BY CARLA WALDEMAR
Craftsman
4300 E. Lake St.
612-722-0175
We headed down Lake Street to celebrate the last hurrah of summer on one of the city’s most inviting patios. But it rained.
Still, sitting inside the Arts & Crafts surroundings of The Craftsman, we soon came under the spell of its new chef, Marc Paavola, a lad (well, 40-something) of Finnish roots whose bio includes working aside all those bold-name French chefs who taught us diners a thing or two during the glory days of Hotel Sofitel.
Soooo, this man knows techniques. He also pledges allegiance to The Craftsman’s longtime mantra of “fresh, local, organic, sustainable,” adopted by then-chef Mike Phillips long before it became the responsible way to do business in kitchens all around town.
Phillips has gone on to producing charcuterie elsewhere, but the theme lives on in Paavola’s charcuterie plate ($16, shareable), star of the short list of starters. Abetted by dollops of grainy mustard, leaves of picked vegetables and slices of baguette, it segues from thin slices of ox tail to rich rillettes, a chicken liver/head cheese terrine, tasso and more. Even a companion with a more conservative palate packed it in.
As we did the generous bowl of PEI mussels, sweet and tender, bobbing in a Chablis-butter broth livened with shallots and garlic, worthy of soup spoons. Then, a mini-Everest of Craftsman fries—slim as drinking straws, super-tender and free of grease—a bit salty, sure—ready to dive into the house-made béarnaise (again, salty, as the chef later agreed and vowed to tweak).
For the short list of salads, we summoned the spinach composition (small, $9, and nothing small about it; even larger, $14). Lovely. A barely-set sunny egg crouched atop the crackling-fresh heap of leaves, studded with (yummy, fatty) lardons, plenty of sautéed mushrooms, rich and earthy, along with charred onions and a shake of Parm-like grana padano.
The quitters at the table wanted to call it a night. Not moi. From the quartet of entrees ($18-27; burgers $13-15), I insisted on Hidden Stream’s pork chop, and all three of us (yeah, they couldn’t keep their forks out) agreed the sweet and juicy cut proved primo. It’s joined by crumbles of house-made chorizo, yellow rounds of summer squash, a cloud of pureed potato and, atop the chop, sweet berry barbecue sauce.
Couldn’t manage dessert, sorry (and the morning after, I’m weeping as I type). The house-made sweets include a berry crisp served a la mode; beignets fried to order; a classic flourless chocolate torte; and honey-chai cake served with strawberries and mascarpone. Next time. Or maybe for brunch (the beignets!) on the patio (cheeseburger to biscuits and gravy; chicken hash to chorizo-stuffed burrito and more). Crafty, indeed!
