Meritage doesn't bill itself as a seafood restaurant. But that's exactly what it is, plus a whole lot more. It just might be the best of its kind in the Midwest.
What this diner appreciates most about chef Russell Klein's work, along with his faith in downtown St. Paul, is how he skillfully finds parity between classic and contemporary, formal and casual. That culinary balancing act is best viewed through the prism of lobster -- specifically, Klein's approach to it -- because anyone who loves lobster will adore Meritage.
Purists can enjoy it steamed and chilled. Classicists will fall all over how Klein adds just enough gelatin to a decadent lobster consommé, fills it with generous chunks of tender poached lobster, then tops it with a sweet corn purée, a flavor marriage that can only be described as celestial.
Klein also makes a wicked-good workingman's lobster roll, an homage to his youth on New York's Long Island.
The raw bar is stocked with oysters rarely, if ever, seen in the Twin Cities. The oysters are also beautifully and skillfully presented, a rarity for this landlocked region.
There can't be a more impressive shrimp cocktail. Klein doesn't pull any punches, using ultra-jumbo shrimp that are wild-caught off Mexico's Baja coast, then gently poaching them so each bite boasts a pronounced snap; the accompanying cocktail sauce is appropriately lively.
Even something so familiar as raw tuna gets the velvet glove treatment, tossing it with a feisty combination of ginger juice and a Sriracha-laced mayonnaise before spooning it into crunchy taro-root taco shells.
Several entrees on the current menu are showcases for both seafood and Klein's considerable skills. He's at the top of his form with a riff on bouillabaisse, with a little ratatouille thrown in for good measure. It pays tribute to iconic French dishes while inserting a modern American interpretation, with crisp-skinned wild striped bass surrounded by a finely calibrated flurry of tastes. Ditto a reinvented Nicoise salad.
