La Belle Vie

05/11/2008 Posted by AlawaysDream

I do not know how to start review for La Belle Vie to be useful for other, but I will just write down what I saw and how I feel about. We went there in our second anniversary, When arrive the building really looks old (like the one I spent my childhood in) but clean, I would borrow a statement from another posting that it feels like you're eating in your Aunt Betsy's living room, dining area is surprisingly quite small, I did not feel that I’m in expensive place,. I was expecting relaxing expensive chairs/tables, new carpet, music in background, high end decoration The attendances do their best to look like proficient but I do not think they are, they said he will make us comfortable but they failed. Now we come to the food, I know that fine dine is all about the taste & presentation not to feel full, so I was expecting large plate with small portion in the middle, We go with the five course menu as many suggest to, there were two dishes caught or attention Sweet Pea Panna Cotta with King Crab and brown Butter Vinaigrette, Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Morel Mushrooms, Jerusalem Artichokes and Forme D’Ambert. The other are still good and have a unique taste but not that special. So now how much I give that, I honestly do not know, we are frozen food eater-machine, no one spend more than 15min cooking in kitchen, so how to tell they are really good cookers, or we are the lazy cooker. I would say my grandmother with very simple kitchen would have cook better. The other thing should cooking justify the $65/person you pay for dinner only (no wine). End the night with $185 with no-wine make me said, do not blame them, blame yourself who make the junkies your daily food so you need to pay little fortune to eat as it supposed to be!! I wouldn’t back again, but for you think how you feel about what I wrote.

05/10/2008 Posted by Reggie44

We saved experiencing the much celebrated Le Belle Vie experience for a special occasion. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary there this week by ordering the "tasting menu" in the lounge. This was touted in the local press as an affordable way to experience Le Belle Vie's award winning cuisine at a "spectacular value". The four course $40 Tasting Menu was accompanied by a $25 wine flight. We found the wine to be a solid, but unremarkable collection that was a solid value for the money. The food was quite another matter. Our four course "tasting menu" was literally that....a taste of each course and nothing more. Each course was literally one or two bites and I would estimate that we each received maybe six ounces of food in total. Now we are reasonably experienced and savvy diners and have enjoyed a number of excellent tasting menus in the Twin Cities (Solera's Valentine's and North Coast's Tasting Menus were both far superior) and found Le Belle Vie's serving sizes to be a small fraction of their competitions and the quality of food (with the exception of the beef tenderloin which was excellent) to be throughly unexceptional. In fact, immediately after finishing our $175 snack at Le Belle Vie's, we decided to go slumming and went to the Town Talk Diner to get some real food in a much more enjoyable setting at a small fraction of the cost. So either my lady and I lack the requisite sophistication (and miniscule appetites) to enjoy such haute cuisine...or the emperor has no clothes at Le Belle Vie.

Pros: Good service, delicious beef tenderloin

Cons: Grossly over priced, microscopic portions, unexceptional food (with the exception of the tenderloin)

04/05/2008 Posted by yoyolson

This place is amazing. The service was some of the best i've received, the foods amazing, and the drinks and wine list are great. Try the tasting menu, its well worth the money. The only weird kinda part is that it feels like its in a apartment building.

Pros: Service, food.

Cons: none

02/27/2008 Posted by latte4me

The service was lovely, and the people were gracious. The food used the highest quality ingredients and was exquisitely prepared with high attention to detail... The problem? I left hungry. And no, I'm not one of those people who expect a slab of beef and giant plate o'pasta, but I was hoping for a little more than a single bite or two of food at a single course.

Pros: elegant environment

Cons: still hungry...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

11/03/2007 Posted by mia6

I have eaten in some incredible restaurants in this country and was really excited to finally have the opportunity to try a homegrown "fine dining" experience. Everything was good. The wine was nice, the service was fine. The food was good. $400 for two of us is just way too much to leave feeling like you have enjoyed an average night out. I do not know if it was all the butter used, or? both myself and my date were up all night.

Pros: Glad to see that a Minnesota restaurant receives national attention

Cons: Really very average nationally speaking and very expensive for the experience

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

06/05/2007 Posted by pastry007

I went last summer with a group of six for a special occasion, after seeing so much press for the restaurant, the food, the service, etc. I have never felt the need to write a review before this, but I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in a dining experience! The food was mediocre, the service was condescending, especially to our guests, and the restaurant was incredibly loud. We were seated at a round table and could barely hear each other. Coming from a dessert background, I was especially looking forward to the desserts, and I ordered the white peach sampler. The flavors were bland and the textures were off, and I ended up not even finishing the dessert. The only highlight of the meal was the day boat halibut, but was not worth the $600 dollars we spent. If you are looking for a great restaurant with friendly, helpful service, and innovative food, try Cafe Lurcat or Restaurant Alma.

03/09/2007 Posted by tjohn61604

What can I say? La Belle Vie has just gotten better over the years. The restaurant started in that charming Stillwater location with its unique identity in both food and service. Now with the move to Minneapolis, it has definitely grown and matured into an exquisite dining experience. My husband and I just went there for our 25th anniversary and were pleasantly, though not surprisingly, pleased with the food, service, and ambiance. After years of travel and dining at a lot of wonderful eateries, we will always come back to La Belle Vie.

02/28/2007 Posted by slyholmes

My husband and I went to La Belle Vie for my 30th birthday. At Christmas we went to Vincent and were tempted to return (it was excellent) but we had heard good things about La Belle Vie. What a disappointment. The first thing that struck us was the lack of atmosphere - the dining room had the feel of a business hotel conference room, no ambience at all. There was a problem with the heating and the space was absolutely freezing. I kept my coat on and was uncomfortable all evening. We had the taster menu - the food was good but nothing special (particularly when compared to Vincent's). This was one of the very few times that I have left a restaurant and still been a little hungry. The taster portion sizes were barely a mouthful each. On a positive note, the service was exceptional and the wines paired with the food were exquisite (and generously poured). But we shall not return, and will go back to Vincent the next time we want to treat ourselves.

Pros: Service, wine

Cons: Average food, miniscule portions

01/10/2007 Posted by notfrommn

To celebrate our anniversary my husband and I wanted to do something special and La Belle Vie lived up to what we wanted. The lady that was our waiteress was very professional and treated with the utmost respect. We had the five course preset menu accompanied by the wine. Each course was delicious. When I mentioned that I was not a pig pork fan the waitress was quick to find me an alternative.

Pros: Wait Staff

12/24/2006 Posted by smithbrown

My husband and I were there recently. The food was amazing and the wait staff impeccable. We enjoyed it very much.