Mission (Mostly) Accomplished

Acclaimed local chef Doug Flicker has finally rolled out his own menus at Mission American Kitchen

Comments (0) By Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl Wednesday, Nov 7 2007

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So, since when does a restaurant need a coherent underlying philosophy for its dessert menu? Well, the answer is that often they just have them—it's a Thai place, for instance, and there are mangoes and coconuts. Most of the time, though, that's the kind of thing I wouldn't dwell on too much—each according to their ability and all that. However, I truly believe that chef Doug Flicker is a national-class chef, as good as any Food Network star on the right night, and much of what I've seen at Mission American Kitchen over the last month reinforced that: the king crab soufflé, the squab, the potted duck, and more.

However, a truly world-class restaurant is one in which any diner, any night, ordering anything at all, is going to have a flawless experience, and Mission seems unable to pull that off right now. Will I be back? Without question. It's inarguably one of the best lunches downtown. I think only Cosmos at the Graves Hotel, Vincent, and the Dakota are in the same league. In addition, the tasting menus and parts of the dinner menu offer exquisite, original cooking, which is the hardest thing you can do. On top of that? It ain't over till it's over: Two years ago I had consigned Mission to the "also-ran, may die, won't care" file, and it's struggled back, which few restaurants ever do. The remaining problems are very fixable, and, if addressed, Minneapolis will have a new, and very precious, jewel in its crown.