If r.Norman's were the first steakhouse to grace the mean streets of downtown Minneapolis, it would probably be a runaway sensation.
But because it has sprouted in the shadows of six or seven other well-established bovine shrines, it has some tough competition. Not that it doesn't rise to the challenge, because the ambitious operation has a lot going for it, starting with the address, the long-empty building that wraps around the Pantages Theatre. Owners David Koch and Randy Norman (they're the folks behind the nearby Bellanotte) deserve a big collective wet kiss from the city for brilliantly defibrillating a flat-lining Hennepin Avenue corner.
The joint looks good (the design is by Shea Inc. and the Koch Group of Minneapolis), and it feels good, too. Step in off the street and you're welcomed by a roomy bar slathered in buttery backlit onyx. Just beyond a two-story wine tower is the airy, angular dining room, all crisp whites and browns, noteworthy for its tall, scene-setting windows (unfortunately, they look out on the city's sorriest streetscape, the throwaway facades of Block E and City Center). And that's just on the first floor.
On a busy weekend night, it's hard not to follow the parades of glamizons as they flock upstairs to Seven Sushi and dive headlong into what has quickly evolved into a bona fide scene. It's a frothy mix of nigiri, sashimi, cocktails and flirting, set in a vast lounge punctuated by upholstered pillars illuminated by a pulsing array of pastel lights. It's the kind of room made for showing off a well-used gym membership or a well-padded bank account.
There's more: A rooftop lounge that appears to be the size of a smallish Target store. Once this weather changes, I imagine the two best words to describe this chunk of open-air real estate will be mob scene.
Like I said, plenty of valuable assets here. So why was it that every time I settled into that handsome dining room and perused the menu, the gently accented voice of "Project Runway" judge Nina Garcia would pop into my brain? It became my own personal YouTube download: Contestant Rami Kashoú is parading his umpteenth draped Grecian getup on the catwalk and yes, it's lovely to look at, it hangs like a dream, it's tailor-made for a Nicole-Kidman-on-the-red-carpet moment, blah, blah, blah. Yet Garcia sighs, brushes a manicured talon across her bangs and says, "Show me what else you can do."
Downtown Minneapolis lacks for many things, but another steakhouse ain't one of them. Koch & Co. have all the goods here: location, cash and an obvious knack at hospitality; couldn't they show us something we haven't seen a thousand times?
They have it in them because when the restaurant follows Garcia's advice and it tiptoes away from the wearisome steakhouse comfort zone, it scores. I love this novel idea: Kobe-style beef, sold in incremental 2-, 4- and 6-ounce portions (and charged accordingly, at $13 per ounce) and prepared with obvious skill. It's so tender that a knife slides rather than saws through it, and the meat's mellow tanginess hangs on your tastebuds like a beautiful pinot noir. Try finding that at Fogo de Chao.
