Pairings Food and Wine Market
For those of you who are wondering whether I ever eat outside of the city; I have a
"suburban location" for your consideration -
Pairings Food and Wine Market. This restaurant and wine store opened earlier this year in Minnetonka in an office/retail space on Shady Oak Road and the Crosstown.
Pairings is a unique concept which pairs a
food market with a wine market. They offer fresh food prepared daily, ready-to-eat meals to go, a cheese & charcuterie counter, a nice atmosphere to enjoy a meal and a respectable wine market to pick your beverage of choice.
Their menu items range from
prepared salads to wood fired pizza and special entrees like
braised lamb shank. The food is not frou-frou, but is really quite good; especially for the price. A couple of my favorites include the spinach salad with chicken, goat cheese and strawberries as well as the wild mushroom pizza.
What I really enjoy about Pairings (and what makes it a unique dining experience) is you can order a glass of wine or beer at the restaurant or pick out a bottle of wine or beer at the "wine market", and
bring it into the food market. There is
no corkage fee and Pairings will bring stemware to your table. The wine market also has a
thoughtful selection of domestic and
craft beers as well as many spirits too.
This is the wrong time of year to
talk about a patio; however, Pairings did a brilliant job designing their patio. It's generously sized and in addition to many four-top tables they have
patio sofas and chairs with
cushions and coffee tables. This is a great spot in the summer. They had heat lamps for cool nights and live music for the weekends. I'm already looking forward to my pizza and bottle of vino on the
Pairings patio next spring.
