I hope you dressed for work today ready to head straight out. You’ve got a full evening ahead, so you best pick up the phone, shoot out an email, or turn around and yell, and see who’s going with you. Work hard today. Don’t dawdle around on the computer all day long. Limit your MNSpeak lurking — just for the day — and give the phone and email a rest. It’s Monday, and you want to start the week out right and get out early. (I’ll give you some videos to waste time with tomorrow.)
Once you’re out, meet up with your partner(s), and head straight to Old Arizona for an organic wine tasting. Yes, that’s right. Start the week out healthy. With the weather warming up, you might want to even go for a run. Do it now, because you’re going to eat right tonight. The organic wine tasting — Taste of the Earth — is in honor of Earth Day, but don’t worry, it’s OK to support the earth; you don’t have to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Do-gooders can feel good about drinking for the land, and if you’re too cynical to buy into that you can just enjoy the wine and still satisfy that little inkling that needs to be there just in case. Get there exactly at 5:30, when the going is fresh and there are no crowds. Sample the wine, and get out for the next course once your tongue has been aroused. You might want to call ahead, or go here to see if there are tickets left. If not, don’t worry, you can skip straight to the next event. Your time is precious this evening. (And if $23 a person is too rich a way to start out the evening, just continue.)
5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Taste for the Earth, Old Arizona, 2821 Nicollet Ave S., Minneapolis, 612-871-0050; $23.
From there, go out to enjoy a titillating meal on the first night of Twin Cities Restaurant Week. See, one more opportunity to turn decadence into philanthropy. You’re going to eat well this week, and you’re going to feel great about doing it. You’re supporting the Minneapolis and St. Paul libraries. No guilt. This is all for good. Empty the wallets and fill up those tummies. Read up on your latest Wine Spectator. Read Oliver’s latest column. Definitely read Oliver’s latest column, or seek back into the archives for some doozies.
If you’d rather break up the night into smaller bites, so that you can better savor them, don’t head for the full meal right away. Just get a bite before you move onto the next event. Complement the wine with something a bit more solid and just as pleasant for the tongue. What the heck; it’s warm out, it’s early, it’s Monday, and there won’t be a lot of cars on the road. Head over to Solera for some tapas. Or you can go later for the late night happy hour.
Solera, 900 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, 612-338-0062.
If you’re neurotic and need to stay on track, like me, then go to The Herkimer. It’s on the way, and frankly, it’ll get you in the mood for the next event. But you better be careful; you don’t have a lot of time. They have a sampling menu for $10. Get one, and split it. If you’re with a group, get a couple and get out. Sample the Sky Pilot Keeler Bier, and make up your mind. Are you staying, or are you heading out for more?
The Herkimer, 2922 Lyndale Ave S., Minneapolis, 612-821-0101; $10.
Stimulate the mind before you sit down for more indulgence. Let the wine and beer course through you — and the sampler settle — while you explore the American dream with a reading by Mike Palecek. I’d send you to silently stare at some art for a while why you daydream, but most galleries are closed on Mondays. Palecek will do the trick. He’s the perfect third course the evening — a writer and activist for peace and social justice, so you’ll be able to relate to him tonight as you drink for the earth and eat for free thought and access to knowledge. OK, you probably won’t end up in a federal penitentiary for civil disobedience, like he did. But who knows? You could still run for Congress. Go meet Palecek. Stand in his presence. We need some more of that around here. Get yourself a copy of The American Dream if you haven’t read his latest satirical novel. And what the heck, pick up a new copy of On the Road. It’s time to read it again.
7:30 p.m., Magers and Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave S., Minneapolis, 612-822-4611.
By now, that wine and beer should have worked itself well into your system, and you’re probably feeling hungry again. If all that talk about America got you craving a ride, then open up the windows and drive to one of the great, locally-owned Twin Cities Originals restaurants sponsoring Restaurant Week. Make sure you tell them you’re there for Restaurant Week. They have a special menu for you and everything, so just let them spoil you. Remember, the little children must read. Sorry. I’m really not mocking this, people. It’s the libraries, for crying out loud. Get out there and eat! Tell your waiter you’re there for Restaurant Week, pick up an “ENTER TO WIN” card, fill it out, and leave it there. You’ll help feed the libraries and be entered to win one of many prizes, including a trip for two. Contributions to the libraries depend on the number of “ENTER TO WIN” cards the restaurants receive, so be sure pick one up at any participating restaurant, online, in our April print issue, or in any Twin Cities library.
If you passed up the reading and went straight to dinner, then you have time for more fun. Your belly should be full, so go sit in the dark a while, relax, digest, and watch the 4th Annual Five Fifths of the Wizard of Oz at The Southern Theater. I have to be honest with you, I can’t find a darn thing about it on their site, so I would suggest calling and verifying this before heading out there. Five different companies are supposed to perform five different segments of The Wizard of Oz. It should be great fun to see the various interpretations come together.
8 p.m., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave S., Minneapolis, 612- 340-1725.
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