The Happy Gnome
A Bloody Mary Bar... Seconds Anyone?
Summit area, St. Paul - MN
Journey Date: 4.19.15
Bloody Name: Build Your Own Bloody Mary
Price: $9
Skewer: Just about anything you could ask for on a skewer… within reason
Mix: Several options. I opted for the House branded “Gnome Aid”
Overall Presentation: Awesome. I mean, I built the thing! Could it be anything less than that?
Chaser: Summit IPA
The Review:
Yes day two of the weekend and I’m back on the hunt. These things just happen and when you’re out with friends you really can’t say no. And to be fair my friends chose the place based on the Bloody selection so I had to!
We arrived at the Happy Gnome to find their smorgasbord of fixin‘s right as you walk in. When I saw them I stopped and almost froze up. “What do I do? The fate of this Bloody is in my hands and anything that goes wrong is my fault.” I just don’t know if I can handle that kind of pressure. Sure I’ll blame others for their shitty Bloodies but I don’t know if I can live with myself if things go bad.
I pushed my worries aside and ordered one anyways. I mean really… I wasn’t that bent out of shape. The waitress handed me a glass of ice and vodka along with the beer chaser. Thank all that is holy, it was Summit IPA!
I tabled the beer chaser and ran to the Bloody bar. I will be honest I was a little more focused on building the right personalized skewer for myself then I was the actual Bloody. I did have the choice of the following mixes: Gnome Aid, Burn Yo Face, tomato juice, and Thai Basil. I just went for the House Gnome Aid with a dash of Burn Yo Face for a little extra heat. I figured they had the tomato juice to help things out if I needed to turn down the heat factor.
I looked at the table and all the condiments were stocked full. Not like some places where you get the last piece of cheese that you question if someone took a bite out of and one sad, lonely pickle. It’s like they knew we were coming and everything was ready. The condiments were as follows: Bacon bits! 3 types of hard meats, tomatoes, cheddar and pepper jack cheese, mozzarella, dill cheese curds, pickle spears, olives, jalapenos, cucumbers, celery stock, lemons and limes. Just about everything I could ask for and I literally did just that. I put everything that I possibly fit on the skewer, and then went back for a second round. It was that amazing! I mean seriously… I would have been fine just filling up on the Bloody bar and not even ordering brunch.
I don’t feel the need to dive into the specifics of the skewer supplies like the cheese, meats etc… mostly because they were all pretty standard and really were awesome. No let downs and I was able to pile on everything that I wanted. Sometimes it’s just good to have a large assortment of all your basics. It’s kind of like the song “Bloody Well Right”, when it’s played, it’s always a crowd pleaser.
So once I devoured all the fixin‘s and then went back for more. I was able to consume the actual Bloody Mary. The Gnome Aide was really good. Lots of flavor with hints of spices and herbs. It was the perfect combination of spicy and savory, this was confirmed by several others at our table as well. I really got a kick from the “Burn Yo Face” and would probably have been ok with a smaller pour. Overall it was a great Bloody but there were no stand outs. Don’t get me wrong I’d go there for a great Bloody every time. Just no big standouts or jaw droppers. I’d give this Bloody a 3.5 out of 5 pickles rating. Which may very well change the next time I try my luck at the bar.
So despite me filling up on the two skewers from the Bloody I still had some food coming and needed to get ready. I ordered the Breakfast sandwich that had thickly cut bacon, egg, avocado, chipotle mayo and cheese piled high on a thick piece of Ciabatta. First bite the yoke broke and marinated the entire sandwich. Perfect, that’s how a good breakfast sandwich needs to function. Needless to say to say it was awesome! My girlfriend ordered the French toast which was accompanied with some “berry shit and whip cream” direct quote. “It was good, but I personally like French toast without fake fruit goo on it, but to each their own”. So yeah, sounds like it was passable in her book? Anyways, the whole build your own Bloody experience was amazing top notch for sure. I would highly recommend it even if you’re just going to grab the drink. There’s a reason it‘s called the Happy Gnome after all!
RATING:
