Month: September 2007

C’mon, isn’t this every over-educated, artsy, navel-gazing intellectual’s dream? Well, I know it’s mine.

First, the New York Times announced on Monday it would stop charging for certain “select” (read: everything with wit, context, opinion, or Thomas Friedman’s byline) articles. And today, they not only run a terrific piece on the legendary Alice Waters, there’s also a column called Happiness for $10 or Less, all about great, high-quality but ridiculously inexpensive red wines.

You have to scroll all the way to the end of the second page to see the full list of top-rated 7, 8, 9, and 10-dollar wines. Of them, I heartily recommend the Ravenswood (though they cite the Merlot and I’m partial to the Zin). This label is a staple in my house, especially toward the end of the month when money is tight.

Check it out. And write in if you have any contenders to add.

I’m ducking out early this week, lasses. Must recharge my batteries, sleep in, be still in an emptied apartment, bleach the teeth, and maybe go for a long, late-morning run. But before I check out, lookit this most promising of MNfashion Weekend events: Loves Labourers, where a six-some of designers and artists take paint brushes and seem rippers to your pre-purchased hoodies. Is it art, or it is fashion? It’s both, I suppose. And so hopefully when it’s all said and done, the thing still fits.

Where does royalty dine when they visit our fair metropolis?

When His Royal Majesty King Abumbi II, the Fon of Bafut visited Minneapolis last month, he stopped and his entourage attended a breakfast organized in his honor at the Sunnyside Deli & Coffee Cafe, 1825 Glenwood Ave. N. in Minneapolis. Actually, the Fon, hereditary ruler of Bafut, in northwestern Cameroon, does not eat in public, so chef-owner James Baker prepared a sandwich for the king to eat later.

The visit got front page coverage in a recent issue of the Insight newspaper – in a story headlined “King, elders connect in Royal visit to community.” (Insight editor Al McFarlane holds informal Editor’s Roundtable meetings at the Cafe on Friday mornings.)

I learned all this recently when I stopped in to sample the Sunday soul food buffet at the Sunnyside. Chef Baker turns out to be a terrific storyteller, with funny stories to tell about his old friends Jim Marshall and Carl Eller, two of the legendary Purple People Eaters of the 70s-era Minnesota Vikings.

The Sunday brunch buffet served from noon on ($11.95) is a pretty impressive spread – corn bread, potato salad, red beans and rice, a hot pasta entree, bread pudding, macaroni and cheese, roast and barbecued chicken, baked beans, collard greens, sweet potatoes, peach cobbler and much more. This is soul food with a health food twist – a nice selection of salads and vegetables, and no pork or lard in the collard greens or red beans and rice. My companion opted for the specialite de la maison, an eight egg Basquais omelet $8.95), stuffed with tomatoes, a colorful medley of peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms and grated carrots, plus a big bowl of grits on the side. That’s the vegetarian version – the meat eaters’ version also includes ham or bacon. A breakfast buffet ($8.95) is also offered, from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday.

Chef Baker’s main business is Elite Catering, Inc., so the cafe is only open on weekends – Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunnyside Coffee & Cafe, 1825 Glenwood Ave., Minneapolis,.