Oops!…Chef Daniel Del Prado Did it Again

Minneapolis’ hottest neighborhood at the moment continues to gain popularity by restaurateurs, entrepreneurs, and city dwellers. Its vibrant community is filled with innovation and bold ideas, perfect for new restaurants, bars, and entertainment experiences.

Recently, okay… not so recently anymore #SorryForTheLateBlog, an Argentinian restaurant, Porzana, opened on the corner of North 1st and North 2nd street. Created by the incredible chef and restaurateur Daniel Del Prado, Porzana is another restaurant added to his extensive list of Twin Cities restaurants. If you’re reading this blog, I can almost guarantee you’ve dined at one of Chef Daniel Del Prado’s restaurants: Josefina, Macanda, Cafe Ceres, Martina, Bar Rufus, Blondette, Miaou Miaou, Sanjusan, and the list goes on. We have been to every one of these restaurants/bars/cafes under Del Prado’s empire. He continues to elevate the Twin Cities dining community, and his newest edition is no different.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a moody, dimly lit, intimate restaurant perfect for late night dining. We sat near the back facing the patio, and the bustling restaurant was full of laughter and conversation. We were greeted by a server who works at a variety of Del Prado’s restaurants and a wealth of knowledge about the menu.

Enough backstory let’s get into what we ate. In classic Sarah and Amy fashion, we ordered a wide variety of items to share. First, we started with a drink to share. We ordered the Torina and honestly, this tasted like a drink we could make at home, but we slurped it down like any other drink. As a note, if you go to Porzana, this drink is no longer on their menu.

Then, we ordered a slew of items from the menu including the following appetizers: bluefin tuna crudo, breadbasket, and a crab pasta. When we see bluefin, we always order it. No questions asked. It’s hard to mess up due to how fatty and tasty the fish is on its own. At Porzana, this theory was slightly off. While it had a nice spice level to it, it was a little much and overwhelmed the fish flavor. I didn’t mind the spice level as much as Sarah, but we still enjoyed this dish and gobbled it down. Moving on to the breadbasket, we felt it was subpar. As certified haters, we apologize for being harsh. But the bread felt dry, and the butter was nothing special. They served us two varieties of bread, and two varieties of butter. Since we’re writing this blog a month later, we can’t remember much about the exact bread or butter types, but we do know one butter was better than the other, and we believe it to be the sweeter one. As for the pasta, it was fine. There was nothing technically wrong with it, and if presented to us again we’d eat it, but we wouldn’t seek it out. No wonder it isn’t available on their menu anymore. Upon speaking with Sarah, she’d like to point out she thought this was the best item we ate besides the dessert. I personally did not like the pasta, but I’m typically not a pasta girl.

As for the “main” course, entree is bit of a loose term for us because we prefer a slew of small plates over a set entree. Nonetheless, at a steak-forward restaurant, we ordered two varieties of steak: an Argentinian cut as well as an American Wagyu. With each steak, we selected a sauce. With the Argentinian steak, we ordered a chimichurri sauce, and with the American Wagyu, we selected a Béarnaise. The American Wagyu was the preferred steak of choice alongside the béarnaise sauce. The Argentinian steak felt too tough and chewy for our liking. Honestly, neither steak was that amazing, but then again, we aren’t traditional steak people.

The night was saved by the most delectable dessert. Their grilled pineapple included an olive oil cake with lime curd and gelato. If you watched us eat this, you would have seen us essentially lick the plate like animals, but we didn’t care. It tasted divine and we wanted every last taste of it.

For what we ordered, we were honestly surprised by the price. We expected the bill to hurt a lot more. Don’t get us wrong, our price expectations are skewed, we’re messed up in the head and spend an absurd amount of money on dining out. But, for everything we ordered, we were pleasantly surprised by the price.

Following our dining experience at Porzana, we sought out a new adventure: searching for one of North Loop’s newest speakeasies. The Flora Room is located underground near Porzana, and has uniquely designed cocktails with adorable glassware and vessels to hold the drinks. We ordered the Southie and the Alsace. Typically we share, and of course we try each other’s drinks, but neither one of us particularly liked the other person’s drink. We both enjoyed our own, though! The vibes in here were immaculate, and the service was phenomenal. We received a free drink simply because our drinks were taking a while. Honestly, it didn’t feel like it took that long, but we were appreciative of the gesture.

While we may have sounded like haters of this restaurant, we did enjoy it and want to try other items on their menu to see how they compare. Our ratings very much could have been based on what we ordered, and we’d like to try it again before we write it off.

VIBE CHECK

The vibes at both restaurants were great for an intimate late night date night, and Flora Room was the perfect next stop after Porzana. However, at Porzana, Sarah had a headache from “straining her poor little eyes”. Other people I’ve spoken to had no problem, and even celebrated, the dimly lit North Loop restaurant. Unfortunately, for how dark the restaurant was, our photos turned out questionable. I simply refused to use flash, however, as we already caused a scene when we whipped out my camera to photograph every dish. We will also say that the restaurant is quite loud. We were sitting right across from each other and struggled to hear. We don’t know much about acoustics, but we think it has to do with the ceiling.