Cave Vin's steak frites: 100 Favorite Dishes, No. 67

Lu Lippold

Good, and good FOR you.

​I do not want to hear one more word about you and your cholesterol. Furthermore, I do not want you giving me that look when I say I'm having a giant slab of red meat for dinner with a side of fat-ridden fried potatoes smothered in mayonnaise. You know why? Because it's not just a big fat American dinner, it's steak frites, and that's French, and you know who has way fewer cholesterol-related illnesses than people in America? The French. So, shut up.

I suppose now you're going to google the "French Paradox" and point out how maybe all that cholesterol research is suspect, and while you're amusing yourself with that little project, I'm going over to Cave Vin to stuff myself with the best steak frites in town. As you will have learned in your googling, red wine is what makes you not die from eating steak frites all the time, so I'm going to have some of that, too.

I guess the reason Cave Vin's steak and potatoes are so good is that they do more than just fry them up and slap them on your plate. The steak is a nice, thick, eight-ounce block-cut sirloin. They pan-sear it, finish it in the oven, and deglaze the pan with veal stock and colossal shallots. The potatoes are sliced as thin as pencils and fried in non-hydrogenated vegetable oil. The house-made aioli is so smooth and fragrant you might want to ask for a spoon so you can eat it like dessert. Well, that might be overdoing it. I'll probably order the chocolate pot de creme instead. And another glass of wine, just to stay healthy.

Do not forget the vin, on pain of death.

​

CAVE VIN
5555 Xerxes Avenue South, Minneapolis
612.922.0100; Cave Vin website

Hungry for more? The dishes in our countdown thus far are linked below:

No. 69: Christos's saganaki No. 70: Surly Coffee Bender No. 71: Quang's bun tom xao No. 72: YoYo Donuts' maple bacon doughnut No. 73: Cupcake's mini cupcakes No. 74: Willy D's ribs No. 75: Salsa a la Salsa's Fried Chocolate Truffles No. 76: Anodyne's Artichoke Melt No. 77: Origami's steamed duck No. 78: B.T. McElrath's Salty Dog bar No. 79: Mozza Mia's house-made limoncello No. 80: Salty Tart Bakery's pastry cream-filled brioche No. 81: Little Szechuan's bamboo tips with chili sauce No. 82: Oceanaire's Jumbo Lump Crab Cake No. 83: Aperitif's Nonni's Meatballs No. 84: Christos's Saganaki No. 85: Seven Stars' Sesame Bagel No. 86: Hell's Kitchen Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes No. 87: Blackbird banh mi No. 88: Tank Goodness chocolate chip cookies No. 89: Sole Cafe's gal bee No. 90: Porter & Frye's El Pelon No. 91: Coffee News' fish and chips No. 92: Bread & Chocolate's Fabulous Fudge Bar No. 93: People's Organic Panna Cotta No. 94: Sea Salt Eatery Crawdad Po' Boy No. 95: Fuji Ya's Tofu Don No. 96: Ike's Food and Cocktails The Weekender Bloody Mary No. 97: Punch's Toto pizza No. 98: Stockholm Pie Company's peanut butter fudge cream pie No. 99: Dogwood Coffee Co.'s macchiato No. 100: Al's Breakfast buttermilk pancakes