Sold Out! How the Rails & Ales Brewery Tour Became a Huge Minneapolis Hit

Find full post here: http://blog.redcurrent.com/2014/09/08/sold-out-how-the-rails-ales-brewery-tour-became-a-huge-minneapolis-hit/

Butterfly Dance: Five Things to Do at Saturday’s Monarch Festival in South Minneapolis

Find post here: http://blog.redcurrent.com/2014/09/04/get-up-close-to-monarch-butterflies-during-south-minneapolis-festival/

Two revamped playgrounds now open in Minnehaha Park

New equipment was installed at both Minnehaha Park playgrounds, and they were officially opened on July 31. The Universal Accessible playground at the Wabun Picnic area was paid for, in part, by donations received by a volunteer group, Falls 4 All, a committee of People for Parks, who have been working to raise funds to enhance the accessibility of the Wabun playground since 2010. “It’s not just a handicapped playground. It’s about everyone playing together,” stated Peggy Halvorson of Falls 4 All. “We learn to accept each other when we play together.” While ADA standards call for paths and ramps wheelchairs can traverse, Universal Access playgrounds go further. They are designed so that children with disabilities can access at least 70% of the activities at the playground. According to the 2000 Census, 9.2 percent of American families raising children in 2000 were raising at least one child aged five to 17 with a disability. Over 60 years ago, Minnehaha’s Wabun park provided respite to travelers. Aware of that history, designers fashioned the new playground around an auto camp. (Photos by Tesha M. Christensen)

The Katie and Ryan Bicek children, James, age 3, Claire, age 6, and Maisie, age 8, live near to the North Plateau Park. In renovating this park, planners sought to preserve the historic nature of the area. Instead of adding a large playground structure, there are smaller pieces scattered through the area, including these stone animals where the Longfellow Gardens Zoo was once. There are also freestanding slides, fulcrum see-saws, merry-go-rounds and a dome climber in the older play area, and balance beams, stepping pods and crawl tunnels are in the younger play area. Sand play includes diggers, a sand table and classic molded metal animal spring rockers. The swings and the climbing structure built by a WPA work crew in the 1940s remain. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Printed in the September 2014 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger. 

Options abound for athletic fields, rec center, beaches, bathhouse and playgrounds at Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park

Residents review two plans during an open house; comments will be reviewed by the community advisory council

Project planner Adam Arvidson chats with a neighborhood resident during the open house held on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. Residents were able to give their input on the plan in a variety of ways, including rating what was most important to them. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

by Tesha M. Christensen

Changes are coming to Lake Hiawatha and Nokomis parks, and residents got a chance to comment on the proposals during an open house on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014.

How much of the shoreline should be natural versus turf? Where should a skate park be? How can bikers and walkers cross Cedar Ave. more safely?

Should the athletic fields be fashioned like a pinwheel with a restroom and concessions area in the center? What should be included in a recreation center expansion? Should a new bath house/event center be built with a restaurant inside?

Could Minnehaha creek be rerouted so that it no longer flows into Lake Hiawatha? How can the water quality be improved at both lakes?

These are some of the questions being addressed in the new 25-year master plan being created for the Nokomis-Hiawatha regional park area. Due to funding restrictions, Hiawatha Golf Course is not part of the plan.

The community advisory council will meet twice more to review the plan and make recommendations. These will then be forwarded to the Park Board for approval later this fall. Once that is done, it will go before the Met Council, which has helped fund the planning process.

Work on Triangle Park will take place in 2015, and some trail improvements will be done in 2016. Cost on these is $400,000. No timeline has been created for the rest of the proposals, and no funding has been designated for them. When the plan is complete, the components will be prioritized.

How natural do residents want the park to be? That’s one of the major questions being asked in this planning process. There are two options for the shoreland. The first is a campus style with a manicured lawn that has natural areas within it. This is what most of the city parks currently have. The second option is to have more of a natural area with turf cut in, more like how state parks are set up.

 (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

NATURAL AREAS VERSUS MANICURED LAWN

How natural do residents want the shoreline to be? That’s one of the main questions being asked as this plan is developed.

“When you look at the park, it suggests that managed turf isn’t what all the areas want to be,” pointed out Adam Arvidson, project manager. “Even when it isn’t flooding, there are areas that are vey tough to manage.”

There are two options for the shoreland. The first is a campus style with a manicured lawn that has natural areas within it. This is what most of the city parks currently have. The second option is to have more of a natural area with turf cut in, more like how state parks are set up.

Arvidson pointed out that the Park Board will also be soon be creating an Ecological Systems Plan that will look at the whole parks system.

More natural areas will lead to better water quality as the water will be treated before it enters the lakes. Right now, all the city’s stormwater runs directly into its lakes, rivers and streams, and most of it is untreated when it hits those bodies of water, Arvidson observed.

Water quality has been an issue that folks have brought up throughout the planning process.

There are currently some ponds on the south end of Lake Nokomis that help clean the water before it enters that lake. Also, rain gardens and natural plantings have been added in the past few years near the golf course at Lake Hiawatha.

Parks Commissioner Steffanie Musich pointed out that attitudes about natural versus manicured have been changing.

“They think of it as adding, not subtracting, to the park experience,” observed Musich.

Local resident Monica McNaughton isn’t against adding more natural areas, but she is concerned about how it is done. She pointed out that the current plan places manicured areas in the shade and natural areas in the sun. “I know the area on the south side of the lake is used for pick-up games such as kickball, soccer and frisbee,” she pointed out. “There needs to be space to run and play where there aren’t any trees.”

She isn’t confident that the Park Board can maintain natural areas well, and expressed concern about how the natural areas near the lagoon has been cared for.

If there is a switch to more natural areas within the park, it will be done gradually, said Arvidson. It will require training for staff members on how to care for the natural areas.

ATHLETIC FIELDS

There are two very different concepts that have been proposed for the athletic fields.

One would position four ball fields in a pinwheel formation with a concession stand and restrooms in the center. Another two ball fields would be to the south, partially overlapping with two soccer fields.

While that is more efficient, it would cut into the use of the fields for games like ultimate frisbee and rugby.

The second plan would have four overlapping ball fields with two soccer fields, another ball field to the south, and open space.

Both plans would add a new parking lot near the ballfields.

MAIN BEACH AREA

Should there be an event center at Lake Nokomis? One plan for the area replaces the existing bathhouse with a large event center, one that would have a restaurant, rental space and bathhouse space on the lower level and the event space on the upper level.

The second plan merely calls for renovating the existing space.

Both plans reconfigure the parking lot. One plan expands the beach, while the other carves out a space on the north side for a canoe and kayak launch.

Parks commissioner Steffanie Musich chats with Paul Forsline of City of Skate about the skate park in the 25-year park plan proposal. He favors placing it next to the recreation center versus near the bathhouse in order to take advantage of the Minneapolis skyline and Nokomis lake views. He pointed out that it is likely many photos and videos will be shot at this skate park. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

SKATE PARK

A skate park is in both of the proposed options for the new master plan, but it is in two different locations. In one, space would be on the south side of the main beach area. In the other plan, it would occupy the space to the west of the recreation center.

In both, the space would be concrete rather than using the modular design of the past.

Paul Forsline of City Of Skate favors the area by the rec center. It offers nice views of both the downtown skyline and Nokomis Lake. “The skate park can be entertaining for the general public and not just skaters,” he said.

Forsline pointed out that skateboarding appeals to people who aren’t interested in organized sports. It doesn’t require coaches and paying for ice time. “It’s an equity sport,” he said.

RECREATION CENTER

Possible changes at the recreation center include expanded programming and a renovation that would create a double gym with a running track.

Other options are an outdoor performance space and an enhanced plaza.

The small beach on the east side will also be expanded, and restrooms added near the event space where the Monarch Festival is held each September. There are a few possible configurations for that event space.

CEDAR AVE. CROSSINGS

How pedestrians and bikers can cross Cedar Ave. more safely has been an area of concern throughout the planning process.

A long-term option is to add a tunnel for bikers and walkers under Cedar Ave. on the south side.

At the open house on Aug. 14, Minneapolis Public Works employee Don Elwood was also present to ask for input on how to improve the safety of the Cedar/Edgewater/Nokomis Parkway intersection. “Every solution has an impact, so it’s understanding what those are,” he observed.

Musich pointed out that there is a plan to add a biking trail along the north side of Minnehaha in order to accommodate the bicycle commuters. With that, the bicycle trail near the rec center would be modified so that the crossing is not right next to Minnehaha, but instead south near Lake Nokomis Parkway. Other changes being proposed would address bike/pedestrian conflicts on trails.

LAKE HIAWATHA

Plans are to develop a full biking and walking loop around the lake and the outskirts of the golf course. There will also be a seasonal trail that runs around the entire lake that will be open in the winter to walkers and skiers. The trail can’t be open in the summer due to safety concerns about golf balls, noted Arvidson. There will be gates on either side that will open in the winter.

Published in the September 2014 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Le Town Talk Diner to open in September

New owners to redefine French food by serving up everyday family recipes

 
By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
When the Town Talk Diner reopens as Le Town Talk Diner & Drinkery in September, it will redefine what French food is.
“We want people to be welcome here and not be scared because it’s French,” remarked owner Emilie Cellai Johnson who is opening the restaurant at 2707 E. Lake St. with her husband Ben.
“We want families with kids to come in. Couples on a date. Groups of friends,” said Emilie.
They will be serving up French comfort food, the sort that Emilie grew up eating in Marseille, France. There will be bouillabaisse, a fish soup with cod, mussel, shrimp, garlic and saffron. It’s a Marseille specialty.
You’ll also find steak haché a ground beef patty smothered in the sauce of your choice: Peppercorn sauce, caramelized shallot, creamy mushroom or Beurre maître d’hotel. It’s a popular dish at French cafes.
And the croque-monsieur a toasted sandwich with ham, Swiss cheese and béchamel sauce, is worth noting.
The menu of everyday foods from France includes breakfast, small plates, salads, entrees and desserts.
Julien Masson, a culinary school friend of Johnson’s from Marseille, has created a list of champagne cocktails as well as a roster of drinks built using French spirits. Groups of four or more will be able to order cocktails as a “cascade,” served in an absinthe fountain.
FRENCH MOTHER, ITALIAN GRANDMOTHER
Emilie grew up in a household that cooked really good food. Growing up in France, her mother cooked French items and her grandmother on her father’s side cooked Italian.
“My husband always says that when we go to France we eat food, talk about food or plan the next meal,” said Emilie. “We are passionate about food.”
She attended culinary school in Marseille and spent several years working in Paris at a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower. “I had the best view of Paris every day,” Emilie noted.
A friend in Minnesota told her that the Hotel Sofitel was hiring, and a few months later she moved to Minnesota. “A year turned into 12,” said Emilie.
She and her husband live in St. Paul, just across the river with their 2-year-old daughter and dog.
Ben, who works for the Neighborhood Development Center, will keep his full-time job at the Midtown Global Market.
ART DECO GETS A TWIST
The Johnsons had been looking for a site for their new restaurant for two years. The Town Talk Diner space had everything they were looking for. It was the right square footage. There was already a kitchen.
The couple had frequented the diner before it closed three years ago, and loved the concept of craft cocktails and a casual food atmosphere. “It was very welcoming to everyone,” said Emilie. “It felt very comfortable.”
They plan to keep the diner counter as a bar, and are using the old diner chairs. They’re giving the Art Deco the old-world feel of a French cafe.
“We respect what was here, but we’re giving it a twist,” explained Emilie. “We’re not trying to recreate what was, but to create something new.”
They’ve installed a new hardwood floor using reclaimed wood in the dining room, and have added banquettes.
IT’S THE NEW EAT STREET
“All of our neighboring restaurants have been very supportive,” said Emilie. “They’ve made us feel very welcome.”
She’s excited to be on Lake St., pointing out how many different types of restaurants there are. “People are attracted to the area,” said Emilie.
“It’s the new Eat Street.”

Published in the September 2014 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger. 

Meet the Burning Brothers: True Story Behind St. Paul’s Gluten-Free Craft Brewery

Read full post here: http://blog.redcurrent.com/2014/08/28/meet-the-burning-brothers-st-pauls-gluten-free-brewery/

Children’s Storytime at Moon Palace Books, Plus Special Event During LOLA Art Crawl Saturday

Find post here: http://blog.redcurrent.com/2014/08/22/get-out-of-the-house-childrens-storytime-at-moon-palace-books-plus-special-event-during-lola-art-crawl-saturday/