I had an opportunity to travel to Minnesota for a class recently and found a great little restaurant called Salut. 
It wasn’t just that the food was outstanding, but the staff was really pleasant to talk to. A number of times when I go into restaurants by myself, I am just a single person to rush through so that the table could be used for a bigger (and more lucrative) party; this was not the style of Salut. Actually my experience was quite the opposite. Instead of trying to rush me through my dinner, the waiter stayed and talked to me about different things that we both shared (the love of fine tequila in one case). The manager stopped by at another point and was also very friendly as we talked about the chances that the Twins had of making the playoffs (sorry Chris, I was rooting for them). All in all it was a wonderful experience.
So if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Edina, Minnesota and you are lucky enough to have some free time at dinner, I highly recommend stopping in to see Chris, Cynthia and Raoul and the rest of the staff at Salut. If it is a Tuesday night, you have to get the short-ribs; they are the best that I ever had (including my own).
