Café Levain, Minneapolis, MN

I'm not sure I've had a better, heartier, Italian-American comfort food meal in the Twin Cities...and not anywhere else in a long-time either. I would highly recommend this place for a special night or as a special treat.

Mmmm, nothing tastes like fall like roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower

A deceptively simple wedge salad with fresh tomatillos, very unique and delicious

Something like a short-rib beef stew with a horseradish creme fraiche, very hearty and comforting

Garlic attack! Roasted chicken with creamy garlic polenta - so good!

Vanilla Panna Cotta with dried cherries and toasted granola - almost too much after the items above

Pumpkin Power Saw (?!)

Has this power tool been created because Americans are too lazy to even cut up a pumpkin once a year? Or do some people carve so many pumpkins they need the cutting implement powered up? In any case, it's cheap enough to find out for yourself.

This was spotted at an Omaha, NE Hy-Vee (that means grocery store)...

Nebraska University Football, Game Time

On to the game itself.

NU's stadium holds a close knit 91,000 of your closest friends. It is 12th largest football stadium in the US, and, I was told, just added some more seats after last season. No doubt, it is a big stadium and holds a lot of rabid football fans.

In spite of that large mass of people, every NU fan that talked or interacted with us the whole day was nothing but nice. Many "good lucks" and high-fives were sent our way during the tailgate an even in the stadium. It was a great reception for the Illini faithful. 

And the stadium, while very packed in, seems to have it down to a science in terms of entry and egress. At half-time, you're even allowed to scan your ticket to go back to your tailgate, just be back in the stadium before the 4th quarter begins.. very "progressive" (plus, I suspect if you spend thousands of dollars on a tailgate parking space, you want to get your money's worth in the 6-8 home games per season).

Highway to the danger zone

More red than a blood bank

Pretty great seats for about $50/ticket. I'm sure you could pay a lot more too

No denying that NU has a rich and storied football tradition, long before being a member in the Big10

These look like the cheap seats, to some extent, but boy does the "horseshoe" afford a lot more seats for revenue

Well done, Sir. Well done (and another Illini fan)

Nebraska University Football, Pregame

The beginning of cool weather and shorter days make many Americans think of one thing, football!!! I happen to enjoy a good tailgate and drinking beer in the morning (on occasion), so when my brother invited me to the University of Illinois @ Nebraska football game on October 5th, I jumped at the chance. 

Of course, before attending any Big10 football game, since the stadiums have been mostly dry since their inception (not true any longer on all campuses), a tailgate is a requirement... heck, it's America! Luckily for us, Nebraska doesn't have an NFL team and most of the state's football efforts are concentrated on the NU football team and its tailgating season.

People start early. Parking lots are reserved just for tailgating activities, and fenced in to keep randoms out. Parking spaces are reserved (and paid for) in advance for an entire season, which means you go to the same place each gameday. They set-up some pretty amazing assortment of options and the requisite accouterments for the activity, behold:

Begin the day with a healthy breakfast

Grab something packed with vitamins and minerals to wash it down

One of the many SUVs and trucks used as the foundation for a great tailgate parking space. Wisely, this tailgater has set-up the back of his/her SUV with a full bar. What happens if they're ever pulled over? I have no idea, but it can't be a fun stop

Grill, meet Hitch. Hitch, meet grill. Viola! (in the NU colors of course)

Tailgate paddock, Partner. And a great use for an old bus, I might add...

I'm going to presume that you can buy a hotdog station like this one at CostCo now.

And now it's time to venture into the "enemy's lair"... NU's Memorial Stadium.

Northeast Brewery Tour, Minneapolis, MN

If you ever have an open, rainy, gloomy Saturday afternoon on your hands, you might want to fill it with a local brewery tour. Three of us whiled away all of a Saturday afternoon and evening doing just that. You can follow this route, or modify it to suit.

 

Dangerous Man Brewery
Indeed Brewery
612 Brewery

From left to right it's Dangerous Man, Indeed, 612...

All three are relatively close to each other, which makes doing this by bike very simple and can add extra safety for everyone involved. Of course, by car or by foot are also possible, depending on your group.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find great places and great beers in each location. Not only that, but each was doing brisk business with plenty of people out and about. You also don't need to be worried about food, though these breweries don't serve any, they all have restaurants nearby or food trucks on-site to help curb any I'll effects of an afternoon of "sampling".

Wow, a great chocolate stout on a Saturday afternoon

Dangerous Man also does some pretty hoighty-toighty sodas, but damn if this Ginger-Black Currant wasn't awesome too

Wow, Indeed's Sweet Mamma Jamma, made with sweet potato... surprisingly good and an even better mouth feel with the Nitro pour

A couple of our Ocktoberfests at 612 - great this time of year. Is it time to hibernate yet?

Shoes I didn't buy...

...but sort of wish I had.

 

Didn't have my size left... but at $15, who wouldn't do ecto-plasm green?!

This is a Derrick Rose signature model... but those ain't no Bulls colors I've ever seen

Kind of funny that this pair from UnderArmor maybe the most innocuous of the three

The Blue Door Pub, St. Paul, MN

**Spoiler alert: This is going to be a tale of woe and heart-ache, with some redeeming qualities.**

If you live under a rock, or perhaps in what I call "The Lower 47", you may not know what a "Juicy Lucy" is. This is a now somewhat generic term for a specific item, like Kleenex or I can't think of another example right now. Basically, in Minnesota, the term "Juicy Lucy" describes a burger that has cheese stuffed into the middle of the (usually oversized) patty when made and cooked to order. In general, this coronary double-whammy is supposed to come to your table bubbling hot and even have the potential to scald your mouth if you bite into the molten cheese/meat combo too eagerly.

For whatever reason (or in fear of mouth burns), I have waited until just this past weekend to have my first real, honest-to-goodness Juicy Lucy in Minnesota... and the first one in my life for that matter. I decided to go a little out of the norm and not go to one of the well-known originators of said burger, but to a new upstart that's been getting good reviews, The Blue Door in St. Paul, MN.

I went with a friend. We had a very short wait for a table (which is not the norm) and ordered beers as we looked at the menu. Though the Blue Door likes to tought their "Blucy" (a Juicy Lucy made with blue cheese), we decided on their traditional Juicy Lucy offering, called the "Classic", and stuffed with a Tillamonk cheddar. We also wanted something a little over-the-top, so we rounded our or items to split with a "Breakfast Blucy". This is a Classic topped with more cheese, bacon, and a fried egg. I do like a fried egg on a burger. Order in!

Let me say - I was very stoked to be moments away from my first Juicy Lucys.

That level of "stokedness" only lasted a few bites into my first half (we split both burgers). It was a bit over done and dry. It almost didn't matter though as it was a later-than-normal dinner and I wolfed the half burger down in 3-5 bites. On to the next half... the Breakfast Blucy.

It only took another couple glances at this monster to realize, and I can't stress enough how much this is not a joke, there was no cheese cooked into the middle of this burger. It was empty. Just two patties stuck together and cooked longer than beef should be grilled.

This was by no means inedible, but it was far from the Juicy Lucy/Blucy I ordered.

 

I mentioned this to the twenty-something waitress who said nothing to ease my pain and something along the lines of, "yeah, all our burgers are pre-made". My friend thought she meant they cooked the burgers ahead of time... but I'm pretty sure the waitress meant all the Juicy Lucys/Blucys are hand-pattied in the morning, making sure the cheese and meat are all together before the orders come in and the burgers finally cooked. But no matter, there was no Juicy Lucy in my mouth that night. And to add insult to (gastro) injury, there was no discount or comp'ed items on the bill when the check came.

 

So, I did what any red-blooded American would, I tried to call and regale them with my plight the next day, but to no avail. Their phone just rang and rang. So, on Monday, I took to the interweb and found contact info for their catering manager. I emailed her and asked her for the proper contact. She emailed me back within an hour or so and I emailed the owners/managers.

 

It took about 24 hours to hear back from them, but they told me how bad they felt for my bad experience, that their staff is always given the power to make a customer happy, and they would like to send me a giftcard to cover my first visit and give them another shot at my second, first time. Now, that's how you right a wrong. Sounds good to me, see you soon...

 

Note: I will be updating this post once I go back to Blue Door and have my second, first-time... stayed tuned, Sportsfans.