This location is now closed!
Kimmy, Aaron, and I headed over to the newest restaurant in town, the Copper Bleu American Bistro in Lakeville (17516 Dodd Boulevard).
An absolutely gorgeous building situated in the middle of an ugly and rather boring suburban strip mall with panoramic windows facing a Cub Foods. On the outside you are nearly blinded by the sodium lights glaring off of the brand-new copper plated building. Once you step inside you immediately notice all the work that went into making you feel seasick and as if you were stuck in a four-day-long acid trip.
When I called the Copper Bleu this morning at 11 AM to make reservations for 7 PM I was told that currently they are only allowing one reservation per fifteen minutes. Because of this limitation they were completely booked. The kind woman on the other end of the phone assured me that we would have absolutely no problems getting a table at 7 PM.
Aaron stopped off at the house first and we all went over together. We arrived at about 7:10 PM and were welcomed with a 20 to 30 minute wait. I ordered a beer while we waited and was served with one of the most poorly poured Guinesses ever. Quite disappointing. Fortunately for this brand new restaurant, that’s where my disappointment stopped.
About half-way through my Guinness our space-aged buzzer went off and we were quickly seated in a booth along the wall. We were lucky, I must admit, as the seating elsewhere in the restaurant was a bit closed in and I would have felt like I was eating with those directly next to me.
Our waitress was very knowledgeable and comfortable with the menu, taking our order, and serving us properly. It’s rare to find a new restaurant that has competent staff and we were very pleased that the Copper Bleu had some excellent wait staff members.
Aaron ordered a bottle of Echelon 2004 Pinot Noir and coconut shrimp. Kim and I ordered bacon wrapped sea scallops with an apricot chutney. Our appetizers came out with an excellent bread selection and after our wine. The wine was good IMHO but Aaron wasn’t quite as impressed. The coconut shrimp were absolutely huge (prawn sized) and had a tasty and crunchy coconut shell. The bacon wrapped sea scallops were tender, not fishy at all, no grit, and with the spicy and sweet chutney were probably some of the most excellent scallops I’ve ever tasted.
For dinner I ordered the tuna steak, Kim chose the pecan encrusted walleye, and Aaron nabbed a chicken sandwich with fries. Our orders came out soon after we finished up scraping the appetizer plates and we dove in.
My tuna steak was served with an awesome wasabi sauce that was presented very well. I’m not sure what the “vegetables” were but they weren’t all that great. I tried to choke them down but I ended up leaving about 20% of them on the plate. If you go w/the tuna steak find a different side, seriously.
Kim’s pecan encrusted walleye was very good. It came with a sweet maple sauce that complemented the flavors well. She polished it off quickly and without too much complaining ;)
Aaron’s sandwich was enormous and he cut it in half and wasn’t able to finish it off. His excuse was that he wanted to save room for dessert, I couldn’t blame him :)
After finishing off our wine and wiping down our plates with the leftover bread I ordered a coffee and cream and we put in our orders for desserts. Kim ordered the strawberry fondue, I went with the crème brule chocolat (vanilla bean custard on a layer ganache with a caramelized sugar crust), Aaron chose the fallen chocolate soufflé. The desserts were fantastic! I enjoyed mine but I enjoyed sneaking some of Kim’s chocolate covered strawberries more ;)
So, while this restaurant has gotten a *ton* of hype over its high cost ($5+ million dollars), it’s poor location in the middle of no-where Lakeville, and its name — derived from “market research” that determined that the name Copper Bleu appealed to women; I must say that tonight, the Copper Bleu’s food, staff, and ambiance really deserves my thumbs up!
If you’re looking for what some would consider a higher-end meal ($141 tonight) with some interesting dishes and great desserts served by knowledgeable and friendly staff in a gorgeous facility, then check out the Copper Bleu in Lakeville, MN.
See Aaron’s post about the Copper Bleu.
See all the pictures from today here.
Related posts:
December 23rd, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Yikes, $141 is definitely way, way into what I would consider a higher-end meal. I’m glad the food and service was good though.
December 24th, 2005 at 7:07 am
A bottle of wine, two appetizers, three entrees, and three desserts. They have some items (sandwiches) in the $11 range. You *could* go there for $30 or under if you tried :)
December 31st, 2005 at 8:27 am
Yeah, the location is weird for such an upscale destination restaurant, but so far, the people are apparently coming. Last night I even say a couple limos there. I had the Argentinian Flank Steak and it was amazing. Bravo to Lakeville for a “non-chain”!
December 31st, 2005 at 1:46 pm
I was absolutely *thrilled* to have such a response. I’m glad that someone is willing to not only do their own research but to take the time out of a busy schedule to make sure that their guests are treated properly and that their staff is trained correctly.
Bravo!
January 6th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
I’m so glad to hear that the copper bleu has a great menu and great service, since it is located only a short distance from my family and I, in the city of Lakeville. Being a resident of Lakeville, I take offense to the rude comments regarding our growing city “middle-of-nowhere Lakeville”. Copper Bleu is situated on Dodd Blvd. and Cedar - about 1/2 mile from the Apple Valley city line. I hardly think this is the “middle-of-nowhere”. I agree with the fact that the scenery in this developing strip mall is not the most pristine for such a classy restaurant, however, everything in the area is BRAND NEW. Who’s to say there won’t be some other higher-end buildings created in the near future. Anyways, just wanted to put in a plug for all of the residents of Lakeville….maybe we should be called the “new and improved” Apple Valley!
January 7th, 2006 at 12:38 am
Well, Lakeville and Apple Valley are in the “middle of no-where” regardless of what you may want to believe. Yes, the Eagan/Apple Valley/Lakeville/Rosemount area is growing but it’s certainly not the center of anything. Wake me up when we have useful weekend transit service to Minneapolis and St. Paul or the LRT crosses the river.
Hell, even eliminating the overabundance of townhomes and chain restaurants/businesses might awaken me!
Until then, my opinion stands.
February 14th, 2006 at 1:18 am
We went to Copper Bleu on Sunday morning and were not at all disappointed. The first thing we noticed was the interior was as exciting as the exterior — all wood and curves and chrome and glass, it set the wayback machine to the best of the “Tommorowland” 1960’s looks. It vaguely reminded me of seeing black and white TV footage of Hugh Hefner’s penthouse parties. And George Jetson would have been comfortable in those chairs, too. The only omission from the period were the pastel blues and pinks, and for that we were additionally grateful! Another happy quirk we noticed was the delightful lack of cell phone reception in the copper-clad building. (Perhaps they will rename it “Faraday’s Cage” someday.) Since everyone I wanted to talk to at that time was seated at the table with me, this was definitely not a problem.
Apparently their Sunday breakfasts are still unknown around town. That was good for us as we were seated immediately, even though it was 11:30. I was pleased to see on the menu that brunch is served at the table. (I really don’t care for typical buffet-style food, kept tepid by stinky cans of Sterno.)
The first course was popovers served with honey butter, peanut butter and jelly. Unfortunately they were not piping hot, but since I know they take 45 minutes it’s hard to plan popovers with such a light crowd. For the entree, I chose the scrambled eggs with cheddar, my son picked the french toast and at our server’s recommendation my wife had the omelette (seafood, I think). With the brunch comes a too-large bowl of potatos (cubed with green and red peppers) and a huge all-you-can-eat meat platter with thick cut pepper bacon, juicy sausage patties that had to have been homemade, and two delicious glazed ham steaks. The three of us barely got through the half the meat, so I think “all you can eat” is more marketing than actual second helpings. It was all comfort food, and prepared even better than mom’s homemade (sorry mom!)
The service was absolutely first rate. One thing we really appreciated was the lack of an annoying manager coming by three or four times to make sure that her shiftless flunkies weren’t serving us crappy, cold food. They simply expect their top notch staff to do well, and they did not disappoint. Our glasses never went low, the food was out exactly as we finished the popovers, and he offered to bring more bacon when he saw we were down to the last strip or two.
And for all that, it was only $12.95 a plate, so after adding two sodas the three of us totaled only $55 after tip. We’re planning to bring my mom there next weekend! If someone would like to go but are put off by the higher dinner prices, I’d recommend experiencing it for less on a Sunday morning. And I’m now looking forward to trying their dinner menu.
February 21st, 2006 at 4:02 pm
What a thrill, to give up the Olympics on a Sunday Eve, just to keep the 5:45 reservation at the Copper Bleu. I never in my life accepteda reservation that placed me in back of the bar. Lovely seating, but no way could my husband or the other couple with us get their seats out enough to sit down in them. After fighting with the table and a few guests were kind enough to move a bit we all got tucked in. Ready to take a nap I thought, rather a brusk waitress (no white blouse with slack or skirt) instead an army green knit top and both the wine and dinner menu’s. Her comment was I have a few other tables so just yell when your ready. Good Lord what next. I will not mention the food as it was satisfactory, nothing to write home about, however when the maid (and that is what she looked like) came with the mashed potatoes she was disturbing every diner in our area as she had no space to work in.
After dining, my friend and I looked about the place a bit, as the out side structure is very unique. You put so much money into wood floors, copper inlays, seating comparable to Charlies Cafe Exceptional, why not attire your wait staff with appropriate clothing?
The last, but the most horrendous mistake, were the hubcaps you decide to use as a room divider. Then I decided you had used the wrong pieces and these large round bowls were after all glass and not something you had collected from Cedar Avenue mishaps. The prices are too high, as I doubt you have a full time Chef. Walleye would never have been flaked, it is not to be treated like crab, and the sauces are not made on the premises, rather bought from a prominent Twin Cities Food Vendor.
March 3rd, 2006 at 6:42 pm
I believe you are not really an open minded person. I just moved here about 4 years ago and I love the area and am not planning to move even though I don’t like cold weather. I don’t understand why having an upscale restaurant, as you put it, does not go well with the city. If the owners felt it was good enough, you should feel that way also. I am not quite sure why the area is so important where the importance should be the food and the service.
Were you served good food?
Was the staff friendly?
Did you have trouble finding a PARKING SPOT?
I would think about the questions above first. Lakeville and Apple Valley are cities that are improving by the minute right before our eyes. Is this jealousy I detect?
March 10th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Hey, what’s not open minded about the review? It’s not like he gave the place a bad review? Lakeville is (relatively) in the middle of nowhere. That’s not to rag on where you choose to live, but it IS in the middle of nowhere. Copper Blue IS an odd find for a place like Lakeville, and that’s okay, just a bit surprising.
I think he answered your first two questions (good food and friendly staff) and your question about finding a PARKING SPOT makes me wonder if you have something against Minneapolis/St. Paul. Are you assuming that there’s nowhere to park in the “big city?” Sounds pretty close-minded.
And the jealousy comment? What’s that about? Scroll up and read “Kim and Bill Roehl - Apple Valley, MN.” Jealous of the city they live in? How does that work?
March 10th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Mark,
Thanks for pointing out what I didn’t feel like attempting to explain. I can never win.
Bill
March 16th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Being a 20 year Lakeville resident (hey, some of us like living in the middle of nowhere), I was very happy to see a non-chain restaurant come into the area. I’ve been there 4 times and 3 of them were very good. The fourth (the most recent visit and two days after the Strib revue) was surprisingly bad.
From virtually tasteless red curry to virtually no lobster, my dinner (and two others) were pretty bad. My banana cream dessert had overcooked eggs in the pastry cream and was fairly gritty.
The kicker was the staff running vacuum cleaners and dust busters at the tables around ours as each one emptied out. When we asked them to stop, they politely agreed and moved one more table away and started again. This is really surprising as it was mentioned in the review as a negative.
In the end my four “city” friends, whom I wanted so desperately to impress, weren’t.
I’ll go back because it’s still the best thing going in the neighborhood.
I won’t go later in the evening, so I can miss the cleaning crew.
March 27th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I personally absolutely love Copper bleu. I’ve been there twice in the last week and can’t wait to go back. I just can’t believe anyone had a bad experience there. My hat is off to the bleu, anybody can be a critic but I only think of one word when I think of you, Fantastic!
April 2nd, 2006 at 8:10 pm
First of all, you dont know what your talking about. The building is facing a cub but there is high nshrubs that section you off and you cant see it. Second the cub foods is a hugh sales generator anf its in one of the top wealthy communities in lakeville, why dont you get educated before you try to be a food critic.
Thanks
p.s. how do you know what a four day acid trip, and they wall is awsome behind all the bottles and the lights are awsome made out of beakers.
April 3rd, 2006 at 7:10 am
“First of all you dont know what your talking about.”
“The building is facing a cub but there is high nshrubs that section you off and you cant see it.”
“Second the cub foods is a hugh sales generator anf its one of the top wealthy communities in lakeville, why dont you get educated before you try to be a food critic.”
“p.s. how do you know what a four day acid trip (is), and they wall is awsome behind all the bottles and the lights are awsome made out of beakers.”
Nice troll!
April 10th, 2006 at 10:27 am
My boyfriend received a gift certificate from his boss for a $100.00 and was told that Copper Bleu was fabulous. Him and I went on a Wednesday night at 7:45. The atmosphere is great on the inside, the decor is beautiful. We have an extremely unsighlty view of Goodyear Tires! The music in the backround was a loud bass thump and very annoying. Our server was the wrost server imaginable. She should be working at Perkins or Dennys, not an upper scale restaurant like Copper Bleu. For an appatizer, I ordered bacon wrapped scallops wich were pretty tasty, but there were only four scallops. When I ordered Prime Rib, I was told that they were out. I could understand if it was a little later at night on a weekend, but not on a Wednesday night! I instead ordered the steak oscar, 2 petite filets with crab and asparagus. My boyfriend ordered a char-crusted “prime rib” cut ribeye steak. He ordered it “medium” and it came out “moooooing!!!” It was basically raw. To make up for it, they were going to give us a free desert. BIG DEAL… It was just a horrible experience and for a $97.00 dinner, I would rather go to Murray’s or even Outback, not Copper Bleu! We will never go there…. ever again.
May 15th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
My wife and I went to Copper Bleu to celebrate our anniversary — we were very excited to have a “nice” restaurant so close to our home. Too bad it ended up as one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had.
Other than when ordering, we didn’t see our server. When our food came, my wife’s steak, ordered medium, was dry, charred on the outside, and didn’t have any color inside. We sent it back (my entree and the sides, cooked okay, sat in front of us and cooled off — I had no desire to eat alone on my anniversary, so I thought I would wait for hers to be delivered). After 26 minutes, I was able to track down our waitress, who then sent a “manager” to talk to us. When I questioned the 26 minutes on cooking a new steak, I was informed, “that’s how long it takes.” TO COOK A STEAK????? I could grill the thickest filet mignon on the backyard Weber in a lot less than 26 minutes.
Then the conciliatory offer process began: First, a bottle of wine was offered — my visibly pregnant wife was thrilled with that. Second, the offer for a complementary dessert — a cold entree and an extra half-hour of waiting for a poorly cooked steak, and you offer a dessert???? Then the offer that my wife’s meal would be comped — great, but I just ate my anniversary meal ALONE. We finally got the bill, and they comped both our meals, but charged for the grean beans and mashed potatoes. I’m not one to complain about free food, but why would you comp $70 and leave a $20 bill for already unhappy customers? Would the extra $20 to comp the entire meal have been that much of a hardship?
We live 2 miles from Copper Bleu. I really wanted to like it, but I won’t be going back.
May 24th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Yeah, why live in the “middle of nowhere” when you can go downtown and get mugged, raped, or shot at. Do the “sophistocated” restaurants downtown offer a Kevlar vest for the walk to your car after dinner?
Guess us inbred hicks out here in the ‘burbs are just missing out.
June 30th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I have to give my compliments to Copper Blue. I moved to Lakeville from Chicago last year and as someone that works in marketing in the food industry one of the things that I miss is the abundance of great restaurants. Even though Lakeville is not that far from the twin cities, not many cities can compare to the vast number of great restaurants in Chicago. I am very excited to have Copper Blue close by and have nothing but great experiences, not only eating in, but also ordering and taking out. It is an exciting new atmosphere that does bring itself to current trends in the industry. The menu is a great fusion of American mixed with a slight ethnic flare. Even the traditional American dishes are infused with a cutting edge flare. I definitley give it a thumbs up and food is my business.
Just an aside to the last comment Lakeville was actually listed this year as the fourth best place to live in the nation. So although it is one of the furthest suburbs it was one of the fasted growing cities the country last year, and voted 4th best in in the nation this year. Pretty good I would say for a small city in MN……….so some of those that seem to think Lakeville is not worth the trip might want to check it out!
June 30th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
I want to know where you got your information from that you claim Lakeville was rated a top 5 best place to live. CNN doesn’t think so (it was only a contender in 2005). Chanhassen and Rochester were finalists from Minnesota but neither were in the top 10.
See here for CNN’s “Best Places to Live” from 2005.
September 27th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
I worked at Copper Bleu before moving out of the state. All of the sauces are made from scratch. The uniforms are unflattering, but the restaurant is working on it. As for the mashed potatoes, most tables like to watch the girl make them. Last, there has been a full time chef from day one. You just sound like a grumpy person which has nothing better to do than complain.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
I agree with you. I was a server for many years at many different ‘high class’ restaurants, and now that I am out of it- I would never wish to go back. Some people act like food is brain surgery- give me a break people… it’s just a meal!!! It can be fixed! And if you don’t like the uniforms, the ambience or the meals- bugger off… go to McDonalds if you think you’re getting ‘ripped off’ everywhere else. There, you’ll get a consistent, quick meal that is sure to please your shallow little taste buds.
On a personal note, I still have nightmares and panic attacks because of the way that people used to treat me when I was serving. It may sound ridiculous, but you can be easily traumatized in that profession. So, the next time your even thinking about blaming your server, stop, and say to yourself, “it’s just a meal.” Besides, you’ll get better service if you treat your server with respect.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Decent food…decent service. Mediocre at best. Nothing extraordinary…nothing awful. Great place if you want to to bring the kids and everyone has a decent meal. That’s really about it. There are worse places….but so many better!
October 18th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Adam wrote in to let us know that this location has closed. Please see their website here for the official notice.
Now who the hell is going to take over that ugly building in the middle of a suburban Cub Foods parking lot?