Fine dining has been evolving for years.

Most of it is welcome: More upscale global cuisine, more creativity, smaller menus, fewer white tablecloths and more a la carte options.

But sometimes, a tasting menu — where you have few (or no) choices to make and beautiful small plates come out in perfectly timed intervals — is just what I’m looking for.

And though fewer chefs are offering these ambitious menus these days, I’ve sampled three in the past few months that were worth writing about, and worth your celebration dollars.

Who serves your favorite tasting menu? As always, let me know at eat@pioneerpress.com.

Bungalow Club

This incredibly reasonable three-course menu might be one of the best-kept secrets in town.

For just $48 per person, you choose from a few options in each course.

The menu changes frequently, but we thoroughly enjoyed the spring flavors on the day we visited. The first course featured fresh, bright chilled pea soup, punched up by garlic cream and chive oil and one of the best salads I’ve eaten this year — bitter endive with some revelatory savory granola, funky blue cheese and sour rhubarb juice.

Chilled pea soup at Bungalow Club in Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

The middle course centers on pasta, and a delicate stuffed pansotti, with a light, airy spinach filling, was the highlight, but the fresh pea clamshells, enriched with an anchovy-spiked sauce, were spring on a plate.

A lovely charred bavette steak and some perfectly seared scallops nestled in a silky cauliflower puree rounded things out.

Scallops at Bungalow Club in Minneapolis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Dessert is extra, but a spice cake with soft, fluffy whipped cream paired with a killer, rum-based espresso martini was just the thing.

Bungalow Club: 4300 E. Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-866-3334; thebungalowclubmpls.com. Three-course tasting menu is $48 per person; wine flight an extra $25.

Joan’s in the Park

Viennese pastry at Joan’s in the Park. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

It’s been a few years (with a pandemic in between) since Joan’s switched to a tasting-menu format, which was honestly one of the best moves owners Joan Schmitt (Maitre d’) and chef Susan Dunlop (chef) have made.

From start to finish, our four-course meal was spectacular.

The first course is bread-based, and world-class pastries — a buttery Viennese rosemary and black olive and an onion knot with a whipped ricotta — set the stage for what was to come.

Poached shrimp, a dish from Joan’s in the Park’s four-course tasting menu. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Shaved asparagus and succulent crab, a gorgeous poached shrimp in a rich cream sauce with snappy fresh fennel were excellent for our second course, but I think my third course — a chewy, nutty farro, studded with mushrooms and nestled in a vibrant ramp sauce, was my favorite dish of the night.

Seared scallops and a lovely filet mignon were our fourth course, but we wanted to end on a sweet note, so we ordered dessert for an extra $12.

The restaurant’s signature brown butter pudding, a tasty salty/sweet combo, was small but perfect given the amount of food we had just consumed.

I should also mention that the wine pairings here were phenomenal, with the sommelier choosing exactly the right complement for every course and even introducing us to a few varietals we had never tasted.

Joan’s in the Park: 631 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul; 651-690-3297;  joansinthepark.com. Four-course tasting menu is $85 per person. Wine pairings are an additional $45.

Meritage

Hiramasu crudo, the first course in Meritage’s five-course tasting menu. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

I have eaten at Meritage dozens of times since its 2007 opening, and I’m embarrassed to say I recently tried the five-course tasting menu for the first time.

We felt utterly spoiled by the little extras, the perfect execution of every course and the service, which was, as always, spot on.

Any meal that starts with gougères, the little French puffed cheese pastries, is a good meal, in my opinion, so a tiny plate with two of Meritage’s light and airy versions was a great introduction. And the little crock of saffron mussel soup was a perfect amuse bouche. It’s so rich and creamy that you really need only a few bites, which is how it’s served, and the perfectly cooked mussel at the bottom is like a welcome jewel.

The first official course was the best crudo I’ve had in a few years — hiramasu, thinly sliced, dressed in ginger and lime and topped with what looks like an egg yolk but is actually mango puree — a cute molecular gastronomy trick. A sprinkle of mint and jalapeno finish things off.

Next up, a savory, custardy pain perdu, or French toast, topped with a flaky olive-oil poached halibut, uber fresh asparagus and peas — such a great balance of seasonally on-point richness and freshness.

La Vacherin, a baked meringue dessert at Metitage in downtown St. Paul. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Two meat courses — a tender duck breast accompanied by barley, fresh favas and morels for that spring boost, and a duo of juicy Iowa pork (tenderloin and cheek) with melted leeks and an apricot mostarda — left us so full that a light meringue accompanied by fresh berries was the light, refreshing ending that we needed.

Meritage: 410 St. Peter St., St. Paul; 651-222-5670; meritage-stpaul.com. Five-course tasting menu is $110 per person. Wine pairings are an additional $60.

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