Flame is a new restaurant in the expansion of Rosedale Center in Rosedale, Minnesota (suburb of the Twin Cities). They opened the Monday after Memorial Day weekend 2008. Like the other restaurants in the expanded Rosedale Center, it does not open to the mall, rather to the parking lot; it is very close to the large AMC cinema. We made reservations for their first Friday night at 7pm.

The interior is nicely done; nothing tacky. There is a ring of open flames over the bar, and the space generally has the feel and look of an urban loft restaurant with exposed brick and accents that introduce swaths of red and black. The bathrooms had interesting sinks, which were filled with large, round rocks (no exposed basin); the only caveat is that you had to really reach for the tap (I'm not sure how that would work out for kids and those in wheelchairs).

The menu is filled with flame cooked meats and dishes. They have several a la carte meat dishes (very much like Brassa), but most came with sides; there were plenty of interesting items. It wasn't clear if we were supposed to request bread, but they never brought us any (but did to other tables). There was a running theme of a restaurant teething.

For an appetizer, we chose the "Flame Ceviche", which had grilled shrimp, smoked scallops, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and jalapenos served with tortilla chips. It definitely wasn't a "classic" form of cerviche with the flame treatment, but it was good for what it was; the food had good flavor and there was a genuine spice (not the notoriously neutered "Minnesota spice"). The main weak spot were the chips, which appeared to come from a bag.

As my entree I ordered the Filet Mignon (with béarnaise and fries) and we ordered Mac-N-Cheese and Green Beans as side items. The excellent steak was the highlight: marked with flame grill marks, it was juicy, tender and smoky. It came with spinach and very good fries. At $22, I felt the steak stood up against much more expensive steaks at upscale, formal steakhouses. The Mac-N-Cheese was surprisingly good, had multiple cheese and was dusted with Parmesan. The green beans were definitely flame grilled, but were a bit dry.

The desert menu was all right: we noticed immediately after seating that Flame has wholesale copied their S’Mores Platter from the popular version at Chino Latino. As such, we decided to try something new, the Spiced Rum Carmelized Bananas with vanilla ice cream. It was decent (and very big), but nothing to really save room for.

For drinks I tried a mojito, it started out all right but got watery very quickly. It was unimpressive enough that I didn't bother with another cocktail. My companion had hot tea, and found an excellent selection of Mighty Leaf teas.

The hosts were all excellent, however the waitstaff was clearly stretched: other than the aforementioned bread snub, out waitress was around only sporadically (though she was very nice). We saw another table get seated and then walk out when they felt they were not getting served fast enough. Personally, I felt it was "okay", but I will be willing to give them another chance in this category once they've been open for a bit (I visited on their first Friday night open --and it was packed).

Overall I can recommend this restaurant for its excellent steak. The rest ranges in quality, but I think the overall effect is good.