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.
TakeBetsywithyou 