My new corner coffee shop: Espresso Royale Caffe
Shoryl and I needed to get out of the house and into the sunshine this weekend, so we decided to wander around downtown, looking for food. It was St. Patrick’s day, so we steered clear of the local pubs and bars (already stuffed), eventually deciding to go down Hennepin.
We remembered a small cafe that we pass coming home from the grocery store, and ducked in to see if they sold anything that would make a quick lunch.
Espresso Royale is probably the most welcoming coffee shop I’ve been to. It’s similar to places like Cahoots or Uncommon Grounds, and has all the hallmarks of your average trendy coffee bar: the tables don’t match the chairs or each other, there are plenty of couches, the distressed chic look is ubiquitous, and there appear to be more electrical outlets than seats.
Where Espresso Royale shines is in the layout. The tables and chairs are all located in the main room with the coffee bar, giving it the feel of a true cafe. Behind the bar, though, you’ll find plenty of couches, loveseats, and coffee tables. The comfy seats are far enough away from one another that it’s possible to tuck yourself up into a corner without disturbing anyone else. And – a rarity for trendy coffee shops – the restrooms are well-labeled and easy to get to.
The food was common cafe fair – premade sandwiches and wraps, pastries, and other assorted odds and ends. There were plenty of vegan and vegetarian options, as well as choices for us omnivores.
I went with a sandwich, a bag of chips, and an artisan caramel, Shoryl chose the same, swapping out a wrap for the sandwich. We also ordered large Italian Sodas from the sizable choices of Monin flavorings available. The food was, if not inventive, high quality and filling. The caramels, of course, were truly excellent. We got lunch as well as part of dinner (due to the size of the sandwiches) for about $20.
Definitely a place to check out if you find yourself killing an afternoon on Hennepin before a show.
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“Shelter is a human right:” Talking to Occupy Mpls
It was the sign that caught my attention first. There were 8-10 people standing near one of my normal walking routes around PeaveyPlaza, holding signs and encouraging honking from the cars that passed along 11th Street. It was just the sign bearers and a few tents on the plaza, so I decided to assuage my curiosity. After reading about the Occupy movements on the coasts, I was interested to see what a city that prides itself on being “nice” was doing in support of Occupy.
It was as exactly how it looked: a rough and ready[1] crowd of college age (appearing) adults, with hand lettered signs. One young man who said he went by “kingpinMN” was willing to peel off from the group and speak with me.[2]
Kingpin said that the protest on Peavey that I walked into was a response to a piece by WCCO that mentioned that “Occupy is dead.”[3] He first thought of this protest action at about 5:30 yesterday evening, and by the time I spoke with him at 9:00, he mentioned that they had been there for a little over 2 hours. From my impression as we spoke, this is the usual way that such protests are formed; Kingpin discussed individual driven events being the norm.
He also indicated that this is just the start of a tumultuous Spring. Several actions are planned for this March and April. They’re taking baby steps throughout March to prepare for a “99 Tents” display on PeaveyPlazato take place on April 7th. One of those actions will be to “liberate” abandoned and condemned buildings, including the site of an old Scientology church.[4]
Most of the work in Minneapolisso far seems to be the actions of a coalition group called Occupy Our Homes. If you’ve ever been in the skyways around lunch time, you may have seen them. They are, after all, dressed like pirates. It’s to protest bank policies regarding foreclosures, but Kingpin did mention they’ve been targeting US Bank because they make the greatest disturbance there. Truthfully, that’s understandable, considering the proximity of their protests to the Government Center. He also mentioned that all the foreclosures that they were working on were US Bank owned mortgages. (This is not actually correct. The UpTake published a retraction stating that two of the high-profile homes were not, in fact, owned by US Bank at all, but Freddie Mac and BoA, respectively.)
When asked what Kingpinmn wanted people to know, he replied, “we’re back; we’re steady; we’re coming back with a bang this spring.”
For a rather more light-hearted take on this event, see the story at HongPong.
[1] One young man left with the goodbye of “I’m going to go put my dick in something.” Erm, well okay, then.
[2] A quick search yields nothing under that handle but a few profiles for some cybersex websites, however.
[3] I was unable to find the source for this piece, but it may not be reflected on WCCO’s website.
[4] The information I was given as to the location of this church was “8th and Penn,” which cannot be verified in any way. Again, my Google-fu is failing me.
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Re-Experiencing: Returning to the Food & Wine Show
Photo from official Food & Wine Experience official site
I returned to the Minnesota Monthly Food and Wine Show this year for the first time since 2008. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, it got a little rowdy late in the day, but I was on my way out the door, already having sampled all the great food and beverages.
I was astonished by the changes this year. I had the opportunity to go on Saturday and Sunday both, courtesy of a free ticket for volunteering with TC Uncorked. I enjoyed my return, but I have to say that it didn’t start auspiciously at all…
Venue Change
When Shoryl and I moved downtown, one of the things we looked forward to was that the Food and Wine Experience would be just a few blocks away at the Convention Center. They moved they year we did, into Target Field. Since I’d never been there, I was a little leary.
In the end, I can’t say this was a beneficial change. In an article (that I can not now find), the organizers stated that the venue change was due to 1) finding something more comfortable, and 2) making the event more upscale. I do not believe they achieved either aim. The Target Field location is poorly laid out, including cubbies and and vendors located in the built-in food booths. Additionally, the Metropolitan Club was not contiguous to the rest of the exhibition space so we missed it entirely on Saturday. Overall, the space imposes artificial traffic constraints and a non-intuitive layout.
Time Change
I was astonished by the change to timing. It has been condensed to 1-5pm both Saturday and Sunday. This was, frankly, incredibly deleterious to the experience. Not only was the space packed from everyone trying to see everything at once (instead of staggering, as was possible with an earlier open time), Shoryl and I found that a quick once-through took us nearly 3 hours alone. With a four hour window and an excessive press of people, we could neither linger nor return. This either forces people to buy a ticket to both days (with the recent increase in ticket price), or skip areas completely, as we did.
Vendors
It is quite possibly a bias due to the fact that we were running out of time, and trying to figure out the layout, but we were less impressed with the vendors this year. An entire section had been laid out for Washington wines, but the Minnesota Grown group was nowhere to be found. I realize that Minnesota Monthly has no control over which vendors choose to participate, but it was a disappointment. Additionally, all the vintners were showing traditional wines – mixed reds and mixed whites were overrepresented. Completely missing were vintners that specialized in non-grape wines, meads, dessert wines, and many local vineyards. (Crispin is a notable exception, but we only found them on Sunday.)
However, while we missed Minnesota Grown, we were quite pleased to see the section dedicated to the Mill City Farmer’s Market. As you can tell from our food blog, we’re quite the fans. It was nice to be able to show our support while there.
Sunday
Most of these notes are our feelings as we experienced Saturday’s crushing crowd. Sunday after our volunteer shift was much calmer, and we were able to explore the Metropolitan Club space at our leisure. Additionally, we actually had great fun organizing the coat check area to help with a speedy checkout. (But we’re a bit odd that way.)
Overall
I’ve made it seem like it was all a terrible experience, which isn’t really fair. There were a number of local restaurants sampling their best dishes, which directly caused us to add some to our lists of places to go. We even found a wonderful chocolate shop to try out. It certainly wasn’t a wasted experience, and we enjoyed it overall.
However, due to the changes made, I just can’t see this being worth the current $75 per day admission. Shoryl and I do not attend to drink and eat as much as we can – in fact, I’d estimate that we drank less than a glass of wine each, largely due to a preponderance of traditional and uninteresting offerings – we go to find new vendors to patronize. It’s our bias, and we recognize it, but it doesn’t seem out of line to expect an event put on by Minnesota Monthly to focus on local or semi-local vendors.
Additionally, in order to take in the whole show, given the extremely limiting time frame and the confusing venue, you may need to attend both days. That’s $300 for two people, plus any transportation costs you may have. We’ll attend again if we receive another comp ticket through volunteering, but we’re unlikely to pay to attend in the future.
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