Spoon & Stable, Post2, Minneapolis, MN

This post will have many more words that Post1, so get ready to do some reading. Post1 was like a visual teaser for the restaurant, and this will take a bit of a deeper dive into the place, letting folks in on some of the info I found out as an anal-retentive foodie. 

First off, I wanted to say "thanks" to Dan, our waiter that night. He was a good sport, knowledgeable, and indulged all of my questions. Though I think he thought I was bonkers at the beginning, I hope he could see by the end of the night that I was simply trying to get all the info I could gather, to make an interesting place read like an interesting place on my blog.

Now, you need to know why Spoon & Stable is named that - the first part, "spoon", comes from the fact that the head chef/owner used to steal spoons from every high-end restaurant he's eaten at. So much so, he has a large collection of spoons and now displays many of them in the restaurant (see below). 

That's a lot of spoons. My grandma would have been proud

The spoon term also reminds me of a chef constantly tasting their creations, with spoons of course. Not forks or knives, but always spoons. Watch any chef on PBS, Food Network, or even the movie Burnt and you'll see all manner of spoons being used to taste and plate amazing dishes the world over. They just take one taste, toss the spoon in the dish pile, and adjust the sauce or dish accordingly. 

So, that's the "spoon" part, but why "stable"? Well, it's simple really - the location and physical space that the restaurant occupies was once a stable for the downtown area of Minneapolis. Knowing all that, the name seems to make perfect sense, and also lets your imagination run wild as you dine. Finally, it really makes their initial name for the new restaurant, Merchant, seem quite out of place. Glad they didn't go with that, as I suspect they are too.

We even got a little bit more info, the wine "cellar" they use used to be the main entrance for the stable. It's quite a striking look in the space and seems to get lots of eyes on it each night, see for yourself...

And finally, as our dinner group went through the meal, with all this info, good humor, and stiff drinks around, we found ourselves teasing most of the staff about stealing spoons of our own. Surely, they would think it's hilarious and allow the stealing of their own spoons, knowing what the owner has done during his "spoon career". Well, they weren't exactly excited to loose their own spoons to sticky-fingered patrons, but they've created a charity revolving around a collectible spoon. All proceeds from the sale of the spoon below fund the charity. 

It has their logo on it and also becomes a nice talking point for any patron once their meal is done. Not only that, but one of the guests in attendance with me that night, after being rather vocal about the spoon "souvenir", got his own, free charity spoon to take home. I'm sure he won't soon forget the wonderful atmosphere, great service, warm comfortable dining room, delicious & memorable foods, great drinks, and superb time we all had at Spoon & Stable. I know I won't.

I'd recommend this place to all. It seems particularly well-suited to foodies, small groups, dinner parties, and even serves brunch on the weekends. They make their breads in-house (looked like a boulangerie to me), seemed to whip their own butter, make all their desserts and pastries in-house, and purchase from local vendors when possible. Their staff, if you couldn't tell already, seemed particularity attentive and knowledgeable.

Spoon & Stable, Post1, Minneapolis, MN

Photos only to start...

Bar:

Dining room: 

Wine stable:

Menu:

Choices: 

Rum-based Old Fashioned:

Appetizer:

(just salted butter for the house made breads)

Pasta:

Porkchop:

Chocolate Panna Cotta:

... More words about the restaurant and a small story in Post2. 

Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS

It pays to know someone with a key to the building, especially in order to check out this most famous of famous basketball courts without crowds or court obstructions. 

 

And as luck would have it, in the middle of our "self-guided" tour, the lights on the court turned on...

 

Thanks very much to the Baby Jay that made this happen. 

Lidia's, Kansas City, KS

If you're like me and grew up watching PBS, featuring a Saturday line-up of chefs that help you become a foodie, then I think you might know this woman - Lidia Bastianich. 

Though she has a number of locations in the US (like NYC), we had the opportunity to visit her restaurant in Kansas City on a Sunday evening, before flight home. While this looks like a snoozer from the outset, it couldn't be further from the truth.

We had an awesome meal, held firmly in place by the pasta, as it should be. The salad to start was delicious, but the desert left something to be desired, unfortunately. I would absolutely go back anytime I have the chance or opportunity. The service was very good, the drinks were bold and well-portioned, and the restaurant is a nice place to share a meal with someone special, or host a small gathering. 

In case you were curious, our menu wound up like this: Ceasar salad split for two, Lemon Chicken, Pasta Trio (mosticholli with Tuna, pappardelle with short ribs, and a two-cheese ravioli with pear), and a molten chocolate cake with two small scoops of gelato. 

As a final note, I cannot stress how much this pasta was amazing. The ravioli was delightful with an almost too much flavor and sweetness of pear, but also pairing excellently with the cheese inside. And the pappardelle with short ribs was also done so well I can't pick which one was best. I felt like a two-time winner for getting to try them both. 

MNRG's New Year Knockout, St. Paul (The Roy), MN

Great night watching the Dagger Dolls fight the good fight to put points up on the board. Well done, All. 

Antique Taco, Chicago (Wicker Park), IL

This was a great spot to hit on a rainy Friday afternoon. Staff was energetic, warm, and helpful. All the food we ate was delicious and fresh. 

We split ribeye tacos, potato tacos and also shared the creamed corn. It was all so well-prepared, fairly portioned, and tasty. I'd go back for more choices in a New York minute. 

Creamed Corn

Ribeye Tacos

Colossal Cafe, Minneapolis, MN

After 7 years in the Twin Cities, I still hadn't visited this place. Luckily, I've know about it almost the whole time I've lived here, and wanted to get it "under my belt". Well, a recent, rainy weekend day provided the perfect opportunity to do just that, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the place, people, or food. 

If you've been to this location on 42nd, you know there's not much room inside to take great photos, and I tried, but the one above is probably the best and only shot one needs to see. 

My only regret now is not having gone sooner. 

Krueger's Christmas Trees, Lake Elmo, MN

Like any red-blooded American, I've had visions of cutting down and hauling home a Christmas tree of my very own since I watched the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, among others, as a youth. Maybe Clark W. Griswold has modeled proper American holiday behavior for many of us. Discuss. 

When the opportunity arose to visit Krueger's Christmas Tree farm in Lake Elmo, MN, to help pick and cut a Christmas tree, I jumped at the chance. 

After an easy, relatively short Saturday morning drive, we found ourselves surrounded by all kinds of conifers to choose from. Though Krueger's has trees pre-cut and ready to wrap, we chose the traditional method of grabbing a saw and sled, finding our own tree (only the tagged ones, never the flagged ones), cutting it down, hauling it back, having them process and wrap it, and even driving through their pick-up line and having them tie it right to your roof. 

(my favorite, hundreds of pine needles... ever dig those out of a canister vac's hose as a kid? Oh, no, me neither)

Though I'd always thought this kind of adventure would be a day long slog in a  cold, wet, windy forest with grumpy family members (Griswold!!!), it turned out to be a pleasant outing with two other fun people... and really not that physically taxing. Phew. 

Finding the tree was the most arduous part, and even that was rather pleasant as we were able to see what we liked, toss some snowballs, and even "snowboard" on some of their back hills. 

Once found, the cutting of a relatively young, small diameter tree trunk took all of about five minutes, and that's with a hand saw. Plus, tradition of the friends I went with dictated that all of us had a hand in the cutting. So while I started it and got about halfway through, the others finished the job. Done. 

Now, all that's left is to haul it back to the processing and payment area. Once there, they place the tree on a "shake stand" to help remove dead/weak needles, and then send it through the "netting" machine to allow it to be tied down on your car (and frankly, brought into your casa... oh, Mexico). You hand it off and go pay, then jump in your vehicle for pick-up. It's a slick system that they seem to have really dialed. 

They also have things set-up well for kids, big and small. Many had fun around the main out-buildings. There's a teepee, photo areas, and just a general holiday vibe that was nice to be around. Plus, who doesn't like the smell of pine in the morning?

(Pre-cuts)

I would wholeheartedly recommend this establishment to anyone in the market for a fresh-as-they-come Christmas tree and a family adventure for the ole memory book. 

Clark W. Griswold would approve. 

Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL

A rainy, cold, dreary fall day are the perfect reasons to see one of Chicago's great museum offerings. The Museum of Science & Industry (MSI) is one such offering, and I don't think I'd been to this place in about 30 years. Time to go back I suppose.  

While there was just so much to see, we had only planned to stay for a couple hours as we had an eager 3yr old in tow. He wanted robots, so that was on our list and whatever else we wanted to find. 

Finding stuff was no problem, but to me the museum seemed a bit thrown together with no real rhyme or reason to it. That's not to say it wasn't fun or interesting, because it is, it just seemed a bit pell mell. 

Here are some highlights:

An entire U-boat, nuts. 

A tornado. Fun. 

Planes. 

And some kind of smoke wall. (maybe hard to see)

The nice part is you can always go back and take a closer look at one section. I would also imagine that students on field trips would get a lot out of it, if they prepare in advance. All in all, a good way to spend a rainy day. 

Moo.

Do you remember this?

Like about 10-feet tall and veiny.