the buttered tin

although minneapolis and saint paul are described as twin cities a walk along their streets is more a tale of two, the former a bustling metropolis while the latter’s “downtown” isn’t exactly desolate, but largely lacking in terms of storefronts save for a few local coffee shops plus the buttered tin where locals wait up to an hour as a result of not only the lack of competition, but a lengthy menu baked goods plus several breakfast and lunch plates.
    
now open since 2013 and featuring the skills of chef alicia hinze, a cordon bleu graduate who sought to fill a niche with “happiness,” it was just past 1:00pm that he buttered tin was found still filled since approximately eight in the morning, a situation overcome by a grab n’ go pastry counter in front of the bustling kitchen as servers passed by at a rapid and steady pace.

probably not a place best suited for the indecisive, the combination of countertop, racks and a refrigerated case displaying at least three-dozen styles of scratch-made sweets plus a few savory items such as biscuits, it was beginning with one sizable specimen featuringgoodlayering and plenty of thyme that a first taste was taken, the herbs occasionally a bit overwhelming but not unpleasant while a seven-layer bar to follow developed in waves beginning with chocolate and slowly dissipating to a lengthy linger of butter and coconut.

unable to wait any longer at this point for hinze’s most celebrated item, a warmed cinnamon roll topped-to-order with cream cheese frosting, suffice it to say that in a region where the pastry is offered prominently across many menus this version is not as fluffy as some though it is still good, a housemade riff on hostess’ classic cupcake also falling short of accolades, particularly considering the $3 cost for what amounts to about two bites.

seated elsewhere and indulging with coffee, several halves later discarded to save capacity for additional dining, it was finally at this point that two items worth devouring in their entirety were discovered, a chocolate salted caramel cookie seemingly flourless and exceptional in its balance while a daily “milk ball” filled with oreo fluff reminisced of baked dim sum but with the springiness of an egg bread such as brioche.

we went for brunch today, this was our second time there. our first time was a pretty bad experience overall, but thought we would try it again. it was really busy for a monday with a line at least ten minutes out. you could see the employees were all flustered. it was unorganized chaos to say the least. we ordered a red and a white sangria, and then asked if the gluten free cupcakes were also dairy free. the counter clerk checked with the baker, who double checked the recipe book for us. i was very impressed and appreciative that they were respectful of my way food allergy. but then i ordered the breakfast tacos with no cheese and also the tbt hash browns with the purée on the side, since she was "pretty sure" there was cream in it. then i requested everything cooked in oil and not butter since i have a dairy allergy (different then lactose intolerance). now, i realize i was at the buttered tin, however my husband and son do not share the same allergy and i like to dine out with them to many different locations. and as mentioned before, we had been here before. so after i mentioned no butter and that i had a dairy allergy, the lady said everything there has butter in it. the hash browns and even the scrambled eggs... and she appeared almost panicked and confused. she kind of stuttered again that literally everything has butter. i simply said we would take our sangria and cupcake and not have anything more, as my husband didn't want anything if i couldn't eat. we grabbed a table and had our sangria. oh man, it was some horrible sangria. both the red and the white. the white sangria was basically white wine and oj and the red was like wine and juice too. elgh. we were not pleased at all. the carrot cupcake wasgoodhowever. the thing that bothered me most was that they had accommodated my dairy free request in the past and simply said no way is it possible this time. it appeared that because they were just coming out of a rush they didn't want to spend any extra time or energy to accommodate my food allergy. and simply put, they have corn tortillas, eggs that can be pan fried in oil, pico de gallo, ham, bacon... etc! there is no way everything has butter in it. i would have been just fine to have egg tacos in place of the breakfast tacos. they could have used oil to fry my eggs and put into a tortilla with pico de gallo and give me a side of ham or bacon. she even mentioned the veggies have butter in them. so they can't provide hash browns and sautéed veggies using oil instead of butter!? we will for sure never go back to this place. they were so stuck in their butter box that they couldn't suggest me a dang salad even. beware of the butter drenched salads!

the 40 minute wait was well worth it. i was able to grab a cup of coffee at the bakery counter and sit while i waited.the interior is classy and chic; picture perfect. the menu is not large but it has agoodvariety, which i appreciate. the food was delicious and the prices were comparable to most breakfast spots i have visited in the twin cities. i highly recommend it!

worth the wait. delicious breakfast, fresh ingredients and delectable desserts. we had the "damnedgoodegg sandwich" and the roasted mushroom polenta with poached eggs. the polenta was little pricey ( 12 for the small serving of polenta) and i didn't taste any bacon, however the eggs were perfect and polenta delicious. the egg sandwich was my fave.