1:42THURSDAY 2 P.M. Lucky me: Despite a steady stream of customers, I scored one of the four tables inside the snug confines of Rabbit's Bakery. First the crackle of burning pine popped over Bob Dylan mumbling "Tangled Up in Blue" on the stereo, then its woodsy scent began tickling my nostrils. Turns out co-owner Dan Patterson uses pine kindling -- remnants of a few sacrificed shrubs -- to spark fire in his red brick wood-burning bread oven. "It seemed like a cost-effective use for them" he said with a laugh.
Slow-burning oak supplies the heat to transform Patterson's carefully crafted doughs into breads of exceptional flavor and texture. The baguettes alone should put Lake City, Minn., on the culinary map, with deeply browned, jaw-aerobicizing crusts covering enviably pliant interiors. For the best darned lunch I've had in weeks, Patterson piled shaved ham, long sheets of parchment-thin Swiss and mellow pickled jalapeños on that singular baguette. The finished product was so tall it took a firm two-handed grip to wrestle it into submission. I wish I hadn't been dining solo, because all I wanted to say to someone was, "Now that was a sandwich."
There was a hearty soup and a simple garden-fresh salad, both excellent. Unfortunately I missed out on the roast beef/ roasted peppers/ pepperoni-salami-basil sammies; both had sold out. Ditto the menu's other two entrees, biscuits buried under sausage gravy and fried chicken with bacon-flecked corn bread. Get this: The top price is just $7.
Like Patterson, co-owner Hallie Abbott's résumé lists next-door neighbor Nosh Restaurant & Bar as well as Lucia's Restaurant in Minneapolis. Abbott is responsible for the sweets, and hers is a Long John-free bakery case, boasting well-made muffins, onion- and poppyseed-topped bialys, walnut-crusted brownies and dainty vanilla cupcakes crowned with just-picked strawberries. On my way out I greedily grabbed the last of the rectangular cinnamon-swirled loaves. After savoring each slice, my morning Puffed Wheat ritual now feels like a punishment.
Friday, 8 p.m.
When Nosh decamped to Lake City last summer, it left a hole on Wabasha's main commercial thoroughfare. In May, chef Michael Murray-John and his spouse, Debbie, filled that void when they opened Vinifera. "I run the spatulas, she runs everything else," said Michael, whose last kitchen gig was running the Seven Pines Lodge in Lewis, Wis.
Since the restaurant takes its name from the Latin designation for all wine-producing grapes, this is obviously a wine-obsessed operation. Every dish has a pairing suggestion, and every wine on the list is available for retail sale at the same moderate price. A well-appointed patio seems designed for wine enthusiasts, and those hanging at the bar might notice that it's built from flattened wine barrel staves.
The cooking is bold and well-crafted. I loved a plate of swooningly tender slow-braised pork shoulder and its nicely fiery roasted pepper-paprika sauce. Ditto a trio of sizzling lamb chops, crusted in herbs, hot off the grill and sharing the plate with a mellow braised spinach-orzo combination. House-cured bacon added a brawny touch to a frisée-fig salad, and a ginger-laced crème brûlée was just right. (Other menu items include mussels steamed in white wine and shallots, cedar-plank salmon, coq au vin and lunchtime paninis). With entrees averaging $14, this was a meal well worth the drive, even at $4 a gallon.
