east-lake.net

Last night, we went to the friends and family opening night of The Strip Club, the new place owned by the Town Talk Diner guys and J.D. Fratzke, the longtime chef at Muffuletta’s. We were lucky enough to attend this opening because my brother Jeff lives across the street from J.D. and his family, so we’ve all gotten to know him. J.D. is a super nice guy and a great chef so we were thrilled to be there for him.

The Strip Club is a meat and fish place in the Dayton’s Bluff area of St. Paul, located on 6th St and Maria, across the street from Metropolitan State University. The location might not be the greatest, but it’s really easy to get to, and the building offers an amazing view of downtown St. Paul, which is visible from inside.

The restaurant is located in the Shoch Building, which was an old German market, opened in 1885 by a German immigrant that also owned the building where W.A. Frost is located. He had markets in both areas since at that time, people were moving out of downtown St. Paul as businesses were moving in. People were mostly moving in the two directions they could without crossing the river. Up the hill to the west (Cathedral Hill) and up to the East Side. We got this history of the building from the owner of the building, who we met on our way out.

The inside of the building is very cool. The main floor is where most of the seating is, but they also have a spiral staircase that goes up to a loft area with a few more tables and a “hidden door” where they have their offices. Previously, the restaurant was called The Secret Door Cafe because of this feature.

.

Now on to the food.

Tricia and I started with a ceasar salad, Jeff and Shannon with a leaf salad, both were good. Then we split 4 different small plates - mussels, shrimp, walleye fritters, and the best duck confit that I’ve ever had. I think these small plates will be what keeps people going there. It would be so easy to order a bottle of wine, a salad and a bunch of small plates, and still get out for relatively cheap. The entrées were great, but we were already very happy even before our main entrées came out.

Like at Muffuletta’s, J.D. concentrates on locally grown ingredients, so all of the beef comes from Thousand Hills Farm. Jeff and Shannon split the braised pork shank over mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts on the side. It was an amazing value since it was huge and a perfect item to split after everything else. Tricia and I split the NY Strip, which, once we got over how a properly prepared grass fed steak should be, was amazing. The steaks come with a choice of 6-7 sauces, ranging from foi gras to crimini mushrooms (which is what we got).

The service, for a pre-opening night, was outstanding. They definitely had a few hiccups that will hopefully be fixed before Tuesday night, but everything else went very smoothly. I feel bad for the servers that have to walk up and down the spiral staircase, but it adds so much charm that it’s worth any downsides.

Now for the downsides, of which there are only two. First, the upstairs was really dark. The small lamps on each table just didn’t give off enough light. The main floor had more light so it wasn’t an issue down there.

I wasn’t going to talk about the other negative, because I’m sure enough people will, but the location will hurt. Yes, Dayton’s Bluff has been going through a little bit of a revival, there is a University right across the street, and lowertown isn’t all that far away, but will enough people from Minneapolis drive over to keep it busy (this is assuming that St. Paul won’t). The location isn’t even all that out of the way. We got there from 38th and Cedar in about 15 minutes.

St. Paul has had it’s share of dining problems, but maybe The Strip Club will be one that sticks around. It’s definitely run by some great guys that seem to know what they are doing. The food was awesome, the building was beautiful, and we look forward to going back.

Ang, from Unapologetic Nonsense lives nearby and has taken a few better pictures of the place during the day.