craftsman

It's been almost exactly two years since the first Simple, Good, and Tasty event, or what I'm now referring to as our "meal heard round the city" at the Craftsman in 2009. Did you know that our second-ever event, held in May of 2009, was at the Birchwood Cafe?

When I heard that Minneapolis-based Peace Coffee would be opening their own coffee shop this fall, my first reaction was not overly enthusiastic. Apart from a select few, coffee shops are not known to be hugely profitable, and I feared this new venture would pull resources from one of my favorite local companies and drag it down. Peace Coffee has been growing its fair trade, organic, bike-delivered, coffee bean business for years. Why risk all that the company has worked for rather than simply add new accounts and products to their already successful model? When I got the chance to speak with Lee Wallace, Peace Coffee's CEO ("Queen Bean" on her business cards), it all made sense.

"The new coffee shop allows us to prepare our coffee the way we envision it when it comes out of the roaster," Lee tells me, "most roasters know roasting but not about being a barista, and most baristas don't know much about roasting."

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.

[UPDATE: I just got a note with a few more details from Judy Hohmann, Manager, Marketing & Public Relations for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum:

"New this year are ‘green’ prize drawings including two sets of touring bicycles, cooking classes at the Arboretum, signed cookbooks, basket of natural soaps and balms made in Waconia by SunLeaf Naturals, etc.

We’re using compostable party ware. People can reserve online at www.arboretum.umn.edu/toastandtaste.aspx or call 952-443-1400."]

Every Saturday at 8:00 am, the Central Minnesota Vegetable Growers Association presents Fresh & Local, a fun, local MN food show on AM950. Here's what it says on their webpage (located on the Minneapolis Farmers Market website):

Please join us for another amazing meal this month! The May local, sustainable Simple, Good, and Tasty dinner will be held at the Birchwood Cafe, whose praises I've sung several times here already. Openings for the meal are filling up fast - please email me at lee@simplegoodandtasty.com as soon as possible to reserve your spot.

Thanks to Hidden Stream Farm's mailing letter, I just got wind of Tour de Farm, which is the new way I'm thinking of organizing my summer.