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Home|Entertainment|Eat + Drink

Five big small-plates
destinations

Last update: March 31, 2006 – 1:56 PM

Solera

Small Plates Central. An astonishing array of 60 hot and cold nibbles, each with a Spanish accent. Don't miss the chicken-pistachio croquettes, the goat cheese fritters, the veal meatballs, the blue crab-cumin deviled eggs, the shrimp-leek flan ... you get the idea. The enormous all-Spanish wine list is like taking a quick round-trip to Barcelona. 900 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-338-0062.

Corner Table

Set the TiVo for "Desperate Housewives" and "Big Love" and dive into chef/owner Scott Pampuch's affordable, inventive Sunday night small-plates menu. At the $4/$7 level, there are goodies such as corn grits with braised greens or roasted beets with blue cheese (the lower price is a few bites, the higher is a meant-to-share portion) and at $6/$14 the choices could include grilled pork loin with horseradish-browned butter or house-made perogies with shrimp bisque. 4257 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., 612-823-0011.

112 Eatery

Most of chef/owner Isaac Becker's menu is scaled for grazing among friends, although you won't want to give up so much as a forkful of the coolly refreshing crab-herb salad, the salty anchovy-topped crostini, the amazing fried prawns, the melting cauliflower fritters or the fiery bacon-egg-harissa sandwich. Best of all, the whole menu is served to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday. 112 N. 3rd St., Mpls., 612-343-7696.

Cafe Lurcat and Bar Lurcat

The bar menu at Becker's former employer still has his stamp all over it, and that's a good thing: miso-marinated sea bass, piping hot cheddar cheese puffs, White Castle-size burgers brimming with butter and thyme and utterly addictive cinnamon-dusted mini-doughnuts. Another bonus: More than 40 wines by the glass. 1624 Harmon Pl., Mpls., 612-486-5500.

Masa

At the D'Amicos' vibrant new downtowner, chef Saul Chavez puts up a brief but tasty roster of quick bites, including pan-fried cheese cubes with a lusty tomatillo salsa, dinghy-scaled cornmeal boats filled with chicken or beef and zesty lime-marinated steamed shrimp. They all go great with the bar's fabulous sparkling-wine sangria. 1070 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-338-6272.

RICK NELSON