Sea Change has recently instigated a brand new happy hour with an earlier starting time and it's sure to be a hit. From Sundays through Thursdays from 8:00pm to 11:00pm, Sea Change happy hour specials include $5 Absolut or Jameson cocktails, $5 red or white wine, $3 Grain Belt Premium Beer and $5 burgers and fish sandwiches. There were quite a few journalists who made it out to this happy hour sampler, too, and I made an observation that local restaurateurs may like to know: Twin Cities' journalists are oyster fiends. Erik Anderson, the chef at Sea Change, couldn't replenish the iced critters fast enough. After finding out that he is currently among the nominees for Food & Wine's The People's Best New Chef Award, I couldn't wait to taste the other samples he had planned for the evening.
My favorite was the fish sandwich; the breaded fish patty was delicious and simple in its presentation on a fluffy white bun with a pickle and sauce. The burger has much more action between the buns, as it were, with cheese, bacon, and caramelized onions. Since this was a sampler night, the burgers and fish sandwiches were miniature. I was told they will be bigger for the actual happy hour.
But, as Tallulah says, I never eat on an empty stomach.
Although Sea Change's special happy hour cocktails are not classics, they are well-crafted with a choice of either a vodka or whiskey base. Because of the ginger beer and mint that makes up their Jameson cocktail, it tastes a bit like a Moscow Mule jumped into an herb garden. I'm curious about what gives this drink its pretty pink color.
The vodka-based drink was much more of a citrus-flavored drink, like a very stiff Absolut lemonade with an alcoholic-bite -- something to make the back of your jaw tingle. This drink made everyone think of summer and we glanced outside, dreaming about the weather that will soon permit outdoor seating. Instead, only the colossal image of Arthur Miller peered back at us from the frigid outdoors. One attractive lady and I ended up exchanging our When-I-Met-Arthur-Miller stories, and it turns out his eyes were very much focused at the same angle whenever he was around a lady.
Our reminiscing was cut short when one wild-haired guest broke a glass full of white wine. Everyone knew it wasn't because the drink was bad, but it did seem to signal that the party was a success. (A broken glass of Jameson, on the other hand, would have been something to cry over.) Another round of oysters appeared on the counter top and distracted everyone from the matter altogether.
Not ones to quit partying when a good party comes to an end, Bunny and I found some playwright friends enjoying a late night bite in Sea Change after the happy hour sampler came to an end. The place was rather busy at this time, as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, one of the shows currently playing at the Guthrie, had just let out. I was lucky enough to meet a couple of the leading men in the cast at this time, too. James T. Alfred, who plays the character Levee, and Penumbra founding member Abdul Salaam El Razzac, who plays Toledo, were nice enough to sit and share jokes and stories over champagne until the lights in Sea Change came on full blast, letting the four of us know this after-party party was over. And a note to James: I hope your invite for port still stands.
Opera party tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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