Myriel — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Attended the Yuletide dinner event so the information bellow might not be similar to Myriel’s typical non-seasonal faire.

The good;

Chef has done an excellent job of creating a unique experiences. There was mulled wine and roasted chestnuts outside on a winters day next to a wood fire.

The ambiance and overall style were fantastic. My partner commented on the sconces and arches specifically.

The flambé and roasted goose showmanship were some of the more memorable moments of the evening. It truly felt like you were attending a holiday banquet!

The drinks, especially the Egg Nog were on point! Having a limited drink menu for the event allowed the bar tender and associates to craft really good looking and delicious drinks aligned with the seasonal theme.

The not as good:

Several of the dishes were comprised almost entirely of what seems to be raw vegetables (?) But when something has been “roasted” ideally the consistency of the vegetable has been changed by applying heat. For this meal, it was mostly root veggies that were seemingly fresh off the cutting board with no hint of having been cooked in the slightest. If this was the intent, then mission accomplished.

The not so good:

2 of the courses (?) consisted of a dinner role and butter. While the roles themselves were delicious, for the price point I would have expected something a bit more special(?). I believe the second one might have just been a bit off on the pacing (a bit more on that in a second)

Seating at the bar area had two major issues. The first being that the experience was 2+hours on a high top chair with the only place for your feet being the chair itself. I think for a typical dining experience lasting maybe an hour or and hour and a half it’s probably serviceable but was a bit too little options for the special event. Adding a rail for patrons to stretch their legs when seated at the bar might make it a bit more comfortable for those longer everts.

Secondarily, the bar has a quick cleaning dishwasher unit. While I don’t really know how one can actually remedy this given the limited space, having the dishwasher waft the bar area with steam and the scent of the process effects the dining experience as it changes the taste of why would otherwise be something delicious. this occurred once every 5-10 min for two hours.

This might have been due to the seasonal event and lack of practice for the specific pacing of courses, but at points during the night some times there was a seemingly awkward pause in the experience probably due to some unexpected happenings in the kitchen or something to that effect. But if the response is ring out a dinner role and butter, I would suggest skipping over it at that point because folks were probably fine just talking and enjoying the time with their friends and family.

Overall I would say that Chef knows what she wants to do and is well on the way to providing that fantastic dining “experience”, from the fie and chestnuts, to the original and unexpected plating and spectacles of presenting the more interesting dishes the pieces are all there.

I have a feeling that the standard dining experience might be a bit more polished and less rough around the edges and would recommend everyone who is interested in trying out non-conventional dining experiences defiantly arrange to try it for yourselves.

I gave it a three star review for a couple reasons:

For the price point ranging in hundreds of dollars, the details matter. Travail and Von charge those prices because they have the details on lock down.

The second star was due to my partners reaction, based on her experience she will not be wanting to come back. Having lived in Chicago for the better part of a decade, we have had the fortune to experience a large number of smaller specialty establishments (mostly pre pandemic) and I haven’t seen them have this large of a negative reaction previously.

Best of luck to Chef as she continues to innovate and contribute to unique and entertaining dining here in the Twin Cities. Keep up the great...

The dinner I had at Myriel is one of the best dining experiences of my life so far! This restaurant truly blew me out of the water—from the absolutely incredible food to the exceptional service and wonderful atmosphere. The meal was faultless and I can say with confidence this was the best dining experience I've had to date in the Twin Cities. I would highly (HIGHLY!) recommend Myriel for your next special dinner.

I'll start with the food: each dish was perfectly portioned and the flavors were outstanding. They offer both a prix fixe chef's tasting menu which you pay for in advance, as well as a traditional a la carte menu where you order the dishes you'd like during the dinner. We enjoyed the a la carte menu during my visit, but I would love to return to try their tasting menu sometime. Their menu changes frequently as they highlight ingredients from local farmers (which I love!), but some of my absolute favorites from our visit were the grilled oyster mushrooms, duck breast, and the pain perdu for dessert. I say these are my “favorites” but this is perhaps not doing justice to the meal—everything we tried was essentially perfect, but these were the dishes that genuinely made me emotional to eat them because they were so good. I have never had mushrooms of such a perfect texture and flavor, and that was by far the best duck breast I've ever had in my life.

Along with our meal, we tried several of their drink offerings. These were also magnificent. My partner ordered the “deborah” which was possibly my favorite cocktail, but I also really enjoyed the “hazel” I ordered—both drinks were so unique and the quality of the ingredients really shone through. On recommendation of my server, I tried one of the fortified wines to pair with my dessert and this was also amazing. It was a great recommendation and paired very well, which leads me to my next point…

The service here was completely outstanding! By far it is some of the best service I've ever had. Our waitress was so kind, and so helpful to recommend different dishes or drinks. She was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and restaurant as a whole. She provided several recommendations for a drink pairing with my dessert, and knew so much about each wine, which was amazing because I know virtually nothing about wine. 😂 Plus, when she learned it was my birthday dinner, she brought out a special dessert with a candle which was so nice! Incredibly, I was also given a birthday card that was signed by the staff—I’ve never received anything like this at another restaurant and it truly made me feel special. I felt really cared for by the whole staff. In fact, the chef owner also stopped by our table toward the end of our meal and introduced herself. She was so cool and knowledgeable and it was really awesome to get to meet her!

If you've made it this far into my review, you are a legend! This is probably my most long-winded review, but Myriel really deserves all the praise I can give it. I should mention that the ambiance was lovely as well—the space was cozy and beautifully decorated, with dried wildflowers hanging from the ceiling—however, at this point, I fear I've already written an entire essay about this restaurant. But it really was that good and if you love food, you'll love Myriel! I can't wait until I get another opportunity...

This has to be the cutest little restaurant in all of St. Paul, tiny, but they make it work and I figure they can fit a fair amount of people in. Who cares about that right... get to the good stuff!

I have come to expect that the service at a fine dining restaurant should match the food, if not exceed it; getting the whole experience, if you will. Myriel is firing on ALL CYLINDERS. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by friend staff - this trend continued through the entire meal; our server was passionate about their restaurant, their food and its sourcing, the ever changing menu because of the (fresh and local) sourcing, as well as it being our first time and making sure we tried everything we wanted plus some. He explained the menu in detail, he took a complete order and coursed it out for us, brought us little sips for various reasons when wines were being discussed. I cannot speaking highly enough of the service.

On to the food: I'm speechless. I did add a photo of the menu from the night we went, but please note it does change often, sometimes daily based on the product they have available. I don't think we tried anything where we said 'that was just alright'; the cutest little bites jam packed with flavor (see: Swedish Corn Waffle), the gnocchi has to be the softest pillow of food I've ever put in my mouth - paired with the chantrelle conserva - was such an amazing bite. I had to have a confit duck leg somewhere during the night and the server opted to bring that on its own plate along side of the oyster mushrooms - mostly so I could have it on its own, but also so I could try it with the mushrooms as that is what originally called out to me. YUM - just yum! My husband opted for the Fresh Red Lake Walleye, which is rare to find MN walleye anywhere, but it was wonderful! I opted for the Duck Breast as I was on a duck journey that night (Duck liver pate on the charcuterie plate) - I will say duck breast is nothing something I eaten often, but I'm really glad I ordered it, the skin was crispy, the flavor was intense and it was cooked to perfection. Last but not least was the rhubarb pie (a family recipe) and swedish egg coffee - the perfect end to a perfect night. I should also mention the drinks were all wonderful as well!

I cannot wait to go back to Myriel - this will most certainly become a regular spot on...