Diane's Place

Diane's Place is one of the hottest restaurants in Minneapolis right now, serving Hmong-American cuisine in the cozy Northeast neighborhood. Executive Chef Diane Moua was recently recognized as a James Beard semifinalist for her work at Diane's Place, continuing to push the boundaries of Hmong cuisine. Diane's Place operates as a casual brunch cafe during the day, and transforms into a sophisticated dinner destination at night. As someone making a first visit to Diane's Place, I opted to go for the brunch menu and cafe. I was interested in the food, but also wanted to try the pastries. Although the menu wasn't the largest, there were a lot of dishes I wanted to try. The brunch menu uniquely blends Southeast Asian flavors into traditional Western breakfast foods. Notably, there are two savory croissant dishes: the sausage, egg, and cheese croissant with Hmong sausage and scallion cream cheese, and the spam and nori croissant. Additionally, the menu features a Thai Tea French Toast, made with croissant bread, vanilla whipped cream, and raspberries. There are also more traditional Hmong dishes, such as Hmong sausage, papaya noodle salad, rice and meat plates, and more. We wanted to try a little bit of the Hmong side as well as the fusion dishes. The service was a little slow. The food came out in reasonable time, it just felt like our server wasn’t always able to help us. Our water was sometimes empty, and there was a large gap in time between the first time she was at our table and when she came back to take our order and answer questions. However, our server was extremely kind and knowledgable. She was able to field off all questions we had about the menu and was able to accommodate anything we asked for. We started with the Hmong sausage with sticky rice. This dish comes with the choice of a sweet and sour sauce or Hmong hot sauce, as well as an optional fried egg for an extra three dollars, which we chose to add. I thought everything about this dish was perfect. The edge of the sausage was crispy, the meat itself was still moist, and it had amazing flavor. The side sauce added tanginess, sweetness, and spice to cut through the richness of the sausage and egg. The rice and garnish also helped to contrast the bold flavors of the sausage and side sauce to make for perfectly balanced bites. This was a classic dish executed flawlessly. Following the sausage, we went for the Thai Tea French Toast. I thought this was the most unique item on the menu. I rarely see French Toast adapted from its traditional preparation, and the Thai tea aspect really piqued my interest. Visually, the French toast was stunning. Two large pieces of toast stood on top of each other, perfectly rigid on the sides, topped with oozing whipped cream and raspberries with a side of syrup. The edge of the French toast was unbelievably crispy. It held its structure and was so satisfying to bite into, in contrast to the bread's fluffy, soft center. The bread also took on a surprisingly strong Thai tea flavor. I wasn't expecting it to come through so prominently. The raspberries were a perfect choice to cut through the sweetness of the whole dish. With all of the components being so sweet and rich, the tartness of the raspberries made each bite so much better while also adding a visual contrast that brightened up the plate. On the other hand, the Sweet Pork Bowl was not my favorite. All of the garnishes were delicious again, but the pork wasn't perfect. The flavor was spot on. It featured a deep and complex flavor that was not too sweet, but was deeply engrained in the pork. The accompanying sauce really enhanced the flavor and once again made for balanced and delicious bites. My only problem with this dish was that the texture of the pork itself wasn't great. Although the meat itself was really flavorful, it was dry and a little chewy. Despite this, I felt that the flavor was really impressive, and everything else about the dish was still great. The portion sizes were very reasonable. We couldn't even finish all of the food we ordered, so we took the leftovers in addition to some pastries to go. I would say all of the food was fairly priced, although the pastries trend towards the more expensive side. Just to try a pastry I was more familiar with, I ordered a chocolate croissant, but we also got the mango, passion fruit, lychee croissant, and the coconut pandan croissant. While still yummy, the chocolate croissant wasn't mind-blowing. The texture was flaky but not as chewy as I'd like, but the chocolate inside was delicious. As for the coconut pandan croissant, I actually thought it lacked flavor. It is filled with cream, which was rich but the flavor of the cream was very subtle. The mango, passion fruit, lychee croissant was definitely the hit for me. It wasn't exactly a croissant, but the filling was super delicious. Each of the fruits absolutely came through and the texture of the pastry was perfect making for a delicious dessert. When it comes to Diane's Place, expect bold and harmonious flavors with high levels of execution. The Thai Tea French Toast is a must order, but I also believe that the kitchen is talented enough that most dishes are probably equally as strong. Diane’s Place is deserving of all the hype and will definitely be on my list of places I hope to revisit in the future.