Galactic Pizza’s delivery superheroes: A Minneapolis pizza parlor dispatches caped crusaders (in electric cars) to serve up eco-friendly pies. (via)
Archive for the 'dining' Category
Citizen Cafe: Michael and Seaen MacKay will be opening the Citizen Cafe this Spring in the former Sweet Lorraine’s on 24th Ave S. “We saw an opportunity with Sweet Lorraine’s and felt that the neighborhood was a good fit for us,” Michael MacKay said. “We live in northeast Minneapolis and are very active in the Sheridan neighborhood. We hope to continue that tradition in our new second home.” Michael is the former chef from the Sample Room and reports that Citizen Café will be serving a menu of American cuisine prepared fresh daily that will include breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I’m sad to see Sweet Lorraine’s close, but excited for another dining option in the neighborhood.
3 Squares opens in Maple Grove: The gang behind 3 Squares is Blue Plate Restaurant Company, the one who mastered the urban diner concept with Highland Grill, Edina Grill, Longfellow Grill, and the burger and beer lovin’ Groveland Tap. This looks to be its first ex-urban joint and definitely has a softer, less edgy feel to it.
Strip Club sets appealing table: J.D. Fratzke pushes the envelope with meat and more, with a big helping of fun. The next time I book a dinner reservation at the Strip Club, I’m going to ask for Table 14. It’s a doozy of a two-top, wedged into the prow of the restaurant’s slip of a balcony and accessed by a spiraling black iron staircase. Although it’s not exactly private, it somehow manages to feel that way, and it has a backdrop like no other, a twinkling panoramic postcard of the St. Paul skyline that is entirely unexpected and utterly captivating.
I’ve yet to read a bad review of the place, but this might be one of the best.
Dining Out: Blackbird and Brasa
I’ve been meaning to write about two amazing meals I had last weekend - Brunch at Blackbird on Saturday and Brasa Rotisserie for on Sunday. Both were excellent and will be put on our “must return to” list.
We went to Blackbird before for dinner last August, and brunch was just as good, meaning they are two for two. What I love most about this place is the design, from the menu to the decor - it’s very much my style, and what I’d love my house to look like (except for the antlers on the walls!). Things are pretty, but not overly so, and I just feel comfortable there. The menus even won an award at the 2008 AIGA Design Awards! Got to love that.
Tricia ordered the Ham Fritatta (three-egg omelette with ham, chipotle gouda & green onions), which we liked, but didn’t really taste any chipotle in the gouda. I had the French Toast (with Chinese 5 spice and grilled pineapple) and thought it was the best I’ve had besides what we make at home (cinnamon French Toast using bread from the Franklin St Bakery).
Brasa on the other hand was completely different. Very little decor, just a painted sign on the wall that looks like it’s been there for ever.
The meats at Brasa all are local (as is typical these days), and were some of the best I’ve had. We shared the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a small order of the Twelve Hour Slow Roasted Pork. For sides we had the Fried Sweet Plantains, Garnet Yams with andouille Sausage and the Slow Cooked Collard Greens with Smokey Turkey. All I can say about this place is thank god I’m not a vegetarian. I’d rather not live then to miss out on a meal like that.
And like Anthony Bourdain once said in an episode of No Reservations - “If heaven exists, it’s between the bone and the skin of a pig.” Amen to that.
Dolsot Bibimbop on Flickr: Here’s a great picture of my lunch yesterday with Dels.
Nightlife: Beer-geek revolution - It’s almost clichéd to say this, but it’s true: Beer is the new wine. And one of the best places to experience beer at its finest is at Busters on 28th, a hidden gem in south Minneapolis. “People aren’t coming in to have six Budweisers,” said owner Nick Miller, who also co-owns the Happy Gnome. At Busters, he said, customers define excess as: “How hoppy is my beer?” After finding success with Busters, Miller said he’s hoping to open two more beer bars this summer.
UPDATE: See also, Revenge of the beer nerds
I Love Punch Pizza Punch Pizza Photo Contest: Punch Pizza in Highland Park has been very protective of their ovens, especially with taking pictures of it, because of competition with other Neapolitan pizza places in town. Multiple people have tried to take pictures of it, only to be stopped by the staff. Well, it looks like they have had a change of heart. Punch Pizza is having a “Capture Our Fire” Photo Contest. The submissions are at Flickr with the tag “punchpizzacontest”. What a great marketing strategy, to go from having a lot of local photographers pissed off at you, to getting them to come back, eat, and take some pictures. “Grand prize winners will be awarded a $500 dining card to Punch Pizza” so go and take some pictures.
(via Aaron who’s been on top of this whole story)
