The Appetizer Crawl Continues In Woodbury, MN

Crave
9100 Hudson Road
Woodbury, MN

651-756-1000

Hotel Note: For anyone visiting the Woodbury area here's a link to the Hampton Inn and many other options if you need accommodations.

A warm summer weeknight and I ended up at Crave Restaurant with my brother and sister for what was supposed to be a quick bite but we ended up ordering a lot of food.

I was forewarned by my brother who lives in Woodbury that Crave was a chain of establishments and being such, it would be satisfying but maybe nothing to write home about. (Translation: blog about.) But au contraire older and sometimes wiser brother! From the outside it did look a bit warehouse-y, but I'm sure that on a cooler day the outdoor seating would have been full of happy eaters, offering a warmer, more hospitable curb appeal.

But who knew all these people were in here?

The place was bubbling with energy. A hostess walked us by a very impressive glass enclosed wine cellar . . .

Hey, I thought this was a quick sit-down at a fast food joint? Nope. With quite an extensive wine list I quickly ordered a Torrontes Colomé, Argentina - fresh, crisp, fruity but dry and with an after note of peach, my sister had the Oysterbay New Zealand chardonnay - hints of apple and full-bodied, it was a great pairing with the food she was about to order. And brother who was driving had an Arnie Palmer (all puns intended.)

With a diverse menu offering classic American and Japanese fare - first up we ordered . . .

. . . the crab artichoke dip served with crunchy herby toasted pita triangles and crispy cornmeal fried calamari with their jalapeno aioli sauce. Both really great. I was very pleasantly surprised. Next up (I warned you, this was no quick bite.) Jambalaya - shrimp, andouille sausage and langostinos (Yes, in Minneapolis!) with a spicy pepper tomato sauce. Really yumpcious! . . .

. . . and a very contrasting order of Hungarian goulash! Braised short ribs with a mushroom cream sauce and a horseradish chive sour cream served over fettuccine and sprinkled with micro greens. Comfort food to the nth degree.

So much for fast food chain establishments. I had never heard of Crave before and then looked up their locations and realized there were none in the New York or North East areas. They should change that . . . come on over!

BON APPETIT!