More to do in Minneapolis - Minnesota

Jerry Baldwin

Twin Cities Dining & Nightlife

Minnesota has long enjoyed a reputation as a "meat and potatoes" kind of place. But, as one of her native sons sings, "the times, they are a changing." The Twin Cities, home to America's first Afghani and first Kurdish restaurants, also satisfies diners with more exotic tastes.

Few cities have as many first-rate steak houses. Downtown Minneapolis alone has at least six venues serving large hunks of red meat, properly aged, then cooked to perfection; Capital Grille, Manny's, Merchant's, Morton's, Murray's, and Ruth's Chris. Some consider their menus interchangeable; all are pricey and most have a dark-wood, clubby decor. For locals, the popular choice is Murray's. Overwhelmingly pink, and virtually unchanged since the fifties, it is famous for its Silver Butter Knife Steak. In Saint Paul, the choice is the St. Paul Grill in the hotel of the same name. It has the added benefit of a view of Rice Park, one of America's most attractive public squares.

Seafood lovers may despair, contemplating dining in the Midwest. Nevertheless, the recently opened Oceanaire, with its top-notch oyster bar, should please even the most finicky. Entrees frequently change, based on what's fresh. Airfreight charges, no doubt, play a role in menu prices comparable to the steak houses. Less pricey options for seafood are at Shuang Cheng, near the University of Minnesota, Seafood Palace, on Nicollet Avenue, and at Machu Pichu, featuring Peruvian entrees.

Downtown Minneapolis provides other excellent, if pricey, choices. The recently opened Aquavit in the IDS center offers, surprisingly, the city's first upscale Scandinavian menu. The Local does the same for Irish cuisine. The Italian influenced dishes of D'Amico Cucina, in Butler square, many consider the best the city has to offer. French cuisine can be found at care un deux trois, in the Foshay Tower, or in Forepaugh's, a renovated Victorian home near the equally Victorian Irvine Park in Saint Paul.

More moderate prices can be found in restaurants and cafes catering to nearly any taste. Care Brenda is known for creative vegetarian entrees, Palomino for trendy dishes, The Pickled Parrot for Caribbean and Chez Bananas for an eclectic menu and toys on the table. J. D. Hoyt's offers Cajun and roadhouse food and the Nicollet Island Inn provides an elegant setting with the Mississippi River outside your window. Caravan Serai, America's first Afghani restaurant is now joined by Khyber Pass and Da Afghan, all a bit out of the way, but serving excellent Middle Eastern fare.

Dining on a budget provides many interesting options, especially for tastes running to ethnic foods. Jerusalem's is a good choice for Mediterranean flavors near downtown. Caspian Bistro near the university and Christo's on Nicollet or in Saint Paul's Union Depot are good options for Middle Eastern and Greek. Also near the university, Blue Nile and Red Sea serve spicy Ethiopian fare. For the adventuresome, the real budget finds are the wide array of Asian restaurants, including Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Cambodian and Hmong. And for something unusual, there's Babani's Kurdish restaurant in Saint Paul.

As for comfort food, Market Bar-B-Que and Rudolph's Bar-B-Que in Minneapolis serve two very different styles. Both are popular and each has its advocates, but for real, down-home southern cooking, you have to head to Big Daddy's Old Kentucky Barbecue in the Union Depot.

All this talk about food leaves little room to cover nightlife. Party animals might consider that only appropriate, since local law requires bars to close by 1:00 a.m. and by midnight on Sundays. A wide range of free and minimal cover charge choices compensates for the short hours for music and dancing.

The venerable First Avenue, with an eclectic mix of local and national rock bands is right downtown. Cedar Cultural Center, booking folk, acoustic and world beat groups is a short cab ride away. Jazz is available, at Cafe Luxx downtown, or at Dakota Bar & Grill (excellent regional food, also) in Saint Paul's Bandana square. Irish music and well-poured Guinness is on tap every night at Kieran's Pub and the Dubliner. The blues can be heard seemingly anywhere, especially in bars near the university. It's on stage nightly at uptown's Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues, in a faux-grunge setting, but you might want to head to the Blues Saloon in Frogtown, for the real thing on Friday, Saturday, or Monday.

Once again, there are more options than space to write about them. During the conference, be sure to stop by the Minnesota Chapter hospitality booth for the latest information on our ever-changing dining and entertainment scene.

Minnesota - Great Outdoors, Great Indoors

Minnesotans are known for our inventiveness in finding ways to revel in our great outdoors whatever the weather. Everyone knows about Saint Paul's Winter Carnival and its ice palaces, but how many know they can thank Minnesotans for personal snowmobiles, water skis, and in-line skates?

We're also known for our inordinate number of fair-skinned Scandinavians so, obviously, we can't spend all our time outdoors. We need to come in from time to time if only to recover from wind- and sunburn. But, when we do come indoors, we hate to give up those outdoor pleasures and vice versa. As a result, when you come here, you'll find whatever your favorite entertainment and you'll probably have a choice of venue.

Music will most likely offer the most choices. There's almost always something going on indoors at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and the Ordway Music Theater in Saint Paul. Outdoors, daily noontime concerts in Peavey Plaza are a short stroll from the Convention Center and provide an accompaniment to lunch for many locals. Evenings, head to the Lake Harriet Bandshell or the Como Park Pavilion for outdoor concerts by a lake. While you're in the park, enjoy the outdoor rose garden by Lake Harriet, or the indoor gardens of the Como Park Conservatory.

The recently renovated Minneapolis Institute of Arts is one of the country's greatest fine arts museums and is another favorite indoor venue, as is the Walker Art Center. Walker now bills itself as one of the country's ten most visited museums. But, you don't actually have to visit the museum to take in some of its most important works. The Walker's outdoor sculpture garden is the perfect place to wile away an hour or two outdoors. Its "Spoonbridge and Cherry" sculpture with the skyline as a backdrop has become one of the most recognized images of the city.

Live theater plays a larger role in indoor entertainment in the Twin Cities than in any other city except New York. Although June isn't the height of the theater season, many companies will be performing during the conference. Penumbra Theater, Saint Paul's acclaimed African-American company will be staging "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf." The Children's Theater will be doing "Once on This Island," described as "Romeo and Juliet with steel drums." Theatre de la Jeune Lune presents "The Golem" during June. If you like your theater outdoors, Shakespeare in the Streets may pop up in one of the parks while you're in the cities.

If you have the kids along or you're a zoophile, you have a choice of two - Como Park Zoo and Minnesota Zoo. Como is right in town and features free admission and exhibits where you can get up-close with Siberian tigers and "Casey" the gorilla. The Minnesota Zoo is out in the suburbs, but worth the trip for viewing animals in more natural surroundings. If it's raining, you can stay indoors and still see most of the animals by riding the monorail, and taking in the enclosed tropics exhibit. Another favorite for kids is amusement parks and, again you have your choice of two - outdoors at Valley Fair in the suburb of Shakopee or indoors at the Mall of America.

Even baseball offers the indoor/outdoor choice. While SLA is in town, you can go indoors to see the Minnesota Twins hosting the Houston Astros, June 4-6, then the Cincinnati Reds, June 7-10. If you're a baseball purist and just can't endure domeball, parlorball, studioball, or whatever you want to call that strange game played indoors on a carpet, then head outdoors to Saint Paul's Midway Stadium. The Saints, the nation's most successful minor league team, will face the upstart Schaumburg (IL) Flyers, June 4-6, under open skies. If you can't catch the Saints while they're in town, you can head north (which we've suggested in an earlier article ain't a bad idea in itself) and catch them against the Duluth-Superior Dukes, June 7-10.

Indoor or outdoors - sports or the arts. However you like to spend the off hour, you'll find more options in the Twin Cities than almost anywhere else. In Minnesota, boredom is not an option, and the weather is no excuse! For more ideas on what to do when you're meetinged-out, check out our web site at http://sla99.westgroup.com.

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