City Pages Capsule Review - April, 2004

"The standard line on the Dakota is that it has the best food of any jazz club in the country. That's got to be true, but doesn’t really cover it. When there is no music playing at all, the Dakota is a very classy lunch or dinner spot; it’s the best place downtown for imaginative American comfort foods made with top-of-the-line ingredients, like the house macaroni and cheese, made with sautéed black trumpet mushrooms, enhanced with a whiff of garlic and given a judicious bit of smoke from some Niman Ranch bacon. The walleye and smoked whitefish chowder is likewise comforting, homey and warm, full of good milk and potatoes and just the exact amount of fish needed to give it character, and make it simple and authentic. When there is music playing, in the two-level bar area, the Dakota offers all kinds of treats to enhance your jazz-going experience—or quiet your teenager into appreciating the beauty before them. Treats including fun, forthright desserts like ice-cream sundaes topped with Door County cherries and house-candied walnuts, irresistible hand-cut fries, and good burgers. For adults, the full bar, solid all-American wine list, and smart dessert-beverage program prove that you can love the classic jazz standards with all your heart, and still surpass them sometimes. " •••

Star Tribune, Minneapolis - February 19, 2004

"In October, in the latest bit of Twin Towns turf war, the Minneapple pulled a two-fer on its sibling when the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant relocated from St. Paul's somnolent Bandana Square to 10th St. and Nicollet Mall. Not only did downtown Minneapolis got a much-needed nightlife booster shot (as well as a smart new lunchtime destination) but business is booming: a slow night in the new place bests a busy evening in the old one.

Owners Lowell Pickett and Richard Erickson, working with the talented Shea Inc. design firm [have created] a sauve setting that's not only a swell dining and drinking destination, but also a gift to music lovers. Unlike the clumsy compromises of Metrodome-style stadiums built for both baseball and football but suitable for neither, this ingenious and attractive bar/music hall/restaurant hybrid actually works; the accoustics and sightlines rival those of neighboring Orchestra Hall.

While chef Ken Goff used the move as an opportunity to reinvent parts of his menu, his 20-year commitment to seek out and celebrate regional producers remains unchanged. Rather than compete with the high-voltage energy on stage, Goff wisely keeps his work less flashy. A perfect example is the addition of a half-dozen contemporary comfort-food plates, headlined by a grown-ups' version of macaroni and cheese, a chicken pot pie and a hearty stew of root vegetables and beef braised in red wine and saffron. Other standout newbies include a beaut of a roasted beet-fried fennel salad, a marvelous smoked trout-chèvre flan and a fetching toss of arugula, spinach and chèvre splashed with a subtle hazelnut vinaigrette.

It's very easy to admire what Goff does with walleye. There's a fairly standard but still expertly broiled fillet with a snappy horseradish sauce. It's good, but overshadowed by the bar menu's melt-in-your-mouth walleye fritters, and a robust chowder of walleye, smoked whitefish and wild rice. Those in turn are upstagedby walleye dumplings, aloving valentine to Goff's Norwegian mother. Four to a plate, they're a gently poached blend of walleye, cream and onions, crowned with crayfish and served with boiled new potatoes.

Some Dakota standards remain. Goff probably would be run out of town if he chucked his signature brie-apple soup, a potato-cream-leek base enriched with cheese from tiny Belmont, Wis. Luxuriously velvety as always, it's now elegantly garnished with drops of rosemary-infused olive oil. The Caesar is still not shy about its garlicky kick, the blue-cheese stuffed burger continues to put other Juicy Lucys to shame, the kitchen undoubtedly runs through wild rice by the truckload and one taste and you'll grasp the popularity of a strip steak and its richly flavored au jus built with a sturdy red from Hasting's Alexis Bailly Vineyard.

Goff isn't afraid to let exceptional ingredients stand on their own, from a poetically arranged plate of smoked salmon and smoked sturgeon to a you-gotta-try-this selection of sausages from Kramarczuk in Minneapolis. Vegetarians and vegans aren't left in the dust, and much of the menu is ideal for low-carb dieters.

Pastry chef Amy Broderick's dessert menu rivals my Marshall Field's credit-card statement in length, and the vast majority of it personifies simple, deftly-crafted pleasures. A crisp of pears and dried blueberries is virtuous but not preachy, a maple frango with blueberry syrup has a delightful "up north" vibe and the single-serving lemon meringue pie is adorably delicious. A pudding, intensely chocolate, is irresistible, and Broderick flaunts her playful streak with a handful of old-fashioned floats, sundaes and milk shakes.

The Dakota doesn't always bat a thousand ... [but] these issues can evaporate when when you've scored a roomy booth or a mezzanine two-top, enjoyed a good meal and lost yourself in the likes of Ginger Commodore, Larry Coryell or some other jazz great. Not only does the Dakota have these kinds of moments down to an art form, but Pickett and Erickson invested in Minneapolis without a public subsidy. Does Carl Pohlad know about this?"

Mpls.St. Paul Magazine

"The most dramatic restaurant event in town occurs each night at the Dakota when the giant black curtain dividing [the room] is pulled back mid-set, revealing the stage, cafe', and bar to those in the dining room. It's a thrill for even the most jaded of diners: The twinkle of the room, awesome gallery of jazz-great photos, and buzz of a crowd grooving in one of the country's best jazz venues provides a much-needed adrenaline rush in a town that parses out its restaurant thrilsl a tad too methodically."

Dakota / Great jazz venue; tremendous regional cuisine. - Colleen Werthmann, Digital Dining

"It would be unfair to list the Dakota as merely the Cities' #1 venue for jazz, because the food, by local superstars, redefines regional cuisine with an innovative, subtle flair. Pheasant, trout, and walleye, long the bounty of the lakeland regions' sportsmen, now are served up in pepper-garlic sauces and maple flavorings. Don't miss their trademark apple-brie soup; try to get wild rice if you can. Good wine list; mellow atmosphere."

JazzPolice.com

"The Dakota is the premier jazz club of the Twin Cities consistently bringing the top touring jazz artists as well as showcasing local talent. It is a great place to catch the established jazz greats as well as the rising stars of jazz. Lowell Pickett has been booking talent and running the place for years at the Saint Paul location. Now Lowell, along with new partner Richard Erickson, continues the same thing in the spacious and posh location on Nicollett Mall in the heart of bustling Minneapolis. They bring in top touring artists during the week and usually feature top local artists on the week-ends.

The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant used to be called the Dakota Bar and Grill when it was located in Bandana Square in Saint Paul. Now with the new location in downtown Minneapolis comes many more patrons. The place is almost always packed with jazz fans and diners. The club has a popular adjoining restaurant, but a smaller menu is also featured in the jazz club.

The list of who has played the Dakota is like a who's who of jazz: Ray Brown, McCoy Tyner, Toots Thielemans, Joey DeFrancesco, Ahmad Jamal, Chucho Valdes, Benny Green, Max Roach, Joe Williams, Roy Haynes, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Sonny Fortune, Frank Morgan, Zakir Hussain, Kurt Elling, Patricia Barber, Von Freeman, Billy Higgins, Charles Brown, and many many more"

Jazz88 FM Venue Revue

"The reigning king of Twin Cities (if not midwest) jazz clubs, Dakota recently vacated its longtime St. Paul home in favor of some swanky new digs along Nicollet Ave in Minneapolis. The menu and music remain world-class. Dakota's full menu offers dishes that repeatedly satisfy the pickiest food critics, though you can't go wrong (or broke) with the bar menu, which includes the signature Apple Brie soup, a killer burger, and a heaping plate of the best fries this writer has ever wolfed down. The music is the real treat at Dakota, though. Most every big name in jazz took the stage at one time or another in St. Paul, and that trend shows no signs of slowing down. Still the gem of Minnesota's jazz scene, the new Dakota, though a bit less cozy and more sterile, won't disappoint. A must-visit club. Now, thankfully, smoke-free."

"....inspired menu of innovative regional Midwestern fare served in pleasant contemporary digs in a former railroad house...the best jazz in the Twin Cities - go for the food, stay for the music...."
• 1999 Zagat Survey