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Patio
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It just is. Yes, this weekend is giving a recalibration to the awkward 90 degrees session we had midweek, but there's no denying we went directly from snow plows to deck chairs, which we handled with our usual aplomb. Lean into it with a stop at new donut shops, get ready to test your hotness, and make loose plans for 4/20.
NEWS
\\ HUGE news: Chef Sean Sherman has been named to the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2023. This list, which also includes King Charles and Beyoncé among others, is a honor that Sherman believes will help open more doors, “Obviously, I’m just trying to do this work, and I’ll use this opportunity to do what I am always trying to do, to make changes for the other people coming up behind me. It gives me the chance to talk to new media, to new people, about the history in this country of race, segregation, health, food, how everything is part of everything. Each one of these awards or invitations opens a door.”
OPENS
+ The temperance bar and plant-based restaurant that was formerly going to open in the Common Roots space as Juniper, will now be called Hi Flora! Heather Klein is still part of the project, though Michelle Courtright is no longer in the partnership. Klein plans to open the doors to the storefront on 4/20, with hot food specials, drinks, and music, though the larger restaurant won't open until May.
+ The Dabbler Depot THC has opened a third location, this one in Uptown, in the former Brass Knuckles Tattoo space. The NA/THC bottle shop stocks national and local brands of THC boosted bevvies and gummies of all sorts. They are hosting a huge tasting of more than 16 different brands on 4/20, across all three locations, plus buy-two-get-one-free deals, and a contest in which you could win a year's worth of free THC beverages!
+ Mochinut is now open in the Greenway Lakes Commons near Bde Maka Ska. Is this the first one-stop-shop for mochi ring donuts + boba teas + crunchy Korean corn dogs + soft serve? Methinks yes.
+ Bogart Doughnut Co. opens their newest location today in the Miracle Mile shopping center in St. Louis Park today. Check in all weekend for free keychains, Nutella doughnuts, and brown butter soft serve ice cream.
+ SEASONALS: Sea Salt Eatery is now open next to Minnehaha Falls, hurry up and get in line ... Licks Unlimited in Excelsior is open for lakeside ice cream fun.
CLOSES
- Downtown is losing a legend. After 30 some years, Walkin' Dog will close up shop in the lower level food court of the Northstar Building. Renovation of the food area will close it for about a year, but the family-owned hot dog shop won't be back. Last day is April 21.
COMING SOON
>> Hummus party in Uptown! Baba’s is launching a hummus house, bakery, and market in the former Uniforms Unlimited space on Lyndale. Not just a bunch of tubs of hummus, but get ready for a 50-seat cafe, mana’eesh bakery, and market selling Baba’s products, Arab pantry ingredients, and merch. Yes, you can look forward to the hummus bowls that have been owning the State Fair. They'll be making it all on-site, with 10,000 square feet just for production.
AGENDA
// If it's patio season, it's by defacto slusheee season. I really don't care how you choose to spell it, just mind the brain freeze when you're sitting at Cafe Tropical, which is the beachy cocktail bar cosplay of Fair State Brewing's taproom this weekend. Find that coconut bra and head over for seltzer-based drinks and specialty slushyees all weekend long.
// No one is mad at the Spring Cheese and Chocolate Weekend, you can bet on that. Join all the happy campers at St. Croix Vineyards for a flight of five award-winning wines paired with cheeses from Eichtens' Hidden Acres (heard there might be herbed gouda), chocolate from Knoke's Chocolates and a SCV custom made raspberry infusion wine truffle. This is an easy $20 to spend, and no rezzies needed, just drop by.
// Join a little NA spring fling on Sunday with Marigold's Vernal Vibrations party at Glasshouse. Live music and all the fresh seasonal good vibes, plus sips of all the innovative non-alcoholic brands pushing boundaries. From spirit replacements by Abstinence, to de-alcoholized wines from Studio Null, Bauhaus Nah beer, and Plift THC beverages, clear heads and nice jams are the way.
// Tax day is fast approaching, April 18 is the big last chance dance. But Mill Valley Kitchen hopes to take the sting out of the day with all day happy hour and a burger deal. From 11 a.m.-9 p.m., signature cocktails will be $8, glasses of wine will be $3 off, tap beers will be $4 and a special cheese burger will run you a cheeky $10.40. Hit send already.
// Kinda love the outlaw vibe of the 420 Blazin' Blues & BBQ event, "the last of the criminalized era." Get jamming on the eve of legalization at this party at Hook and Ladder on Thursday, where Bill Green's BBQ Co. will be slinging the sauce, local vendors will be slinging THC sips and chews, while three blues bands keeps it rolling.
//Maybe you want to prepare yourself for next Saturday's Seven Deadly Sins Hot Sauce Contest at Modist Brewing. Bricksworth Brewing is bringing the wings, and Modist is holding court for local hot sauce makers to battle it out. You get to run the gauntlet and try them all, voting for the most sinful, which will win a dirty $300. I'm hosting and we're gonna eat some blazing things and see if can still pronounce words.
// Just want to get you ready for the fact that we are heading into morel season, which means keep your eyes open during the cleanup yard work. Or just join the Gentleman Forager for Morel Foray #1 on May 6. Don't know where yet, but you'll head out into the field and learn what to look for, where ideal conditions present themselves, and how to find the elusive state mushroom. Or you won't, because of that whole elusive part. But you keep whatever you do find, and there's a stop at a burger bar, so feels like a perfect afternoon either way.
