JD H.
Yelp
My Yelp participation has taken a long break during COVID-19 since my travel, restaurant visits and general going anywhere other than work is non-existent and not conducive to writing reviews. But last evening I decided to get out and try to live a little. A beautiful night and an Open Table patio reservation brought me to Salut, a Parasole themed restaurant in the Parisian Bistro genre. I last ate there many years ago and it disappointed but decided to give it a go hoping that things were different. They were.
My party had a great outdoor patio table, appropriately distanced from others. I noted hand sanitizer available at the check in station, fastidious table wipe downs more consistent with a haz-mat cleanup, and servers all in masks. Kind of weird at night to have servers come up to you in the dark wearing masks. I thought I was getting robbed every time my water glass was refilled. Pandemic kidding aside, the service was as expected, pleasant, and they did not try to rush us away even though we closed the patio down.
The menu is pared down but there is plenty to like. Vegetarians, Pescatarians and Carnivores alike can all find something and there is a wine list with perhaps 15 bottles represented, all at about 3.5x retail markup which is a little painful. House wines by the glass are about $8-9 and nondescript so you have no idea what you are actually getting. Never a good pick in my book.
Truthfully, the food was ok and even borderline good. Frites a little soggy, Steak Hache' a little flavorless, the Pasta Cacio E Pepe was tasty but buttery (Cacio E Pepe classically does not have butter in it; Come to think of it, it actually isn't found in Paris either!), and the Hanger Steak slightly over done. But the compound butter on the steak and the Cacio E Pepe were tasty, and the star was the fresh baguette with butter and EVOO so there were some bright spots if the meal was being purely judged on food quality and taste.
I think during normal times, I can understand the average 3.5 star rating that Salut carries but these are not normal times and frankly, I'm going to make an upward adjustment because of that. It gets all the stars from me on this visit for the following reasons:
1. It is open for business. Surviving a nearly 4 month shutdown during the most socially depressing period in modern history is remarkable so good for Salut!
2. Their contribution to the social fabric of the community needs to be applauded. Simply giving people the option of coming out to break bread together and to see other people doing the same without fear or panic is huge and helps in leading society towards economic recovery and social healing. We need more of that as a human race.
3. The food was good, filling and tasty. Perhaps not great but nobody is expecting that when all technical norms have been ditched in favor of overly sanitized and socially distanced kitchens. Anyone that knows anything about food or how a real kitchen works knows that it is pretty tough to sling out greatness without touching anyone or anything else on the line other than the food while washing your hands every 6 seconds, etc. Under these conditions, Alpo would seem luxurious!
4. They have an outdoor space! How refreshing to finally be somewhere other than at home and enjoy nice weather during an al fresco meal. Minnesota summer will be over before we know it and at least I can say I did not spend all of it in total interior lock down!
5. Finally, the overall experience described above really is what gets them all the stars. Providing me with an opportunity to enjoy a meal out, even with restrictive conditions, made me look forward to where we are going as a planet and knowing that we will get through all of this and return to a more normal setting at some point. During this time, that experience was priceless.
My recommendation is that if you have a chance, come here (or somewhere else like it in a neighborhood near you) and just sit outside and enjoy a plate of frites, a glass of wine, and a conversation. I promise that it is restorative.
