Best of the entrees include the very moist grilled marinated breast of chicken topped with a medly of corn, zucchini and red peppers and laced with a red pepper cream sauce, the pot roasted moulard duck in a sweet and savory honey-blueberry sauce and a pair of pork cutlets served with a tangy dried cherry apple chutney and a mix of wild rice, snow peas, pumpkin seeds, red peppers and carrots. The Dakota has always had a reputation as the kind of place reserved for a special occasion. When it opened in 1985, it was one of the few restaurants around that cooked with fresh and local ingredients. But more and more chefs cook the same way, and the Dakota's become a place for people who don't want to have to think about food. Located in Bandana Square, which resembles a ghost town these days, the Dakota continues to hop.
Servers tear around, trying to take care of hungry customers.
In the bar, where the air is thick with smoke, there's live jazz nightly. Owner Lowell Pickett works the room, appeasing temperamental musicians, schmoozing with longtime regulars, taking food orders. The simplest dishes are the most impressive. Grilled beef tenderloin in a tarragon and black-peppercorn butter sauce was tasty. I like the maple-glazed pork chop, too, grilled and garnished with wild rice and crunchy asparagus.