Ann Bauer Here’s hoping the Thursday evening Mill City Farmers Market picks up steam over the summer. It’s a great concept — limiting entrants to local growers and regional businesses — and I hear the Saturday sessions are packed. But last Thursday at 5 there were only a handful of stands operating, most of them selling pricey … Read more
It’s time for us to have a little talk about the appropriate temperature for serving wine. A delicate white, such as a Riesling, should be served downright cold: 45-46 degrees. A heartier white, a Chardonnay or Sauterne, may benefit from a 48- to 52-degree environment in which it can mellow a bit. Lighter reds (Beaujolais, … Read more
David Fhima announced today that he will be closing Fhima’s on Saturday, June 16. “It’s been a great five-year run,” says the restaurateur — currently executive chef for Life Time Fitness — who closed the opulent Louis XIII last year amid rumors that his debts were nearing the $1 million mark. “We introduced Moroccan food … Read more
Doug and Jessica Anderson (formerly of Bakery on Grand, currently proprietors of A Rebours in St. Paul) plan to open Nick and Eddie on Loring Park later this summer. A combination breakfast spot, singles hangout, and rock ‘n roll bar, Doug promises this place will have the “right” music — including plenty of old Rolling … Read more
First there was Alma: Spanish for “soul.” Now, Chef Alex Roberts is opening Brasa (which means “hot coal”) at 600 E. Hennepin on the site formerly occupied by Betty’s Bikes and Buns. At Brasa, Roberts will serve soul food from Latin America, Peru, and the Caribbean — sweet potatoes, rice, beans, pork shoulder, and rotisserie … Read more
My last experience with the Riverview Theater was when my mother took my sister and me to see a movie called The Other Side of the Mountain. It was the true story of a skier who plunged off a cliff while training for the Olympics and was paralyzed from the chest down. She rode around … Read more
Speaking of inexpensive road trip wines: We stopped in Chamberlain, SD, last night and went to Casey’s — a quirky little hybrid diner/drugstore/wine shop on the banks of the Missouri River — where we picked up a bottle of Prosperity Red – Cabernet Sauvignon for $10.99. This is *not* a complex wine. But it’s big … Read more
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as caught up in the romantic rituals of wine drinking as anyone: the instruments, shining and nearly surgical; the bottle long stored at a tilt; the small effort required to remove the cork; the serious sniff, the careful pour, the sip. But there are times I’m just not in the … Read more