Queen of Cuisine: Smack in the Kisser

BY CARLA WALDEMAR Smack Shack 603 Washington Avenue N 612-259-7288 www.smack-shack.com True confession: I have a weakness for an illicit pleasure, satisfied by secret visits to a porn shop on Washington Avenue. No, no—not those! I’m talking food porn. And the dietary item that sends me into delirium is ……

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Fun things to do on 34th Avenue

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE As you approach and pass Minnehaha Parkway, going south on 34th Avenue, the houses, yards and businesses become somehow more suburban looking. At the main intersection of 34th Ave. and 50th St., especially if you stand in front of the library on 51st Street and look…

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Cars and Trucks to Go Crazy Over!

The 6th Annual Classic Car Show will feature Cars and Trucks from the 1940s through the 1980s—and even some older than that. Come “stroll through the past” and admire the cars from yesteryear! Put on by the Street Kings Car Club of Mpls./St. Paul and the neighborhood’s South Chicago Avenue…

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38th Street and plans for renewal

BY ED FELIEN The opening of the Seward food co-op on 38th and 4th Avenue is probably the biggest non-governmental development to hit 38th Street in at least 50 years.  But it has brought into sharp relief the under-utilized and under-appreciated business districts along the rest of 38th Street. Council…

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Target Center all over again

BY ED FELIEN The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay an additional $24.5 million to renovate the Target Center so Glen Taylor can charge more for admission.   Taylor is the publisher of the Star Tribune and owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves—the worst team in the NBA.  They are so…

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Cafe Racer opens

BY ED FELIEN Café Racer, at 2929 E. 25th St., just opened this month after a long and serious review by the neighborhood, city staff and Council Member Cam Gordon. Gordon wrote:  “I want to clear up any confusion about my views or understanding in relation to this new restaurant…

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Quatrefoil Library — a unique community

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Even if you know where to look, it may be a little hard to find the first time. Now at 1220 E. Lake St., the Quatrefoil Library is in its third location (fourth if you count the closet), cozily inhabiting the ground floor commercial suite at…

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Mitch and John, Part Two

BY ED FELIEN The American party was a brief offshoot of the splintered and collapsed Whig party, and its two most virulent centers of power were in Louisville and Cincinnati.  The Whigs had split over the issue of slavery, and the Free Soil party in the North represented the anti-slavery…

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Queen of Cuisine: Minnesota at the Mall

BY CARLA WALDEMAR FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar MOA near Macy’s 952-851-4040 We’re lucky to have not one, but two of Radisson Hotel’s new Blu concept in town—the delightfully inviting downtown Minneapolis destination, about which we’ve raved in print earlier, and its just-a-bit-older sibling at the Mall of America:…

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‘Careless Driving???’ C’mon!

BY ED FELIEN The Minneapolis city attorney, Susan Segal, has decided to prosecute Jeffrey Rice for Careless Driving for deliberately driving his car into a crowd of demonstrators on Nov. 25. Careless Driving seems to suggest a driver was distracted by a cell phone or not paying attention.  But Jeffrey…

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Davnie’s dual duties

BY ED FELIEN Rep. Jim Davnie just started his new job as executive director of SciMathMN, an advocacy organization that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. According to its website: “SciMathMN is Minnesota’s statewide coalition for standards-based systemic improvements in K-12 science and mathematics education. The coalition came into…

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