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"Fork the Fire" Brings Twin Cities Restaurants Together to Support One of Their Own

From the Fork the Fire website:

There’s nothing like the power of food to bring everyone together. That’s why over 80 restaurants will rise up in force to help Heidi’s and Blackbird - two Twin City restaurants that lost everything recently during a tragic fire in south Minneapolis.

Heidi's and Blackbird were terrific neighborhood restaurants, well loved and respected within the community and outside of it (Heidi's Chef Stewart Woodman was recently named a semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation Award). The loss of those restaurants is already felt, and will continue to be as time goes on.

If there's a silver lining here -- and I realize that it's a small one -- it's the fact that the Twin Cities restaurant community has pulled together in a very short time to create what they're calling "Fork the Fire [...] the largest display of solidarity ever on one day." (Hey, they're restaurant owners, not marketers). More than 50 restaurants in town are donating a portion of their proceeds from the entire day of March 14 (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) to the owners of Heidi's and Blackbird in order to help with their enormous expenses related to the fire and loss of business. Here's where we come in:

In true community fashion, Simple, Good, and Tasty is asking you to consider joining us -- and/or each other -- for a meal on March 14. Please take a look at the list of participating restaurants, choose a spot, and leave a comment that tells the rest of us where you'll be. If you see a person, time, or restaurant that works for you, you can use the comments section to coordinate plans or just show up. My family and I will be at Brasa on Grand Avenue in St. Paul for lunch at noon. Wanna come?

Here's the list of participating restaurants:

2021 (612) 253-3410 www.wolfgangpuck.com
112 Eatery (612) 343-7696 www.112eatery.com
7 the Steakhouse & Sushi Ultralounge (612) 238-7770 www.7steakhouse.com
Al Vento (612) 724-3009 www.alventorestaurant.com
Amici Pizza and Bistro (612) 781-5711 www.amiciusa.com
Bar La Grassa (612) 333-3837 www.barlagrassa.com
Birchwood Café (612) 722-4474 www.birchwoodcafe.com
Black Sheep Pizza (612) 342-2625 www.blacksheeppizza.com
Brasa (612) 379-3030 www.brasa.us
Broders' Pasta Bar (612) 925-9202 www.broders.com
Bull Run Coffee Bar (952) 285-4242 www.bullrunroasting.com
Burger Jones (612) 746-0800 www.burgerjones.com
Café Ena (612) 824-4441 www.cafeena.net
Café Maude (612) 822-5411 www.cafemaude.com
Café Twenty Eight (612) 926-2800 www.cafetwentyeight.com
Chino Latino (612) 824-7878 www.chinolatino.com
Coffee & Tea Limited (612) 920-6344 www.coffeeandtealtd.com 
Craftsman (612) 722-0175 www.craftsmanrestaurant.com
Christos (612) 871-2111 www.christos.com
El Meson (612) 822-8062 www.elmesonbistro.net
Fire Lake Grill House (612) 216-3473 www.firelakerestaurant.com
French Meadow Bakery and Café (612) 870-7855 www.frenchmeadow.com
Good Earth-Edina (952) 925-1001 www.goodearthmn.com
Good Earth-Roseville (651) 636 0956 www.goodearthmn.com
Grand Café (612) 822-8260 www.grandcafempls.com
Heartland (651) 699-3536 www.heartlandrestaurant.com
Hell's Kitchen (612) 332-4700 www.hellskitcheninc.com
Herkimer Pub and Brewery (612) 821-0101 www.theherkimer.com
Il Gatto (612) 822-1688 www.ilgattominneapolis.com
La Belle Vie (612) 874-6440 www.labellevie.us
Luci Ancora & Ristorante Luci (651) 698-6889 www.ristoranteluci.com
Lucia's (612) 823-7125 www.lucias.com
Mancini's (651) 224-7345 www.mancinis.com
Manny's Steak House (612) 215-3700 www.mannyssteakhouse.com
Meritage (651) 222-5670 www.meritage-stpaul.com
Mill City Café (612) 788-6188 www.millcitycafe.com
Modern Café (612) 378-9882 www.moderncafeminneapolis.com
Moto-i Brewery Restaurant (612) 821-6262 www.moto-i.com
Muffuletta (651) 644-9116 www.muffuletta.com
Pittsburgh Blue (763) 416-2663 www.pittsburghbluesteak.com
Prima (612) 827-7376 www.primamn.com
Prohibition  (612) 215-3700 www.whotels.com
Rainbow Chinese (612) 870-7084 www.rainbowrestaurant.com
Restaurant Alma (612) 379-4909 www.restaurantalma.com
Rinata (612) 374-8998 www.rinatarestaurant.com
Salut Bar American-Edina (952) 929-3764 www.salutbaramericain.com
Salut Bar American-St Paul (651) 917-2345 www.salutbaramericain.com
Sea Change (612) 225.6499 www.seachangempls.com
Sen Yai Sen Lek (612) 781-3046 www.senyai-senlek.com
SpoonRiver (612) 436-2236 www.spoonriverrestaurant.com
Strip Club (651) 793-6247 www.domeats.com
The Citizen Café (612) 729-1122 www.thecitizencafe.com
The Living Room Bar (612) 215-3799 www.whotels.com
Turtle Bread Co (612) 455-2552 www.turtlebread.com
Victor's 1959 Cafe (612) 827-8948 www.victors1959cafe.com
Victory 44 (612) 588-2228 www.victory-44.com
Zahtar-Eden Prairie (952) 829-8484 www.zahtarbyfhima.com
Zahtar-Mpls  (612) 752-9595 www.zahtarbyfhima.com
     

Other Fork the Fire options for March 14 include:

  • Eating at Mission American Kitchen between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, where chefs from D'Amico Kitchen, The Dakota, Vincent's, Edina Grill, Cave Vin, Pierre's Bistro, and more will be serving great meals for $30 at the door. (Call 612.339.1000 for information.)
  • Heading over to Cafe 28, where Blackbird's chef-owner Chris Stevens will be cooking a fixed price $25 meal. (Call 612.926.2800 for information.)

Hope to see you on March 14! (More info at http://www.forkthefire.org/)

Lee Zukor is the founder of Simple, Good, and Tasty. Email him at lee@simplegoodandtasty.com.