‘Green’ birthdays at Global Market and Cue,
Taste of the St. Croix and a new kind of B.A.N.K.

GOING GREEN AND MORE…I can’t deny it. I’m one of those curious moviegoers who was very impressed (and depressed) with what I learned from the award winning Al Gore global warming documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” It truly can leave you with an overwhelming sense of doom and gloom, wondering what can one insignificant person do to help. Well, thanks to the growing “green” conscious restaurants, markets and co-ops in town, we all have learned we have more opportunities to help with small steps by supporting our local sustainable, organic farmers—eating locally for starters. Two birthdays this month remind me how green we are getting, and one started me thinking about my carbon footprint as well.

• The bustling Midtown Global Market cheered and celebrated with fresh tastes from its deli and grocery counters along with their very unique restaurants and mix of more than 50 specialty shops. The mayor even lent a hand—or foot—in support and to encourage the Global Market’s new healthy Walking Club. Ah, yes, you can get your exercise and eat healthy too, all under one roof. It seems ironic after all these years that the setting for this green market is found under the high tower on Lake Street that boasted the tall, green neon Sears sign for decades. It’s glowing green for Midtown now.

• Cue counts up their first Birthday across town with birthday cake, summer patio music, a special author’s appearance, a salute to the Guthrie history and a new chef—who is helping make history himself. On May 6, I spotted a Sunday Strib story in the business section with the headline, “New ‘green’ frontier: Your dinner.” The story introduced the news about the greening going to the next step with the terminology “low carbon diet,” and it was fun to see the chef featured in the photo was Michael DelCambre, head chef for five years at Macalester College’s Cafe Mac, one of Bon Appetit’s managed food operations. I visited that property a few years ago with David Toay, a regional VP of Bon Appetit, and was delighted to learn DelCambre was selected as the new Cue chef, and joined Cue and the Guthrie team this spring in time for their first birthday. (Birthday schedule can be seen at www.cueatguthrie.com).

That really puts the frosting on the cake. And now I read DelCambre and the Bon Appetit chefs across the country are working on ways to reduce our high carbon diet by better choices in the kitchen and items on the menu. I wanted to learn more about ways to determine our carbon footprint—a measurement of how many pounds of global-warming-causing carbon dioxide we are emitting annually into the atmosphere from our daily lives. It’s the energy we use to power our homes, to get around by car and the energy used to make all the products we eat and consume. We all need to figure out ways we could cut back on our emissions. I was curious about the “carbon diet” term and looked for more definitions at the Bon Appetit national website. I read their official press release with a nod to Al Gore’s movie and their own witty headline named, “An Inconvenient Tooth,” which pointed out how “food is a major contributor to climate change.”

In April, Bon Appetit posted a helpful description on their new “low carbon diet,” which aims to take bite out of global warming. They say: “Global warming activists have a new ally in their fight to save the planet-lunch. It turns out that food (and all the energy it takes to make it) is one of the largest human activities contributing to global warming. The average American creates 2.8 tons of CO2 emissions each year by eating—even more than the 2.2 tons each person generates by driving, according to recent research (Echel and Martin, 2006).” Beginning on Earth Day, 2007, Bon Appétit Management Company launched a national campaign to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and help their guests do the same.

DelCambre says he and the chef team at Cue already purchase half of their food from local farms and businesses, including locally milled flour for their fresh baked breads and pizza, and will also reduce waste using products with less plastic packaging. However, they will be able to continue making their great buttery breads and cakes—especially birthday cake. Look for a free surprise slice of cake after your lunch during their May 20th Birthday lunch. Bravo!

TASTE OF ST.CROIX IS ANOTHER FIRST…for nine restaurants in the river valley and the Afton House Inn Cruise Line. They have an offer you cannot refuse for this one-of-a-kind event, set to kickoff a week of feasting on Thursday June 21st. Where or when would you ever find the chefs from Afton House Inn, Barkers Bar & Grill, Bayport Cookery, the Catfish Café, Confluence, Lake Elmo Inn, Marx Wine Bar, Pier 500 and the San Pedro Café all in one place, serving a taste of one of their restaurant favorites? On the St. Croix River, of course, on Afton House Inn’s dinner boat the “Grand Duchess,” and it’s all for a good cause.

According to co-hosts, brothers, Dave and Dan Jarvis, second-generation owners of The Afton House Inn and Cruise Line, guests board the Grand Duchess at the Hudson City docks at 6 p.m. and cruise down the St. Croix River tasting food from these St. Croix Valley restaurants. They will also enjoy more than 40 wines from vendors Johnson Brothers, Vino Source and Winery Associates, and receive a Riedel crystal glass to keep. And to make this event extra special, Dave says they have selected Perspectives Kids Café, where chefs can help with food for kids, to benefit from the silent auction and a portion of ticket sales. Guest Emcee and Kids Café local founder Sue Zelickson, food reporter for WCCO Radio, will be on board to share news about these great kids. For Reservations and information contact Afton House Inn & Afton Hudson Cruise Lines at 651-436-8883 or on line at www.aftonhouseinn.com. And if you miss the 21st, remember there is one whole week of feastings at these nine valley restaurants from Friday, June 22 to Thursday, June 28. Each restaurant will feature a special three- to six-course Chef’s Tasting Menu. (Contact the individual restaurant to make reservations.)

NORMANDY INN TRANSFORMED…The old diner-style Normandy Kitchen, situated in the remodeled Normandy Inn (405 S. Eighth St. in Minneapolis) has a new name, a bright new look and a friendly bartender named Shannon to greet you as you walk in the door. Last month she began pouring fancy cocktails at the same counter where they used to dish up fried eggs and Henry VIII burgers back in the 1970s. They’ve dubbed the corner eatery Landmarc Grill and added a small dining room with cozy booths around the corner from the bar, adjoining the Normandy Lobby. The room now has the crisp, streamlined look of prairie style, dark wood furnishings, with the antique green stained glass windows and their Giants Golden old English “N” in the middle. It’s a nice change, especially when you consider the best of the past—the Normandy popovers—are still coming out of the kitchen. I peeked in for a quick cocktail when they were still tweaking the preview menus and I liked what I saw, so far.

According to second generation hotel owner Michael Noble, (son of Tom Noble), he recently finished the Inn’s remodel, and the restaurant transformation was nearly complete. His new partner in the restaurant is Michael Morse—the well-known and outspoken owner of Café un deux trois. He went on to be GM at the defunct Levain and then headed up the front of the house over at A Rebours in St. Paul. Chef David Parson, who also had been at un deux trios, also joined the team. A look at the preview menu shows some American classics like roast chicken with mashed potatoes, sautéed calves liver, Aunt Laura’s chicken pot pie and his famous French style steak frites. And yes, I spotted a redo of their famous Henry VIII burger.

B.A.N.K OPENS WITH RED CARPET PARTY… a Gold Bar, a chef “tellers” counter and a share and share alike concept. The new B.A.N.K Restaurant at the historic F & M bank in Minneapolis (now the Westin Hotel), opened with a benefit salute to other significant historical downtown neighbors, specifically the Minnesota Shubert Center and Hennepin Theatre Trust. More than 400 people came out for the cause and curiosity. They were pleasantly surprised from the setting to the service and the colorful cocktails.

For more than half-a-century, the vast Bank Hall in the Farmers and Mechanics Bank building greeted banking customers with 34-foot-tall teak walls and carved paneling. Today, the original teak walls that graced the 1941 interior remain, along with six glamorous bronze lotus blossom chandeliers; but a transformation has taken place below. The new interior is all warm tones with its carpets and upholstery, rich leather bar tiles and leather banquettes and intimate booths. In the center of the room, two dozen bar stools surround the 24-ft oval Gold Bar.

B.A.N.K offers a unique concept that allows guests to control their own dining experience with varied seating choices and environments, from counters to tabletops, to assorted menu selections from small plates to shared plates and full entrée portions. Karim Lakhani of KL Consulting developed B.A.N.K’s concept and cuisine direction and recruited Executive Chef Todd Stein of mk in Chicago. They have collaborated and launched what they like to call modern American cuisine. Three dining rooms and two lounges adjoin the main room for private events.

The unique menu is organized into four quadrants. Chef Stein says they will present many choices to encourage all types of grazing and dining throughout the day instead of traditional menu categories. This will allow more flexibility at the impulse of the diner and food will come from the kitchen when it is ready. Creative soups, salads and sandwiches will be popular with the time-sensitive traveler and lunch crowds. Desserts are another delight and I was pleased to see local pastry chef Liz Matheson added to the B.A.N.K team (she’s known for her work at Levain and Auriga). Check out her creative desserts and try her Bankers Dozen shot glasses of your own choices of flavors. I love it. Cheers!