east-lake.net

I’m still a little depressed that I couldn’t make it to Rock the Garden last year, especially after how much I enjoyed Saturday’s show. While the lineup wasn’t quite as great as it was last year with four of my favorites bands – Bon Iver, Cloud Cult, The New Pornographers, Andrew Bird – I still really enjoyed the flow of Rock the Garden 2009. And it was a great reminder of how fun outdoor concerts can be when done right. I was at the first Rock the Garden with Sonic Youth and Stereolab back in 2000, but the event has really taken off since then. I’ll take an event like RTG over an all day thing or full weekend festival anyday.

Tricia and I took the bus to Franklin and Lyndale and walked down to the Sculpture Garden to meet a friend that was buying our extra tickets. We arrived around 3:30 and the line to get in was fairly long, but 15 minutes later, we walked right in with no line at all. So props to the organizers for keeping things moving.

In years past, the stage faced to the east, meaning the crowd had to stand in the street. Part of this was because the Guthrie Theater used to be where the hill was, but also being of the neighborhood. With the Guthrie now gone from that area, the concert organizers worked with the neighborhood to get the stage moved 90 degrees, now facing the hill. This meant everyone had a great view of the stage, and giving it a more amphitheater feel. I had zero problems with the layout of the event.

The beer lines were quick (Summit Pale Ale and Scandia), and while I didn’t have any food, the burgers looked really good. I’m not sure which vendor was selling them, but my mouth watered every time somebody walked past with one. My only complaint with the concessions, is that the Rock the Garden sent out a Twitter message saying that we could bring empty water bottles and there would be places to fill them up. Well, I never found those, but luckily I ran into Kyle who filled it up in the VIP area.

The flat area in front of the stage and part of the hill were full when we got in, mostly with people sitting on blankets, so it wasn’t super packed together. We grabbed a spot just to the right side of the stage, even with the DJ booth. We probably could have moved a little closer, but it ended up being a great spot. Fairly free of drunk idiots or scenesters who were just there to be seen and heard. And one of the benefits of the new layout, was being able to sit on the grass between each set. That really gave the event a more casual feel to it.

On to the music.

Solid Gold:
Solid Gold really benefits from playing in a dark club, preferably late at night, so their opening set at 4:30 in the afternoon to a mostly sober crowd didn’t really do them any favors. But they really seemed to make the most of it, and the crowd, most of which had most likely never seem them live, was into it. It will be interesting to see what their next gig is like. Hopefully this will bring them some new fans.

Yeasayer:
After the first 3-4 songs I was completely unimpressed with this band, in fact, I was annoyed that they were even on stage, wasting my time. For some reason I had never heard any Yeasayer until this week, when The Current had one of their songs (”2080″) in their Song of the Day Podcast. I enjoyed that song, so I was looking forward to the show, but these first songs didn’t do anything for me. Then things seemed to change and it got a lot better. Had I not been so unimpressed with the first few songs, I would have said it was a great set.

Calexico:
Calexico was the perfect band for this spot, and I’m sure they picked up quite a few new fans, including us. Not sure why, but I just never got that much into Calexico before this. But their combination of alt-country, indie rock, and Latin music was perfect for an event like this. They knew how to entertain a crowd and felt really comfortable in front of 10,000 people. They are the one band I’m most looking forward to seeing again, though I know it won’t be as good as this performance was.

The Decemberists:
If you know me, you most likely know that I am a Decemberists fan. They’re not my favorite band by any means, but I have always enjoyed what they do. From their first albums and amazing 400 Bar show back 2004 to the new, more narrative/literal stuff. I didn’t like the last show at First Avenue, but that was basically because I had been listening to them non stop for like 6 months, and was sick of it. I just over did it on The Decemberists.

I was a little worried for the event having them as the headliner. People either love them or hate them, they either don’t mind Colin’s voice, or they can’t stand it. They either enjoy everything they’ve done, or stopped caring after the first two great albums. So I just wasn’t sure how the crowd would react to them.

When I heard that they were going to be doing Hazards of Love straight through, I was annoyed at first, because I didn’t love the album, and thought it was a cheap way to fill a setlist. And with a crowd that isn’t there just to see them, I thought they would have been better served to play a full set of all of their music.

But that is why I am just a fan and not in charge of things like this, because I was wrong on both levels. I now enjoy the album a lot more, and thought playing it straight threw was a great idea. Really, playing only a couple songs from it wouldn’t have made much sense, because it tells such a story. And I probably would have left the show thinking it was just another Decemberists set of all the songs I’ve already seen live multiple times.

The crowd was really into it, at least they were around us, and every where I looked. People were singing along, dancing, and really getting into it. Part of it was probably the beer, and being out in the sun all day, but that will happen at any show. And it was all because of the music.

In fact, the band didn’t even say a word until the encore, when Colin engaged the crowd like he would have at any other show. I usually get annoyed when bands don’t speak to the crowd, but I didn’t even notice that they hadn’t until he first did speak. It just worked.

Throughout the show, Tricia was thinking about how great of a voice Shara Worden has (and Becky Stark), and how much it reminded her of the band Heart. And what did The Decemberists end the show with? A crowd pleasing cover of “Crazy On You” (video) that really capped off a great night of music.

Now the only question is who will play next year, and will they be able to continue the high quality of acts year after year.

Media concerts, minneapolis, music, photography, the decemberists

My last post about the local beer scene, along with this post on Beer Advocate got me thinking about which city has the best beer bars, Minneapolis or St. Paul. I used to think it was St. Paul hands down, mainly because of the Happy Gnome and Muddy Pig, but after putting together this list, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Minneapolis takes it. It’s close, but I think that the bars in the Riverside/West Bank/University area is hard to beat.

I didn’t include any Irish Pubs in my list because I’m still annoyed that most of them still don’t include any American Craft Beers in their tap selection.

What do you think? Did I miss any places that have more than just a handful of great beers available?

Minneapolis
Busters on 28th, Acadia, Blue Nile, Nomad, Town Hall Brewery, Grumpy’s NE, Grumpy’s Downtown, Stub & Herbs, Bulldog NE, Bulldog Uptown, MacKenzie’s, Bryant Lake Bowl, Triple Rock Social Club, Mac’s Industrial, Herkimer Pub

St. Paul
Muddy Pig, Happy Gnome, Blue Door Pub, Great Waters, Bulldog Lowertown, Groveland Tap, Sweeney’s Saloon

Suburbs
Barley John’s Brewpub

View Twin Cities Beer Map in a larger map

Dining and Drinking beer, bestof, minneapolis, st. paul

I’ve been thinking about this for a few months, but over the weekend I was reminded of it while talking to a friend about the lack of specialty beers from Minnesota breweries. Over in Wisconsin, both New Glarus and Tyranena release special beers over the course of a year. New Glarus with their outstanding Unplugged series and Tyranena’s Brewer’s Gone Wild. And Boulevard’s Smokestack series has also been a very impressive release. But for some reason, Flat Earth, Surly and Summit haven’t taken this same path.

Until now.

This week, Summit announced that they will be releasing a new series, called Unchained, where they are allowing their brewers to take charge – “they get to choose the style and are in charge of overseeing the whole process, from recipe formulation to ordering raw materials”. Their first beer will be a Kölsch, a style that hasn’t really been over made and is an interesting first beer. I am very looking forward to this and future releases, especially after Summit’s latest full time beer, Horizon Red, which I’ve really enjoyed.

While I am looking forward to this Unchained series, and as much as I’d love to see a similar Surly or Flat Earth series, I think what they are doing is more beneficial to the overall local beer community. Surly has released quite a few beers that never made it to the canning system, instead doing draught only releases that are available to select local bars, thus spreading the wealth a little more.

Beer fans are very supportive to the local community, and by having these events at bars, more money is spent supporting the local scene much more than just buying a few six packs. Go to any Surly or Flat Earth event, and the bar is packed with people eating dinner, trying the featured beer, but also trying whatever else is available.

Some of the Surly beers that I’ve had that never made it to cans:

• 16 Grit
• One
• Two
• Three
• Bitter Brewer Cask
• Furious Cask
• Furious Dry-Hopped Oak-Aged on Cask
• Hell
• Mild
• Smoke

Where would many of our great beer bars be without events like these? As much as I’d love to be able to buy a special release of Surly to take home, I think the beer scene greatly benefits from the way things are. Surly knows that without an active beer community, they wouldn’t be where they are, and where would we be without Surly. Definitely not in a place that I’d like to live in!

Dining and Drinking beer, minneapolis, st. paul, surly, wisconsin

Stabby’s Cafe, on the corner of 42nd and Cedar, opened up a few weeks ago, and I stopped in today for lunch to check it out. This is the old Isabel’s Coffee Cafe location, so I hope they have more success and can last for a while.

It looks like their specialty will be Flint Style Coney Islands. The owner, Mike Staab, grew up in Flint, and has spent years trying to perfect his own recipe.

If you’ve ever spent time in the Flint/Detroit area of Michigan, you know there are two kinds of Coney Islands: the Detroit method, which is a wet-with-chili-sauce, and the Flint method, a dry sauce. I prefer what I grew up on – hanging out at Angelo’s and Starlite Coney in Flint – of course, the dry method. So here is to years of work perfecting the Flint-style Coney Island. All beef dog topped with my Flint-style Coney sauce and raw onion. $4.50

The menu looks very good but there are similar options already available in the area, so I hope that they can survive with places like Colossal Cafe across the street, Buster’s on 28th, Chris and Rob’s, and Matt’s. The menu even states that they don’t sell Jucy Lucy’s and to go to Matt’s if you really want one!

I ordered the Coney Island, called the Angelo, to see what it was all about. The dry chili was easier to eat and had a lot more flavor than the more typical wet chili dog. I’ll definitely go back for another, after I try some of the other options.

I’m really looking forward to going for breakfast though. I’ll try any place with Biscuits and Gravy on the menu, in my hopes of finding some that are as good as those I’ve had in KC. They also have gourmet omelets, scrambles, and a variety of pancakes.

Also:
Heavy Table: Coming Soon: Stabby’s Cafe

Dining and Drinking dining, minneapolis, photography

Kare 11 did a story last night on Surly Brewery, partly focusing on Omar’s dad, Naseem Ansari, a 76-year-old Pakistani immigrant. They didn’t talk much about the beer, but the story was still good. And it’s Friday, so go get a Surly.

Dining and Drinking beer, surly, video

ESPN.com had a nice video about what is the greatest rivalry in sports right now. We are very fortunate to have some excellent rivalries all happening at the same time. These athletes are going to go down as some of the best ever in their sport, and sports fans get to enjoy these battles all year long.

Tonight’s Game 7 match-up between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals features the top two players in the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. These two players are the faces of the league, and will dominate the league for the next 15 years. They hate each other and play with intensity that isn’t matched by anyone else on the ice.

In the NBA, everyone is hoping for a Lakers-Cavs final so we can see Kobe face LeBron. Kobe has had success in the past, but needs to win a title on his own. LeBron is the future and this could be his time to take over the league. A final with these two players would be exactly what the league needs.

Roger Federer was on track to be the best tennis player of all time, all he had to do was win a few more championships and the title was his. But then Rafael Nadal came around and these two had amazing final after amazing final, but Federer kept winning. Then it happened. Nadal finally beats him and hasn’t looked back.

I don’t really follow golf, but everyone knows Tiger and Phil. Tiger is the champ and could go down as the best ever. Phil was supposed to be his competition but he struggled when it mattered. But now Phil seems to be back and will continue this rivalry.

All four are amazing rivalries, but I don’t think any compare to what we might be witnessing with Ovechkin and Crosby right now. This isn’t a match-up where one is on his way in and other on his way out like with Kobe-LeBron and Federer-Nadal. Ovechkin and Crosby are both young and dominating, and will for a long time. They are both at the top which makes his match-up the best. If you don’t agree with me, watch game 7 tonight.

Sports basketball, hockey, Sports, tennis

A few weeks ago I linked to my friend Shane’s post about his hop plants and how they survived winter. At that time they were just little tiny sprouts. Well, they have grown a little and are looking very good! I can’t wait to watch them over the summer.

He has Willamette, Magnum, and Sterling

Dining and Drinking beer, garden

A few weeks ago, we went to La Chaya Bisto on 46th and Nicollet in Minneapolis for brunch. La Chaya is run by Juan Juarez Garcia, a chef from Mexico City, who also spent time in Southern Italy. The food gets its inspiration from Mexican and Italian foods, and Juan prides his restaurant on using only the best ingredients, and being meticulous with the presentation.

While looking over the menu, Juan came out to ask if we had any questions. He went over some of his specialties and talked about the quality of ingredients he uses. His charm and input was appreciated since we weren’t really sure what we were going to order, and he seemed very proud of his work at the restaurant.

The food is mostly organic, tortillas are hand made upon ordering, the chorizo is made in house from Fischer Family Farms Pork, all salsas and sauces are made daily in house from natural ingredients, organic dairy and eggs, pasta is made by hand at La Chaya daily with organic ingredients, and all meats served are hormone free and/or organic.

I’m never quite sure how much I’ll like more modernized Mexican food, because I love the street food so much, but this meal changed that opinion. Everything was excellent, and we can’t wait to go back again.

My Dad ordered the La Chaya Eggs Benedict (Poached Eggs on Avocado with Melted Cheese and Green Salsa served on English Muffin). My Dad isn’t a very adventurous eater, but he couldn’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed this. It sounds a little strange for Eggs Benedict, but this was very good. I would definitely order this the next time we go.

Tricia and my Mom both ordered the Handmade Quesadillas (Three Housemade Quesadillas: Mushroom & Cheese, Rajas & Cheese, and Chorizo with Potatoes & Cheese, Served with Housemade Salsa Verde). The home made tortillas were perfectly cooked, and Tricia said the chorizo was the best she’s ever had. The quesadillas weren’t greasy like so many others which made it a lot easier to eat for brunch. The Salsa Verde was good, but a little too spicy for both of them. But it wasn’t really needed either.

I ordered the Chorizo Molletes (Refried beans on Bread with Melted Cheese served with Fresh Salsa Mexicana). Juan said this was a typical breakfast item in Mexico City, which sealed it for me. When I tried it plain, I thought it was too bland. The chorizo was very good, but the whole thing was just average… that is until I put the fresh salsa on top. That changed everything, adding freshness and completed the dish.

We’ve kinda stopped taking my parents to new restaurants because they typically don’t really care to try anything new, but they couldn’t stop talking about how good the meal was.

My parents and I each had gift certificates, but instead of using them both on this visit, we decided to just use one of them, so we’d have a reason to go back soon. It’s not often that my parents enjoy a new place as much as they did, so we have to take advantage of that.

La Chaya Bistro
4537 Nicollet Ave S.
Minneapolis 55419

Dining and Drinking dining, minneapolis

Design and Photography mayday, minneapolis, parades, photography, powderhorn

I hope to stop by for some treats on my way to the Fairgrounds for the Living Green Expo to pick up our rain barrel and compost bin. Our first CSA shipment is next week so I don’t think we’ll be getting too much, but it will be nice to see what is all available.

Join us on Saturday, May 2nd to celebrate the Midtown Farmers’ Market 7th season opener!

8am-9am: Join us for a “ribbon cutting” ceremony with Mayor RT Rybak, Council Member Gary Schiff, Senator Patricia Torres Ray, and County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. Bagpiper Andrew Hoag will provide our opening music.

10:30am: Storytime with the East Lake Library is back!

12pm: Spoken Word by Christian Villarroel

There will be live music, plenty of ready-to-eat food, and a petting zoo! A grand time for people of all ages. We look forward to seeing you there!

Minnesota dining, environment, garden, longfellow, minneapolis

You might have noticed I stopped doing the daily Twitter update. Hope that’s ok. If you are not on Twitter and still want to see my tweets, you can either visit twitter.com/emoeby, or east-lake.net/twitter, or subscribe to my twitter feed

I’ve also updated my music page, now displaying my 10 most recent tracks played, and also added my concert history list.

And on the beer page, I’ve added my full beer list to go along with my favorite beers list.

And outside of east-lake.net, I’m still posting to the Twins Tumblr Blog, as well as my own Tumblr page, which is basically just a bunch of cool stuff that I find in my google reader. Both have RSS feeds so please add those if you haven’t already.

Personal eastlake

I just picked up my copy of the new book by Eric Hart, A Look Back at Life in Longfellow: The Neighborhood by the Falls. Eric is the guy that gave the excellent bike tour that Tricia and I went on last summer.

I’ve lived in Longfellow for nearly 10 years and enjoy learning about the history of the area – the falls, Wonderland Amusement Park, the mills and grain elevators along Hiawatha Ave, the immigrants that lived in the area, and the schools and orphanages along the Mississippi River.

So far it looks to be a good read and a great book to have in my collection of Minnesota and Minneapolis books.

The book contains a fascinating and informative look back at the history of the Longfellow area through stories, anecdotes, illustrations, narratives and a collection of photographs—all dating from the 1800s to the present.

You can pick up your copy for $25 at the Longfellow Community Council at 2727 26th Ave S.

Minnesota books, history, longfellow, minneapolis

Today, another newspaper decided to stop printing and go online only, the local neighborhood paper, The Bridge, which covers the area between Marcy-Holmes and Longfellow, spanning the Mississippi River.

I’m a big fan of our small local papers, but I would love to see even more changes made. What I would really like to see is a single newspaper that covers all of Minneapolis. The Star Tribune does such a poor job of covering the city, and there are too many neighborhood papers to read them all, that I think a single Minneapols paper could be very successful. We have at least six papers just in South Minneapolis, and only two them have a decent web presence (sw journal, bridge).

• The Bridge
• Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger
• Southwest Journal
• Southside Pride (Phillips Powderhorn Edition)
• Southside Pride (Nokomis Edition)
• Southside Pride (Riverside Edition)

During these days of trouble for newspapers, I would think that having just one paper for the South Minneapolis neighborhoods would work really well. Even though I live in Longfellow, I care about what is happening across Hiawatha Ave in Powderhorn, or even on the other side of town like in Linden Hills. Having one great weekly paper, both in print and online, could be huge.

Residents of Minneapolis are very proud of their neighborhoods, but I think our stories are very under-reported. And in times like these, the newspaper industry needs to find a product that is desirable for a dedicated readership.

And just like how the Twin Cities doesn’t need to be a two paper town anymore, South Minneapolis doesn’t really need to be a 6+ newspaper city. But if this is going to happen, my best bet is that it will have to come from the SW Journal. They are the biggest and probably most well run group, especially after their purchase of the Skyway News (now the Downtown Journal) in 2001.

See also: Braublog: Another neighborhood paper bites the dust

Blogs and The Media internets, media, minneapolis, news

From an e-mail

Students, Faculty and Staff:

The University will be closing three buildings on our West Bank campus due to a time specific threat of violence obtained by law enforcement. Those buildings include the Carlson School of Management, Hanson Hall and the Hubert H. Humphrey Center. All classes and activities beginning at or after 3:45 are canceled in those buildings and they will close at 4:30 p.m.

This was a very specific threat of violence targeted at these three buildings. We are erring on the side of caution by canceling classes and activities and closing the buildings. UMPD is actively investigating this threat.

The Humphrey Institute’s “Changing Competitive Position of Public Research Universities” lecture has been moved to 5 Blegen Hall. The threat was specific enough that regular operations will resume on Friday morning. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

News, Politics and Religion crime, gophers, Minnesota

One of my main reasons for loving living in Minneapolis is the quality and style of most of the homes. I especially love the story and a half bungalows that seem to be everywhere, and I look forward to the MSP Home Tour every spring to see what people are doing to their city homes to make them even better or better fit the changes that happen to every family.

The Tour showcases everything from complete renovations that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, to simple kitchen makeovers, to community organizations that take vacant homes and make them affordable for low income families to purchase. And it covers the entire city, from Frogtown to the North Side, Mac-Groveland to Linden Hills, Longfellow to Bryn Mawr. People that love where they live and want to update their homes so they can stay where they are.

And each year, the tour gets more and more green. From homes with geothermal heating, to new kitchens with cupboards of 100-year-old beech salvaged from Lake Superior, to the first new house in Minnesota that’s LEED Certified Platinum.

Other highlights include a loft in an old telephone building in NE, where they only way they could get new windows that matched the size of the originals was to agree to void the warranty.

Dayton’s Bluff home was vacant for 10 years, and they basically rebuilt the house around a beautiful staircase, and taking the time to completely redo the woodwork to match the original.

My favorite house on the tour was one North of St. Anthony Parkway. The homeowner removed the two bedrooms on the mainfloor to create more living space, but which could be put back easily if needed later on. The tile work in the new kitchen and bathroom was incredible, and definitely has me excited to visit Kate-lo Tile when we eventually redo our bathroom.

I’m not a fan of complete Craftsman style decor, but this house on Lexington Ave did as good of a job as I’ve ever seen. Everything from impressive stenciling throughout, to the furniture, and a summer house in the backyard made the house so peaceful, I forgot I was on a busy street like Lexington.

One of my favorite kitchens came from the Mac-Groveland neighborhood. They created a separate pantry space, allowing them to replace the cabinets in the kitchen with windows, creating a very open feel that overlooked a new deck and huge backyard. I loved the idea of having a very simple kitchen without all the storage space that exists in most kitchens. Funny thing about this house was that while on a walk recently with some friends, I commented on this house and wondered what it looked like inside, not knowing that it would be on the tour.

In all, we visited over 30 houses over the two days this weekend, and all over the city. It was a little overwhelming, but I enjoy this showcase so much that I had to take it all in. It does depress me a little that I’ll most likely never be able to live in houses like these, but it does give me ideas that we can try to incorporate into our own home.

Design and Photography architecture, housing, interior design, minneapolis, st. paul