Here's what I admire most about Common Roots Cafe.
It's how the south Minneapolis restaurant makes a valiant effort to leave as dainty a carbon footprint as possible, yet does so without piously wrapping itself in some kind of hemp shroud. Locavore-to-the-max mentality, yes. Pounding that do-gooder message into its customers' brains with the heel of a well-worn Birkenstock sandal, no.
Not that the restaurant doesn't give itself an occasional back-pat. A few discreetly placed green-is-good signs let diners know that, for example, nearly 18,000 pounds of kitchen and dining room waste have been composted rather than dumped in a landfill since the restaurant's doors opened last summer, and that takeout containers are made from a compostable material. "For us, 'local' is not just a buzzword," one poster intones. "It means we are doing business by keeping dollars in our community, lessening environmental impact and making food that tastes good."
Fair enough. It's not as if owner Danny Schwartzman isn't walking his talk; heck, the guy is practically sprinting a four-minute mile. Besides, it's all true, especially that last part about the food. It does taste good. And that's what really speaks volumes.
Starting with bagels. Minnesotans accustomed to the pale, puffy frauds that pass for bagels in this region will not recognize the amber-tinted, so-chewy-you're-getting-an-aerobic-workout beauties that baker Megan Johnson and her team so skillfully produce. They begin with Minnesota-produced flour and honey (and a bit of malt powder from Wisconsin), hand-form them with obvious care, top them with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or bits of onion and finish them on a thin, fragrant layer of cornmeal. Finally, a bagel Minnesota can be proud of!
Kitchen manager Phil Werst does those bagels proud by pairing them with an exceptionally well-chosen roster of toppings, particularly a silky smoked Atlantic salmon and a luscious and teasingly tangy Wisconsin-made cream cheese, served plain or blended with a bevy of complementary ingredients.
But this is far more than a bagel shop. Relying upon the local larder for seasonal menus has become second nature to many top Twin Cities restaurants, but with depressingly few exceptions that skill set has not translated to moderately priced, counter-service setups. Nothing that Werst is doing is particularly complicated, but he's obviously found a way to consistently buy farm-fresh ingredients and then put them to their best advantage without charging big bucks for the effort.
Take the small selection of light-and-bright deli salads. A heady pesto clung to bow-tie pasta, artichokes and tender chunks of chicken that actually tasted like chicken. Roasted beets lent their rich color to orzo, which was tossed with tasty spinach and pungent Minnesota-made blue cheese. Boring old potato salad got a new lease on life with chickpeas and curry. I loved the zesty peanut sauce that put a kick into a chard-roasted yams combo, and the last time I was so impressed with a wild rice salad -- accented with sweet cranberries and roasted onions, crunchy cashews and a hint of Dijon mustard -- I was eating at the Locavore Mother Ship, Lucia's Restaurant.
