
Courtesy of Café Latte
Café Latte
It was opening week for the Broadway touring production of Mean Girls at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. The cast party was held at the Le Meridien Chambers Hotel. While mingling amongst VIPs and the cast of Mean Girls I ran into Lisa Krohn, the director of theatre programming for Hennepin Theatre Trust. HTT is responsible for booking many of the shows we see at the Orpheum, Pantages and State Theatre. Lisa is also one of the select few in Minnesota that sees every show nominated for a Tony Award and casts her ballot for her favorites. I thought, Who better to ask than Lisa what her top three picks would be for anyone planning a trip to NYC yet this year? Lisa’s top picks are Hadestown, David Byrne’s American Utopia and Girl from the North Country. See you in the Big Apple!
Café Latte, the restaurant that has been bringing us delicious soups, salads, sandwiches, and those amazing desserts for the past 35 years, is doing a little refresh and expansion. You may remember the old Quince retail space in the back of the building adjacent to the pizza and wine bar. The area will soon be reinvented as an exhibition style cake finishing area with a massive glass walk-in cooler to display all things covered in whipped cream. The area will also be used as an event space for bridal showers, afternoon high teas, and wine tastings. Owner Bryce Quinn plans to have the new area open in January 2020. My top two personal favorites are the Vanilla Tres Leches Cake and the Turtle Cake.
Scout, the men’s clothing store in the West 7th Street neighborhood of St. Paul celebrated one year in business in August, when a white SUV crashed through the glass entryway of the store. No one was hurt in the mishap but the shop owners were forced to evacuate the historic building. I talked to John Migala, a partner in the men’s apparel and gift shop this week, as to their future plans. Scout plan to open a pop-up shop in the former Ann Taylor store on Grand Avenue in St. Paul until their charming West 7th Street location is rebuilt and ready for business.