This next #mnbucketlist stop was suggested to me by my friend, Tina. On my list for a while, I jumped at the chance to check out Borough and see what I’d been missing.  Borough, if you want to get specific, is “an administrative unit of a city which, under most circumstances according to state or national law, would be considered a larger or more powerful entity” like the 5 Boroughs of New York. Which is actually really fitting as this place really is a world all its own with a restaurant on the main level, a Mixiologists’ paradise upstairs and a speakeasy (I’ll talk more about this tomorrow) in the basement. Opened in 2013 and located in the vibrant North Loop neighborhood, Borough has tacked on a laundry list of accolades from entities like Eater Minneapolis, Bon Appetit and Minneapolis St Paul Magazine. While keeping with the industrial design of the times, their warm, wood warehouse motif lends itself well with its cheese grater pendant lights.

Featured as a stop for Restaurant Week, I really do have to talk about the food. Seasonally prepared and rotated often, the menu raised the bar from what I expected when I walked in. We tried a bit of everything, sans the meat for myself, which they were beautifully accommodating. Thankfully, my friends are adventurous when I am not, trying everything from the pan-roasted sole with sweet potato, lobster, kale, hazelnut and brown butter; the magnificently plated octopus made with yams and the pork loin chop with a hot dog (yes, really). I tried the bitter greens with Havarti, horseradish, apple, dill and rye and the Brussels sprouts with golden beet, rye berry, malt vinegar and juniper. All of which was incredible… And that’s not all. Sugar is my middle name and this place made it to my family tree with desserts like their donut, made with pickled apricot, persimmon, crème fraîche, almond and orange blossom ice cream, also the yogurt, comprised of kiwi, celery, mint, coconut and apple fennel sorbet – but that’s not what had me singing from the rooftops… The chocolate. And yes, it’s annoying, everyone-chooses-chocolate BUT this was, wow. Made with cream cheese, pistachio, beet, rose hip ice cream. Finally, I washed it down with a French 75, artfully made with gin, lemon and Prosecco. Have you been here yet?