One of the most esteemed and romantic restaurants in the city, gay-friendly W.A. Frost (374 Selby Ave., 651-224-5715) occupies a handsome turn-of-the-20th-century building along Selby Avenue's stretch of popular restaurants in the upscale, historic Summit Hill neighborhood - it's just a few minutes' drive west of downtown, a few blocks beyond the soaring dome of the Cathedral of St. Paul, and in a neighborhood that novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up in. As elegant as W.A. Frost is inside, the lush and spacious back patio (pictured here) is the best place to enjoy a meal in summer - it's shaded by a canopy of leafy trees and lighted with candles.
The kitchen here produces superb modern, sustainable sourced American food, and there's a first-rate list of international and domestic wines. Several vegetarian options are available, as are several first-rate seafood dishes (i.e., marinated diver sea scallops with grapefruit-apple-radicchio salad, tarragon, and a verjus vinaigrette). Note the stellar artisan cheese list, features several cheeses from Minnesota and Wisconsin (the Northern Lights blue is particularly good, as is the aromatic Crave Brothers "Les Freres" from Waterloo, Wisconsin). Desserts are another strong point, including a knock-out organic carrot cake topped with mousse-style icing made with chevre and cream cheese.
