Girl Friday

Who Knew: Mill City Cafe

Welcome to the second installment of Who Knew!  Today we'll be discussing my startling discovery that there's actually a bar and restaurant in my neighborhood with the total package.  What's the total package?  The total package being a great bar, great food, a weekend brunch, late-night dining, outdoor seating, comfortable atmosphere, close to home, and friendly staff.

I know what you're thinking.  "But, Alexis, there are all sorts of great places like that in Northeast." 

Yeah... not really.  Lots of places can boast a few of those things; like the Peacock Lounge, 331 Club, Psycho Suzi's, Spring Street Tavern (where 40% of the staff consists of either my high school alumni or people who married my high school alumni), Modern Cafe, and Jax.  But each of them falls short by lacking at least one of the above elements of the total package.  So you can imagine how downright excited I was when I found Mill City Cafe.

And now you're thinking, "but, Alexis, that place has been there forever.  And it's not a bar or a restaurant.  It's just a coffee shop."

Nay.  That was Mill City Coffee.  This is Mill City Cafe.  (And it's been like two other things, too, hasn't it?)  Confusing, I know, but check it out: it's the same location, same building, even the same coffee.  But now, thanks to new owners Shay Gallagher and Mandy Zechmeister, it's also got a full bar, full menu, and lots of potential. 

These girls scooped up the space late last fall and have been tweaking it, little by little, over the past year.  Both Shay and Mandy are huge wine enthusiasts, so the bar offers plenty of selections in that department.  They also offer $2 Premiums and $3 Summits, all day every day, as well as a happy hour special that includes discounts on cocktails from their extensive liquor array.

I've only eaten at Mill City Cafe once, for brunch this past Sunday, and it was great.  I had the biscuits and gravy (with your choice of portabello mushroom or Italian sausage gravy) with scrambled eggs and thyme roasted potatoes.  For yum!  Portabellos are not exactly my favorite variety of mushroom, but they're diced up to a very manageable size and tossed in a thick, flavorful gravy, then poured over three homemade biscuit halves.  The thyme-roasted potatoes aren't just seasoned with thyme; they've got just enough of a cayenne kick to them that you won't even need a splash of the Frank's Red Hot or a squirt of the Srirachi, both of which top every table alongside the salt and pepper.

Comments on the new Mill City Cafe on Minneapolis Happy Hour do mention the only unpleasant thing I've experienced so far: painfully slow service.  I'm giving them a break, though.  It's mostly owners Shay and Mandy that are doing everything.  Making coffee, wiping down tables, taking orders, pouring beers, even slaving away in the kitchen, perfecting a million-ingredient veggie burger that's not quite perfect enough for the menu yet.

The official grand opening of Mill City Cafe is Friday, October 6th, at which time they'll also roll out some new menu items that will include a small plates selection available for late night.  Hooray!  Good food, good beer, and late at night in my neighborhood.  Finally.

Spoke Libs

Meme posted this Mad Libs challenge on Girlspoke, and I decided to have some fun with it the Star Trek:The Next Generation way:

"I've been thinking about your hands on my phaser all day. Can I put your hand there myself? Your fingers are so strong. I love how their slight roughness feels against the silkiness of my space-time continuum. I'm getting hyposprayed. Can you feel it?  Engage me again; just like you just did.    

Do you mind if I transport your positronic net? I'd really like to. Actually, I need to. Actually, if I don't, I may just go out of my mind. Give it to me. Give me your replicated saucer section. Put it in my Klingon Bird of Prey. Do you like that? I like it. I like it a lot. In fact, I love it.    

You're getting so empathic. Touch my Riker. Look what you're doing to me. I'm going to fire my photon torpedo so that you can engineer me there. Just like that. Just like that. Give me more. I need more.    

Touch my Geordi La Forge while you command me. Feel my maximum warp. It feels so good. Your Wesley Crusher feels so good. Your dilithium crystal tastes so good. Does my garment reprocessor taste good? Tell me how good it tastes.    

You're driving me crazy. I'm ready for your Ten Forward. Can I have it? Can I have it now? Oh yes. Thank you. Thank you. My visor is on fire. If you touch it I might …

You're like a captain's log of warp drive inside me.    

I can't take much more. I'm close to probe-ing. Plex with me. I want to hail with you. It's close; it's so close. Approximate me harder. Faster. Deeper. Harder."

I'm a huge dork, I'm aware.

DeRusha Does Windmills

In case you missed it, the snappily-dressed Jason DeRusha did a story on Chasing Windmills last night.  Watch it here.

See me in there?  I'm in there. 

Advertisement

Yep.  I run your errands.  Call me, baby.

Who Knew: Forever 21

I'm strolling through the hosiery department at Nordstrom when I spot a salesgirl wearing the most adorable outfit.  She's got on a long-sleeved, cotton knit dress with a simple yet very flattering shape, and she's rockin' some layers over it.  Her finishing touches of a cute, wide headband and some casual, heeled boots made her pretty as a picture. 

I eye her up and down.  I have the boots, I have the headband.  Long tee, check; cropped jacket, check.  I need the dress.

"That is the cutest dress.  Is it from here?"
"No, I got it at Forever 21."

Dude, you just blew my mind!  Forever 21?  For serious?  Since I was already at the mall and I know that there are two Forever 21 stores there, I decide to roll into one and check it out. 

This is not the Forever 21 I remember.  Not the skank clothing haven bustling with overly-fragrant females with questionable occupations toting shopping bags filled with scores from Rave and DEB.  Sure, it had been a couple of years since I even walked into a Forever 21, but every time I passed by, I always thought of Rex and his joke about parking on the bench outside the store so he could be the dirty old man gawking at all the trashy 19-year-olds coming in and out.  The store was a stigma.  No respectable girl walked in there and actually bought something.

But I walk in there and see about two dozen things I want to buy.  Plaid knee skirts, sailor pants, and plenty of adorable cotton knit dresses.  All at very affordable--if not sweatshop slave labor--prices.

Confused and overwhelmed, I quickly exit Forever 21 and call Janelle.  She confesses that she experienced the same phenomenon just recently, but didn't know how to bring it up in conversation.  We make a pact to go back, together, and do some serious shopping.

***

Stay tuned for part two of the Forever 21 saga.  Perhaps we'll even bring the digicam.  Until then, watch for "Who Knew: Restaurant Edition", which will be appearing on the blog sometime this week.

PSAs

Public Service Announcements, Something for Everyone:

- It's confirmed that Lucero will be playing a free in-store at Aardvark Records on Friday September 29th at 5:00pm.  Then two shows at the Triple Rock (that night and the following), and tickets are going fast.

- The new season of Chasing Windmills starts Monday the 25th, but you can watch the "overture" now.  It's a subtle introduction of new storylines and new characters, some of whom you might recognize.

- Target has a number of alarmingly cute handbags, belts, and hats on sale through Saturday the 23rd, not to mention a lot of great accessories now on clearance.

- "White and Nerdy", Weird Al's latest that's already wildy popular (and not just with those of us who actually do know some Klingon).

- MANties, lace panties for men.  For a testimonial, please contact Taylor.

I Love Thom Pham, Too

I had the day off today, so I decided to head down to the MOA and check for fall sales.  Nothing really going on yet; I picked up a pair of black fishnet tights at Nordstrom and started on my way back home.

Except then Vince called and said he was starting to come down with a cold.  So, naturally, I stopped at Azia to pick up a bowl of Spanker Soup for him.  I was greeted with the standard barrage of insults from the bartenders and innocuous come-ons from the gay waiters.  Owner Thom Pham eventually found me and I got my usual hug and kiss (on the mouth, which always weirds out Janelle), in addition to a big, excited, "DID YOU SEE ME IN THE PAPER?!"

I did not.  But I found it just now in the Strib: Azia's Thom is Phamtastic. 

Why yes, he is.  The article briefly outlines his new projects:

- Mix and Manhattan Martini Bar, in the old Molly Quinn's building on East Lake (big pale yellow box, can't miss it)
- Temple, in the old Tiburón space downtown (I've been promised a job as a mermaid in the giant fishtank)

The article also tells a more personal story about Thom, his upbringing, and what he does on a day-to-day basis.  It hints at what a sweet guy he is, and how he's also kind of dorky, both of which are completely true.

What it doesn't mention is one other thing he's working on, which is maybe privileged information, but he didn't tell me to keep it secret: Thom is looking at a space in NYC, in hopes of opening another Azia.

Go, baby, go.

I Heart Them All

Whoops; I meant to blog yesterday, but the day just got away from me.  How does that happen?  You wake up, have a little lunch, then all of a sudden it's ten o'clock at night and you're sipping on a Dos Equis, hoping it'll take the edge off a nasty little hangover you earned from the previous evening, which was spent cavorting around downtown with a bunch of the coolest people you've met in a long, long time.

I blame Andrew Zimmern, of course.  He got me a seat at the Taste of the Nation event at Cosmos Sunday night, which is a charity dinner where every table has their own local chef and staff preparing a five course meal.  The event also had two guest chefs from out of town, and I had the divine pleasure of sitting at Dante di Magistris' table.  Dante is chef/owner of dante (natch) in Boston, and he's about the cutest, sweetest thing I've ever seen.  The food was getting oohs and ahhs from all around the table, with people even stopping by from other tables trying to get a taste of Dante's creations.  I was the only vegetarian in our group, so most of my dishes were Cosmos fare, but mad props to Dante for the fruit and cheese pairings and a most fabulous dessert of sweet frybread with chocolate, hazelnut, apple rum, and raspberry dipping sauces.

If anyone's going to Boston anytime soon, please take me with you.

The rowdy Town Talk Diner table was the last to clear out, which surprised no one.  I ended up spending the rest of the night at Solera and then Mackenzie with the Town Talk guys, my friend Josh, and most of the other chefs from the event.  It's already been established that I'm completely in love with the food and drink of Town Talk Diner.  So much so that I rhapsodized about it here on Girl Friday, and then again recently on vita.mn.  But now I'm afraid I've fallen in love with the men behind the restaurant.  Yes, I've got it bad for each and every one of them. 

But what can you do.

Anyway, a big kiss and a thank you to Andrew for scoring me a coveted seat at this wonderful event.  It sucks that he was too sick to be there.  Though, if the "I am dying" email I received from him this morning is any indication of how his foodborne illness is coming along, it's probably for the best that he stayed home. 

Seriously, though... he hosts a show called Bizarre Foods, on which he eats, well, the world's most bizarre foods.  I'm just sayin', I suspect this isn't his last bout with food poisoning.  I also suspect that somewhere, some Travel Channel employees have a pool going to see how many more times Andrew eats something that he really, really shouldn't have.

Five for Friday

I'm takin' it back, old school.  A Friday Five post:

- I spent half an hour on RestroomRatings.com before pausing to realize that this was an odd way to pass time.  Minneapolis ratings begin on page 15.

- From MNSpeak.com, DeRusha discovers free museum and zoo passes, available at the library.

- Old news for some: vita.mn is live.  It's a guide to what's going on around town; music, movies, bars, restaurants.  Screw the search button, this site's all about using tags.

- Saturday is the grand opening party for Willow Bridge, a spa and wellness center in Cambridge offering massages, facials, acupuncture, natural health and beauty products, Chinese herbal medicines, yoga classes, and counseling.  Why do we care?  Because my sister owns it.

- Girlspoke.com posted this last week, and I'm still laughing about it: The Church of Unattainable Men.  Coming in at #3 is "The Bartender, a.k.a The Holy Grail".  Everyone who knows me well, say it with me now: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Lean Team

Ahh.  School is back in session and the malls are just heavenly in the middle of the day, once again.

I'm kinda digging this burgundy lip color trend for fall.  I went to Sephora and tried on a dozen shades in as many different brands before leaving happy with this one, in Plum #08.  Good coverage, nice shimmer, not tacky, and it smells pretty damn good.  Season after season of wearing only pink glosses has left me a little trepidatious about my new dark lips, so I'm sticking with nighttime for now.  Hopefully I don't look too gothy.

I joined the Lean Team Sunday night, which is to say that I pulled on a pair of pants I haven't worn since winter and I COULDN'T BUTTON THEM.  When I got to Azia that night (wearing different pants), I consulted with my friend Josh, self-proclaimed captain of the Lean Team.  He immediately started making suggestions:

1. My beer of choice should not be Dos Equis, but rather Amstel Light because of its lower caloric content.

Gross.  Next suggestion.

2. No more Mountain Dew or Cherry Coke.

Say what?  But I don't like coffee and I'll simply die without caffeine.

3. Okay, then drink Diet Mountain Dew or Diet Cherry Coke.

Gross.  Next suggestion.

4. Exercise.

Okay, okay, I know I should exercise.  But I hate it.  The most I'll do is Pilates, in the privacy of my living room, like, three times a week.  I can commit to that.

5. No deep-fried foods and keep the sweets to a minimum.

I already pretty much do this.  Of course, as I was watching Josh put down a ham, bacon, and cheese omelet with a side of hash browns at Bad Waitress the next day, I wondered if I should be taking any diet advice from him in the first place.

Josh also suggested I buy some Korean Ginseng capsules to help with my circulation, since I'm always freezing, so I bought some at Whole Foods last night.  I took one this morning, but I think it amped up my blood pressure too much.  All day I've felt like I just smoked an entire pack of cigarettes.

Oh hey, speaking of Josh.  He's gonna be on Kare 11's Showcase Minnesota Friday morning with Chef Seth Bixby Daugherty.  They're giving a preview of the menu for Sunday's Taste of the Nation event at Cosmos.  I might be going to the event, but I'm not entirely sure because someone hasn't emailed me back yet.