were seated at a table with one plush bench and two chairs. Being that it was our anniversary and we were being all romantic, Mark and I decided to cozy up together on the plush bench. Mark had already looked at the wine list online, and he ordered a bottle of 2001 E. Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape. It was phenomenal!

The menu was quite extensive. Patrons may choose from an 8-course menu, a 5-course menu, or the a la cart menu. After reviewing the menu for quite some time, we decided to order a few things from the a la cart menu and share all of it. Mark and I haven't had a lot of French food, so we wanted to be able to get a good taste of various things.

We started with two First Course dishes. The first was Chilled Ahi Tuna wrapped in Marlin with a Ginger-Citrus Vinaigrette. The second was a Carpaccio of Beef with Poached Lobster, a Sweet Corn Sabayon and Crisped Artichokes. Both dishes were just amazing. Ahi Tuna happens to be one of Mark's favorite dishes, so we have tried it at many different restaurants and prepared many different ways. I'm not a huge fan of ahi tuna, but this was really fantastic. The vinaigrette used wasn't over-powering, but gave the dish a nice twist. The carpaccio, too, was quite amazing. Beef carpaccio is one of my favorites, but I don't get to try it very often. The combination of beef with the lobster and the sweet corn sabayon was a delicious mix of flavors, each complimenting the others quite well. At first, when I looked at all that was on my plate, I thought that the flavors might compete with one another. But not so at all. We enjoyed the first course immensely.

For our main entree, Mark chose the Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Jerusalem Artichokes, Mustard and Crispy Marrow. I selected the Sautéed Halibut with Pistachio, Fava Beans and Pancetta. Personally, I thought that both dishes were superb. The tenderloin had a light sauce on it, giving it an extra boost of flavor. The halibut...well, I don't even know what to say about the halibut. I thought it was exquisite! The fish sat upon a small pile of vegetables and a wonderfully light sauce. We shared both dishes, so I was able to get my fill of both flavors. Although I think that Mark enjoyed both entrees, he wasn't as wowed as I was. He tends to enjoy his meat without sauces; he feels that the meat should stand alone in most cases. As for the halibut, he agrees that it was quite tasty, but felt that it might have been a bit undercooked.

At any rate, we enjoyed our entrees, and were both quite full after the first two courses. But, have I ever turned down dessert? No, sir. And so, on to the dessert course we went.

French desserts have a reputation, I believe, for being quite scrumptious. And, the dessert menu at La Belle Vie seemed to live up to the reputation. We ordered two seemingly delicious desserts, and hoped we'd chosen wisely.

And wise we were indeed! Some sort of chocolate is always a must for me when it comes to desserts, and so we ordered one Chocolate Custard Cake. The cake was served with Frozen Strawberry-Mint Parfait and Strawberry Tartare. We also decided on the Cardamom Donuts with Lemon Verbena Cream, Blueberry Jam and Blueberry Sorbet. We anxious awaited the arrival of our third and final course.

The desserts arrived, and of course the presentation was fantastic. Mark took a bite of the cake, and I took a bite of the donuts, and we both were in heaven! We of course shared both desserts, and I have to say that one was just as good as the other. The cake was fudgy and delicious, a melt-in-your-mouth kind of delight. Pairing the cake with the parfait was absolutely divine. The donuts were wonderfully tasty as well. The donut was light and fluffy, and the blueberry sorbet and jam were delicious atop the doughy goodness. Dessert was, of course, my favorite course of the three.

In all, it was a fantastically romantic evening in an amazingly delicious restaurant. The food was divine, the ambiance was lovely, and the company was perfect.