Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/food-and-restaurants/page/14/)
Fun, exciting and historical: Those are three words to describe the restoration and reopening of the Cookie Cart. As previously stated, the Cookie Cart has a long history in the connected community of North Minneapolis. On Sept. 18, the Cookie Cart reopened its door after several months of restructuring.
Suppertime is a blog in comics form, exploring local restaurants, bars and other food establishments in and around the Twin Cities. I eat, I talk, I draw. This last week we went to Fika, a swell lunch spot in general but a they have a certain course that could steal your heart away. Continue Reading
I tried to tell the two sisters who run the Saigon Uptown that they need to raise their prices. “We know,” one of them replied, “but we’re too busy.” Which seems a little odd, since whenever I have visited, it has been nearly empty. Instead, they have put a little note inside their menu, advising customers that all the listed prices have been raised by 50 cents. So pork with ginger and garlic sauce really costs $6.75, and the chicken with pineapples cost $7.
Ebola has killed one person in the United States, and two more are infected and being treated. E. coli killed two children in Oregon in September, and at least one more child is in serious condition. The CDC estimates that every year almost 48 million Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from food-borne illnesses, including E.coli, salmonella, campylobacter and others. Continue Reading
When I took this job as Arts and Culture Columnist, I was excited about all the new places, events, and restaurants I’d be exploring for the first time. An up and coming band playing at 7th Street Entry. A dingy but surprisingly tasty Cuban restaurant in Seward. A world-premiere play at the Guthrie. Blaine, Minnesota. Continue Reading
Access to a huge walk-in cooler is not what I had in mind when I heard about the resources the East Side Enterprise Center (ESEC) is offering to entrepreneurs and businesses, but it turns out that the cooler and warehouse space are just what some local entrepreneurs need. In fact, when John Flory from Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) saw the 4,000 square feet of warehouse and garage space with 2 loading docks and 5 overhead garage doors, he knew he had found the perfect site for the East Side Local Food Incubator.
More fresh fruits, vegetables and other core food items may be coming to Minneapolis corner stores this spring.Six years after Minneapolis became the first city in the country to make stores stock staple foods — which include cheese, milk and whole grain cereal — the City Council is considering a proposal that would mandate minimum requirements for stores carrying these foods.While researchers and Minneapolis officials are hopeful the measure will improve residents’ overall health, some business owners and city leaders say the requirements may be difficult to meet.The updated staple foods ordinance would require grocery stores to stock certain amounts of produce, proteins and dairy products, among other obligations. The amendment would also redefine which stores are exempt from the policy.The changes would bring healthier food to areas that don’t have easy access to grocery stores, said Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon, who authored the proposal and represents the University of Minnesota and surrounding areas.As city law stands now, stores aren’t required to carry any juice products, but the new amendment reverses that. Also, the current form of the rule doesn’t include minimum quantities for food.Abed Hassuneh, owner of the Santana Foods deli and grocery store in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, said the changes would pose challenges.If the amendment passes, he said, the store might have to operate as just a deli.“At that point, we’d probably have to dismiss the grocery license,” Hassuneh said.Gordon said it may be difficult for some stores to comply with the stricter guidelines.“There might be unintended consequences in lost revenue,” he said.But Gordon said a survey completed earlier this year found that a large number of stores already meet the proposed requirements.Stores would be exempt from the requirements if they sell staple foods as a supplement to their primary business, or if they sell only specialty foods and don’t accept federal benefits like food stamps.Around 20 residents and community supporters spoke at a public hearing at City Hall on Monday before a city committee unanimously approved the proposal.Around 68 stores in Minneapolis would be exempt, Kristen Klingler, a senior public health specialist for the city, said at the hearing. She noted that about 262 stores, including stores like CVS and Walgreens, would have to follow the new guidelines.Ward 8 City Councilwoman Elizabeth Glidden said at the hearing that there might be extra stress on the city’s health department staff to make sure stores comply with the new requirements.“It’s a complicated ordinance from a department that came to us just a few months ago saying that they didn’t have enough staff to meet their existing priorities,” she said.If the full City Council supports the change to the city ordinance at its next meeting on Oct. 31, the amendment will take effect in April.Melissa Laska, an associate professor at the School of Public Health, worked with the city on the amendment. Continue Reading
Our best food memories serve more than just the taste of a meal. They encompass place and time. For twenty-five years, more than half my lifetime, I’ve been searching for authentic yakisoba in Minnesota. I’ve been looking for a yakisoba that can bring me back to my youth and to the old Japanese man who fried noodles at his cart in the street. When I need comfort, I think of that vendor and his good soba. Continue Reading
“When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Swahili proverb
The elephants have struggled. Rainbow and Cub fought for years over market share at Lake and Minnehaha, but they remained competitive, and each had their share of loyal customers. Then Target decided to open a fresh food section in their store, and that became too much. One elephant fell down. Rainbow lost the battle and is leaving the Twin Cities market, and South Minneapolis is left with an empty storefront.
What a night! Up till the wee hours boiling down apples to make and can golden sauce and ruddy butter. Added just a splash of pinot grigio, a dusting of cinnamon and a couple of pinches of cloves, and had the pots bubbling for hours. Nothing like putting up sparkling jars of summer. Most of the apples came from volunteer trees across the farm. We never spray or dust with any types of herbicides or pesticides. Yumm. Continue Reading