Restaurant Review: The Toasted Frog

I'm a foodie. I have a love affair with food and I need to be able to truly experience my meals by getting a burst of flavor out of everything I eat. In order to enjoy my meals the food needs to be enhanced with more than just salt and pepper and I honestly believe that the words bland and boring should only be reserved for the dietary plans of the ill. I have been told time and time again that I am an excellent cook and I demand the same from any place that I am paying money to eat because I absolutely hate to feel that I could have done better at home. Currently, I live in Grand Forks, North Dakota and needless to say the area is not exactly known the world over for its great selection of local foods and prized chefs. Because I have lived in Atlanta, Orlando, New York, San Diego, and Germany I had become accustomed to amazing restaurants and I didn't really know what to do in a place where they seem to eat to live instead of vice versa. So, I closed my eyes to the restaurants here and made a conscious decision to just cook for myself at home all of the time. Then one day in May my friend Julii (not the same Julie from my Dixie's Southern Style Review in St. Paul, MN) called me up and invited me to join her and another friend at a local restaurant called The Toasted Frog. I was bored so I took her up on her offer and found myself pleasantly surprised.

The restaurant is located in the downtown area of Grand Forks. It was a down right shame that I lived in this city for almost a year before I had ever even ventured into downtown but such is the loss that a closed minded person like myself will suffer at times. Downtown Grand Forks is surprisingly charming and the area that the Toasted Frog is located in is rather quaint. When I stepped into the restaurant I was immediately pulled back to memories of some of the neat upscale little food joints in Atlanta's Midtown or Buckhead areas. There was hardwood flooring and, exposed brick walls and piping. We did have a short wait of about eight minutes but we were able to pass the time pleasantly by sitting at the bar and enjoying a perfectly mixed Long Island Iced Tea served by a very friendly bartender. When we were seated our server appeared in less than five minute, she was perfectly kempt, and extremely informative and helpful about the menu. As expected, there really are frogs legs on the menu but I hadn't tried those in more than fifteen years and I wasn't really ready to go down back down that road again so I stuck with the tried and true option of chicken wings and sweet potato fries; Julii ordered the same and O'dale, my other friend ordered the fish tacos.

When our food arrived I was even more surprised. These were not just ordinary chicken wings, they were grilled chicken wings with a mustard based sauce. They were absolutely awesome and perfectly grilled and seasoned through and through. The sweet potato fries were so good until they have since become my favorite craving and I'll fly up to The Toasted Frog to pick up a to go order on the whim of any given day. Sweet potato fries are pretty easy to make but the proof of the culinary skill lies in the accompanying aioli sauce. I was accustomed to eating these delectable orange strings of heaven with a ginger-wasabi based sauce but the Toasted Frog serves theirs with a spicy creole aioli sauce...and is every bit as good as it sounds. Julii shorted me by ordering the same thing that I did but I got a chance to nibble some of O'Dale's fish taco. I didn't think that I'd like the combination of fish and tacos but it was really good. It is served with a grilled fish fillet and accompanied with mango salsa, slaw, and flour tortillas...this was a yummy combination. Ultimately, the Toasted Frog has become one of my favorite restaurants in Grand Forks and I learned yet another valuable lesson about one of the dangers of closed mindedness...one day my eyes will open completely and I'll stop being so bored here.