laura zimmermann

What did you have for dinner last night? Cold noodles and a banana? Me too. Got something planned for tonight? Bagels from Common Roots if the guys meeting in the conference room leave any over? Me too.

I don't mind. I'm saving myself. I know that on Saturday night, I'm having a fabulous dinner cooked by a bearded James Beard awardee and a French knight. Yes, Alex Roberts (Alma, Brasa) and Lucia Watson (Lucia's) are making me dinner. In a mansion. No, not my mansion.

It never makes Minnesota Monthly's getaways list, but when the sun is high and the budget's low, a person could pass a lovely summer weekend right down on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis. Check it out:

A few weeks ago I went with my husband, who I’ll call Mr. Tasty, to Chicago to celebrate his birthday. I won’t tell you which birthday, but it was a big one, and I don’t mean 30 or 50. In a weekend I’ve mentally edited into a feature film-style montage of eating, drinking, and posing in front of public art beans—Here we are enjoying duck breast Benedict at the Bongo Room! Here’s us draining margaritas at Frontera! Don’t we look cute trying on fedoras at Goorin Brothers?—one meal stands out. If I am in love with Chicago, and I do believe I am, it seduced me under the sepia lights of the Publican.