Out & About

Read why we are doing this in our intro article.

This week, we made a big mistake. Charles and I met at the corner of Lake St and Bloomington Ave without a plan. "Let's just walk around and pick a spot to eat," we told each other. Anyone who has spent even a little time at this intersection knows how preposterous this is. There are three Mexican super mercados and no less than 12 latin eateries within three city blocks. How we decided upon El Guayaquil is still a mystery. After wandering through the Mercado Central and then peering in each and every window of the places on Lake Street, we found ourselves standing in front of El Guayaquil and feeling so hungry that we simply did not care. The one decision we did make was that we would be coming back to Lake and Bloomington soon.

When it's cold outside, I like to find retreat in my kitchen. The warmth of the oven, from spices and from just simply moving in the cuisine-creating space can really feel like a loving hug when I need one. Just this past November, I went on a yoga workshop week in Belize, it was fantastic (shocker I'm sure). Finding myself in mid-month January in Minnesota, although we have had a mild winter thus far, I think to myself that perhaps I jumped the gun on my tropical getaway. As I reminisce of the fresh catch-of-the-day crisp and warm off the grill and the warm sun on my skin as I lay in a hammock on the beach, I realize that a tropical fix may not be as far away as it may seem.

This is a part of an ongoing adventure in Latin food eateries. Read our intro article to find out why.

Part of the adventure involved in trying new restaurants is the air of wonder. I love the mystery of an unknown menu, not to mention the particular take one chef may have over another. El Bravo was an adventure of all sorts. We had absolutely no idea of what to expect. As a matter of fact, the only thing I knew about El Bravo was a picture of the front of the building that I has seen online when searching for directions. It was one of those entrances that make me drool. Old flashing neon sign, stucco painted in bright colors and that's about it. Looking back on this, I suppose it doesn't take much to make me hungry.

This is a part of an ongoing adventure in Latin food eateries. Read our intro article to find out why.

I drive down 38th St. quite often and have constantly wondered about the establishment called Mi Sinaloa. It sounded exotic. As a matter of fact, I spent a good deal of time wondering what in the world this place was. It sounds tropical, but I failed to even guess at the hemisphere, not to mention the correct country. Then I figured it out. Sinaloa is a state in Mexico on the Pacific coast of the country.

Right after Thanksgiving, I started to notice that everyone was talking about local gifts. I was too, but being a little slow on the uptake, I felt like everyone had already taken the spotlight. Then I remembered my best resource, the thing that I am most thankful for when it comes to SGT, the bread and butter...the writers. Who was I to try and suggest locally sourced gift ideas when I had a whole cache of brilliant writers brimming with ideas about all things local?

I crafted an invitation (begging really) for them to share their favorite local gift ideas...and with no further ado, here they are:

Kristin Boldon

I try to go double local if I can, by buying local items at local, independent shops. 

Header photo: Burdock by Shastared

The day might have made a magnificent postcard. Spring was staining trees with subtle hints of summer. A stream was carrying on an animated conversation with raindrops. Rocks were locked in a shining dual with water. Some humans, armed with buckets, boots, and plastic suits, stumbled toward the stream. They worked in silence, selecting tender sections of watercress. Then one of them spoke: "This is beautiful. It looks like a rain forest." I shot a surprised glance at the speaker. Blood sucking insects and relentless rain had clouded my beauty sensors. But the world in which we waded was indeed exquisite.

I happened to bump into the October 31 issue of Wine Spectator magazine this week and found an editorial by James Molesworth called “Are Locavores Also Locapours?” Although the local food movement has pushed farm fresh produce to the menus of top restaurants around the country, local wines have yet to do the same. By tracking a New York winery’s struggle to make it on big-city wine lists, he argues that consumers are willing to pay extra for local food on the table but are willing to put almost anything in their glass—just as long as it says Italy, France, or Sonoma on the label. 

Being a student again can be a humbling and invigorating experience. It's a fact that there will always be more to learn. This is true for all subjects and especially for anything food and cooking related....or at least its true for me. There are always new ingredients, techniques, tools and not to mention endless and conflicting information about food politics. Now that I have completely overcomplicated the subject of cooking, let's break it back down.

The departure of summer is much easier to cope with when you have the knowledge that fall brings beautiful gifts of crisp air, celestial blue skies and apples. Ah apple, you are the perfect fruit. On the inside, you are a lover’s tango of both tart and sweet tenderness nicely protected by a crunchy thick skin on the out. We Minnesotans are lucky to have such a plethora of locally-sourced apples to choose from. Even better, the growers love selling apples so much that many share their orchard yards with us, thus creating an ultimate feel good opportunity for folks to be in touch with the fruits of our land.

Marrnita’s Table uses the dinner table as a means for bringing people together and solving some of the community’s toughest issues and food is definitely the common denominator for all Marnita’s Table events. Founded five years ago by husband and wife team Marnita Schroedl and Carl Goldstein, Marnita’s Table’s (MT) mission is to bridge cultural, generational, and socio-economic differences by the use of “intentional social interaction”.

The way it works: a community or an organization brings to MT a topic of concern such as race, isolation of refugees, or high school graduation rates and then staff and volunteers “set up table”. MT creates an intimate dinner setting at either Marnita and Carl’s home, or one of the Table’s many volunteers will host the dinner and conversation.