Beautiful Sunday in the Cities. Met up with Claire for lunch at
Birchwood Cafe in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. The place was packed with line extending to the outside of the door. This independent eatery with uniquely creative menu focuses on utilizing locally sourced organic and fair trade ingredients. All the wonderful things Claire is passionate about and is quickly rubbing off on me. I had the "
Sweet Corn, Kale & Cheddar Waffle 11 made with bacon lardoons, egg, melon salsa, tomato basil butter & marconas." The food was absolutely delicious even though I've never been much of a waffle person. Three hours flew by once we started to talk about topics evolved around things I desperately miss for being out of middle of nowhere: revitalization of the cities, urban development programs, non-profit organizations and corporate responsibility. This is my idea of a perfect Sunday: comfort food for the conscious and inspiring company/conversation for the soul. Claire will be moving to Madison next week to start her MBA program on Supply Chain Management. I'm thrilled for her and extremely envious at the same time. Best luck to you Claire and hope we'll meet again soon!
I stopped by Midtown Global Market after a neighborhood stroll with Claire. East Lake St. is a bit rough on the edges and some corners resembled little Mexico with signs in Spanish and colorful murals. The Global Market is situated in a large commercial building with dozens of independently owned ethnic eateries and shops. You can find everything under one roof here from Italian Ice to Halal meat to fresh sushi, hot bowl of Pho and creamy hummus. Although I didn't get any food since I just had lunch I enjoyed the visit nevertheless. Just another thing I miss from civilization.
The evening was spent dancing tango to live music at the Loring Pasta Bar, a special treat for me since I usually drive back to TRF on Sundays. The restaurant in Dinky town has a dramatic setting especially for a milonga with dinner tables pushed to the side to form a round dance floor, tall industrial ceiling with exposed steel beams, second level open balcony with additional dinner seating and dark oriental wall accents and decorations. Music from the band is fused with bustling sounds from the open kitchen and soft murmur from the diners. I danced away as the last ray of sunlight gave way to soft ambien lighting, flickering candles and the occasional flames from the kitchen. A beautiful night.