A closer look at flyover land

Friday food

This week I attended a conference downtown Minneapolis. The conference was at a hotel, and lunch was provided. But still, I felt I had a choice--turkey wrap from hotel catering, or a real lunch?

Should I pause and let you guess which one I chose?

If your guess was, "She said screw the hotel catering, she wanted a real lunch," ding ding ding! You win! I went to Vincent. Which is to say, I went to the exact opposite of dull hotel catering.

Vincent is a French restaurant across the street from Orchestra Hall. It's lovely and peaceful. The menu isn't lengthy, but I still had a hard time choosing. Should I get the cassoulet, a lovely winter treat? The fixed-price lunch with a chorizo frittata and a British steamed pudding of creme Anglaise and chocolate gelato? The traditional Nicoise salad?

Mais non.

What the day called for was a Vincent Burger. Vincent (yes, there's a real Vincent) does his own take on the Juicy Lucy with this creation: ground beef mixed with ground short rib meat and smoked Gouda.

Just think on that for a moment.

You can get it with a side salad, but for the full experience, I recommend choosing the fries instead, and get the side of Bearnaise to dip them in.

You will be very, very happy. As I was. Along with feeling pity for all the conference folks who gamely chowed down on their hotel turkey wraps.

The Teens weren't with me, but I can pretty much predict their response: good, but not as good as Lions Tap. I beg to differ. This is one of my all-time favorite burgers in the Twin Cities. The short rib meat and smoked Gouda raise this well above your average burger.

Also? Vincent has great happy hours Monday-Friday, and the Vincent burger is usually a featured item, discounted heavily from its regular price. Happy hour, indeed.

Winter weather got you down?

We are nothing if not resilient and creative here in Minnesota. A foot and a half of snow this past weekend? Pshaw. Suck it up. Go golfing.

Mini-golfing, that is. In the Minneapolis skyways.

My understanding is that there will be even be one hole decked out as the Metrodome with a roof that collapses every time someone sinks a shot.

Friday food

One of the things I love about visiting the Mill City Farmers Market in the summer is the chance to have a wonderful treat known as a momo. Momos are little steamed dumplings, filled with savory foods, either vegetarian or meat-based and served with a dipping sauce (my favorite is the spicy tomato-cilantro). But, being Minnesota, the market is only open May-October (sob), so winters past all I could do was dream of when I could get my momos again.

Until this year. The chefs behind the market stand have opened their own restaurant: Gorkha Palace.

It's a warm, cozy little spot just across the river from downtown Minneapolis. You can see the interior is bright and cheerful, which matches the service. I went expecting to order momos, nothing but momos, to fulfill my pent-up craving, but the lunch buffet was too tempting to pass up.

On the left is veggie pakora, very flavorful (and even better when dipped in a tamarind sauce); following right, a mildly spicy black-eyed pea dish; puri; rice; chutney; aaloo bindhi; and curried egg. What's not showing were dishes with chicken and goat. This was an amazingly good buffet--the food tasted fresh, not like buffet dishes that have been sitting under heat lamps. The pakora may have been the best I ever had. I may or may not have had seconds of the black-eyed pea dish.

No momos on the buffet, but that was OK; I ordered them to go and had them for lunch the next day.

Bliss. Winter is more tolerable now.

The Church Project

Another in an occasional series.

The old Apostolic Lutheran Church in Embarrass. Where, presumably, it's colder today than it was when I took this picture.

Friday food

Recently I was in St. Paul for a workshop and decided to grab a quick lunch. I wandered down Selby, looking for somewhere I hadn't already visited. Not that I wasn't tempted by Cheeky Monkey Deli or the Happy Gnome, but I wanted to try something new. Right across from Cheeky Monkey is this place:

Bon Vie Cafe. A warm, inviting, unpretentious little spot for breakfast and lunch.

It's got pictures and signs indicating it's supposed to be like a Parisian bistro.

Whatever. It was nice, yet casual. The server scored big points with me by not making me feel like a second-class citizen because I was alone. (I noticed another loner coming in right before I left who was treated as warmly.) It's clearly a place where it's OK to linger; there were several tables filled with people chatting, even though their plates were empty, and the lone server kept them supplied with coffee and water and, in one case, chatted with one table in a way that indicated the customers were regulars. In other words, a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

Also? Good food.

I was tempted by the Reuben sandwich, or the lemon-poppyseed pancakes, but in the end, the huevos rancheros won. A nice-sized portion, not ridiculously huge, with spicy chorizo and a black-bean salsa on corn tortillas. Still didn't quite beat my favorite, at Hell's Kitchen, but it was darned good, flavorful and hearty.

So, good food + good service = happy diner, likely to return. All in all, a successful outing.

Beautiful ice

I was going to make an "ice ice baby" joke, but it felt tired, so I didn't. Aren't you glad?

I was in St. Paul Saturday working at a conference, and during a break I took a quick walk over to Rice Park to see the Winter Carnival sights.

Even bare trees are beautiful during the Carnival.

The ice sculptures were plentiful, and beautiful.

125 years of Winter Carnival madness!

Ornate and detailed.

Ice bunnies and a giant carrot!

And a tip of the hat to the upcoming King Tut exhibit at the nearby Science Museum. (I'm practically counting the minutes for that one.)

Minnesota, land of millions of trees. (and the beautiful St. Paul Central Library on the left.)

I love how the bare trees let you glimpse the library from behind the carved ice wall.

The Vulcan Krewe and the Klondike Kates were ready for action.

Even ol' F. Scott Fitzgerald seems to approve of his rakish Vulcan mask. (ETA: to see Mr. Fitzgerald in different accessories, check out Laurie's blog.)

And in non-Winter Carnival-related St. Paul activities, look what else I got to do in downtown St. Paul this weekend:

I got to hold an alligator!

Felt a lot like holding a cold leather purse.

Friday food

Doesn't look like much on the outside...

But, as usual, it's what you find inside that counts.

Clockwise from the bottom frosted cookie: frosted sugar, coconut oatmeal, chocolate chip (2), snickerdoodle (2), and oatmeal raisin.

St. Paul Classic Cookies. Exactly what it says it is, and oh, so good.

Tsk, Bob the Trainer

Gettin' nasty with a beloved local restaurant on Twitter, where they can't even fight back? Bad form, Bob the Trainer and Jillian Michaels.

Blogger's Silent Poetry Reading

It's that time again--time for the Annual Brigid Poetry Festival (aka Blogger's Silent Poetry Reading). I invite you to join me, and leave me a comment if you do so I can click over and read your poem.

Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota

by James Wright

Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,
Asleep on the black trunk,
blowing like a leaf in green shadow.
Down the ravine behind the empty house,
The cowbells follow one another
Into the distances of the afternoon.
To my right,
In a field of sunlight between two pines,
The droppings of last year's horses
Blaze up into golden stones.
I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
I have wasted my life.