Shutterstock
Food Gift Basket
We have done our darndest this week to help point you in the best directions to support your home town while shopping and eating, as a city magazine does. Tasty beer subscriptions, giftable restaurant merch, boxes of locally made deliciousness and all the holiday takeout options we could find. It may not be the ultimate answer in saving our local restaurants, but while we're waiting for the legislature to step up, it helps. Keep on keeping on, good friends.
+ Where to Order Christmas/Holiday Takeout 2020!
+ Restaurant Merch that makes great gifts!
+ Gifts: You need a cheese CSA and beer for a year.
+ Gifts: What to get the covid cooker!
Doing Good in the Neighborhood
>> Don't forget Mon., Dec. 14. Community Food Project is teaming up with our favorite digit warmers, Hot Hands Pie, to raise money for YWCA Minneapolis Resource Hub. Together they are hosting a pop-up selling burgers, fries, and shakes to-go, with $5 from every burger sale going to the charity. This will boost their warm hat and sock drive, and I know y'all want to be burger-fed boosters!
>> Moment of MN: Over 2.5 days, some 900 cars in Brainerd kept paying it forward at DQ.
>> Just to let you know, Red Cow served up around 471 free meals to restaurant industry folk last week. Now, I've heard that MASK Hair Designs in Minnetonka is offering FREE haircuts to bar and restaurant workers. That's it, no strings attached, just call to make your appointment before Dec. 31.
News/New Stuff
+ Snoochie Boochies! Kevin Smith's Mooby's pop-up which lands at First Avenue's The Depot starting this Saturday, has largely sold out its run, but as I type this there are some open time slots for Tuesday, Dec. 22! If you act fast you can get in on a Cow Tipper or a Cocksmoker with Onion Rings To Rule Them All.
+ Hello, Machi Machi! United Noodles has done us a big favor and brought the Taiwanese global tea shop to the US. They opened in New York and Mpls. first! Serving the famous cheese tea (don't get skiiived out: cream cheese not Stilton), plus fresh fruit drinks, bottled tea sippers with panna cotta on the bottom, and black milk tea with creme brulee. All the fun things. Find them operating out of the former Unideli spot, where you can pick up after ordering ahead.
+ Norseman Distillery has a new food truck in residence. Kinfolk offers pickled, brined, and smoked comfort foods from Andy Denkinger, a Heyday alum. You can go big with a fried chicken dinner family meal kit, or go solo with a Double Klucker (2 pickle brined fried chx thighs on Texas toast) or a Praline French toast chicken sandwich which is covered in a maple bourbon sweet chili sauce and modifiers include adding bacon, blueberry glaze, or hollandaise, bless their hearts. Also: sides like pork belly boosted Bootlegger beans, creamy dill potato salad, buttermilk and bourbon biscuits, and cowboy cut bacon.
+ A lot of my friends having been waiting for Hark Cafe to open, and it finally has! Two college besties, Lisa and Katherine, have opened this 100% plant-based and gluten free cafe in the Kickernick building in the downtown Mpls. Warehouse District. They are cooking from family recipes to make sure their bagels with schmear is as creamy as it can be (for not having any cream) or maybe you top it with a baked tofu egg, cashew mozzarella, and pesto. Open for takeout, Tu-Sun, breakfast and lunch.
+ After a loooooong build out that included a fire and a pandemic, Fire + Nice Alehouse is now open in the former Heyday space of LynLake. The crew has lit ovens and woodfired pizzas ready for takeout: the Kent Hrbek is your classic pepperoni, the Fran Tarkenton has blackened chicken and gorgonzola, the Prince has figs and prosciutto (but maybe they'll throw some kalamata olives on there for a bit of purple?)
+ Check out the snappy mural at the new Tono's Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks that has opened in the old St. Clair Broiler spot! The second location, after Maplewood, this family run joint has brightened and livened up the corner. Of course get a cheesesteak, but if you can't pass up pizza, try the Pepperoni Bianco with white sauce and ricotta cheese, pepperoni, Tono hot honey, and chili sauce.
Adjusted Sails
>> Best pivot of this shutdown HAS to go to the hotels which are basically creating a bunch of mini-private restaurants in their unused rooms. First it was Hewing Hotel which created a cool contactless seven-course tasting menu for a three hour room rental. Others are following that lead. St. Paul Hotel has announced a new Holiday Suite, which is available to four guests and includes milk and cookies with turndown service, a fully decorated suite, and even gifts wrapped under the tree. And Afton House Inn has created a December special, when you book one of their fireplace or jacuzzi rooms you get a 4-course in-room dinner with wine pairings.
>> Fair State Brewing, Sociable Cider Werks, and Pizza Lucé have teamed up to offer a new pivot: Taproom Direct. Starting Dec. 17th, you'll be able to get your fresh beer, cider, and snacks all in the same parking lot. It allows you to have the same fresh releases that can be found in the taprooms, but at closer locations around town, and with the option of having pizza in the same pick up.
>> Santa knows what's up, that's why Mr. Big Jolly is hanging out at Mancini's for some drive by photo ops. Just order some curbside takeout, and roll up to the Merry & Magical Mancini's Backyard where Santa will greet your car this Sunday, Wednesday and next Sunday. Stay in your car, you don't want those foil wrapped baked taters and steaks to get cold.
>> Son of a nutcracker! The Gnome Pub is turning into a holiday drive-in movie this weekend. Reserve your car spot to watch ELF! and be all cozy with takeout delivered right to your car.
>> If you haven't been to one of these BBQ Dive-Thru for a Difference dealios at Savage's Whiskey Inferno, well, you are in luck because it's happening again this Saturday. If they don't get you with the family BBQ feast for 4 for just $60, then it's the family chicken tenders feast for 4 for $60 (which nets you the eternal love of your children) and many cocktails kits, like a killer Old Fashioned biz (which nets you the eternal love of your partner). And, this is also a toy drive to support their Employee Relief Fund and the Savage Community Toy Drive, so bring an unwrapped toy to the drive-thru, you do-gooders.
Closes, Cancellations, and Cuts
// St. Paul's cute French Hen Cafe, which creatively launched Moonflower Pizza out of their back alley, has decided to hibernate. Brunch on December 20 will be their last service for a while. They'll finish up that week by making holiday meal kits, and then close for the holidays, and the forseeable future. January will bring Viva Cubano as a pop-up to the space, but the owners, who understand and support the shutdown to keep their community safe, call out the inaction of the local and national government in supporting their industry and their workers.
// We are about to see more restaurants choosing to go into hibernation during the cold and slower months. Ann Ahmed is taking some time off and closing her Lat14 and Lemongrass eateries from December 20th through January 6th.
// Penny's Coffee has closed their Linden Hills location. The downtown and Wayzata spots remain open and serving that good joe and soft serve you like. The Linden Hills spot won't stay dark for long, pastry chef Shawn McKenzie will be opening her own gig there, Cafe Cérés, with the help of longtime friend Danny del Prado.
// Wayzata Brew Works has formally closed their brewery in the Lake Minnetonka Boat Works area. The announcement includes some stern words about the shutdown and calls out, "Until the governor and others making the decisions around shutdowns and restrictions are personally financially affected by those decisions, those decisions will continue to cause unnecessary financial hardship." The brewery will be open from 4-7pm today if you want to stop by for some merch and a growler or two.
