Jared Brewington at his Funky Grits shop in Mpls
Jared Brewington at his Funky Grits shop in Mpls.
Yep, it's time to bring some grits to the new foods list! Get ready for some Funky Grits at the Great Minnesota Get Together this year. That's because Jared Brewington will open an outpost of his popular South Minneapolis eatery in the Food Building come August 22. He'll be taking over the former Lamb Shoppe space.
He is concentrating on doing only one food item for year one. "We wanted to get our bearings with the space and really figure it out. We're going to be making our #1 seller, shrimp and grits, but travel-sized," Brewington told me. We're talking almost 4,000 lbs. of grits, people.
Shrimp & Grits fritter balls (aged cheddar grits, onion and gulf shrimp with Creole seasoning) will be served with an aioli kicked with locally made Cry Baby Craig's hot sauce, "We're bringing our friends along. We'll also have bottles of Cry Baby Craig you can buy."
Grits Fritters from new vendor, Funky Grits!
Brewington reached out to other vendors, and asked the Fair committee for numbers and averages of what to expect. "I want to make their faith in me justified. The Blue Barn folks were great, and the Nordic Waffle people talked to me about what a record setting rookie year felt like. So I know I need to take in all those numbers, and set my expectations above what I initially thought." He's planning some 240,000 balls.
This madness all started with a comment from someone eating his grits at the Craft Brewers Guild Winterfest, where he was paired up with some local brewers. "This lady kept saying how she loved the grits, and I just thought she was a super fan, but then she told me that she would love to see those grits out at the State Fair and that I should apply." It turned out to be Nicole Hines, the new Food Czar that replaced Dennis Larson when he retired last year after 22 years of running the show. "I called my wife and said: honey, what if I have a State Fair iron in the fire? And she said, nah, we're too busy." But then what do you know, he did apply, and was shown the space, and had to call his wife and let her know things were going to get crazy.
For anyone wondering how a newbie could get into the Fair so quickly, or still believing in that phantom 10 year waiting list, it's pretty simple: Every year spaces open up, and every year people apply, and every year the Fair does their best to match it all up. "It's really like fitting a big puzzle together," Lara Hughes of the Fair told me, "We choose the perfect piece to fit. Criteria considered when selecting a new vendor include: balance of similar products around the fairgrounds (we avoid having one area with several hot dog or ice cream stands); appropriateness of product, service or presentation to the available site and physical requirements (is the open space fryer appropriate or not); experience at other fairs or shows; booth presentation and appearance. Uniqueness of the product is key too, because we know our fair guests have a sophisticated palate and are more than eager to try something new." THAT'S how we got grits to the Fair.
If there's one thing that Brewington's worried about, the thing that keeps his eyes open at night, it's really just the staffing and the actual making of the balls ... that's all. "But we've reached out to National Honor Societies at high schools, and schools like Washburn that has a culinary program, and we're getting a lot of good feedback. That's taking a page out of the cheese curd playbook."
For year one, they'll be closing the Minneapolis shop during Fair, "It will be all hands on deck. We're bringing the Southside party to Falcon Heights!" The space is now his until he doesn't want it anymore, and he's already planning to stretch it further in year two.
