Category Archives: THE MIDWEST

November 5, 2011 · 10:02 pm

Revisting old Twin Cities favorites – Lucia’s, Walker Art Center, U of M Gehry Museum

We did visit some old favorites last weekend in the Twin Cities that didn’t disappoint. They include:

– Lucia’s, the venerable Uptown restaurant, was packed on a Saturday night, as expected so we were glad to have booked a table well in advance. It’s a cozy unpretentious place that prides itself in a constantly changing seasonal menu using fresh local ingredients whenever possible. One mild complaint – both our soup and a main course arrived luke-warm bordering on cold. They were quickly warmed up. And the desert – an updated version of German Sweet Chocolate cake – was too sweet and heavy. (The cake was more like chewy macaroon and the frosting more like denser chocolate.) But the appetizers and main courses were beautifully done. We had a cup of a white bean soup with vegetables and chorizo; an amazing ravioli filled with caramelized cauliflower with thick bits of bacon on a bed of arugula, a very tasty baked chicken dish served with perfectly cooked brussel sprouts, chewy mushrooms and a bread pudding; and a leg of lamb in calvados with sliced apples and braised vegetables.

– I’ve never really gotten used to the Walker Art Center’s new building – feels sort of disjointed and without a center and the graphics show left me cold. But always good to check in there – and at the sculpture garden across teh street.

– The University of Minnesota’s Art Museum has a new wing also designed by Frank Gehry, who designed the rest of the place. It’s a crazy shiny steel-clad building (although there is some rust…) that looks a bit like a crumpled up beer can. Inside the space is light and airy and all the better for displaying an eclectic collection of contemporary art.

– We took the drive along the river from U of M to St. Paul – absolutely gorgeous on a crisp fall day with blazing autumn leaves. Wished we were riding our bikes!

Leave a comment

Filed under Minneapolis

Tagged as , , , ,

November 1, 2011 · 3:46 pm

Twin Cities bakeries/sandwich shops – the good and not as good

We did the grand tour of quirky independent bakeries and sandwich shops in the Twin Cities last weekend and here’s how they stack up:

– Cheeky Monkey, a sandwich shop on Selby Avenue in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul (i.e. just west of the Cathedral downtown) –  This is a keeper. Lively vibe, good service, tasty food, interesting neighborhood – just down the street from Garrison Keillor’s fantastic Common Good Books. We shared a Muffaletta which was perhaps not the most authentic but still substantial sandwich with a zing served with very good homemade potato chips.

– Patisserie 46, (46th and Grand, a bakery in southwest Minneapolis’ “emerging Kingfield neighborhood” (according to the NYTimes.) We should have eaten lunch here. The sandwiches looked great – one I spotted was thick slabs of real-meat turkey served inside a hearty baguette. Next time. The pastries also fancy and delicate. We got some croissants and a very good olive sourdough bread to go.

– Be’wiched, in the warehouse district of Minneapolis on Washington Ave., this sandwich shop and deli didn’t have the warm funky environment of Cheeky Monkey. It had more of a sleek, clean vibe which wasn’t as welcoming. The sandwiches – allegedly among the nation’s best according to a prominent food mag – were a little too strange for us.  The Roast Beef (on ciabatta served with horseradish, havarti and onion jam) was better than the tuna confit (real pieces of fish/not tuna from a can served with black olives, cucumber, aioli, preserved lemon on Focaccia), a good idea but strange tasting and pricey at $9.50. Four tiny containers with different side salads came with our sandwiches and we tried but didn’t finish any of them. Oh well.

– Bars Bakery – This place, down the street from the Cheeky Monkey on Selby was closed, but sounds like it’s worth a visit. It specializes in the classic dessert bar, which is apparently a Minnesota staple (our b&b served some at breakfast come to think of it, one made of lingonberries.)

– Evelo’s B&B – Come to think of it, some of the best pastries we had were at this Lowry Hill B&B near Uptown, the Lake of the Isles, the Walker Art Center and downtown where we like to stay. I don’t know which they made and which they bought but we had wonderful brioche (soft, sugar-dusted muffin-shaped pastry with dollop of vanilla custard inside), kringle (I think), and lefse  (a Norwegian pastry that’s a piece of dough/flatbread slathered with butter, honey and cinnamon then rolled and cut into bite-size pieces. Tasty. Fortunately it wasn’t served with that other Norwegian specialty, lutefisk.)

Also on my list which we didn’t try:

Sweets Bakeshop near Patisserie 46 and the Salty Tart Bakery in Minneapolis.

Leave a comment

Filed under Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

October 31, 2011 · 5:56 pm

Amazing views and vertigo at Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis

We finally visited the new (okay five-year-old) Guthrie Theater last weekend during a visit to the Twin Cities. What an astonishing place. Designed by Frenchman Jean Nouvel’s (2008 winner of the Pritzker Prize)  its odd-looking exterior is a  rounded cobalt highrise (echoing the nearby historic flour mills downtown) with a protruding platform that sticks out towards the Mississippi River like a bridge lopped off in mid stride.  As suggested, we took the very narrow steep elevator that reminded me of an elevator in the London Tube system to the fifth floor and walked out on the platform which we had all to ourselves on a quiet Saturday morning in late October.  Astonishing views of the River,  St. Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge, bright sunshine bouncing off the blue glass, and I felt like an ant whose antenna had been ripped off. Dizzy. Disoriented. Dazzled.

Inside, the strange interior – soaring spaces with cut out windows offer very precise views of the river and city and a lovely green landscaped park dotted with fiery red-leafed trees – also had me feeling woozy. We rode the elevator up to the ninth floor for another dazzling view, this time through huge panes of yellow-green tinted windows. Interesting how the glass totally changed the view we’d seen several floors below. We also walked around the curving space lining one of the theaters and through the sleek darkened bars on the fifth floor.

Building tours are available the first Saturday of the month. Next time, we’ll go to a performance there at one of the complex’s three stages (the “thrust stage” and Shakespeare seems good idea.)

for photos and more info: see http://www.guthrietheater.org/about_guthrie/our_spaces

Leave a comment

Filed under architecture, Minneapolis, Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

October 28, 2011 · 2:38 pm

New places to check out in Minneapolis this weekend


We are off to Minneapolis this weekend and here is what’s on my list to check out:

The new wing of the Frank Gehry-designed art museum of the U of Minnesota campus. (Gehry also designed the new wing.) One complication – the U of Iowa/U of Minnesota football game at 2:30. Guess we’ll try to go to the museum after the game starts.

– The graphic arts show at the Walker Art Center (and as always, we’ll revisit the sculpture garden across the street.)

–  A reportedly great new bakery in an “emerging” Kingfield neighborhood: Patisserie 46 4552 Grand Ave. S. Maybe check out Cafe Ena, 4601 Grand Avenue South, a Latin fusion restaurant, or Saffron Restaurant and Lounge, 123 N. 3rd street for some Middle Eastern grub. See review (below)that accompanied it’s “Best Middle Eastern Food” award from a local magazine:

And we’ll do some of our old standbys in the Uptown area around Hennepin Ave. where we usually base ourselves:

– Stay at Evelo’s  Evelo’s Bed & Breakfast 2301 Bryant Avenue South in the Lowery Hill East Neighborhood. From the outside, this 1897 three-story house house is unexceptional. Inside, it’s remarkable – a well-preserved Victorian home with original woodwork, period furnishings including lots of Tiffany stained glass lamps and lovely dining room with reproduction wall paper designed or inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the famous Scottish architect and designer.

– Dinner at Lucia’s, 1432 W. 31st Street. (Apparently it now has a Dog Bar…not sure what that’s all about.) We m

Most Americans think of Middle Eastern food as hummus and shish kebab. But Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey have their own distinctive cuisines, a blend of culinary traditions that evolved over centuries of migration and war. Saffron is a fitting place to savor the diversity of the Middle East, as the restaurant features flavors of northern Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Peninsula. Everything on the menu, from the giant beans laced with dill and olive oil to the sweet and savory chicken bisteeya in flaky phyllo dough, is carefully prepared and faithful to the ingredients’ flavors. Take the lamb brain with tomato confit. The savory richness of the brain, which is accompanied by a whiff of organ-meat fragrance reminiscent of foie gras, is balanced by the sweet preserved tomato and garlic. A touch of parsley elevates the flavor and rounds out the dish to perfection. Saffron has a fantastic cocktail program, featuring original drinks made with infused liquors: Spices such as white and Szechuan peppers, mejdool dates, and chamomile transform familiar spirits like gin, whiskey, and brandy into veritable elixirs. They say the history of a land is written in its food. Saffron is a reminder of how complex the Middle East can be.

Leave a comment

Filed under Minneapolis, museum exhibit, THE ARTS

Tagged as , , , ,

October 26, 2011 · 7:11 pm

Kansas City Ballet and new Kauffman Center – more reason to go to KC

So I was about ready to jump in the car and drive to Kansas City after reading a NYTimes review of the Kansas City Ballet’s new ballet “Tom Sawyer” performed in the new Muriel Kauffman Theater  (inside the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts) but thought it wise to check first to see if it’s still happening.

And alas, the last performance was Oct. 23 (so why did the story run on Oct. 25….grrrr).  (“Tom” is reportedly KC Ballet’s first new production and likely “the first all-new, entirely American three-act ballet,” according to the NYTimes which gave the production, the dancers and the new performance space thumbs up.)

Anyway, the ballet company and the Kauffman Center- which we have watched being built during our frequent trips through downtown KC  – are now on my list for early May when there’s a performance of work by four famous NYC Ballet choreographers. (Apparently KC Ballet and NYC Ballet have a longstanding relationship. Who knew?) During its Masters of American Dance production May 4-13, the KC Ballet will perform work by four famous choreographers: George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins & Todd Bolender (Bolender, was a former Balanchine dancer and artistic director of the KC Ballet.)

 

4 Comments

Filed under dance, Kansas City

Tagged as , , , ,

October 2, 2011 · 3:02 pm

A b&b in Minneapolis – stick with tried and true or try something new?

We visit Minneapolis every couple of years and have had very good luck  staying at Evelo’s bed & breakfast, a low-key but charming house in a good location near the Walker Art Center. But for our next trip in late October, we’re toying with the idea of staying somewhere else – the Wales House near the U of Minnesota campus, in part because it may be available when Evelo’s is not and also just to try something new (always a temptation.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Minneapolis

Tagged as

September 18, 2011 · 3:29 pm

milwaukee – serbian food, sausages, santiago calatrava

Friends are going to Milwaukee for a college visit to Marquette U. so here are a few suggestions of things to do/see/eat:

– Three Brothers – a Old World Serbian restaurant in a neighborhood just north of the airport. Yes Serbian food. Good. Try the burek, sort of akin to Greek spinach and cheese pie

– The Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava. The building alone – looking like bird landing on the lake – is worth a wander. There’s an exhibit on the building of the museum, marking its 10th anniversary. (more below)

– Usinger’s Sausages – okay, you don’t have to go to the original store downtown but it’s kind of a kick. there’s a stand selling them at the Milwaukee Airport.

 

 

Building a Masterpiece: Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Art Museum

September 8, 2011–January 1, 2012

Feature image for the Calatrava exhibition It has been named the sexiest building in the world, featured in TV ads and shows and Hollywood movies, and it has transformed the city of Milwaukee. In September, the Milwaukee Art Museum celebrates the 10th anniversary of its iconic building, the Quadracci Pavilion, with the exhibition Building a Masterpiece: Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Designed by internationally renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, the Quadracci Pavilion was the Spaniard’s first completed commission in the United States. In 2001, it was named Time Magazine’s “Best Design of 2001.”

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized, Wisconsin

Tagged as , , ,

August 9, 2011 · 12:22 am

Tried a new restaurant in Kansas City – Po’s Dumpling Bar.

We didn’t have time in Wichita last weekend to eat at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Market so we tried Po’s Dumpling Bar on lively 39th Street  in Kansas City – not bad. The dumplings were unusually oblong-shaped and fresh tasting. The spicy (but not too) Kung Pao chicken and two vegetarian noodle dishes (one with thick and wide homemade noodles that reminded me of the egg noodles found in Midwestern’ chicken-and-noodles) also were also fresh tasting, with good quality meat and crisp vegetables.

Leave a comment

Filed under DINING, Kansas City

Tagged as , , ,

July 19, 2011 · 12:23 am

Odds and ends from West Central Wisconsin

In Sparta, we ate at Angelini’s – a nothing fancy but good old-fashioned Italian restaurant downtown that was packed on a Saturday night and makes a good tomato meat sauce and has good thin crust pizza. One minor quibble – among the photos of presumably Italian notables (Sopranos actors, Al Pacino, Sinatra et. al.) hanging on the wall was one Benicio del Toro, who is Puerto Rican (full name: Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez)

In Westby, we ate at a nothing fancy very Norwegian cafe, Borgen’s – motto is “Spis, drik, a ver gla!” (Eat, drink, and be glad! in Norwegian I’m guessing. We didn’t  get too adventurous or Norwegian  (we skipped the Meatballs & Gravy with Lefse and the “Feisty Norwegian Chicken Sandwich”) but they served a good BLT. We had bacon several times during our Wisconsin trip (each morning at our B&B) and it never disappointed. But then bacon rarely does.  I also was intrigued by a replica of a Kransekake, Norway’s signature cake often served at weddings, birthdays and anniversary parties – a conical tower of thin layers of cake made out of almost paste, that narrows as it rises from bottom to top.


Leave a comment

Filed under DINING, Wisconsin

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 17, 2011 · 6:43 pm

Canoeing via the Titanic on the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin

We inadvertently picked the best day to canoe on the Kickapoo River in southwest Wisconsin last week – a Monday. We were going to go on Sunday – when it would no doubt be crowded – but the weather wasn’t promising so we waited a day and had the river almost entirely to ourselves, which was a treat. We rented a boat from a rental place in Ontario called Titanic (and managed to stay afloat!) – good boat, fiberglass with molded seats so slightly more comfortable. We opted for the 3.25 hour trip, which was a little shorter than that, put in at the landing beside the rental place and were picked up right on time at Bridge #5 (helps that the canoe rental guy had few other customers.) The river itself is narrow and very curvy, with high grassy banks and forested stone bluffs. Really lovely. Must do again! There are several other canoe rental places next to Titanic but it suited us well.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized, Wisconsin

Tagged as , , ,