Visit Lake Street

Making the Twin Cities Tasty

2010-07-26T22:25:21Z

The August 2010 Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine has a big list of 52 People, Places, and Plates that make the Twin Cities Tasty. Congratulations to Salty Tart’s Michelle Gayer for being number ONE on the list, and getting a nice big photo to go along with it. Congrats too, to Midtown Farmers’ Market and Town Talk Diner for clocking in at #20 and #28, respectively. Look for the issue at your local newsstand!

Oral history with Volunteers of America’s Bill Nelson

2010-07-07T19:39:08Z

For our latest oral history video, we interviewed Bill Nelson from Volunteers of America about his memories of growing up at 36th & Lake. His attended school at St. Albert the Great, he remembers going to the fire station on Minnehaha (now Patrick’s Cabaret) to get sugar rations during World War II, and his father worked at Minneapolis Moline. Check it out!

And visit our YouTube channel to see even more oral history and our other past videos.

Weekend on Lake Street 6/18-6/20

2010-06-18T21:35:52Z

Highlights

Friday: The Uptown Minneapolis Criterium bike race returns. “The course has teams race past Calhoun Square on a .88 Kilometer course that comprises six tight corners and a furious race to the finish line.” The expo opens at 4:30 and closes at 9:00, with several races in between.

And the opening of Jungle Theater’s The Mystery of Irma Vep. It’s already drawing acclaim, with the Star Tribune saying that it’s “seriously ridiculous” and a welcome summer laugh.

Saturday: Intermedia Arts’ Summer Kickoff BBQ: Let’s Get Summer Started! “Check out our fantastic new community spaces, see the latest art-on-our-walls, meet our new staff members, and be the first to find out about the amazing new programs and events we have planned for you this year!” Hands on activities for families include button-making and screen-printing, as well as the interactive gallery installation exhibit, the Storefront of Ideas.

Sunday: The first Uptown Market of the year. It’s weekly this year, with many produce vendors plus a rotating selection of artists, crafters and local organizations to bring you something new every week.

And That’s Not All!

Also check out Patrick’s Cabaret Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for Rooted: Hip Hop Choreographer’s Evening. “The first and only choreographers’ evening dedicated to Hip Hop dance and its’ roots in the Twin Cities; showcasing high school, emerging, and established choreographers!”

At Bryant Lake Bowl, it’s the sketch comedy Department of Redundancy Department followed by Dykes Do Drag on both Friday and Saturday evenings. And on Sunday it’s Play On Birds, “sketches about birds, bird watching, and the spouses who have to endure it.”

As usual, there’s plenty of live music at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar. Friday evening it’s Matt Dodge and the Lobsters, with The Farewell Circuit, The Sextons, and Arch Stanton. Saturday is the Rock the Garden Afterparty with F**k Knights, Phantom Tails, and DJ Skeleton Hand. And on Sunday it’s The New Congress with Root City Band and Laura Bell and Boombox.

And before heading to the Uptown Market on Sunday, don’t forget to swing by the Midtown Farmers’ Market the day before! Sergio Mojica and Gumption Trap play live, and the Open Eye Theatre Driveway Tour swings by at 10:45. Plus, the vendors keep adding more and more produce, plus bedding plants, glass jewelry, birdhouses, coffee tables, and everything you’ve come to expect.

Enjoy this great summer weekend!

Oral history with Kathleen Clarke Anderson

2010-06-10T19:23:17Z

Kathleen Anderson was a longtime staffer for Congressman Martin Sabo during the over two decades he represented Minneapolis in the U.S. Congress. She grew up in Longfellow, a few blocks south of Lake Street, and has many fond memories of those times. In this oral history interview, she recalls her friend working at a Lake Street ice cream shop, a roller rink in Uptown, and going on a date at the El Lago theater, amongst other things. Enjoy!

Weekend on Lake Street 6/4 - 6/6

2010-06-03T17:10:13Z

A bunch of unique things happening this weekend, let’s get right to them!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Swedish style is yours for the listening this Saturday when Edie van Breems talks Swedish style in America at Ingebretsen’s Gift Shop. “Edie will touch on the historic origins of Swedish style and take you through a vivid and visually stunning tour of Sweden and America, showing how homeowners across the country are incorporating the touchstones of Swedish design into their American homes.” Call 612-729-9333 to reserve a spot.

So that’s Swedish, what about Danish? We’ve got that covered too, with Sunday’s Danish Day 2010: Building Our Heritage, at the Danish American Center. It’s a full day’s worth of events with songs, stories, lunch, and a raffle for a round-trip plane ticket to Copenhagen. The Minneapolis Marathon will pass right by that morning, too.

Switching gears, Sunday is also the date of ZRS Fossils’s Exploring Wellness Expo. Lasting from 2 – 6, it’s an opportunity to discover & sample many wellness-related products and techniques, like massage, aroma therapy, natural skin care, and much more.

And lasting Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it’s St. Albert the Great’s annual rummage sale. Come look for your treasures at 29th St. and 32nd Avenue, enter behind the statue of St. Albert by way of an elevator to the Social hall on lower level. Larger items and furniture are available in the garages behind the church.

Theater

It’s a weekend of Dizzy Titillations at Bryant Lake Bowl. “Armed with a suitcase of Disney princesses- Scott Lyons creates a unique fusion of Burlesque, Cabaret, Dance, Puppetry, and Performance Art- that’s illegal in over 5 countries!” Showing once on Friday evening and twice on Saturday.

And Open Eye Figure Theatre’s Driveway Tour 2010 hits the Lake Street area on Sunday with a performance of The Adventures of Katie Tomatie at 27th & Portland at 4 PM. Hosted by the West Phillips Block Club.

Music and Art

On Friday, Sauce Spirits & Soundbar has a CD release for Hunting Club, with These Modern Socks, Speeds the Name, and Satellite Voices. Saturday it’s The Beatifics, with The van Gobots, We Became Actors, and Jose Ayerve of Spouse. And Sunday, it’s Future Antiques, with The Drive Back, Benson Wells, and Eve & The Apple.

But, that’s not all! On Saturday evening, Sauce will also feature its fourth gallery opening, featuring artists Kao Lee Thao, Louis LaPierre, and Kate Burgau. A large number of works will be displayed by each artist, all for sale to the public. The display will span both the music venue and dining lounge galleries and be highlighted by works of significant size and scale. The opening reception will be attended by the artists, and offer signature drink specials chosen by each artist, as well as an opportunity to sample Sauce’s family recipe Italian pizza and appetizers.

Also Saturday evening, Intermedia Arts has its opening reception for its new exhibition We Work Here, about art, economics, and community in the Twin Cities. 7 – 9 PM, and free to attend.

Outdoors

The Midtown Farmers’ Market just keeps getting better, with lots of fresh produce arriving on Saturday, like spinach, radishes, snap peas, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, and onions, along with all the other food and crafts you can count on to be there. It also features lots of special events. There’s live music at 9 and 11, a cooking demonstration at 10, a town hall forum with local state legislators at 10:30, and East Lake Library storytime at 10:45.

More oral history with Joyce Krook

2010-05-19T16:30:04Z

The second part of our oral history interview with Joyce Krook is now live! Joyce, the longtime Community Relations Specialist at Abbott Northwestern, shares what it was like to live, shop, go to school, and go to the movies at Lake & Hennepin in the 1950s.

And be sure not to miss part 1, which focuses more on the Minneapolis Ice Arena, which was where the Uptown Rainbow Foods is now.

As we create more of this videos, we’ll create a section of our website devoted to them, to make finding and browsing them easier. Keep an eye out!

Weekend on Lake Street 5/14-5/16

2010-05-14T19:32:12Z

We’re thrilled to see the sun again today, and even more happy it’s forecast to stick around through Sunday. And what better way to enjoy the weather than at the outdoor Lyn Lake Street Festival on Sunday? Things kick off in the morning with the Rides of Spring bike rally, and live music from local bands throughout the afternoon, with Har Mar Superstar headlining. While you’re there, look for the many Lake Street businesses that are sponsoring, like The Alt, Fuji Ya, Galactic Pizza, Smitten Kitten, and of course Top Shelf, one of the leading organizers of the event.

Also outdoors, on Saturday the Midtown Farmers’ Market is in full swing. They’ll have live music at 9 and 11 AM, and story time with East Lake Library at 10:45 AM. There’s a long list of produce and other food and goods to be found this week. On the list: strawberries, mushrooms, tomatoes, wild ramps, bread, eggs, meat, pickles, and jam, bedding plants, coffee, baked good, pottery, candles, crocheted hats and purses…you get the idea.

One more! In the late morning and early afternoon on Sunday, there’s a groundbreaking ceremony at the Danish American Center. The ceremony will happen right after the program “We Were All Danes”, which starts at 11 AM.

Theater

Patrick’s Cabaret presents Noche Hispana Seis on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoon. Music, dance and video come together again at Patrick’s Cabaret to show off the cultural diversity of the Twin Cities. Paulino brings together talented local artists for a weekend where the common thread is golden: la cultura hispana. Don’t miss it!

Jungle Theater continues its highly-acclaimed run of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. It’s got so much by now it’s hard to pick out any one article, but here’s the latest from the Star Tribune, profiling two of the lead actors.

At Bryant Lake Bowl, it’s the dark comedy Wormwood and stand up cabaret Last Laugh on Friday night. Saturday, it’s another dose of Wormwood, followed by Dragmanity: PAGEANT!!!, presented by Esme Rodriguez. And Sunday afternoon, it’s A Studio Cabaret, a variety show highlighting musical styles from Broadway to classical to pop to jazz and rock.

Music

Bryant Lake Bowl has indie-folk artist Ben Connelly, called “one of the best songwriters in the Midwest” by MPR, on Sunday night.

On Friday night, Pictures of Then headlines at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar, with Kill Me Kare Bare, The Sextons, and The 4 On The Floor. Saturday night, Sauce has Me And My Arrow, with Fort Wilson Riot, Leisure Birds, Obchod Na Korze, Jeremiah Nelson. And on Sunday night, Sauce plays host to the Lyn Lake Street Fest Afterparty, with F**k Knights, The Millionth Word, Communist Daughter, DJ Denver Dally, plus a secret guest.

Weekend on Lake Street 5/7-5/9

2010-05-07T18:49:35Z

Don’t let the rain get you down! There’s plenty to do on Lake Street this weekend, both inside and out, that should cheer you up straight away.

Theater

Patrick’s Cabaret promises to be very interesting this week. Octogenarian Inge Cassidy, who starred in the Fringe Fest hit Osama Kinkaid, Painter of Terrorism and last year’s Inge Cassidy is OctoMom at Patrick’s, returns to host a new variety show: ArtWurst! It features “Inge Cassidy as herself; singer/writer Joan Calof as Inge Cassidy reading stories by Tom Cassidy; Cheap Theatre’s Erica Christ presents The History of Cake featuring Todd Liljenquist; opera chick Hayley Malone raises your rafters; and Tom Cassidy asks his Mom why she can’t be more like the way she is played by Joan Calof (and other poems).” And that’s just the first half!

Further west, Jungle Theater continues its run of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which is getting widely praised by critics everywhere. City Pages called it stunning, intense, and vivid, the Star Tribune said it had brilliant performances, and the Pioneer Press said that Jungle’s take on the play was “searing” and “definitive”. It runs through the end of this month.

On Friday and Saturday night, Bryant Lake Bowl hosts Wormwood, “a dark comedy about insanity, depravity, and death, with lots of cool hallucinations.” For the late show on Saturday, the winners of Women Stand Up and Shoot: A Comedic Film Competition will be announced, and the top 10 films will be screened.

Art

Friday night is the opening reception for Highpoint Center for Printmaking’s Access/Print Project. The project hosts 8 outstanding teen artists each school year, providing instruction in printmaking and mentorship. The teens receive 70 hours of studio access and create new work for this exhibit. It’s on view through May 22nd.

Music

Friday night, Sauce Spirits & Soundbar welcomes the 757s for a CD release, with Porcupine and Con-Queso. Saturday night it’s Blue Sky Blackout, with BNLX; You, You’re Awesome; and Chris Pavlich (of Two Harbors). And Sunday it’s Brian Just Band, with Kasey Anderson and Alex Masters.

And on Friday, Bryant Lake Bowl combines art AND music with Art in the City: Hip Hop and Paintings. Featuring OptionTwo w/DJ Episteme and Wesley Opus and Botzy w/ DJ Bandage.

Books

Saturday at 1:00 PM, Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore hosts local fantasy author Tate Hallaway (who has also published as Lyda Morehouse), who will sign and discuss Honeymoon of the Dead, the fifth in her fantasy series about a witch bookstore owner from Wisconsin.

And Sunday at 4:00 PM at Magers & Quinn, poet Judith Harway reads from her book All That is Left. This book “explores the legacies, both intended and accidental, passed down through three generations of a fictional immigrant family.” She’ll be joined by Minneapolis poet Tim Nolan.

On The Street

The rain should let up in time for the start of the Midtown Farmers’ Market (open rain or shine!). This weekend features bedding plants and brunch. There’s a chill in the air, but spring and the Midtown Farmers Market have most definitely returned.

And Lake Street has one more Cinco De Mayo Festival lined up and ready to go! This one will be outside at 4th & Lake and will feature pony rides, children’s games, folk dancers, food, drink, and many bands throughout the day. It’s on Sunday from 11 AM – 7 PM.

See you on Lake Street!

Oral History

2010-04-27T19:00:28Z

We’re on a history kick this year. We know many people with long and deep roots in this area, and many more who enjoy hearing about days gone by, what’s changed, and what’s stayed the same. Some businesses have been around for decades, like Ingebretsen’s, Roberts Shoes, and Schatzlein Saddle (which is now over a century old). Others have sprung up on the same ground as some old favorites. With all that in mind, we’re recording the memories and stories of long-time residents, so we’ll always have them.

Our very first interview is with Joyce Krook, who was the community relations specialist with Abbott Northwestern and Allina for many years. She grew up at Lake & Hennepin in the 1940s and 1950s. Here’s part 1 of the interview with her, which mostly has to do with what it was like to grow up next to the Minneapolis Ice Arena.

You can read more online about the Minneapolis Arena, and the Rainbow Building. Stay tuned for part two and for more interviews!

Weekend on Lake Street 4/23-4/25

2010-04-22T21:03:34Z

We’re gearing up for a massive weekend next week, but there’s plenty to do now as well!

Theater

On Friday and Saturday nights, Patrick’s Cabaret hosts Bisexual Cabaret, as part two in its GLBT series. Featuring: a reading by Jacqueline White, Katherine Glover-Storytelling, Brooke Murphy and her band Saliva’s Wedge, Gabriellla Santiago-Skit/Lecture, Howard Lieberman-Storytelling, Deja Stowers-One Woman Theater.

Bryant Lake Bowl is busy with three showings of The Harty Boys in The Case of the Limping Platypus and two of Vilification Tennis presents: A Tribute to Moms (Especially the fat ones), to be found throughout Friday and Saturday. The Rockstar Storytellers: Young Adult closes out BLB’s weekend on Sunday night.

And Pangea World Theater wraps up its co-production of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba with Teatro del Pueblo. It’s across the river at SteppingStone Theatre in St. Paul.

Books

Sunday afternoon at Magers & Quinn, Colleen Baldrica reads from her book Tree Spirited Woman., “a narrative that takes the reader through one woman’s intimate transformation from the death of her maternal grandmother to the establishment of a new and guiding friendship with a wise and mystical woman.”

Music

Friday night at Sauce Spirits & Soundbar, it’s a CD release party for Toma The 3rd, with Speed’s The Name Kitty Rhombus, and National Bird. And Satuday night it’s The Mood Swings, with Kill to Kill and Mercurial Rage. The shows are, as always, 21+.

Puppets!

It’s the last Saturday to participate in one of In the Heart of the Beast Theatre’s puppet parade schools. “A hands-on, intensive course in learning how to make a parade at HOBT and in the streets. Join the MayDay Staff Artists to envision, build and rehearse the MayDay Parade.” The parade is coming the very next weekend!

Brunch

There are several great places to grab brunch on Lake Street. Don’t forget that Midtown Global Market nows offers it on a rotating schedule between their various vendors on Sundays. This Sunday it’s Cafe Finspang, which is serving up Swedish waffles with lingonberries and whipped cream, fresh fruit Salad and Walnuts, and tea or coffee. Sounds delicious!