Toward the end of our vacation, my wife and I decided to head back to the Twin Cities and civilization - a marked departure of the laid-back atmosphere we experienced during our staying in and around Spicer, MN, 100 miles west of Minneapolis. We booked a room at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis with the expressed plan of eating at an old-time high-end steakhouse/supper club nearby where we had a drink at the bar during a visit a few years ago. This post is about our visit to Murray's in downtown Minneapolis.
And when I say Murray's is an old-time supper club, well, it's just that. Started in 1946 by Milwaukee natives Art and Marie Murray, the building that houses Murray's dates back to the 1880's and is one of the oldest buildings in Minneapolis. Art Murray wasn't a restaurateur when he and Marie were married in the 1920's. He was a carton salesman and made frequent trips to the Twin Cities. Marie had been a server at the toney Palmer House in Chicago and moved back to Milwaukee to work the dining room at the then prestigious Schroeder Hotel (now the Hilton City Center). Occasionally, he would take Marie with him to Minneapolis and the couple fell in love with the city and the area.
The Murray's eventually moved to the Twin Cities in 1933 and two years later they bought a small restaurant on Minneapolis' north side that had gone out of business during the Great Depression. The couple called their restaurant the Red Feather Cafe, and by 1939 they discovered they needed more space for their ever growing clientele who enjoyed the high quality food they served. The couple decided to move their restaurant to a hotel in downtown Minneapolis and they continued to run it all through World War II. But in 1946, the opportunity to do something different in a space that had opened up a couple blocks from the Red Feather Cafe.
Pictured at right - Art and Marie Murray. Photo courtesy Murray's.
Delaney's, a bar that boasted the longest bar in Minneapolis, closed up not long after the end of World War II. Prior to that, the long, narrow building housed the Winter Garden Ballroom, a banquet facility and live music venue that hosted a number of performers during the big band and jazz era prior to World War II. And prior to the Winter Garden, the second and third floors of the building was the home to the Hankow Cafe which was billed as "the finest Oriental cafe in the Northwest." But the Hankow Cafe was also somewhat infamous for the murder that happened in its kitchen between two men who had been rivals in China years before.
Wanting to have an upscale steakhouse that would serve memorable meals to their patrons, the Murray's took over the building in 1945, gutted, redesigned and rebuilt the tired interior, and transformed the drab facade into a sleek Streamline Moderne architectural design. The Murray's opened their eponymous steakhouse in August of 1946. Murray's upscale dining was an immediate hit with both the locals and public figures who came to Minneapolis to perform or push for votes. The "Who's Who" of screen, stage and politics all dined at Murray's.
Marie Murray was the one who did most of the menu planning during the time the building was undergoing renovations. Art Murray enlisted the help of Marie's cousin, Alois Schirle, to come from post-war Germany to be the master baker for what turned out to be Murray's famous toasted garlic bread and their delicious pies. Things were going very well for the Murray's and they got even better when a man by the name of Maurice Dreicer showed up at their place.
Maurice Dreicer was a bon vivant who was a radio entertainer and producer in the 1930's and 1940's before becoming a food and wine columnist. He was a published author with a book on what his expectations for fine dining in a restaurant. He was the self-described founder of the Order of the Golden Dozen (world's greatest chefs), the Order of the Great Drinking Establishments (world's best bars), founder and president of both Cigar Smokers United, and the Ale League of the World. He may have also been the world's first - and possibly only - caviar tester. He even put out a recorded verbal manual on how to mix drinks. But more than anything, he was a connoisseur of fine steaks. And he found a niche in which he was able to exploit his love for steaks into what turned out to be a pretty good scam for a number of years.
Starting in the mid-40's, Dreicer began to visit restaurants to find the perfect steak. Dreicer was a colorful man, to say the least. He would wear high dollar suits, smoke large Cuban cigars, and had a resounding voice that immediately garnered the attention of waiters and diners alike in any restaurant he entered. He always carried a large black bag - similar to a doctor's bag - that contained a number of items to help him judge each steak served to him.
To perpetuate the illusion of him being an expert on steaks, he ordered up one and a half pound steaks to be served to him - cooked rare with absolutely no seasoning. Then to continue his pompous perception, he would give the waiter a wooden bowl in which to serve the steak after the bowl had been heated in an oven. Dreicer said that it was because the oak wood in the bowl would enhance the flavor of the meat. And because the bowl would be so hot, he would also provide a pair of gloves for the waiter to transport the bowl from kitchen to table.
Once the steak was served, he would wear a monocle while first inspecting the served steak. He would then take out a meat thermometer and insert it into the steak to see if it was at the desired temperature of 120 degrees (F). After that, he would take out a large magnifying glass to check the contour and marbling of the steak. Finally, he would ceremoniously pull out a gold butter knife and cut into the piece of meat. If it did not cut the meat, he would send it back.
As he continued his quest to find the perfect steak, Dreicer began to reward those restaurants who were close - but not quite there - to the perfect steak. He came up with an award called the Silver Butter Knife Award given to restaurants who had very good steaks. He also had a Golden Butter Knife Award that he gave to restaurants who he felt had exceptional steaks.
In 1951, Maurice Dreicer came to Murray's to have their 28 ounce sirloin steak designed to serve two people. He liked it enough to give Art Murray his Silver Butter Knife award - basically a cheap certificate with a miniature silver butter knife attached. He came back in 1956, this time having the porterhouse steak big enough for four people to enjoy, and then awarded Murray with a Golden Butter Knife certificate.
Pictured left - Art Murray (left) receives his Golden Butter Knife certificate from Maurice Dreicer. Photo courtesy Minneapolis Star Tribune.
It turned out that it wasn't all that exclusive of a club for the Silver Butter Knife award. Dreicer handed out awards to nearly 250 other steakhouses across the United States including three more in the Twin Cities area.
Maurice Dreicer played this pomposity to the hilt - eventually referring to himself as a "Professor" - and parlayed it into a 40 year quest where he traveled to 60 countries where he was able to get some free dinners and drinks out of some establishments. He had planned to write a book about the world's perfect steak, but he claimed he never did find it. (The closest, according to his widow, was a Kobi beef steak he had in Tokyo.) Dreicer eventually got into some trouble with the IRS for some six-figure deductions taken in the course of research for the book that was never written. Dreicer passed away at his Florida home in 1989 at the age of 78.
The number of awards given out by Dreicer didn't phase Art Murray in the least. He started an advertising campaign touting Murray's as home to the "Silver Butter Knife Steak." Even after garnering the Golden Butter Knife Award, Murray continued to tout his restaurant as home to the "Silver Butter Knife Steak", mainly because it was easier to market a steak for two people rather than one meant for four. Many of the steakhouses who received awards either went out of business or eventually saw through the charade Dreicer was perpetrating, but Murray's continues to tout their award nearly 60 years later.
Pat Murray grew up in the restaurant business with his parents washing dishes at Murray's. He once acknowledged that the only job he'd ever had in his life was working at Murray's. After graduating from high school in 1958, he went to work for his parents full time. Two years later, he married his childhood sweetheart Joyce, and the same year he took over the day-to-day operation of Murray's. Pat and Joyce Murray had five children, three of which followed their father into the family business. Pat died at his home in 2012 at the age of 72. Today, Pat and Joyce's sons James and Tim Murray, along with their sister Jill Kummings are the third generation owners/operators of Murray's.
The distinctive neon sign out in front of Murray's is hard to ignore as we walked up N. 6th Street toward the restaurant, just a couple three blocks south of Target Field, home to the Minnesota Twins. (see map) The sign has survived a building demolition gone wrong from across the street where a steel girder came inches from crashing into it in 1979. Nearly 20 years later, the Murray's had signed a letter of intent to sell the building to make way for a parking garage and for them to move to a larger location. However, a few months later, the deal fell through and the Murray's - and the sign - stayed put.
We entered Murray's and made our way down a hallway toward the hostess desk. We passed a number of pictures on the wall of members of the Murray family standing with entertainers, athletes, politicians and other noted figures who have eaten at the restaurant. Some of them I recognized - like Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS - but many I did not. Pictures of Art, Marie and Pat Murray were prominently displayed amongst the pictures of celebrities.
We were met by Tim Murray at the stand up front. We didn't have reservations and we figured we'd have to wait for awhile for a table. But Tim Murray said that we could probably be seated in less than 10 minutes. He asked if we'd like to wait in the bar area until they called for us.
The bar area we were familiar with because we had been in there before having a drink after a Twins game a handful of years ago. Back then, I thought the place was pretty cool and I wanted to come back for dinner after looking over a menu during our first visit. Actually, it's not a large lounge area with a three-sided bar that seats less than 15 people. There were some high-top tables along the wall. The tile floor was the original floor for Delaney's Bar that Art Murray kept in place as a nod to the establishment who was in there just before he bought the place. My wife got a cranberry vodka and I got a Surly Furious IPA while we waited for a table.
True to Tim Murray's word, it was less than a 10 minute wait when we were finally called to get seated. The dining room was a somewhat stunning scene that was both modern and retro. High-backed plush booths, tables topped with thick table cloths, a mix of contemporary and art deco lighting in a room with white accents defined the dining area. I felt somewhat underdressed in a pair of shorts and a polo shirt, but Murray's is one of those "come as you area"-type of places that caters to people before and after sporting events or concerts in downtown Minneapolis.
We were seated in a table near the front of the dining room, given menus and were soon greeted by our server that evening, an outgoing and personable young man by the name of Anthony - but he asked us to call him Tony as the night wore on and we got to know him a little better. He gave us some time to relax and to look over the menu.
Naturally, steaks are the main item on the menu at Murray's. In addition to their time-honored Silver Butter Knife steak for two, they have a steak flight for two that consists of a 10-ounce New York strip, an 8-ounce ribeye, and a 6-ounce filet. They also had an 18-ounce bone-in Kansas City strip on the menu, a 10-ounce bacon-wrapped filet topped with blue cheese, and a 28-ounce porterhouse that could be shared or had by someone with a big appetite. For the non-beef eaters, Murray's also featured seared scallops, a cracker crust fresh-lake walleye, a loin rack of Colorado-raised lamb, and a lemon-herb chicken entree. Appetizers included a tuna poke, hickory-smoked shrimp, oysters Rockefeller, and a 16-ounce Australian lobster tail that could be shared by up to 8 people at the table.
Tony brought out a basket of bread to start us off. It was a mixture of fresh baked breads that are still baked in-house in Murray's second-floor bakery. The pumpernickel was especially good.
We started out by sharing a wedge salad. It was a little smaller than I anticipated - we probably could have both gotten a wedge salad and it would have been fine. The wedge salad featured a small chunk of iceberg lettuce topped with gorgonzola cheese crumbles, real bacon bits, red onion rings, chopped tomatoes and finished with a combination of Roquefort and French dressing. Along with the bread, it was a nice start to our meal.
For her dinner that night, my wife got the beef tournedos Oscar. It featured two 3-ounce beef tenderloin medallions with grilled asparagus topped with a béarnaise sauce resting on a crab cake. Murray's has their own in-house butcher who has worked there for over 35 years and they age their steaks 28 days before preparation. My wife's tenderloin medallions were tender with a great beef flavor. She was very happy with her choice.
I was a little more undecided about what to get. I thought about getting the peppercorn strip sirloin as I like a nice pepper coating on my steaks. But then I looked down further on the menu and found that for an uncharge I could get any steak with a peppercorn crust. I ended up ordering the 10-ounce tenderloin filet - rare. It came out loaded with cracked peppercorn on the top, but the peppercorns didn't deter from the overall great taste of the steak. Just like my wife's tenderloin medallions, my filet was tender and easy to cut. I had switched from beer to a house Malbec they had that went very well with the steak. Ten ounces was more than enough considering we had to have something on the side, as well.
Murray's has a number of sides to go along with the steaks they serve. And in typical steakhouse fashion, the sides are made to be sharable. In this case, we got the loaded hash browns as a side. It was literally served in a loaf that was loaded with cheese and grilled onions. The taste was wonderful and it was very filling. I could only handle just a few bites of the cheesy hash browns with the onions mixed in.
After we finished our meal, Tony came back with the dessert menu to try and entice into stuffing our already overloaded stomach's even more. Many of the desserts - if not all of the desserts - served at Murray's are made in house and include such sinfully decadent items like the mango/coconut bread pudding, their signature raspberry pie that is made fresh daily, and a s'mores chocolate truffle cake. We thought about getting the creme brûlée, but ended up getting the key lime pie. It was very good with a great tart lime taste and a crumbly graham cracker crust. A dollop of whipped cream with lime zest sat majestically on top of the slice of the pie. It was a great end to a great meal.
After we finished up, my wife was asking Tony about his life outside of working at Murray's. He said that he liked to travel and that he was looking forward to an upcoming trip to Hawaii with his daughter. Well, once he said "Hawaii", my wife had to quiz him as to which island he was going to. He mentioned both Maui and Kauai - our two favorite places in Hawaii - and my wife told him about the Road Tips blog to give him some ideas of what to do when he got out there. He gave me his e-mail address to pass along the Road Tips url, but unfortunately I lost the slip on which he put his address. So, Tony, sorry man. I didn't want to think I had blown you off and hopefully you found the blog on your own.
Murray's was pretty much everything we expected it to be - charming and elegant without the pretension that sometimes work its way into venerable steakhouse/supper clubs. On our way out, Tim Murray asked us how our meal was and we told him it was excellent. And it was. Our steaks were tender, flavorful and cooked precisely the way we ordered. The service we received from Tony was professional, yet personable, and he handled every request that we had with a "no problem" attitude. The ambience was classy without the stuffiness that you may find at some big city steakhouses. Murray's has evolved over the years and have changed with the times with a "come-as-you-are" attitude toward their patrons. But one thing hasn't changed from when they first opened in 1946 - the basic philosophy of offering some of the best in-house, aged hand-cut steaks that you'll find anywhere.
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