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Swimming pool and pineapples
Pinesharkles! Piranapples! Frootacudas! Oh my!
We are under a month until the first day of the State Fair, school supplies are being piled up in stores, and that means you have to do one thing: Take stock of summer. Have you made all your road trips? Eaten all the ice cream flavors you planned? Sat in the grass with a good sandwich? Not trying to pressure, just giving you the final lap bell. Perhaps the plan is no plan other than heading north for beer, cooking up blue ribbon banana bread, or wandering among some vines with a full glass of grape.
NEWS
\\ Guy Fieri has announced a special dinner in support of Justin Sutherland. On August 13 you can dine at the DDD host's house in Napa with a ton of celebrity chefs all cooking great food, with premium wine and tequila on offer. This once in a lifetime meal has a $5,000 ticket price, which will all go to support Sutherland's medical bills. People Magazine talked to Sutherland about his ordeal and the recovery he's undergoing, warning: there are pictures of his injuries.
\\ A lot of people were alerted on Facebook over the past few weeks about possible cult behavior from the Bad Rooster food truck. Multiple families have come forward with stories, but the owners of the food truck are suing two sisters in particular for defamation after losing bookings. I know people who are looking into this seriously.
OPENS
+ Ojibwe-owned Makwa Coffee is now open in Roseville, in the former Olive Branch Bistro space off Hamline. Check out the signature drink, a Ziigwan Sugar Maple which is made with cold brew, caramel, your milk of choice, and real maple syrup. Makwa means black bear in Ojibwe, and owner Jamie Becker-Finn wants to share more of her culture, so beyond pastries and coffee, the shop will also sell hand-harvested wild rice from the Leech Lake reservation where she grew up. Open daily.
+ Roots Cafe is now open inside the Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center on 7th St in St. Paul. This cool initiative is being staffed by youth from the local chapter of the International Indigenous Youth Council. They are serving up hot coffee drinks, cold brew, and some teas on Tues-Thurs from 7:30am to 12:30pm, go brighten both your mornings!
+ Nanny's Jamaican Kitchen opens officially in St. Paul this Saturday. Bringing the flavors of Mantego Bay, Hanover, and Kingston City Jamaica to Rice Street (next to Mama's Pizza), the menu features jerk chicken and pork, Grandma's country style curry goat, oxtail stew, plus patties, coco bread and more.
+ Jones Coffee is the new name on the door of two former Dunn Bros. locations, one in Linden Hills and one in Fulton (ok, and a third at the Ridgedale Library outside the Gov Center). Anthony Jones, who has been running these franchise spots for years, just transitioned them to his own brand. Not many changes, the staff is largely the same, but word is that they are brining in some better local bakery with Bagel Taïm bagels, Mother Dough treats, and GF options from Sift.
+ Smith & Porter has re-opened in the Mill District area. The restaurant closed with the pandemic, but has been given another chance with new management and a new chef, Antione Brown. Chef signature dishes include brick roasted lemon herb chicken, corn chowder, truffle mac 'n' cheese, and a burger with smoked bacon, crispy shallots, and white cheddar.
CLOSES
- The big very reported closing of the week has to be Grumpy's in Roseville, which ends service on Saturday. It seems that so many people wanted to come out and pay their last respects, that they might have forgotten their actual respect at home. Let me reiterate what Grumpy's has said: If you are going to a dying restaurant to squeeze YOUR last memories out of the place and choose to neither see nor understand the struggle that the people who are working these final days are going through, you are the worst. Stay home. No Big Kahuna Bash for you.
COMING SOON
>> Liquor Lyle's is about to become a pinball bar. Jasha and Carrie McCabe Johnston have purchased the venerable Uptown dive bar, and plan to move their TILT pinball bar to the space. The new version will be renamed LITT (same letters, new order), and there's oodles of more room for more pinball machines, more menu items, more parking, more more.
>> There's MORE pickleball coming into your life, so fret not. Pints & Paddle will be bring 10 indoor courts to Maple Grove in a building that also houses a restaurant and bar with a self-serve tapwall.
>> Looks like the old Boludo space on Nicollet won't be empty much longer. The space is returning to its birdy roots with new tenant Abang Yoli moving in soon. Fried chicken for all!
>> The Malt Shop in Lynnhurst, a burger and shake institution since 1973, hints on their Facebook that they will reopen next weekend!
AGENDA
// Well the 10th Annual All Pints North beer festival in Duluth is sold out. But, you know, the town will be full of brewers and drinkers if you just want to hang? Look at some trees?
// It's time to limber up! The Anoka County Fair is a great way to do that. Besides the fact that there is Mutton Bustin' and a demolition derby on Sunday, you know you need to prime your face with a corn dog.
// Minneapolis Cider Co. is launching a very special canned beverage tonight. Trail Magic is a non-alcoholic cannabis-infused sparkling drink that has the now-legal 3mg of THC as an ingredient in both the Berry Basil and Hop Water flavors. They are throwing a little bonfire movie night to celebrate the release, starting at 6pm. Four packs of the bevvie will be available for off-sale sometime next week.
// Happy 3rd Birthday to Bap and Chicken! You still have a chance to enter the drawing for A YEAR OF FREE CHICKEN, but shake a leg: the winner will be drawn tonight. But pop in tonight for free drummies with every entree ordered, plus a Korean drum troupe will be on site, and so will cake.
// National Cheesecake Day is on Saturday, and the cool kids at Muddy Paws Cheesecake are whoooping it up. From 11a to 7p, they'll have 20 flavors of cheesecake for ya. Slices and 4" cakes are just $5, and $1 of that goes to SLP STEP programs. Plus there will be live music and three food trucks (including Soul Lao!).
// This weekend marks the return of the Waconia Wine Festival. Take an afternoon to shuttle between three different wineries out in lake country. The $50 ticket includes the shuttle, tastings at the vineyards, and a souvenir glass. You'll find food specials and discounts on purchases too.
// It's the Minnesota Pottery Festival out along the Crow River in Hutchinson this weekend. Sure there will be food trucks and a beer garden, but let's start thinking about that Thanksgiving table and what kind of killer piece of pottery should own your tablescape.
// Feel like you need to know about something dirty going down on Saturday. Private Sector, the burger fiends, and Boomin' BBQ are doing crimes in some way by putting up something called The Long Rib Big Mac. They are taking two cuts of Waygu beef rib, with melty cheese, homemade Mac sauce, and adding onion, lettuce, and signature Private Sector pickles on a triple decker stacked bun. Pure filth. In the best possible way.
// Frolfers, dust off your putters! The Buck Hill Disc Golf Grand Opening Party is on Saturday. This kicks off the new course which threads out over 60 acres of woods, trails, down hill shots, and great views. At various baskets along the route, sponsored sips from the like of Surly Brewing, Boathouse Brewing, Diageo, Invictus Brewing, and many more will quench your thirst. Hole #14 (529ft distance/-71ft vertical) will be sponsored by Surly Brewing, and if you ace the hole, you get a keg party hosted at your home by Surly themselves.
// Hey it's the last chance to sign up for a Harvest Share with The Good Acre. I did it! You can opt in for a 7 week share that starts in September for $115, or an 11 week share starting earlier in August for $180. Also: I added a bi-weekly egg share options because I can't live without eggs. Harvest is when all the sexy vegetables show up, so this is the move if you ask me. Pick up weekly at locations around the metro.
// Reminder that August 9th is the last day to register your baked good or jam for a possible Blue Ribbon at the MN State Fair. Maybe this is your year!! You know there are four new categories for you to aim for: Great Chocolate Cake Contest, Low-to-No Sugar Showdown, Salad Bowl Tournament, and Supreme Sourdough Bread Contest. SOMEONE from quarantine has GOT to win that last one.
