Mike Brown and James Winberg, the hardworking co-owners of Travail Kitchen & Amusements, have known each other less than two years, and yet they work together as if they're lifelong pals; at least their adventurous cooking tastes that way.
The collaborative aura that blossomed during their brief but shining tenure at the nearby Victory 44 has been kicked up several notches. All staffers in this downtown Robbinsdale hot spot both cook and serve, and everyone contributes to developing the constantly changing menu. Dining here is a blast.
Contemporary bells and whistles are the name of the game, with flavors and textures manipulated through a playful parade of powders, foams, gelatins, tapioca pearls and scents, then packaged into 15 or so options that range from small plates to meal-sized entrees. How Brown and Winberg keep this entertaining circus afloat while charging Panera prices is a mystery, but hey, I'm not complaining.
Here's what keeps this particular brand of conceptual cooking from veering into silliness or irrelevance: It tastes good. Great, even. Witness the successful iterations of deconstructed (and beautifully re-constructed) dishes. One, labeled "chicken pot pie," pulled apart the classic formula's primary elements, glossed them over like Angelina Jolie walking the red carpet and then meticulously reassembled them into glamorous fall comfort food.
Never heard of gorlami? Me, either. Turns out it's a made-up name, inspired by a line from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," but its fabulous flavors were entirely real: a tender, buttery pasta ribbon laid out on a slow-cooked sweet corn pudding and dressed with caramelized bits of zucchini and finished with a tangy goat's milk froth.
Rabbit was prepared four ways on a single plate -- the leg, confit-style, was fall-apart magnificent -- with the loin served with the animal's bones fanning out like a gravity-defying Calatrava bridge. Seared scallops were perfectly calibrated against a cauliflower purée and a delicately poached Asian pear.
A carefully prepared assortment of rillettes, pâtés and tartares is joined by such exoticisms as deep-fried pig trotter and rabbit mortadella. Another fat-is-fab example: the French fries. Turns out they're brushed in bacon fat the second they're yanked from the deep fryer, then tossed with herbs. They are ridiculously addictive.
Those in search of a bar basic won't be disappointed. The burger is terrific, juicy, brightly seasoned and lavishly dressed. The fried catfish sandwich was a revelation.
