Haute Dish turns tradition upside down

First, let's clear up the name: Haute Dish isn't about hot dish. Not really. It's a play on words that continues throughout the menu. If you prefer the French approach, it's pronounced "oat" (the translation means "high"). Or, if you're in a Minnesota mood, you might say "hot" dish. (Either way, directory assistance may need help with the spelling.)

Haute Dish takes over the space formerly filled by Cafe Havana in downtown Minneapolis and, though the kitchen has been expanded, much of the interior remains the same, with its 35-foot mahogany bar, oversized chandeliers, arched ceiling and mosaic tile floor.

The menu is what chef Landon Schoenefeld calls "new Midwestern cuisine." Schoenefeld, who has cooked in some of the top kitchens in the Twin Cities, most recently at Bulldog N.E., offers playful concoctions of traditional concepts with his own twists and teasings on the classic hot dish.

Surprise is clearly the intent. Consider his asparagus salad. Since the menu says mâche, it would seem to be a dish of greens (mâche) and asparagus. Not so. The salad is served as a mound of puréed asparagus at the edge of a woven lattice of paper-thin slices of white and green asparagus, garnished with mâche and radishes. Presentation? Lovely. A mound of puréed asparagus? Well, as we say in the Midwest, it's different.

The "hot dishes" take similar latitude with predictability. Mac-and-cheese, the quintessential comfort food, finds its form on Schoenefeld's plate with taleggio cheese, king crab and truffle. Gnocchi replaces the usual starch in chicken and dumplings, and this chicken comes with nicely crisp skin. Tater Tot Haute Dish means short ribs, cooked to perfection and served with Schoenefeld's version of the school-lunch favorite, which in this case are Spanish-style croquettes, with béchamel sauce that spills out when the tots are opened. Tasty? Yes. A surprise for diners expecting the familiar homespun frozen product? You betcha.

The restaurant's past is acknowledged in the menu's Havana sandwich, one of the few dishes that seems to cater to the casual neighborhood drop-in crowd. Much of the rest of the menu tends toward haute, with sweetbreads with foie fried rice, or snail-and-ham potpie, or stuffed pig's foot. The talker on the menu -- if indeed those latter ones weren't -- is Schoenefeld's duck-in-a-can, his take on the duck-cabbage-foie-gras dish by Canadian chef Martin Picard. (Note to servers: Not appealing to see the can opener stored in your well-worn back pocket.)

Appetizers run from $6 to $13; entrees from $11 to $33. Beer and liquor choices are extensive, the wine offerings more modest. Cocktails tend to be whiskey-centric.

Haute Dish, 119 Washington Av. N., Minneapolis, 612-338-8484, www.haute-dish.com. Open Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday 5 p.m.-midnight.