Review: Sanders 1907, Grand Forks

[Sal Atticum]

From Dale.

Sanders 1907: Grand Forks

Saturday, 7 April, 2007

Sanders has always held some sort of stigma for me, one caused purely by my ignorance. I had always assumed that it was too expensive. Now, that blanket statement needs to be couched in two caveats... first, it is expensive, likely the most expensive restaurant in town. Second, I'm not one to shy away from an expensive meal while travelling, so I guess that I'm saying that, at one point, I thought it was too expensive for Grand Forks.

Sadly, that prognosis was made and kept over the years without even gracing the place, in any of its three locations, with my presence. More's my loss, then, as I've missed some pretty good food in the 22 years that my checkbook and I have been avoiding it.

In my review of Rhombus Guys Pizza, I reflected on the nature of "downtown cuisine," a style of food that demands a little more out of the eatery. While any steakhouse can get by on prime rib, downtown requires "Swiss Eiger Beef." In addition to a pepperoni pizza, out on 32nd, they're also offering a canadian bacon pie, while downtown it's avacado and rabbit. Sanders embraces that concept and really runs with it.

Patti's family (well, a small percentage of them,) were in town for Easter weekend, and we made reservations at Sanders for a 5PM dinner for seven people. Two notes on that -- first, you pretty much need a reservation, though on a slow weekend, you might be able to walk in; secondly, they're not open on Monday, so you start calling on Tuesday for that week. If you're skunked on walking in, Rhombus Guys is right around the corner.

When we got there, we were pretty much the only patrons, though it filled up fairly steadily and by the time we were heading out two hours later, it was mostly full. Our server was fairly quick to arrive to take drink orders and to check on the need for appetizers, then left us alone to talk and sort through the offerings. One thing that I really like about Sanders is the way that the servers let you take your time. K and I made do with water, while the rest split a bottle of wine as we perused the menu.

You can check out the menu on Sanders' web site, but it's supplemented with nightly specials. Don't confuse that for the "meat loaf we had left over from lunch" special you might find elsewhere -- they're tip-top entrees, with prices to match. Tonight, for example, there was a mahi-mahi grill, some sort of vegetarian pasta dish, and peppercorn encrusted steak, which was more expensive than anything on the regular menu.

I really like the pork ribs at Sanders, but they're on the spicy side and, while I love spicy food, my stomach was telling me to go for something with a little less zing, so I opted for the 12 ounce Swiss Eiger prime rib. Other options at the table were pasta carbonara (one guess who opted for that vegetarian dish,) two walleyes, two more prime ribs, and Mike had the steak special.

Unlike some other upper end restaurants, a salad is included with your meal, and you get your choice of five different ones. I had the Caesar the last time I was there and didn't think much of it, so I went for the Greek this time. A good salad, though you'd better love feta cheese, as there's plenty to be had. Patti and K both opted for "the wedge," which is a chunk of iceburg lettuce with dressing on it, a rare example of something they served that I could make at home. Although it seemed like a decent option, the simplicity and informality of it kind of belied the rest of the place. I don't know, maybe that's the point.

Salads aside, we polished off the two baskets of crusty bread (with real butter,) waiting for the main course. Again, the methodical nature of the service was helpful, not annoying. When you're waiting for a $1 double cheeseburger at McDonalds, you're aggravated if it takes more than two seconds, here you can be twenty minutes between courses, and there's nary a complaint.

Eventually, our conversations slowed as the blood sugar dropped, and the server was Johnny on the Spot with our meals. Nice presentation, what with the radish flower and pile of parsley. I quickly cleared that stuff away, as the plate was a little too small for the massive hunk of meat, accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and some sort of cole slaw that I tasted, but didn't eat.

Okay, slight aside here before I go off on the prime rib. I've been accused, probably rightfully so, of being a little too hard to please on some accounts, and too easy to please on others. One of the areas I'm too hard to please is prime rib -- I can claim to have had one super awesome slice of that, and that was in a run down "we heat up frozen pizza" sportsmen's den kind of place in northern Michigan. I can count the number of "very good" prime ribs on one hand, and none of them was in Grand Forks.

Now, Sanders is in Grand Forks, so that tells you what I thought of it. It wasn't overly warm or particularly tender, had what I would consider to be an unacceptable level of fat and gristle, but tasted okay. That said, both Bunny and Patti's mom said that they really liked it, so one can likely chalk it up to my difficulty with that cut of meat. The potatoes were excellent. Next time, I'll tell my stomach to bugger off, and go for the ribs.

On the other end of the table, Patti's dad ordered the walleye, but he likes his fish breaded and deep fried, which wasn't an option. However, they asked the server about it, and he said he'd see what they could do. When the fish was brought out, it was gloriously breaded and fried, and the server said "the guys like a challenge sometimes." Patti checked it out and said that the breading was awesome. You might find that degree of "going out of your way to please the customer" at some (but, sadly, not all,) restaurants, but few will come up with such a high quality solution.

We continued our conversation about fifteen minutes after the table was cleared and never felt rushed -- the server even refilled water glasses at one point. Again, the point of elegant dining is that the time is as much an experience as it is a meal, and no one wants to cut that short. Though there was nothing going on when we were there, live music is occasionally to be found, and there is a separate "late night" menu with different (a less expensive) options. There is a full bar and an excellent wine cellar.

Service was exemplary, which is as much about the server not being around as it is him being there. The total cost, with tip, for the seven of us was $196.00, which included a bottle of wine, but no appetizers or dessert. Aside from K's noodles, which were $16, and Mike's steak, which was $33, everyone's meal was around $25 a plate.

And for an experience we'll remember for a long time, that's not a bad price.

Verdict: When fine dining is on the bill, this is the place to go in Grand Forks

Sanders 1907
22 S. 3rd St
Grand Forks, ND 58201
(701) 746-8970
Hours: Dinner seating begins at 5PM
Website: Sanders1907.com