West Broadway Holiday Pop Up Boutique features 20 local vendors

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The West Broadway Business and Area Coalition (WBC) is announcing the West Broadway Holiday Pop Up Boutique, to take place December 13th and 14th at 201 West Broadway in North Minneapolis.The produce and craft market will be host to over 20 area vendors selling a variety of locally produced goods, from fresh apples and honey to fine art, baked goods, clothing and jewelry. Northside favorites such as Juxtaposition Arts Textile Lab, Ancestors Voices Press and Right on Thyme Catering will be joined by other crafters, artists, bakers, and even the popular urban farm, McKinley Community CSA, which will offer 2014 vegetable share registrations, t-shirts and volunteer opportunities.Earrings by Neisha Reynolds, Juxtaposition Arts, Sky Blush Crush Bath and Body Products, and Cookie Cart are a few of the participating vendors in the West Broadway Holiday Pop UP Boutique. This boutique will make affordable, unique gifts available for purchase.The concept for the shop is a Pop Up Boutique with affordable, unique gifts for purchase. The boutique will occupy a vacant space at 201 West Broadway (know as the Masters Building) for a weekend during the holidays and give Northside residents, those that work there and visitors a way to keep their holiday shopping in their community.This article is reposted from TCDP media partner Insight News. Check out the links below for other recent Insight News stories:Profiles in Excellence: David NicholsonArtspeak: Black Feminist Anthropology—Building an intellectual legacy one book at a timeThe purpose of the Holiday Pop Up Boutique is twofold: create an economic opportunity for local vendors and shoppers while also drawing attention to one of West Broadway’s available vacant properties. Continue Reading

West Broadway welcomes Mr. BBQ Express

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 From L to R: Ted Wilebski, manager and Mohamed Shambolia, owner.Since opening on West Broadway in August, Mr. BBQ Express has experienced a warm welcome from the community. Area residents, as well as people passing through on their way to and from Robbinsdale, are filling the small restaurant daily, hungry for the St. Louis pork ribs, beef tips, fried chicken and all the classic side dishes one expects: macaroni and cheese, collard greens, rice and beans, mashed potatoes and more. “We’re very pleased with business and our clientele so far,” says manager Ted Wilebski. The restaurant’s early success can in part be credited to the carefully crafted recipes and the management’s experience in the business of barbecue. Mr. BBQ Express is a satellite of Mr. BBQ, a restaurant-bar-club famous for showcasing Twin Cities Blues musicians and old school R&B DJs on the weekends. Continue Reading

UMAMI by Travail: Asian comfort food eatery

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Chef Bob Gerken prepares a sushi course at UMAMI by Travail. (All photos by Dudley Voigt)Before even serving the first course of its ten-course tasting menu when it opened September 18th, UMAMI by Travail had already generated much excitement among the Twin Cities and national culinary communities. Online ticket reservations for the first two weeks sold out within 24 hours. Fortunately, the team at the Asian comfort food-inspired pop-up restaurant at 904 West Broadway has proved itself worthy, dazzling food critics and average customers from its local Northside community alike. Brian Mogren, a North Minneapolis organizer and resident, dined at UMAMI on the second night and said simply, “It was wonderful.” Mogren thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience of a Travailian tasting menu, explaining, “It was so much more than a meal…it was fun to have them keep bringing stuff out that I wouldn’t just order off a menu, and I tried everything,” even the octopus. “It was so great to be in my own neighborhood; I loved that,” Mogren added.UMAMI opened on West Broadway in North Minneapolis thanks to a partnership between the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition (WBC) and Travail Kitchen and Amusements. Continue Reading

Going with the FLOW Northside in Minneapolis

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Like all art crawls offering way more than anyone can can see in the allotted time, FLOW is an individual experience. The West-Broadway-centered phenomenon, organized by West Broadway Coalition and listing 17 sponsors, expanded to three days, July 26, 27 and 28. Here’s my trip:Wenso Ashby and Jame warmed up at CCaldwell Fine Arts Gallery and Studio, 125 W. Broadway.Charles Caldwell painted the mural on the side of 4th Street Saloon. The latest addition, which will eventually read “Welcome to North Minneapolis”is coming along. Dinner on the Farm used ingredients from the West Broadway Farmers Market for the exclusive gourmet Underground Dinner in the Kindred Kitchen Courtyard, 1200 West Broadway; there was space for 40 people Friday night; apparently they dressed appropriately for the cold weather. At 1108 Broadway upstairs Friday, the artists and businesses in the Moja Studio and Artist Coop had their studios open for a meet and greet. Christopher Harrison talked with a friend about his latest work which involves a lot of sand. For the first time in eight years, instead of July heat, FLOW met the challenge of rain and chill, with some events on Saturday starting a half hour late.  Old Skool Hip Hop Dancers warmed up the crowd and Big Daddy Kane got the audience moving Saturday evening.  Indoors, on both Friday and Saturday, Wing Young Huie and Ashley Hanson demonstrated the various methods they’ve been trying to engage people around planning for Penn Avenue improvements. One game involves writing a question on a ping pong ball and then discussing the question while playing ping pong. Another challenge was to “tell your Penn Avenue story in 6 words.” Continue Reading