If molecular gastronomy evokes science fiction (foams! liquid nitrogen!), Upton 43 in Minneapolis feels more like alternate history. To eat there is to imagine a world where the spice trade never really developed, a chef-driven culture built on the flavors of medieval Europe. By focusing on old-fashioned techniques like fermenting and roasting, Erick Harcey, the chef, is expanding the city’s eating scene and redefining the Swedish-American foods he grew up with.
“When you’re a young chef, you seem to be inspired by whatever’s new at that moment,” Harcey said. “As you get older, it just fell back to my roots.”
Those roots run deep. Harcey’s grandparents owned the Kaffe Stuga diner where locals could munch on breaded walleye while talking about hockey. Harcey also owns the gastro pub Victory 44 and the rotisserie chicken hot spot the Dirty Bird, but Upton 43 was planned specifically as a tribute to his grandparents. The resulting restaurant is full of clean lines and long, narrow windows, lightly painted, exposed rafters and minimal blue and white furnishings. It is formal without being austere, elegant but also family-friendly.
On my recent visit, for example, two of the restaurant’s 14 guests were toddlers. Harcey, who has four sons under age 12, believes in challenging young palates. His children’s menu includes crunchy fried Gouda-style goat cheese with lingonberries; tender, hand-formed beef and pork meatballs; and palate-cleansing homemade pickles.
Harcey roasts pork chops in hay and chars broccolini for open-faced sandwiches, but his strongest dishes are on the more tart end of the flavor spectrum. The herring, salt cured and pickled in-house over seven days, tasted as bright and clean as the North Atlantic. An elderflower granita was delicate but powerful, dolled up with tart berries and fresh herbs. And the pear and honey switchel — a potent, 17th-century vinegar and soda water drink that tastes like a purer version of kombucha — was deeply refreshing.
There are occasional missteps: A dish of fermented lettuce had a watery texture that suggested a salad gone old; delicate Swedish pancakes were overwhelmed by their lingonberry-honey sauce.
But all of it is sincere, with none of the self-aware posturing that can afflict modern restaurants. That may be a reflection of Harcey’s self-effacing personality. Or it may be because Upton 43 isn’t really modern: It’s a tribute to the past, moving firmly into the future.
— Upton 43, 4312 Upton Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-920-3406; upton-43.com. Average dinner for two, without drinks or tip, is $75.
