all that's past is prologue...

(and on the other extreme...) Fabulous Fern's, in Blair Arcade on Selby, closes tomorrow, and it's like saying goodbye to a chunk of my past. For the last 26 years Fern's (and Tommy K's before it) was the neighborhood gathering spot. We all went there after neighborhood meetings, ordering drinks and apps, dissecting the meeting, and making the real decisions. I'll never forget the first time Marianne Lanick (O'Brien, replay) told me, after I chaired one of my first Neighborhood development meetings "We had a quorum at the meeting, and we settled it at Fern's afterward." The next meeting, she invited me along so I could learn how it really happened. If you, for some reason, did NOT attend the post-meeting meeting, you were liable to find a to-go box "present" of leftovers at your doorstep from a giggling crew later that night. Until the smoking ban, Fern's smelled like the inside of an ashtray. For awhile, to separate the bar (sm...

A couple of years ago, I took Patrick out for his birthday dinner during a time that was particularly stressful for us. We had a nice dinner, and then headed to Lawless for the first time. We were immediately hooked, not just for the fantastic drinks, but also for the bartending service, especially Adam, who was exactly the bartender we needed, at exactly the TIME we needed him. We still head to Lawless every chance we get. But Adam moved on to Alma , and then to Martina . We've gone there twice to stalk him have dinner and drinks, but neither time worked out. So, with a free evening because Beatrix was at a sleepover, we headed over tonight. And boy, was it the right choice! So this is what you need to do, if you want to have the magical kind of evening we just had. Belly up to the bar (which is likely your best chance of getting there anyway because that place reserves weeks if not months in advance.) Ask which bartender is Adam — though Dustin or Marco will do in a pinch ...

From my Twitter feed: Turns out what you wear to David Byrne when you are 51 is what you wore when you were 15 - short dress and boots. Last night was one of this amazing nights where you experience things you experienced when you were younger — with all the same joy — but with the wisdom of being older. It was the real-life experience of: Take the blue pill and you go back to the start, but with all the knowledge you have today – Take the red pill and you lose time, fast forward 30 years, but now have financial freedom.   We started the night at Sweet Chow, opened by my acquaintance Julie Hartley and crew, which I have wanted to go to forever. Turns out that it's almost exactly like sitting in a somewhat upscale Thai alley street market for dinner. One of the best curries of my life. Loved it. From there, we decided to walk down to the Orpheum for David Byrne . It's been a long time since I've wandered through downtown Minneapolis, and that was quite a nostalg...