Minneapolis weekend

Emily wanted to go on a weekend trip with me to eat and explore.  YES!!  We narrowed down on Minneapolis for a few reasons.  Neither of us had checked out the town before.  It is not far from NYC so we could do it in a weekend.  There is definitely a food culture happening there and plenty to do.

We got in on Friday morning and hit the town running.  I had some reccos from my friend at Red Stamp and Emily had put together a serious list on Foursquare.  Our first stop after the hotel was Pizzeria Lola.  They have a huge wood fired oven in the middle of the restaurant putting out excellent pizza.

We started with spicy roasted cauliflower while we waited for our pizza.

The pizza was top.  Thin crust with crispy pieces of pepperoni and fennel sausage.  It is called My Sha-Roni.  So good.

There are a bunch of bakeries in this town which probably go back to the dozens of flour mills that inhabited Minneapolis in the early 1900’s.  It’s in their blood.  We stopped at Patisserie 46.  The place smells amazing the minute you set your foot in the door.  We went with the chocolate hazelnut flourless tart and a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.  The cookie was perfect.  Small pieces of chocolate inside a soft yet crusty cookie.  I’d love that recipe!

It was time to take in the Walker Museum.  They are in the process of massive outdoor construction of the park surrounding the museum.  The iconic cherry in the spoon seems shipwrecked.

The museum is amazing.  We started with the putt-putt golf installation on the terrace.  The temperature is roughly 93 and humid but for 9 holes we went for it.  Super fun and clever holes.

Land Speed Record by Chris Larson.  He took took a group of items from Grant Hart, the drummer of Husker Du, whose house caught fire and destroyed a lot of his things.  Larson categorized what he had and they filmed it.

The other exhibit that takes over the majority of the museum is from the permanent collection over the past 75 years.  It is incredibly well curated.  I took a slew of photos.  The first room is pieces that came from the Guerrilla Girls, feminist activists artists starting back in 1985 who have created public service announcements around the globe.  I love this.

This one is particularly relevant right now.

Lawrence Weiner…this piece in many ways describes the show.  Work from Donald Judd to Ellsworth Kelly to Frank Stella to Lee Bontecou to Rothko to Jasper Johns and Lichtenstein, Joan Mitchell and Giacometti.

This show gave the nod to the first person who led the museum and collected a tremendous amount of work in a short time for the museum.  This is a rendering of the model for the museum in 1967 by Edward Larrabee Barnes.

Martin Friedman, the director of the Walker commissioned this from Richard Haas in 1979.  A trompe l’oeil of the museum.

Never saw this before.  Running scissors by Sigmar Polke.

Trisha Donnelly had two pieces in this exhibit.  Beautiful videos.

The other exhibit is called Ordinary Pictures.  This is by Lucas Block.

One of the best gift shops.

We walked back to our hotel through the park.  So green and lush.

Not sure when the park was built but it is really well thought out with tennis courts, water fountains, amphitheaters, etc.

We went back for a little R&R before heading out to the North Loop for a bit of shopping and dinner.  Our first stop was Martin Patrick, a mens concept store.  There are a few things for women but mostly men.  Also furniture, sheets, clothing, barber, body and hair products and other accessories.  A new fangled department store.

Then to Shinola.

Wilson & Willy’s

The Foundry Home Goods.

Then to dinner at Spoon & Stable.  A really beautiful restaurant with soaring ceilings, a long bar and a good vibe.  We sat at the bar and watched the plates being created for all of us.

We split everything.  It was definitely the call.  The bread and butter they serve you is delicious.  A whole wheat sourdough with sweet salty whipped butter.

Thinly sliced snap peas mixed with sunflower seeds and a parmesean vinaigrette and a crispy pheasant egg sitting on top was delicious.  Just the right balance of flavors and perfect for the season.

Their scallop crudo has been on the menu from the start.  Thinly sliced scallops served raw with green apples, shiso, chilies and a scallion vinaigrette.  Thumbs down from me on this one.  Didn’t do anything for me.

Spaghetti nero was calling our name after watching the guy at the bar eat is while we had a drink. Black ink pasta topped with mussels, shrimp, octopus, fine herbs in a red sauce.  Really good.

Two slices of a dry aged duck breast served over a wheat berry porridge with fiddlehead ferns, poached rhubarb and duck jus.  Nicely done.

Had to have dessert.  After all we are on a little vacation.  A chocolate profiterole topped with a brown sugar marshmallow that has been roasted.  Wow.

We weren’t done.  They gave us this little box of treats.  Definitely some highs and lows as everything is but we loved it.  Back to the hotel to pass out.