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Goodbye Blue Monday is a small coffeeshop located on division street in Northfield with a great casual atmosphere serving extremely good bakery items. Located in the heart of the historic district,...
Goodbye Blue Monday is a small coffeeshop located on division street in Northfield with a great casual atmosphere serving extremely good bakery items. Located in the heart of the historic district, while the building in which it is located has no historical significance, its relaxed and imaginatively designed retro interior covers the blandness of sheet rock office or retail space so common to business/retail sections of small towns across the Midwest.
Put all that aside, Goodbye Blue Moon pays most attention to brewing great coffee drinks. Additionally, the shop adds made from scratch pastries, muffins, and scones that are great to start the day or catch as a snack in late afternoon or while studying for college exams. And with wifi connection, you will find many students and faculty from the colleges at the tables banging out terms papers or ansswering their email backlog. You will find posters in the entry and when we were there in January, Goodbye Blue Moon publsihed its own broadsheet of music venues and music events in town. This coffeeshop has the true Northfield vibe going.
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I am a huge advocate for the indie film house/art house cinema. And I go back to the Varsity, thru the years of U Film Soc, Oak Street, Suburbian World, Uptown, Parkway, Heights, Riverview,...
I am a huge advocate for the indie film house/art house cinema. And I go back to the Varsity, thru the years of U Film Soc, Oak Street, Suburbian World, Uptown, Parkway, Heights, Riverview, Highland, and Grandview, etc. We need more of cinemas that seek to give the filmgoing audience greater choices and something other than the mainstream big box office releases.
However, these old cinemas cannot escape the overwhelming responsibility to provide an excellent film-viewing experience and many fall short. It disappoints me when they do because I know many of these theaters are hanging on my a shoestring and loosing box office receipts every month. The Parkway slid steadily into a poorly managed and neglected auditorium and spells disaster for any entertainment business.
Recently at the Grandview, we went to see the documentary SICKO and two thirds into the screening the audio/video system went bonkers and we started hearing the extremely annoying and poorly produced pre-film ads and tacky music we have to tolerate ad nauseam before seeing the film. Add to the fact that the theater will only accept cash at the box office (this only hurts their business in the long run) and poorly maintained restrooms (dirty and unkept) along with broken down chairs (you have to move around the auditorium to find a fully supportive back on their chairs) -- I can only think that it is a matter of time before the doors are going to close here.
And then we'll hear the screams that the indies have been run out of business by the DVD rentals or internet downloads when, in fact, the theater itself brought on many of its problems.
Now, by contrast check out Riverview where the theater is properly maintained in the character of when it was built, the management is always looking for new ways to bring in the local community or support special film and media events. The Riverview tries harder and it makes a huige difference to the experience of seeing a film. I hope Grandview can learn lessons from Riverview. Pay attention to providing the best film-going experience for your audience and clean your theater!
And that's what it is all about!
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As a boy we used to visit Northfield for various college related events and activities including the Defeat of Jesse James Days celebration, the weekend after Labor Day each year. At teh center of...
As a boy we used to visit Northfield for various college related events and activities including the Defeat of Jesse James Days celebration, the weekend after Labor Day each year. At teh center of the charming and historical district that Northfield as gone to great extents to preserve is the Archer House Inn. Last winter, my wife and I were invited down to Carlton College and then had to go onto Rochester to show a movie we'd made.
In the spirit of historic Northfield and to celebrate our anniversary we booked a room at Arhcer House and made a dinner reservation at the Ole Store. I was deeply saddened to see what has happened to the Archer House. First, as we approached the lobby through the main door, we discovered that front door had plexy in the place where there was probably once a cut glass or etched glass window.
The hallway floors have been carpeted with cheap carpeting from a discount dsitribution center and inside the rooms, you will find cheap plywood ceiling fans bought form Mennards or Home Depot and poorly finished plywood bars made by amateur carpenters or handimen. The rooms are small which isn't bad, just that they need to be well-appointed and not this tacky for the prices they are charging.
We've traveled fairly extensively in the past couple of years to Boston, Baltimore, New York, Toronto, Galena, IL, and the Pacific Northwest and stayed in historic inns and small charming B&Bs that paid a great deal of attention to detail and preserving the historic charm.
We expect to pay a little more per night for this charm and detail but the Archer House was destroyed by a very poor renovation that is faux-historical with a cheap lumberyard plywood feel. Each room has a theme but all are tacky -- unless you are unworldly enough to think enamel paint on wrought iron cafe stools (patio funriture) and a poster from Molin Rouge makes something Parisine.
And the plexiglass in the front door made it feel like a flop-house in the Midway along University avenue. I hope one of Northfield's sophisticated denizens has the decency to rescue this old inn from the poor makeover it suffered at bthe beginning of this decade.
However, the Ole Store is a fantastic place to eat! Highly recommend!
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Cupcake
Category:
Food & Dining
3338 University Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55473
(612) 378-4818
I'm always looking for unique locally owned and unbranded establishments in the neighborhood and when we moved to Prospect Park, we were eager to check out Cupcake on University Ave. Located in an...
I'm always looking for unique locally owned and unbranded establishments in the neighborhood and when we moved to Prospect Park, we were eager to check out Cupcake on University Ave. Located in an wide open warehouse-style building with big windows facing out onto University Ave., this restuarant/coffeehouse/bakery has a lot of light and charm.
As the name suggests, the speciality of this shop is bakery and more specifically Cupcakes. The shop has a whole range of crazy cupcakes from one named for Paris Hilton to another for Betty Crocker. You have to gaze over the cupckae case for the latest batches to come out of the oven. Following a fairly traditional comfort food mix, these cupcakes will make your heart skip a beat with their intense saturation of cream, sugar, butter. Served in small paper cupcake paper pinwheels, they are best eaten in small quantity -- best for your health.
Cupcake also sells healthy food: salads, soups, bread and quiche-styled dishes prepared in the kitchen while you wait for between $8 and $12 per dish. Most come with homemade breads and you can also buy an assortment of retail items spread around the coffeebar.
And then there is the coffeebar... Since we started going to Cupcake, we've never been served a decently brewed coffee drink. As much as I hate to say it, you are better off going to a coffeeshop chain like Starbucks, Dunn Bros (a few blocks down University to the East) or Caribou for coffee. I am astonished that the indie coffeeshop will get all righteous about slamming the chains and then they turn around an cannot make a decent latte, cuppuccino, or au lait if their life depended on it.
And, in every case we've been to Cupcake, the problem was with the barista not having the training, not having the concentration, not having the discipline or methodolgy, and not having the proper appreciation for serving a great brewed coffee drink.
You'd think it would be otherwise in a shop like this because the owner/proprietor would have a closer, more instructive relationship with their employees and be able to impress upon them how critical it is to running a profitable business to give the extra care and attention to the quality of the item they are preparing. But not so with Cupcake.
My partner was trained as a barista and knows how to brew a decent bar coffee drink. She enjoys a well-brewed Mexican Hot Chocolate or latte. Cupcake, although we've given different baristas a chance to redeem this shop, have failed repeatedly to make the drinks properly.
The last time we visited, I ordered a Cafe Mocha. The barista proceeded to butcher this drink, spending way too much time trying to get his whipped cream cansiter to refill as the mocha latte went flat and then, after telling me that he couldn't get the whipped cream to work, proceeded to fill the top quarter of the cup with cold milk taken directly from the refigerator, just to "top it off." The final drink was a flat as a Kemps chocolcate milk from the dairy case at Cub Foods. In other words AWFUL. The worst thing about this event is that he had NO IDEA how big a violation of the drink making process this was which only told us they have no appreciation for the art of brewing.
I will always continue to seek out interesting new indie places to eat, drink, entertain, and hang out but if they fail really badly at what they do, they don't deserve "support" from the community simply for the fact of being there.
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The cozy neighborhood cafe is part of the life in the city experinece that should not go unnoticed. Fortunately, Minneapolis is filled with great little third places tucked into neighborhoods that...
The cozy neighborhood cafe is part of the life in the city experinece that should not go unnoticed. Fortunately, Minneapolis is filled with great little third places tucked into neighborhoods that invite trust and neighborhood identity.
A "third place" is a home away from home. It is the third place in our lives made up mostly of 1) home, 2) work and then 3) the third place we go most frequently for comfort, solice and joyful entertainment.
In Italy, the third place is a coffee bar or cafe where the patrons know the barista and talk with eachother about everything from politics to opera to soccer. In England the "third place" is the neighborhood pub where young and old alike gather and in France it is the bistro.
At one time (okay old timer tell us), we had the barber shop or beauty salon and the corner drug store and soda fountain as our comfy third place but all across America these common public institutions have disappeared, epsecially in big cities.
Presently, in America it is less clear where the third place exists outisde the home. But in Seward neghborhood, a simple frontrunner has emerged: Birchwood Cafe. Set on a residental street, the cafe used to be an old ice cream store, diary deli and corner hang out. The chef founders of Birchwood have captured this legacy and keep it alive. They also serve IZZY's ice cream.
But Birchwood, and its organic whole food veggie leanings is totally modern and grabs the hipster character of Sewards young and first home buyer jive.
Expect to find a variety of wholesome salads, soups, stews and sandwiches made on hearty artisan breads. And the selection of deserts is also awesome. When you order at Birchwood, it is deli-style, so you assemble items from their case a la carte but they also have a list of daily specials.
Once you've placed your order, customers sit down cafeteria style in tables lined up, seemingly to encourage neighbors to talk about their children, the playground down the street or the daily news.
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We've been seriously thinking about buying a home near Peninsula Malaysian because we can't stay away from their yummy cuisine.
First, almost every dish here is an exciting adventure, creatively...
We've been seriously thinking about buying a home near Peninsula Malaysian because we can't stay away from their yummy cuisine.
First, almost every dish here is an exciting adventure, creatively conceived, and well prepared. Going down the list of items on their menu, you'll find traditional coconut and red or green curry sauces with all variety of fish, chicken and beef. Additionally, you'll find some real surprises and lush side dishes to pick up any night out. The food is varied and outstanding and everyone I have brought here raves about it and in turn has brought their friends with great joy.
However, there are drawbacks to the Peninsula experience. The dining room consists of one large high ceiling room with hardwood floors. The space is noisy and not condusive to small quiet groups wanting engaging conversation. Second, the waitstaff has a terrible and disarming habit of not delivering food at the appropriate times.
Almost every visit I've ordered to eat here (and we've been a number of times on weekdays and weekends) our food has come staggered with some guests getting their dish way after others were served. Once I didn't get my Yam Pot until everyone else had finished eating.
And I would issue something of a warning: The Chicken dishes are usually full of tiny bones. Now, when I used to order chicken in France (a completley different meat flavor than fake facotry raised chicken we eat in the U.S.) they were many bones but the wild game flavor of French chicken made it worth the trouble of all the plate-side deboning.
At Pennisula, the chicken isn't wild, gamey, and range fed, it's just boney. This stems from the manner in which the cooks butcher and prepare the chicken.
But the flavor of Malaysian food prepared here is phenomenal. They serve a whole bunch of very interesting bubble teas, wine and beer and there is a coconut pudding served inside a hollowed out green coconut that is absolutely out of this world.
You should not miss out on this Minneapolis eat street dining sensation.
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Parking is available for Peninsula after six across the street next to the Black Forest parking lot. If you park there before 6:00pm they will tow you.
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As the saying goes, the customer is always right... right?
I have a defining critieria for whether a coffeeshop is good or not. Of course, the quality of the coffee brewing is important, free...
As the saying goes, the customer is always right... right?
I have a defining critieria for whether a coffeeshop is good or not. Of course, the quality of the coffee brewing is important, free wifi is necessary, and I like easy access neighborhood locations. Additionally, I am a sucka for the homage, "support your local indie stores and business" but I have to draw the line somewhere.
The critical cutoff for me is how the barista or counter attendant reacts to my question, "Can I get a large glass of ice water." If they cannot grasp this question or give me a ton of attitude like they are totally put out then they have lost me.
Really, this boils down to a question of how they value the customer -- if the barista holds you in contempt, feels bothered, or shows arrogance, it all comes flowing out when you ask, "Can I get a large glass of ice water."
Water is the essence of life. If there is life on Mars, there has to be water. My doctor tells me to drink 16 oz glasses of water 8 times a day for my health. I go to coffeeshops more for the water than the coffee. Water is also a major and vital ingrediant in the coffee making process, so it is not like going to a shoe store and asking for a leather coat. Asking for water is purely a favor of the host and if they are bad hosts than it all boils over in response to this request.
The last time I was at Nina's I asked for water and the woman behind the counter scowled and pointed me in the direction of a crockery jar on the customer prep station. I told her I would gladly add my own water if she provided the large glass with ice (the cups on the station were tiny and not up to my doctors standards for volumn consumption and no ice there).
She scowled again as if I were rubbish in her eyes. Then, she took the smallest cup and filled it with ice. Even her act of service was an action of contempt and she wanted me to know it.
This is bad business. I don't care if it is local or a national chain -- if the people who get your coffee act in contempt and treat you with an arrogant attitude, I will be happy to switch my business to Starbucks or Caribou because good treatment is the bottom line.
And the Cafe Mocha she brewed sucked. I hope this is just one barista and if I ever go back, I'll get better treatment the next time.
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NOTE: Nina's of located in Saint, Paul Minnesota 55102 at the corner of Selby and Western Ave on Cathedral Hill. Garrison Keillors new bookstore is Common Good is underneath and a stairway connects them togther.
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Exciting new developments are happening under and around Nina's Coffee Cafe on Selby and Western in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill district.
A "G. Keillor Prop." sign will be hung underneath the...
Exciting new developments are happening under and around Nina's Coffee Cafe on Selby and Western in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill district.
A "G. Keillor Prop." sign will be hung underneath the archway on the corner the Common Good Bookstore scheduled to open Wednesday, November 1st.
The former Angus Hotel that once housed F. Scott Fitzgerald's mother, after her husband died and before she moved to Maryland to be near Scotty has been transformed into the Blair arcade where longtime tennant Nina's Coffee Cafe has been the cornerstone for coming and going into the block of salons, offices, condos, and boutique specialty shops.
Underneath Nina's, huddled among the stone arch foundation will be stacks of poetry, literature and non-fiction in Keillor's first venture into retail bookselling under the management of Sue Zumberge. a former Montana bookstore owner. Keillor promises books by local authors and a wide selection of independent offerings of literary taste.
It is not yet known if Common Good will offer a range of quality periodicals, daily news, retail media variety such as books on tape, select CDs and DVDs by Prairie Home Productions and other Keillor branded materials but these are likely compliments to Keillor's broad palet of poetry, classical literature, political opinion, American and local history, and philosophical ruminations.
Clearly, in order to suvive, Common Good Books will need to find a niche and selection not offered by the chain stores to make the store a neighborhood destination. Keillor has the prominence to drive traffic to the store, in the short term out of curiousity, however, will need to build on it through special events, readings, and appearances by noteworthy authors and subjects. Rumor has it, Keillor might even record a few segments of "The Writers' Almanac" for bookstore vistors to witness
While it is easy for Keillor and his cohorts to lament the loss of great independent bookstores in the Twin Cities, however, Zumberge and her employees must make the experience of visiting Common Good unique and rarified. The romance of the bookstore and unaffiliated bookseller are hollow unless there is the distinctive and unusal atmosphere and attention to particular detail to draw customers away from the Borders or Barnes & Noble chain stores.
We all wait with anticipation to see just what those special differences will be at Common Good Books for the average person who walks in off the street as well as the avid reader with a "think global, buy local" conviction.
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With all the new condo developments popping up in the Uptown area ne can expect a growth in new upscale dining establishments that cater to residental diners but not necessarily luxury or...
With all the new condo developments popping up in the Uptown area ne can expect a growth in new upscale dining establishments that cater to residental diners but not necessarily luxury or destination tastes. Along this stretch of Lake Street, you'll find the car repair shops, tire stores, and appliance dealers have been replaced with new residental urban living with a slightly European flair -- as much as that is possible in a country with no comprehension for history.
Tum Rup Thai might fit right into thist slice of the new market -- a place were young professional singles and couples can catch a bite during the week when too tired after work to cook on the way home but still want something more delicious than fast food or greasy heavy food. First Tum Rup has delicious appetiziers that can be shared or made into meals. The Basil Shrimp Rolls are a knock out. My friend ordered a plate that he promptly finished and then a second plate just because they were so delicious.
With the main dish menu you'll find a few things apply overall and that being that you pick the level of heat you want on your tongue and they make it to order. And second, many of their dishes apply more flame that heat. In concept this makes meat dishes fresher, brighter, more lively with more sparkle. Third, the curry and noodle dishes give you an array of chicken, pork, beef and seafood options and our group found the beef a little less than expected. You'll also find a healthy array of salads for lighter or veggie dining.
Owners/chef Somsap and Steve Hein also own Sawatdee on Hennepin and 27th and it was a little bit of a risk that they might split their business but the gamble seems to be paying off. Chef Somsap, originally from Thailand keeps her skills and imagination fresh with trips back to her home country. This new modern high ceiling space with dramatic mosaic tile work, bamboo accents and from the duct work in the ceiling hang parasol light fixtures, this has a distinctly different air than the Perkin's like interior and plastic booths of Sawatdee. Two eras in distinct contrast. Tum Rup has a large free parking lot in the back (critical for Uptown these days) and wine list and beer. Ample windows and outdoor dining in the summer. Entries will vary in price from $8 to $15.
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CREEPING CHARLIE FINALLY ATE HAMLINS!!
With a new breed of chain operations sweeping across downtown like creeping-charlie serving scones with strange combinations of fruit, nuts and berries;...
CREEPING CHARLIE FINALLY ATE HAMLINS!!
With a new breed of chain operations sweeping across downtown like creeping-charlie serving scones with strange combinations of fruit, nuts and berries; sticky crusted flake pastries and four buck fortified juices, it's nice to step back every once and awhile to Minneapolis of yester-millenium. Hamlin's is a tiny lunch counter located across the Mall from Neiman-Marcus and you'll want to get there early because by 2:00pm they'll be closed. Pancakes, crusty hashbrowns, eggs to order, grilled things that will take you back to the 1960s, like grilled cheese sandwich, onion rings, turkey melt and a selection of pies make this downtown dining a trip down memory lane.
If you remember being a kid and having a day off for teacher conferences and being pulled out of school for a dentist appointment, Mom would take you to Hamlins as a special treat for "being good" -- not biting the dental assistant as she tried to stuff gum numbing cotton balls into your lower cheek. Even though it felt like all the liquids were flowing out the corner of your mouth ("Use you napkin" mother would sternly remind), that crunchie, crusty goodness of your grilled cheese sandwich made it all feel better.
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