I’m of two minds about street food.
Personally, I find it unsatisfying. I don’t like to walk and eat (too messy!), and I hate the taste of wooden sticks and skewers. Yet, there’s something about a bustling city street dotted with steaming food stands and vendors that makes me happy. I’ll take a stroll the crowd, even if I’m not moved to stop and nosh.
But I’m well aware there are diehard fans of hotdogs in waxed cardboard boats, streetside falafel, and chili-roasted nuts served in canny little paper cones. In fact, the great Calvin Trillin made his mark as a food writer by sniffing out the best little stands from Singapore to New York.
If you’re one of Trillin’s minions, you’re in luck. Because not only is tomorrow (Thursday, May 8) the opening day of MOSAIC Marketplace on the Nicollet Mall, it’s actually supposed to be intermittently sunny outside. And — get this — so far as anyone can tell, it isn’t going to snow!
Every Thursday from 12 – 5 p.m., these local restaurants will be cooking up global fare:
Manny’s Tortas
La Loma Tamales
Pham’s Deli &
Holy Land
And there will be live entertainment, too. Tomorrow will be a crisp 64-degree day with a gentle northeastern breeze, plus a troupe of Celtic dancers jigging and reeling their way up and down the mall. Here’s the full schedule of acts:
May 8 – St. Paul Irish Dancers
May 15 – Tapestry Folkdance
May 22 – Jawaahir Middle Eastern Dancers
May 29 – UNL Dance Squad
June 5 – Mayan Dancers
Of course, Thursday is also Farmer’s Market day on Nicollet, so after you’re done eating, watching, and — perhaps — dancing along, you can pick up some fresh asparagus. What could be better than that?
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