The Rake Magazine

Category: Blog Post

  • FORECAST:

    The outlook is rosé

    Ch Grande Cassagne Rose.jpg

    My father is a Harvard-educated economist and a Jew of the highest moral order, who believes it is what a man leaves behind him on this earth — from offspring to good works — that determines his worth.

    He’s also wont to say things such as: “I believe that, in his heart, George W. Bush just wants to do what’s best for our country.” and “I don’t care if gay people want some sort of civil union, but they shouldn’t call it marriage.” and “No scientist has proved to my satisfaction that global warming even exists.”

    I love, admire, and respect my Dad. But on most issues, we’re simply going to have to disagree. Violently.

    And so it is with Bill Summerville, partner and wine expert at La Belle Vie. (Well, except for the love part. Sorry, Bill, I just don’t feel we’ve gotten that close.) Summerville is one of those ridiculously young culinary savants [he wouldn’t disclose his age, but when I guessed he was in his 30’s, the bartender guffawed] who got into the business via D’Amico and has shot straight up through the ranks. At Solera — Tim McKee and Josh Thoma’s other restaurant — Summerville was staff: a front of the house man who put together a wine list made up mostly of Spanish wines. When the partners moved LBV from Stillwater to Minneapolis in late 2005, they promoted Summerville. A good move.

    He’s confident and well-dressed — like one of those guys who runs the dining room in a Gregory Peck film — and he knows his stuff. But Summerville is wont to say things like: “Robert Parker favors these wines with gobs of hedonistic fruit so his descriptions don’t mean anything.” and “As you become more sophisticated, you go from appreciating big wines such as Zinfandel to liking lighter, more ‘feminine’ wines like Burgundy.” and “In the summertime a red is too heavy; real wine lovers drink rosé.”

    I’m not saying Summerville is 100 percent wrong, but I happen to disagree on all counts. I concur with Parker eight times out of ten. Anyone who’s been reading this blog knows that I adore a big, sexy Zin. And if it’s 95, I’ll just move inside to drink it. I like a lot of whites, too. But rosés? Frankly, most of them take me back to junior high and strawberry lip smackers. They have that eau de Bonne Bell.

    Yet, I’m always willing to rethink my opinions. Not about gay rights or global warming, but about wine.

    So I sat down with Summerville to taste several pinkish varieties. And one of them — I have to admit — was interesting. I could drink this with a spicy paella or a really meaty fish. The Chateau Grande Cassagne Costieres de Nimes; I would give you a link but I’m damned if I can find the winery’s site. It’s a Rhone blend with a rubier color than most, a fruity scent, and the oddly admirable taste of wet shale on the flat of the tongue. This wine has character: a long, sort of starchy finish and a mystical, herbal echo in the mouth.

    Remember, too, that Summerville has a bunch of other rosés he’d love to have you try. In fact, he’ll pour you a flight of four for $10. And given the sumptuous Man in the Gray Flannel Suit quality of the La Belle Vie bar, that’s quite a deal.

  • City Pages Drama Continues

    If it’s attention they want, they’ve got it. According to Minnesota Monitor, new City Pages editor Kevin Hoffman sent a memo to staff announcing the weekly is cutting long-time film editor Rob Nelson’s position. The Rake’s own Britt Robson (also a former City Pages writer), along with a host of others, immediately replied with harsh words.

  • How They Do It In San Diego

    I am not offended if none of you are as interested in what ex-Strib publisher Joel Kramer will announce next week as the scurvy brother/sisterhood of newspaper wretches and I are. We are praying for a second coming of the written word, and hold out hope that the Denny Heckers, TCFs and Targets of the world will soon lavish Kramer et al with advertising that allows us to resume our grand, elitist lifestyles. The one with three lunches a week at Chipotle, happy hour at Bunny’s and new tires for the ’98 Corolla.

    Until then … I had an interesting chat this morning with Scott Lewis, co-editor of voiceofsandiego.org , the two and a half year-old non-profit on-line news”paper” that Kramer has mentioned as something of a model for his venture.

    Lewis, 30, was riding in his car when we spoke. The key bits of information — for those of us dreaming of barbacoa burritos — is that Voice of San Diego does indeed have a full-time staff of nine … with annual salaries ranging from $25,000 to $40,000. Both Lewis and his co-editor, Andy Donohue, 29 (or so Lewis believes), also write copy. The site has “one photo/video guy” and “one education/web guy” in addition to five full-time writers.

    Here are photos of the good-looking staff.

    Lewis comes off as a pretty bright guy. He talks about the value of good editing, story coaching and a lot of vital skills that sour bastards like me sneer at. He says Donohue and he took over in November ’05, after a rocky first half year under other leadership. Somewhere along the line they quickly gave up on the idea of free-lancing out all their reporting — and established investigative and enterprise reporting as editorial mission goals one and two. They ditched the idea of free-lancers because of all the quality control issues you get in to, although, Lewis says, occasionally they’ll still dial someone up, “but the most we can throw at them is $150-$200.”

    He says their annual budget is $560,000 and that they’ve had something like 700 individual donors. “Every time we ask for money we get checks from everywhere from $35 to $100,000,” but their well-being is still largely dependant on one guy, a San Diego venture capitalist named Buzz Woolley who co-founded the site. There’s some ad support in PBS-style underwriting fashion, Lewis says, where pages are “sponsored by Lexus of San Diego” and a trickle of traditional display ads, but mainly its Woolley’s money that makes it go.

    Lewis says they occasionally consider expanding out into sure-fire traffic drivers like sports and entertainment, but invariably their board reins them back, reminding them that their core mission is filling a void in aggressive coverage San Diego institutions that the major paper — the frankly woeful San Diego Union Tribune — has ignored. (The city of San Diego’s near bankruptcy was the big story they rode hard in their launch phase.)

    Based on what I know about Kramer’s plan — starting with his desire to use established journalists and not high-energy kids — there are some clear differences.

    We’ll shall see what Monday brings.

  • What's Wrong with Mr. Maliki?

    My flag’s prettier than your flag

    We’ve been hearing a lot lately that Nuri al-Maliki, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iraq, is the main reason why our efforts to do whatever it is we’re trying to do in Iraq this week aren’t working.

    Here are some of the specific criticisms:

    He’s made the governmental forces into an instrument to ensure his party’s domination and oppress his political enemies.

    He’s arranged for his supporters to take in the lion’s share of oil revenues.

    His government promotes the sectarian division of his country along party and religious lines.

    He promotes the politics of nationalism and aggression rather than unity and reconciliation.

    He uses American forces for his own political purposes.

    Yeah, we should have told the Iraqis that, when you have elections, it’s a complete crap shoot. You never can tell when you’re going to get someone just like Maliki running your country.

  • Think Global, Eat Local

    You can add the Grand Cafe to the list of restaurants participating in the Wedge Natural Foods Co-op’s Eat Local Challenge. (See Ann’s post below.) The popular south Minneapolis bistro has a new chef: Jon Radle, but don’t expect any big changes at the popular south Minneapolis bistro. Owner Mary Hunter says that the cafe menu will keep its Euro-American flavor, but with a greater emphasis on local and organic ingredients. Radle, formerly Doug Flicker’s sous-chef at Auriga, has already added a few new entrees to the dinner menu, including a very local dish of pan-roasted pork sirloin and ribs, accompanied by a sweet corn porridge and sauteed rapini; the pork comes from Fischer Farms near Waseca; the sweet corn from Axdahl Farms in Stillwater, and the rapini from Riverbend Organic Farms in Delano.
    Grand Cafe, 3804 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis, (612)822-8260.

  • Music Is but an Instrument of Poetry

    FILM AND MUSIC
    You’re Gonna Miss Me at Sound Unseen

    This weekend is really about Sound Unseen — no secret there. But there are definitely a couple of films worth mentioning. When a film is compared to Gus Van Sant’s Gerry and Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny, you have to stop and listen (if only for a moment). Daft Punk’s Electroma tells a whacked out story of two robots on a quest to become human. Watch a trailer. (Friday at 9:15 p.m.)

    youre-gonna-miss-me.thumbnail.jpgThe other Sound Unseen film this evening comes with another outrageous comparison — this one by the filmmaker himself. “I started out thinking I was making One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” says Keven McAlester, “but I ended up with something more like Being There.” I don’t know what’s more ballsy — setting out to make Cuckoo’s Nest, or thinking you ended up with Being There. Sure, I like to reach for the stars, but I never claim to have actually grabbed one. Nonetheless, with cinematographer Lee Daniel behind the lens, and singer-songwriter Austinite Roky Erickson as the subject, You’re Gonna Miss Me is certainly worth a watch. We all love a tragic rock star tale.

    Friday at 7 p.m., Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-623-7660; $7.

    FILM
    Film Will Never Fade Away

    Cindy-Isolated.jpgAlso on the film front this evening — and a bit more of a secret than any Sound Unseen event — is a local short film festival featuring the premiere of Fading Moment, directed by Howard Espinoza. “It’s natural to be paranoid,” reads the movie poster. Watch a trailer and begin your adventure with Cindy Smith, a nurse determined to help who she believes to be an innocent victim. Other shorts this evening include Christopher Michael Beer’s Fade trailer; The Feminine Mystique, by Ryan Taylor; Ziegler Productions’ Men of My Dreams, written and directed by Steve Carlisle; When Minimum Wage Isn’t Enough, by Adam Zuehlke; and Harry Putter and the Sorcerer’s Phone, produced by Matthew Feeney and directed by Jeremy Gustafson. (Of course, if you just spent an hour clicking through these links, you’ve pretty much seen it all.)

    Friday at 8 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (seniors $6, students and members $5).

    BOOKS AND AUTHORS
    Nervous Poetry

    Stobb2.jpgFilm is truly lovely, but we mustn’t pass up opportunities to experience things in the flesh (or even of the flesh). And we mustn’t pass up opportunities to run our fingers across pages. And we mustn’t pass up opportunities to hear words formed into poetry — rather than the careless abuse they so often endure. This evening, Minnesota raised William E. Stobb leaves his current Wisconsin haven to grace us with his words. “Got to feeling like something someone just because / I like it doesn’t / mean it’s supposed to keep existing.” An unconventional poet (if such a thing as conventional poetry truly exists), playing with form and style, Stobb will read from his latest collection Nervous Systems. Joining him will be local poets Juliet Patterson and Paula Cisewski.

    Friday at 7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.

    THEATER & PEFORMANCE
    The Erotic Space of Theater

    paradisehotel.jpgMore live performance: Paradise Hotel, written by Richard Foreman, opens at the Bedlam tonight. Did the title of this post get your attention? Sex sex sex sex sex. This stream-of-conscious play is far from common, far from boring, and far from the ever-prudish Minnesota character we try so hard to deny. “The theatre is about sex,” says Foreman, and his play clearly sets out to illustrate this. It’s rated NC-17, for crying out loud.

    Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Bedlam Theatre, 1501 S. 6th St., Minneapolis; 612-338-9817; $13 (students $10).

    MUSIC
    A New Tamborine Man

    Ezradbd3.jpgAll ye Dylan fans grab your coats. (That’s right. It’s going down into the 50s tonight.) Ezra Furman and the Harpoons are in town to help warm the soul, however. You won’t want to miss the blues harp riffs, the tales of life and woe, the poetry.

    10 p.m., The Kitty Cat Klub, 315 14th Ave. S.E., Minneapolis; $5.

    Think Inside the Box

    m_f04dd47e4cb66e83e1d93fdf0ae80d88.jpgMinneapolis-based band A Night in the Box’s MySpace page lists their genres as “Bluegrass/Folk Rock/Indie”…which is true, but their sound is more White Stripes than Nickel Creek. Night in the Box’s latest album, The Hustler, The Prayer, The Thief, features some of the rowdiest bluegrass you’ve likely ever heard, and has lately been getting serious play on The Current. Catch this local sensation Saturday at 11:15 p.m., but come early for the equally-promising opening acts — the country-tinged Jack Klatt and Spiritual Mansions. –by Danielle Kurtzleben

    Saturday at 9:15 p.m., Lee’s Liquor Lounge, 101 Glenwood Ave., Minneapolis; 612-338-9491; $6.

    Can I Have a Little Salsa with That?

    epk_get_band_pic.jpgMy boricua brother Tito Nieves was supposed to be playing at Trocaderos on Saturday night, but alas, no longer. (Maybe someone was just playing an evil joke on me.) Nonetheless, there’s another good show. While she certainly doesn’t have Tito’s fabulous ritmo, MJ Kroll serves up some formidable blues pop, reminiscent of Sheryl Crow. You might know her as the lead singer of Beta Lounge. Saturday she celebrates her solo CD release party.

    Saturday at 9 p.m., Trocaderos Nightclub & Restaurant, 107 Third Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-465-0440.

  • Semi-Permanent Seeks Artists

    Been looking for a good excuse to go to Australia? Semi-Permanent, an annual design festival hosted by Design is Kinky, is looking for artist submissions for 2008. You have until October to submit your work.

  • Abandoned Spaces

    Véronique d’Entremont exposes America’s Forgotten Stories.

  • Hit and Run: Baseball Roundup

    * Quick prediction before it’s too late: Boof Bonser ends his abysmal losing streak tonight in Baltimore against the O’s (weather permitting).

    * How sad is it to see the Strib continue to list the Twins in their “Wild Card Race” box between the standings and the probable starters? This morning, it showed the hometown nine tied with two other .500 teams at nine games out with 36 left to play, behind three other teams, who are, of course, behind the three division leaders in the playoff chase. Got that? In terms of playoff viability, the Twins are better off than five AL clubs, tied with two others, and behind six, with four ultimately earning a chance to play in the postseason. Put simply, they are dead. Dead. DEAD. I hope to conduct the autopsy with Brad Zellar and David Brauer in another roundtable around Labor Day, but until then, one quick whine: Why didn’t Terry Ryan deal Torii Hunter two months ago, when he would have fetched a quality prospect for 2008 or 09 batting order that right now looks mighty thin?

    * On the bright side, the Twins have a bevy of promising young arms, and perhaps an entertaining parlor game for a diehard Twins fan is to rank them in order of how you perceive their value over the next five years. Here’s my list, including only those who have spent enough time in the bigs to create a viable impression.

    1. Matt Garza
    2. Glen Perkins
    3. Boof Bonser
    4. Francisco Liriano
    5. Kevin Slowey
    6. Scott Baker

    I imagine most fans would have Liriano much higher, but the whip-snap motion he throws with now puts enormous torque on that elbow and shoulder and I don’t think he can last without a major overhaul in his delivery. Likewise, Bonser is probably higher than most would put him, especially after his dreadful past ten weeks, but there is something about his makeup that makes me intuitively think he’s going to be fine, as in a middle-rotation guy, for quite a while. And Perkins is a sleeper, a lefty with loads of confidence. Yeah, I know he’s been dinged too, but I don’t see the windup as being an accident waiting to happen the way it is with Liriano. I don’t have a good reason for dumping on Scott Baker, other than he just doesn’t look like he has good stuff to me, and is consequently prone to the home run ball. Now Baker has been brilliant more than once this season, and this after last year’s abomination. I’d love to be proven wrong about him, because from the outside looking in, he seems like a competitor and a stand-up guy, the kind of pitcher teammates are pulling for. Anyway, let’s hear your half-dozen.

    * The Tribe beat the Tigers in the rubber game of their big Central Division series this afternoon and the good news in Cleveland is that Jake Westbrook pitched another gem, locking up with Nate Robertson in a scoreless duel over nine innings before Cleveland took it, 3-1 in 10, on a two-run single by perpetual utility man Chris Gomez (!); this after another late season pickup, Kenny Lofton, knocked in the game’s first run. Bottom line, with C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona and now Westbrook all wheeling, Cleveland has a playoff rotation to rival the Red Sox trio of Beckett-Dice K-Schilling, whereas the Angels can only go two-deep reliably (Lackey-Escobar). The Wild Card, in more ways than one, is the Yankees, who should lead with Wang as their ace and then have a guy, Andy Pettite, who has won them a bunch of games in the postseason, followed by Clemens and/or Mussina, with the ultratalented Phil Hughes as an intriguing long reliever should one of the starters spit the bit and Torre needs a stopgap while his bashers eclipse the deficit.

    * And yes, I think the hated Yankees are going to be the Wild Card out of the AL. Seattle has been a fun story, currently own a two-game lead, and are playing like they have nothing to lose. Once they realize they do, in fact, have a playoff spot to lose, can they keep their composure. Up until now, they have been extremely lucky, going 71-53 despite outscoring their opponents by a mere 624-603, due mostly to timely hitting from a balanced order (among the starting lineup, DH Jose Vidro is last with a respectable 49 rbis, four ahead of Kubel and three behind Mauer) and a great bullpen led by closer JJ Putz. But Putz has shown signs of fatigue and I still suspect that good pitching can throttle everyone but Ichiro in this lineup. Of course Seattle could also be kindred spirits to the 1987 Twins, and win it all on sheer luck and gumption. I’d love to see it.

    In the National League, there’s a glorious clusterfuck of the sort that should make Bud Selig wet his pants. Only the Mets seem to be a sure thing, and six teams are within 3 and half games of either the division lead or the wild card berth, not counting the three division leaders. That’s more than half the NL franchises with legitimate hopes for the postseason on the weekend before Labor Day. I’ve been pulling for the Brewers and D-backs, two squads loaded with burgeoning young talent, all season, and Arizona currently owns a 3 and half game lead on the Padres. As of now, I think San Diego’s superior pitching pulls out a third straight division crown, leaving Arizona to battle it out with Atlanta and the Dodgers for the wild card. The Phillies suffered a huge loss with their only solid starter, Cole Hamels hitting the DL (a bigger blow than the Pads’ Chris Young likewise going down, because SD has superior depth and a more forgiving ballpark). Milwaukee? Hard to see how they stay with the Cubs, who have better pitching and a superior starting lineup. And the slapstick pennant race has given the snakebitten Cardinals enough oxygen that the old vets might stitch it together to surmount the Cubbies, the Cubs being the Cubs and all.

    * Last, and probably least, isn’t it time for all the haters to give it up for Carlos Silva, the much, much, much derided Twins starter who has a decent shot at eating up 200 innings by season’s end? Joe Christensen said as much in today’s paper, another good piece following on his article last Sunday on the silver lining of the Twins pitching prospects getting seasoning this year. It almost makes up for his tireless advocacy to re-sign Torii Hunter. Of course in that he is hardly alone, with Jimmy Souhan being the biggest Hunter booster. If I had a ballot, I’d vote Hunter the Twins MVP for 2007. But that doesn’t mean I want to see the organization paying him $12 to $18 million, minimum, four years from now.

  • Sophisticated (and not so sophisticated) Comics

    Married To The Sea
    marriedtothesea.com

    Married to the Sea is a comic created by Drew and Natalie Dee.