Girl Friday

My Minneapolis.org Insider Guide

I've joined ranks with esteemed local celebrities like Andrew Zimmern and Mayor R.T. Rybak and created an Insider Guide for Minneapolis.org.

Check out my guide here.

I really need a new self-portrait.

Hodge Podge Monday

- Tea Source is offering a happy hour on all hot pots of tea, Fridays from 6:00pm-close: $3.25 for a small pot and $5.25 for a large pot. This includes rare teas, so it's a great opportunity to sample some more expensive teas at low price. Tea Source also has free wifi and, just looking over the website, I noticed something cool: they do in-home tea classes. The price is very reasonable ($25) and they bring all the tea and supplies. Classes are informal and last 60-90 minutes. It would be a unique and low-cost idea for something like a bridal shower, or just to have an afternoon tea party for the heck of it.

- How's your flip cup game? If you think you still got it, you should consider signing up a team for Flip Cups for D-Cups on June 20th at Brothers Bar & Grill. Proceeds from the event benefit the Breast Cancer 3-Day and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Sign up your team ($100 advance, $150 door) or pay $10 to spectate and enjoy the event's food and drink specials. Honors will be given to the team with the most inventive name, the most outrageous costumes and, of course, the flip cup tournament winner.

- The Butcher Block is soon to be open in the former Fugaise space on East Hennepin. Full operations should be underway June 16th. No menu posted but Heavy Table reports that there will be 30 different kinds of wings. They'll also be open late-night, every night.

Over here in Northeast proper, we anxiously await the July opening of The Anchor Fish and Chips. Rumor (unconfirmed) is that they were supposed to be late-night, but ran into some zoning issues. No indication of hours on the website, but some interesting bios of the Irish ex-pat proprietors.

I've been enjoying social hour at the Northeast Social, when all bottles of wine are half price from 4:00-5:30pm Monday-Saturday. Stop by and check it out if you haven't already; the Social is a fun place and I see no fewer than 6 people I know every time I go there.

Chocolate, Tea and a Tantric Happy Hour

I was sort of clowning Parasole for a press release they sent out two days ago. It boasted a new summer happy hour at The Living Room and Prohibition in the W Hotel, without actually mentioned what exactly the happy hour was. Thankfully, they redeemed themselves this morning with a follow-up that filled in the details.

$5 Tantric Summer Happy Hour: 5:00pm to 7:00pm, seven days a week, all summer long:

$5 Cocktails: Serpent Fire (spicy Sauza tequila, fresh orange and pomegranate); Blue Monsoon (white rum, Prosecco, agave nectar, squeezed lime, cranberry, blue Curacao); Indian Summer (crushed watermelon, Sauza gold, agave nectar, triple sec, lime, pomegranate).

$5 Bar Bites: Pink tuna tacos (chili-spiked ahi tartar, guacamole, cilantro cream); chili-glazed prawns (wok’d garlic-basil jumbo shrimp, Hawaiian limu salad, charred pineapple-habanero salsa); sushi of the moment (rolled to order, ask about today’s offering).

Also, an overdue public congrats to my friend Josh Hill, who is now the Executive Chef at the W Hotel. Josh texted me when he got his promotion (from Sous Chef) and promised a night of celebration. Apparently, he hasn't had much time off since taking charge of the kitchen, because I haven't been invited to any party. (Hrmph.)

Godiva Chocolatier is offering yet another membership program, the Godiva Chocolate Rewards Club. But instead of just getting email notices about promotions, you actually get free stuff. Like a free piece of chocolate every month, and a free gift every time you spend $10 or more. As I am addicted to Godiva's Chocolixir product, I immediately joined the Rewards Club upon hearing about it. Now I can buy two Chocolixirs (don't worry, one for me, one for my shopping buddy) which will total $10 and then get a free gift. Plus a free piece of chocolate every month just for stopping in. I hope at least one of those months it's the brownie bites, because I love those things.

The Tea Garden opens its 5th (!) location this Saturday, at the Mall of America. Stop in for a beverage (bubble tea, chai, cooler, shake, fruit tea, tea latte) and get a card for a free beverage on your next visit. This offer is only good on Saturday.

Finally a Reason to Join Foursquare?

Finally a reason to join Foursquare? Via Aaron Landry's Tumblr:

For years and years, we tried to get dodgeball users free drinks… and we were finally able to pull it off with Foursquare (I really like the idea of foursquare as a vehicle for letting local merchants reward their locals/regulars). Woo!

I got the 3rd degree from Steve Marsh and Jason DeRusha at dinner on Friday night about why I'm not on Foursquare. My excuse given was that I don't have an iPhone (how accessible is it on a BlackBerry Curve, really?) but honestly I'm just not sure what the point is. Dodgeball never did catch on and most people (including me) use Twitter now to alert followers when they're arrived at a restaurant/bar/show (in addition, of course, to all that delicious microblogging). A free drink once in a while might make the extra effort worthwhile.

Él 'Ta Corriendo

My God, remind me never to mix cheap champagne and Strongbow again. I think my insides have been removed and replaced with old cigarette butts and gutter water. Making matters worse, I hadn't had any alcohol since last Saturday and I think I shocked my system a little bit. I feel like total crap today, but I suppose I earned it.

I've you've driven up Central lately, you've noticed that Chiapas restaurant is no mas. In its place is El Taco Riendo, "the laughing taco." (But it's also punny because it sounds like él 'ta corriendo, "he is running." The logo is a smiling, running taco, ha-ha.)

I had lunch there earlier this week and can report that whatever remnants there were of the original horrendous interior decorating are finally gone. El Taco Riendo is more or less counter service; you tell the cook behind the sneeze shield what you want off the menu board, he makes it, and the cashier/manager/owner guy brings it over to your table on trays.

If you're in the neighborhood and need a quick Mexican lunch, go here, because it's the fastest I've ever gotten food at a Mexican restaurant. Average wait time at Adelita's or San Pablito across the street is anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes, but El Taco Riendo served up our order in about 5 minutes.

About that food. Sadly, I have nothing remarkable to say about it. The Mexican ordered a torta cubana, which was huge, but he didn't love it and left nearly half of it on his plate. I had tacos de papa, the rolled, fried tortillas stuffed with mashed potato, and they were fine. El Taco Riendo adds Mexican oregano to the potato, a nice attempt at making this dish different, but it doesn't really work. It came with the requisite shredded lettuce, diced tomato and tiny, domed glop of guacamole, as well as beans and rice that were just too bland to enjoy. I asked for a side of salsa, which helped jazz up the tacos a little bit, but it was also lacking in flavor (though it had heat) and could do nothing to resurrect the beans and rice.

It's my understanding that the owners of the building won't allow tenants to serve alcohol, so still no beer. Which will be the end of yet another Mexican restaurant at 2416 Central. Unless the food can manage to set itself apart by being better, or at least different, than the two places across the street, the speedy service might not be enough to keep people coming back.

It's Art-A-Whirl Weekend

It's that time of year, that third weekend in May, when Twin Cities' residents descend upon my neighborhood for 36-hour art/music/jewelry/clothing/food/beer/dive bar/block party extravaganza that is Art-A-Whirl.

Get your Art-A-Whirl map here on NEMAA's website, or in the current issue of our neighborhood paper, Northeaster (available at most fine Northeast establishments) or in this week's vita.mn, special Art-A-Whirl edition. In addition to the map, vita.mn also points out some of this year's don't-miss gallery events, reports on Johnson Street's annual fashion-heavy block party and profiles the businesses 13th Avenue, a/k/a "The Heart of Whirl," in the cover story.

It was my pleasure to be assigned the cover story write-ups for The Modern Cafe, Northeast staple urban diner, as well as the just-opened Northeast Social, a fancy but fun restaurant with a killer daily half-price wine happy hour. Read my vita.blurb on Northeast Social for now, and I'll review the chow here later as soon as we become intimate.

Art-A-Whirl is also a kickass time to hit up the neighborhood's garage sales, as is evident by searching for them on Craigslist. (Hint-hint: one of them is at my house.)

After I've tended my garage sale and explored some studios, you can probably find me along 4th Street after dark. The Knight Cap, my stumbling distance bar of choice, has started serving grill and deep-fryer food; I'm not quite sure what to think about that, so I must check it out. They're also doing an Art-A-Whirl special, polish sausage and 16-ounce domestic tap for $4, if you're into that sort of thing.

Thanks to My Pink Elephants Peeps

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to La Belle Vie last night to support Home for Life.

LBV came through with some really amazing food, and there was plenty of it. That's always a gripe of mine when I'm at an event with passed appetizers: they come around infrequently and I can only eat half of the selections, if that. But they made enough food for all of us (I saw several people refusing plates towards the end) and they were all vegetarian and vegan choices. Super delicious!

The space was the perfect size for a smaller event, and everyone appeared to be having a great time. In fact, when I left at 10:00pm, every seat at the bar was still full. Since the space was kind of limited, we had to pre-sell tickets to the event, but we're hoping to be able to avoid that in the future.

Johnny and I are starting to scope out patio spaces for the next Pink Elephants. To sit outside and enjoy the weather, of course, but we'd also love to invite some pets to start joining us. So many restaurants and so many animal charities to choose from! I got some great suggestions last night and I invite you to keep them coming.

***

Doing anything Sunday? The System Film has a big shoot happening all day over here in Northeast, and they need a lot of extras. I'll be there. (Considering that I have a role in the film and that Sunday's shoot location is just 2 blocks from my house, I really have no excuse not to be there.) Here's the email from Cristina with all the details:

The System is filming a General Assembly and Protest on Sunday, and we're putting out a call for extras.

We need a lot of people there to fill the hall, so if you or anyone you know are interested, please come out to the Firefighters Hall and Museum on Sunday.

664 22nd Avenue Northeast (Corner of 22nd & Madison Street, next to Edison HS Athletic Field)
http://www.firehallmuseum.org/

This will be the big SPEECHES day, GENERAL ASSEMBLY, and all the UNION HALL stuff.

IT WILL BE A LONG BUT EXCITING DAY! We need extras all day, from 8:30am to dusk, but most of all from 9:30am-3pm and 4pm to dusk. Wear khakis if you have them. Otherwise jeans and a white t-shirt. Black pants as final resort.

This is important stuff! Come help us out and we'll feed you and entertain you a while.

Reader Mailbag: I Wanna Get My Drink On Downtown

Dear Girl Friday,

OK, what downtown Mpls. bars would you recommend for out-of-town visitors? Staying at Hilton, already got plans for the Local.

Twitter Follower Person

My downtown favorites, with something for everyone:

Brit's (now that's a patio), Barrio (over 100 tequilas) Masa (great cocktails, people-watching on the relaxed patio), McCormick & Schmick's (food happy hour!), Prohibition at The W (classy but not pretentious, beautiful view), Ike's (always friendly, killer Sunday brunch), Mackenzie Pub (no frills and they like it that way), Eli's (great food specials, neighborhood-y atmosphere) Grumpy's (Strongbow and tater tots, yo), Bradstreet at the graves 601 (the ultimate classic mixology experience).

No one in your party could possibly complain.

Dear Girl Friday,

I am old. We are taking a friend of mine out to dinner and dancing Saturday night, where should we go? It should be somewhere hip... whatever that means!

Your Sister

I'll start with the obvious, which is Azia Restaurant/Anemoni Sushi & Oyster Bar/Caterpillar Lounge. It's a one-stop shop for great food and drinks, with the added bonus of music in the lounge starting at 10:00pm. As my sister, you should know this.

There's also the Loring Pasta Bar, with its a mecca of tasty Italian plates, plus salsa music every Saturday night starting at 10:00pm.

If salsa isn't your friend's thing and you want to go someplace without being hit on, have dinner at Origami Sushi then walk across the street to Jetset. Jetset is a sleek, straight-friendly gay bar with pretty martinis, plus my pal Bryan Gerrard DJs there every Saturday.

Oh, Hello

Is it really Wednesday already?  Where do the days go.

If you're not busy tonight and you want to catch a great short film, come to the Oak Street Cinema.  Team Red Card Production -- yes, the same team that brought you the award-winning short "Shades of Orange" -- participated in the 24 Hour Film Race last weekend and our 3 1/2-minute masterpiece will screen tonight, along with 25 other submissions.  The reel starts at 7:00pm, so get there early to buy tickets.

I think we're going to grab a beer at Stub & Herb's afterwards, to either celebrate another round of awards won or bitch about the injustice of not winning because people just don't get us and our art.

Another reminder that tickets are on sale for Pink Elephants, the animal charity event brought to you by Johnny Michaels, vita.mn and me.  Spots are limited, so reserve yours now.

If you want to pretty up for Pink Elephants, go see my friend Jen at the Beauty Room.  She's offering 20% off all of her services (facials, scrubs, waxing, massage, etc.) for the months of April and May.  She's also doing a package deal on her vitamin C facial and body scrub: only $155 if booked together, or just $124 after the 20% discount.

Pink Elephants: A Mixer and Sampler for Charity

The details are finalized!

Pink Elephants, brought to you by vita.mn, Johnny Michaels and me:

• Tuesday, April 28th from 6:00-9:00pm, in The Lounge at La Belle Vie

• $30, includes free vegetarian appetizers and 2 complimentary signature cocktails

• 100% of the event's proceeds go to Home for Life long-term animal sanctuary

Win tickets or register for the event here.  Sooner rather than later, as tickets are limited.