Awards for the MN Cup’s food, agriculture and beverage division were presented Feb. 5, at the Green Acres Event Center in Eden Prairie. The 11-year old statewide contest for entrepreneurs is the largest statewide new venture competition in the country. The food division of the Cup competition is the newest, only in its second year. The presentation event was packed with food fans, sampling the offerings from 29 start-up food companies. Visitors crowded around tables, sampling macaroons, sodas, sausages pizzas, ice cream bars, kraut, BBQ sauce, chocolate-chip cookies, honey, juices, spice mixes, popcorn, cheeses and much more. But, the winner of the top prize wasn’t any of these. Continue Reading
The Finer Meat Company, the tiny butcher shop near the corner of Nicollet and 38th, has been providing the best in meat to South Minneapolis since the depth of the Great Depression. First opened in 1932 at 36th and Bryant (now Gigi’s,) the shop moved to its current location and was then sold to Aaron Knopik in 1963. It hasn’t changed very much since then.Many customers have been coming to Finer Meats for years, even before a very young Brian Knopik stood on a milk crate helping stock the shelves for the family business. “My grandfather bought it on Saturday and opened it again on Monday,” said Knopik, who now runs the place. Knopik works with his fiancé, Stacy Tollefson who met Knopik five years ago and signed on as a rookie butcher the same night.The shop’s customer demographic is mostly the same as it was 50 years ago – African-American soul food cooks from the local neighborhood. Continue Reading
It’s a good time to be a foodie. There are lots of food happenings around town, you just need to know where to look. Dinner on the Farm is a good place to start.During the summer, Dinner on the Farm hosts chef-planned and prepared dinners on farms. They are fun family-friendly events that also often include good, local beer or wine. There’s special pricing for kids so please don’t tell the organizers, but I have seen my kid eat her weight in beef then wash is down with a gallon of strawberries and cream as she chases cows in the field at these events. The dinners are summer highlights. Continue Reading
The music, foods, costumes and revelry of Mardi Gras will take a Minnesota twist at a “Loondi Gras” fund-raiser for VSA Minnesota, the state organization on arts and disability.Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday) is taking on Minnesota’s “loon” look in a mash-up of Mardi Gras and Minnesota cultures at Gaviidae (the family genus of the loon species) Common. The fifth floor of its atrium in downtown Minneapolis, graced by a huge loon and waterfall, will host the fund-raiser on Monday, February 9 (the week before Mardi Gras due to the intervening Presidents Day on the 16th) from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.Louisiana-influenced and Minnesota-created foods will include Crawfish Hotdish, Gumbo with Wild Rice, Hurricane Jello shots, Red Beans & Rice with Spam, King Cake in Bundt pans, Blackened Walleye fingers, Pra-loons and more. Musicians will include the Jack Brass Band and others playing Cajun, Zydeco, Dixieland and other great music from New Orleans – again with a Minnesota angle.Anticipate a costume contest, mask-making, face-painting, dancing, impromptu “second-line” parades and “naughty but Minnesota nice” high energy compared to the crowds and debauchery of Bourbon Street. A silent auction, too, will raise funds for the statewide organization, whose mission is to make the arts more accessible to people with disabilities. ASL interpreting and audio description will be available for participants with hearing or vision loss.Tickets – $40 and $25 for students and people on limited incomes – will be available January 6, the first day of Carnival season. Continue Reading
In an effort to encourage group economics and entrepreneurship within the black community, SwayHeavy has partnered with 4seen Magazine to create the “Black Owned Business Series”.
