Porzana

Porzana took the North Loop corner at 200 North 1st Street that the Bachelor Farmer had made famous, and reopened it as an Argentinian wood-fire steakhouse under Daniel del Prado, the chef behind Martina, Rosalia and a string of other Twin Cities rooms. The kitchen runs prime Argentinian cuts and A5 wagyu over live fire, with handmade pasta, crudo and a raw bar; the sweetcorn agnolotto became the dish the city argued about after it opened. It is a steakhouse in the full sense, which usually implies a wine-first drinks programme and a token spirit-free line at the bottom of the page. That is not what happens here.

The non-alcoholic section on Porzana's own cocktail menu carries six entries, all but one priced at $13 — the same order of magnitude as the full-strength cocktails, which is the clearest signal a bar can send about how seriously it takes the category. The two house builds are the most involved. The Sanguino layers blood orange, white chocolate, rhubarb, elderflower and lime over sparkling tea, using the tea to supply the tannin and length that a spirit would normally carry. The Serrata goes the other way, into savoury and sour: blackberry, hibiscus, beet, Greek yogurt and lemon, with the yogurt giving weight and the beet doing the earthy work. T&T is built on tarragon, verde tea, cacao and lime zest lengthened with tonic. Beyond the house drinks, the list carries two Copenhagen sparkling teas — the Lysegron with lemongrass, earl grey, green apple and citrus, and the Bla with jasmine, black tea, green tea and citrus — and a $16 pour of Woody's dealcoholised sparkling rose for anyone who wants something to toast with. Dinner runs nightly, with weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings. One practical note for a non-drinker booking here: the spirit-free drinks live inside the cocktail menu rather than on a separate card, so there is no need to ask for a different list at the table. Reservations are effectively necessary at dinner; the bar takes a smaller number of walk-ins, and the full non-alcoholic list is available there as well as in the dining room.