Gavin Kaysen at Home Fish Dinner
GK @ Home
Even if you don't have school-age kids, September still gives off that freshly sharpened No. 2 Ticonderoga smell in many ways. It's all about possibilities and learning new things, which could and should happen even after you leave the educational system. Feed the brain and the body by finally learning how to cook a whole fish from a smart chef (who ditched college for kitchens), engage in thoughtful debate over whether pineapple should exist on pizza, and study up on when and why one might throw toast at a movie screen.
NEWS
\\ W.A. Frost has decided that they will require proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 72 hours of your visit if you care to dine indoors. Far North Spirits up in Hallock have also announced they will require vaccinations for their cocktail room. They follow Hark! Cafe and Al's Breakfast in this effort for indoor dining, and join a growing number of entertainment establishments who are also holding this line.
OPENS
+ The Copperfield is now open in Mendota Heights, an area sorely wanting in new dining options (so sayeth the locals who've messaged me.) Open all day, starting with breakfast at 7am and running til midnight on weekend nights, this casual spot calls itself a neighborhood diner and bar. The supper menu has everything from burgers and loaded waffle fries, to a walleye sandwich, flank steak, an Iron Range pasty, and salads.
+ As of tonight, Surly Pizza Upstairs is back open again at the brewery. There's a new pizza, a classic fresh tomato pie on the menu, but all the rest of your favorite New Haven-styles are back: the pineapple jalapeño, the whole clam pie, and the fan favored pepperoni (cups!) with burnt honey.
+ DeLeo Bros. Pizza is now open at Mall of America, offering straight-up NY-style pizza. The locally owned pizza shop already has a location at Southdale, so mall slices are right in their wheelhouse.
+ Uni Uni is also open at MOA. The Chicago-based bubble tea shop has all the traditional milk teas and smoothies, but they also have some winter tea drinks (hazelnut fresh milk with grain oat) and snacks: crispy salt and pepper squid, popcorn chicken, and takoyaki.
COMING SOON
+ MOA is not done yet! They are adding a bunch of new eating and drinking options over the coming months.
- 1st RND: a national sportsy bar with burgers and beers and a massive high-def video wall will land on the first floor.
- Beard Papa's: a Japanese cream puffs shop is coming to level 3! It's like the donut craze, but with cream puffs.
- Icchido Ramen: a local chain in the making, this ramen shop already has 4 locations around the metro. They'll open on level 3.
- Franchise locations of Duck Donuts and Opa! of Greece will also open on the 3rd floor.
AGENDA
// Dammit Janet, tickets go on sale at 11am this morning for the 45th Anniversary Tour of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Grab some seats at The Fitzgerald for the full unedited screening with Barry Bostwick on October 27. Great Scott, do the youths know when to throw the toast??
// The next round of GK @ Home cooking classes are ready for your consumption. Gavin Kaysen decided to pre-record this batch so that people could dial in and learn on their own time (and pause when the dog knocks over the bag of rice). The Fall 2021 classes release over the next two months, starting with that whole seabass and coconut rice dish above on Sept. 15 (I was invited to heckle and drink at that class, so of course I did). Classes alone are $35, but you can get a season pass for all four for $120. There is the option of signing up for the ingredients pick up, which you do the day of the release at Spoon and Stable, but you can easily watch, then shop on your own, and watch again.
// Do you find you are still needing a State Fair fix? If you are looking for a carnival on a smaller scale, with a lot of the fried food concessions that make it real, check out James J. Hill Days in Wayzata this weekend. Or hit up Thr3 Jack in North Loop for their 2nd Annual Corn Roast: $10 all you can eat roasted sweet corn (or half-doz bags to-go), Dual Citizen brews, buckets of cookies and fried chicken on stick. And then on Monday, you can pop over to Lift Bridge Brewing for the last taps of Mini Donut and Key Lime beer. It's first-come-first-serve crowlers until they sell out.
// Pickle ballers know. Minneapolis Cider Co. is throwing an Expansion Party tonight to celebrate having a little work done. Bigger taproom with more seating, two new pickle ball courts, and a whole new event center that still has that new party smell. Play on with pickle ball clinics all day, ping pong, a makers market, crepe samples, and an evening cocktail party with live music.
// Let's just start this fundraiser event off with the fact that there will be puppies and beer. Excelsior Brewing's Kegs for the Klondike on Saturday is raising funds to bring back the Klondike Dog Derby back to the lake. Silent auction, live music, musher Q&A, and did I say puppies?
// Open Streets is back on Saturday! They are shutting down West Broadway Ave from Penn Ave N to Lyndale Ave N to cars, so that you can walk and stroll and bike and skate and longboard as you want at your own pace. There will be over 80 vendors, artists, and entertainers along the path so take your time.
// Feels like this is a win-win-win. Spend $10 to take part in Unmapped Brewing's Fresh Hop Harvest Day and help the brewery pick hops on Dan Gladden's farm this Saturday. Hops get picked, fresh hop beer gets made, hobnobbing with former Twins great costs you $10. That's a triple.
