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I did NOT take pictures of the bar and the gorgeous beaded lamps which drew me here in the first place. You must see them. It's what drew me there. The atmosphere. This is girl's night heaven in my book. And the brainchild of Russell Klein of Meritage and Brasserie Zentral. In fact, it is the space next to BZ. And they have grilled cheese sandwiches AND tomato soup. Fancy comfort food.

Beef Tar Tar

Gorgonzola, duck confit and red cabbage grilled cheese 

The charcuterie plate

The banquet room. Imagine how many of your best girlfriends you could pack in here.

The view from the banquet room

You never know what you will find around the corner. A cozy alcove for a one-off conversation with your bestie.

Foreign Legion

105 South 5th Street Minneapolis, MN 55403

612-33-0505

Banh Mi. What is it about pork? I say I don't like it, but every once in a awhile I'm surprised. Banh Mi is tough too. It has to be reaaally good for me to overlook the juices of the jalapeno peppers once I've peeled them off. But Agra Culture delivered. I wasn't sure if they would to be perfectly honest. They try to be everything trendy - gluten-free, vegan, paelo, farm-to-table, sushi, you-name-it kinda place. Of course, location is everything, and the new location is right off of 50th & France in Edina, so they do have some competition there and the place still had a fair few people for the lunchtime crowd. I know it was a hit with us girls, so I think it might be around for a bit, at least until the next dietary craze that says potato chips are healthy. (I'm so looking forward to that fad). 

Agra Culture                                                                                                                                                                                3717 West 50th Street Edina, MN

http://agra-culture.com/

The Waterfront Restaurant and Tavern

328 Front Street South Lacrosse, WI 54601

608-782-5400

www.thewaterfrontlacrosse.com

The lead colored sky of November.

Yum - you know the feeling when your insides are warm on cold day? Yeah, I got that.

Well…it is officially my least favorite time of year. The time when the sun sets before 5pm  for the drive home from work. This year, I’ve been trying to find an upside this dark, cold, snowy season.

So far, no luck. I blame the last two winters that lasted until June for giving me an extra-large dose of seasonal affective disorder. This morning it was below freezing and according to our local weather gurus, we can expect only to get worse for the foreseeable future. My gloom was reason enough to check out some of my local bakeries on my way to work for a treat for my co-workers. I had googled a few that had good food porn photography and found the Turtle Bread Company. I had also wanted to pick up some better-than-the-coffee-service-at-work coffee, that is, Dogwood Coffee, which I’m currently obsessed with, but the co-op wasn’t yet open. But the gods of food intervened as I was driving and RIGHT THERE on Lake Street was a Dogwood Coffee bar. Why the sky didn’t open up to a beam of light illuminating the place like in the movies I don’t know. And they have wine! But happy hour isn’t until 2-5 pm. But that just might work out since I told my boss my religion forbids me to go off daylight savings time and I need to leave work at 4 instead of 5. I know, brilliant, right?

So I was able to get the coffee (which entitled me to a free cup of steaming hot coffee) and there it was. The ONE good thing about winter. You can’t enjoy hot coffee in the middle of summer. I had a friend who would drink hot coffee and smoke a cigarette in the hot, humid Minnesota summer. That just doesn’t compute for me. I can barely drink red wine in the summer. It’s just too heavy. I’m weird like that.

So there I am, standing on Lake Street, getting warmed up by the best coffee ever. Epiphany scored.

Off to Turtle Bread Company where I picked up the best chocolate cream pie I’ve ever seen. See?

I’m going back for breakfast. Check out their Facebook page and the picture of the huevos rancheros. If that doesn’t make you want to get up early and head over for weekend breakfast, well I just don’t know about you.

Pick up some chocolate bread to take home. Only I make a better chocolate bread and that is only because it is a super-secret Norwegian recipe that not only I would have to kill you if I told you, but my mother has pretty much warned the same fate for me if I ever give it out.        

Turtle Bread Company  

3421 W 44th St, Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 924-6013

This is the Longfellow location, you can also find them in Linden Hills and on South Chicago.

www.turtlebread.com

Dogwood Coffee (and Wine bar)

4021 East Lake St. Minneapolis, MN 55406
Tel: 612-886-1585


www.dogwoodcoffee.com