I stopped in to the Bachelor Farmer, the hotly anticipated, just-opened Warehouse District restaurant by Governor Mark Dayton’s sons, Eric and Andrew Dayton, and my first thoughts: What a gently pretty farmhouse vibe they have created on the Mississippi! But you should give them a little space before rushing in yourself to confirm this.

Why? Not the food, the food itself showed promise: I very much liked the brisk pureed kale soup with its bracing, vegetal spine softened with a bit of crème fraiche. I look forward to again sampling the silky rabbit liver purée, and I was positively dazzled by a vegetarian plate of gently poached eggs, creamy leeks, and fresh summer tomatoes and snap peas. My problem was the restaurant’s service: At the bar I placed a drink order, asked after it fifteen minutes later, and finally canceled it after a lonely half hour, when, after another inquiry, the bartender revealed he hadn’t yet started to make the cocktails. There were six other people in the bar, not counting myself. Once seated, once orders were made, appetizers took nearly a full hour to appear. Now, I understand opening difficulties, but this is a little more difficult than most people have a life to accommodate. I’ll be back to Bachelor Farmer, especially for the warm popovers with honey butter (ooh, memories of Dayton’s Oak Room, and how circular is that?) and also for the gorgeous little dessert pancakes with strawberries, and I’ll be ultimately reviewing them on the average of many visits, but when I do return I’ll also be hoping for all our sakes that these bachelors remember that some of us have babysitters on the clock at home, and speed it up.

The Bachelor Farmer

50 2nd Ave. N., Mpls.,

612-206-3920

thebachelorfarmer.com