Chet Taverna THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chet's Taverna

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chet's Taverna

791 Raymond Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55114
651-646-2655
Map
Cuisine: Eclectic
Openings: Lunch Mon.-Sat., Dinner nightly

Features


THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chet's Taverna Restaurant Review:


A small, intimate bistro that makes you wish every restaurant took such tender care of its customers. Like its sister restaurants the Modern Café and Grey Duck, Chet's specializes in combining the hearty flavors of the Midwest with a more exotic cuisine, in this case Mediterranean. So don't be surprised if the gnocchi is complimented with corn or the polenta with roasted root vegetables. Either way you win, because for the most part Chet's manages a seamless marriage of down-home cooking and swarthy flare. We love the gnocchi, which are as downy as a pillow and as silky as cream. The polenta also shines, lighter and fluffier than the dense cake you're accustomed to. Sometimes we feel Chet's is being too clever by a half: the carrot, pistachio and cilantro salad with orange dressing is not bad, merely strange, while Chet's BLT, with pancetta, arugula and a roasted tomato is fine until the chef adds juniper to the mayo and ends up confusing the palate. But this neighborhood gem succeeds more often than it falters in delivering intimacy and invention.