Blue Point

Minnesota’s oyster pioneer, Blue Point, has finally opened a second location, in the office towers that cluster around I-494 and France. Curious, I went. The oysters? Blameless—fresh as buttercups, saline, expertly shucked, perfect in every way. The wine list is a good one, too, full of buttery whites, mineral whites, well-priced whites—clearly the work of professionals. The food was okay. Fish and chips were close to perfect, with fresh cod and crispy homemade fries. The clam chowder, however, was gummy and graceless, and the steamed Little Neck clams were steamed to rubber. The seared scallops, gloriously shellacked to a deep mahogany brown, remained strangely tasteless. On the other hand, the pistachio-crusted halibut was elegantly done, the crust a mere dusting of flavor and the fish vaporously well-cooked. All in all, the new Blue Point struck this critic as a work-in-progress— a joy for seafood lovers in the neighborhood, but of limited interest to urban diners. Unless you’ve got a lot of West Elm and Container Store errands to run, in which case you may deserve some restorative champagne and oysters.  Blue Point, 4400 W. 78th St., Bloomington; 952-767-9711; bluepoint-restaurantandbar.com