It's easy see the appeal of living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. There's a great mix of urban, suburban and rural living, all in relatively close proximity, so you can get the best of all 3 worlds. There are beautiful parks and places to hike and run, the city area is very walkable, and there are tons of great food and shopping options everywhere you turn. The perfectly quintessential fall weather was the icing on the cake of being there last week/weekend, making it an ideal time to explore and be introduced to that part of the country!Here are some of our highlights:
- Farmers markets pop up in the city and surrounding areas frequently and are well worth checking out (read more here).
- The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is a wonderful (and free!) way to spend some time in a beautiful part of the city. It is a park-like oasis amidst an otherwise urban area, great for perusing or sitting on a bench with a good book (I did both). You can't miss the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture:
- I couldn't recommend Jerusalem's more. It's one of those restaurants that you happen upon when traveling and wish you had in your hometown as well. It's a cozy, homey, Middle Eastern place that is family owned and has been around for about 25 years. The owner was actually cooking the night we had dinner there - always a plus! The food was superb - lots of veggie options, fresh, simple, clean and delicious - all that good stuff. We shared a few things: stuffed grape leaves, a mixed veg plate and a veggie pita pizza (topped with falafel, tomato, olives and spinach). Which we both felt was one of the best pizzas we've ever had. And we couldn't resist sharing some baklava for dessert. Everything was completely homemade, and it tasted that way in the best way possible. And to top it off, the bill came to $24. A really great deal for a lot of wonderful food and fantastic service. The baklava was less than $2! Granted it was a relatively small piece (which is just fine for such decadence), but most restaurants would probably charge at least $5 for the same thing even if its of lesser quality. Some photos:
- We had lunch one day at Lotus Restaurant - another winner. Quick service, great vegetarian and vegan options, tasty food, and very reasonably priced - can't go wrong with any of that! Some photos:
- I'd read about French Meadow Bakery & Cafe, and a glance at the description and menu made it clearly worth a visit. It has been open since 1985, with a few outposts having opened more recently, and it clearly has not faltered in its mission to deliver delicious, organic, slow/whole foods. I love places like that - very fresh and farm-to-table, emphasizing good clean food, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan-friendly options. And with a cozy, casual atmosphere to boot. And who are we kidding... I'm clearly a sucker for vegan baked things, so that's really all I needed to hear! I stopped in the restaurant to get a coffee and pick up a few sweets to try out. I was envious of the diners in there though - all of the food looked amazing. I had a cafe miel - espresso with steamed coconut (!) milk, honey and cinnamon - and bought a few all vegan treats to taste later on and bring to our friends' house too. The short of it: the carrot cake was decent, though a little dry and had even too much frosting for me; the banana chocolate chip muffins were very dense but tasted good, though they could have done without the icing drizzle on top; the mini chocolate cupcakes were fantastic - very chocolatey, not overly sweet, and the frosting was crazy good (and there was a lot of it, but it was so good that it was a plus! Of course that's the one thing I neglected to photograph). Swear I did not eat all of that myself! :) Some photos:
On our way home from Minneapolis, we came across the French Meadow in the airport and picked up vegan ruben sandwiches to go for dinner - which were REALLY good - made of marinated tempeh on rye with a tofu spread and sauerkraut, and a pickle and particularly good salad greens on the side. French Meadow has something for everyone - they do prepare food with and without meat and dairy - but also have plenty of wonderful veg options that would appeal to vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. - We also had dinner at Fuji Ya (the Minneapolis location) one night with a friend who lives locally, and it was easily some of the best sushi I've ever had. Not what you'd expect being so far from a coast! The fish was all incredible - the uni in particular - as was the sake. The three of us shared an incredible array of sushi, as well as some edamame and a dish of mixed pickled vegetables to start - that was something I haven't had at a sushi restaurant before, and it tasted as good as it looked! Love how colorful the dish was:
- Another night, Peter and I met a cousin of mine for dinner at King and I Thai. It lived up to its positive reputation; we loved everything we ordered. It was a wonderful evening of catching up with family I hadn't seen in years over great food!
