Aaron Landry

Monthly Archives January 2008

Cupcake, Minneapolis, MN

Raspberry Lemon Cupcake from Cupcake, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Can’t stop with the cupcakes today. Anna and I decided to play some Scrabble over at Cupcake on University. You can’t miss it, they have a big cup on the corner of the building. My camera battery died so I wasn’t able to get decent photos, but I enjoyed a S’mores Cupcake which was very tasty and looked fantastic but got sticky marshmallow all over my face. Added to the experience. Anna enjoyed a Chocolate Pistachio which she described as “mainly just a chocolate cupcake with a pistacio frosting.” She liked it.

The Scrabble game was rough and hard fought. When I unloaded my Q at the end she was able to finish up using it as well and won. So it goes. By the time we were done the place was empty and they were seemingly ready to close up.

I picked up the Raspberry Lemon cupcake above to enjoy tomorrow. Looks really tasty.

A few more shots of Cupcake are in this Flickr set.

Cupcake
3338 University Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-378-4818

¶ Posted 26 January 2008 § Cupcakes § Minneapolis ‡ Comments (5) °

Franklin Street Bakery, Minneapolis

Flower Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Bo and I decided to run down to the Franklin Street Bakery to pick up a couple Saturday snacks. If you haven’t been before, go. They have a ton of bread products, a bunch of other baked goods and of course, cupcakes. I brought home a yummy Chocolate Filled Ganache cupcake that was creamy, moist, rich and overall very, very tasty. Check out their pastry menu (PDF).

Strongly recommended.

Franklin Street Bakery
Humorously at
1020 Franklin Avenue East
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-879-5730

¶ Posted 26 January 2008 § Cupcakes § Minneapolis ‡ Comments (2) °

Cupcake Saturday at Letterbox Creative

Strawberry Macaroon Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

After seeing a bunch of yummy cupcakes show up almost weekly in Sharyn’s Photostream on Flickr I finally broke down and suggested with that whatever this cupcake thing is that they do it at my house sometime! I was naïve — I should have looked harder and figured out what it’s really all about:

She pointed me to Sheela Namakkal of Miel y Leche, who in addition to catering creates the cupcakes for Cupcake Saturday at Letterbox Creative in Uptown. Cupcake Saturday is simply a bunch of yummy cupcakes that Sheela creates, only available at Letterbox Creative starting at noon on Saturdays. You can also follow her blog to find out what kind of cupcakes are coming up next!

Brian and I decided to head down and nab a few. I got a couple of the S’mores and Chocolate Chip Gingerbread. Brian nabbed a Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcake.

Yummy!

¶ Posted 19 January 2008 § Cupcakes § Minneapolis ‡ Comments (6) °

Bon Iver in Saint Paul - 17 Jan 08

Bon Iver came to Saint Paul and visited The Current and played a sold out show at The Turf Club. Being I’m a big fan and it’s already well documented online, I’ll just provide some of my favorite links:

Chris Riemenschneider: “Music: A good winter”
Steve McPherson: “Into the Wild”
MPR: “Bon Iver performs in The Current studios”
The Current Music Blog: “Bon Iver Live @ The Turf”
Chris Riemenschneider: “Bon Iver warms up Turf Club”
Pitchfork: “Photos: Bon Iver”
Jon Behm: Photos
David de Young: Photos
Stacy Schwartz: Photos

What a great in-studio and show. If I missed something let me know.

¶ Posted 19 January 2008 § Saint Paul ‡ Comments (3) °

Oven at Punch Neapolitan Pizza

Oven at Punch Pizza, Highland Park, Saint Paul, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Remember my post about Punch Pizza in Highland Park where I blather on about how I was denied permission to take photos of their oven? Perhaps you saw the thread on Flickr regarding the same thing?

Well, Punch co-owner John Puckett emailed me on Monday to let me know that they’re changing their policy in a big way. Today they’re launching a photography contest. Here’s how it works: take photos at Punch, submit them and win a $500 gift certificate. How fun is that? They’ve got about $3000 worth of prizes. I think this is a pretty smart move on their behalf.

Alex Eaton and I decided to stop by, have some pizza and take a photo of the oven. I had the Margherita prepared D.O.C. which was very good. Alex had the Quattro Formaggi and really enjoyed it. He brought up how much he loved the crust a few times. Service was prompt and it only took about 5-7 minutes for us to get seated.

After eating, I went up to the oven and asked if I could take a photo. They resounded immediately with an “absolutely!” After taking a couple quick shots they asked how my pizza was and I told them it was fantastic.

Anyway, check out the photo contest. Right now, looking at everyone who’s submitted entries, it seems like your chances of winning are extremely high.

Disclaimer: I’m in no way affiliated with Punch Pizza, this promotion nor have I received any type of kickback or compensation regarding this. I figured if they’re going to go out of their way to change their photography policy based off blog buzz and my comments, I have no problem helping them spread the word about that.

¶ Posted 17 January 2008 § Pizza § Saint Paul ‡ Comments (14) ° Tagged: Pizza

The Strip Club, Saint Paul, MN

The Strip Club, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Chef J.D. Fratzke, previously of Muffuletta and Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson of the Town Talk Diner just opened their new restaurant The Strip Club. It’s situated in just east of downtown Saint Paul and probably a little too convenient for my commute home from work.

A group of over ten of us popped in on their opening to check it out. It’s generally unfair to judge a place by their first night open to the public but our food, drink and service were all fantastic.

I had three small plates: the walleye fritters, escargot and their fries, all of which were very tasty. Ang, who coincidentally lives in one of the condos above the Strip Club ordered the New York Strip and said it was probably one of the best steaks she’s ever had. (No doubt that having this place downstairs from her will be too convenient, for better or for worse.)

Everyone seemed to love the mixed drinks, all of which seemed to be modeled after prohibition-era cocktails. As Max from the Bottle Gang noted, “At least three of their cocktails use a brandy base. That’s really rare these days; usually they are made with bourbon nowadays. The original recipes were brandy recipes and they’re really good with brandy.” I agree wholeheartedly.

We were seated on the second floor which is accessible only by a small, tight spiral staircase. My first thought is that it’s likely difficult to be carrying food and drinks up it. It’s a very nice feature but probably would be my worst enemy if I worked there. Our service was fast, very friendly and made me forget about the staircase they were repeatedly scaling.

The view of downtown Saint Paul from the Strip Club is great, the interior is well lit and the place feels classic. There’s also a secret door on the second floor that leads to the Strip Club’s office. Cool.

I’m going to be back here a lot.

The Strip Club
378 Maria Ave
Saint Paul, MN 55106
651-793-6247

Also check out my photos from the evening, Brian Moen’s write-up on his visit during the friends and family opening, Courtney’s photos, Ed’s post on The Deets and Cristina’s post in The Rake.

¶ Posted 16 January 2008 § Food, Drink and Dining § Saint Paul ‡ Comments (9) ° Tagged: restaurant, the strip club

“Tommy Gun Trouble” at the Wabasha Street Caves

Nicole Interrogating Agent Les Shooter, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

For my employer’s holiday party this year we went to the Wabasha Street Caves in Saint Paul for dinner and the murder mystery, “Tommy Gun Trouble.” Well put on by seven actors and everyone seemed to have a good time. I was one of the few that solved the mystery even though I got some of the facts wrong. Still won a prize, though.

We didn’t get to explore much of the caves; I’ll have to go back for a tour.

Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

¶ Posted 12 January 2008 § Saint Paul ‡ Comments (3) °

Sophia & Emma - Como, Saint Paul

(Post originally on Minnesota Meow)

Names: Sophia and Emma
Nicknames: Sophia: Pretty Little Princess; Emma: Emmakins, Bad Little Bitch
Born: Probably sometime in 2000
Lives in: Como, Saint Paul
Lives With: Christine Killian

Sophia was rescued from the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley when she was about eight weeks old. She had a pink collar and Christine used to take her to work. “She slept on my desk,” I’m told. When Sophia wasn’t at work, she was a regular misbehaving kitten making messes and shredding stuff. Christine recalls, “I couldn’t play with her enough — she would never get tired. I used to try keeping her from taking naps so she would sleep all night or whatever. Did not work. I had a feeling she was lonely during the day.”

So soon after, she visited the humane society again and found Emma. Apparently, Emma was living in garages in Newport. She had a litter of kittens that were all taken in to the humane society as well. Emma was in a cage and meowed at Christine so they went into a meeting room and she licked her hand. Then Emma got to go home with Christine and be Sophia’s friend.

They’re good buddies but not always the best of buddies. They run around together and chase each other. They sometimes argue about who gets to sit in the toy box. Both Emma and Sophia like toys and Emma will even jump to great lengths to nab a flying object. Humorously, Emma cries loudly and follows Christine around when she sings and Sophia likes to stick her foot in the water dish and fling water everywhere. “It’s hard to get mad at that.”

Christine is a Research Scientist at Thomson Corporation and a Certified Flight Instructor. She also writes at Aviatrix Logbook.

See more of Sophia and Emma in their Flickr set.

¶ Posted 11 January 2008 § Cats ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: Cats, Saint Paul

Pizza Cellar, Osceola, Wisconsin

Pizza Cellar, Osceola, Wisconsin, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Some recent conversations about out-of-nowhere hole-in-the-wall but fantastic pizza joints got me thinking of one of my favorites of that genre: Pizza Cellar in Osceola, Wisconsin. I hadn’t been in years. A girl I dated for much of high school and I used to go up to Pizza Cellar over ten years ago as it wasn’t far from her parent’s place. Back then, we dubbed it “Pizza Satan” as you got to it from a back alley, the door was beat up and you went down a dark stairway down to a spooky dining area with a dropped tile ceiling where all the chairs were ripped up. The florescent lights were either burnt out or replaced with glowing red ones. Eerie and spooky but the best pizza in the area, dirt cheap.

Lesley and I ventured the 50 mile trip from Minneapolis to check it out. I was a bit surprised to find out that they’re no longer using that beat up door and have a nice newer one and inside is completely remodeled! A mild disappointment because of my expectations but they actually did a nice job. They removed the dropped ceiling, put in decent lighting and newer tables. It still has some bizarre things about it, such as this cellar window with a fake view of (presumably) the Saint Croix river.

We ordered a pizza and the woman taking our order (who had a grey hooded sweatshirt with an illustration of Tinkerbell on the back and had the word “TINK” on the front) apologized that they had absolutely nothing to offer us for drinks. She noticed that I was looking behind her and saw a fridge with some 20oz bottles of Lipton Raspberry White Tea. She said that she can’t sell me any of it because it’s all past expiration. No problem with us, although it was a bit funny that they had no problem drinking it themselves. Heh. No big deal. Before our pizza was done she did deliver two refreshing glasses of ice water though.

Our pepperoni pizza came out perfect. For rural pizza joints, this is some of the best I’ve ever had. Perfect amount of cheese, very well cut, not too greasy, stays together nicely, the pepperoni tasted fresh and the crust had a yummy, almost sweet flavor to it that Lesley and I couldn’t figure out. There was times that I was nabbing small crumbs just to keep tasting it.

The rest of the evening and even into the next day Lesley and I kept talking about how fantastic Pizza Cellar pizza was.

If you’re in the area, you’re lucky. If you’re in Minneapolis, it’s worth the 50 mile drive. If you make a trip out of it, come before sunset and visit Cascade Falls, a short walk from Pizza Cellar. Afterwards, there’s a couple local dives Osceola. Alternatively if you want to avoid the dives, take Minnesota Highway 95 down to Marine on Saint Croix on your way back and have a drink at the only bar in town, Brookside. You’ll be surprised with the juxtaposition of a good selection of taps and not having mobile phone service.

Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

Pizza Cellar
102 2nd Ave
Osceola, WI 54020
715-294-3663

Open Thursdays 4 PM - 8 PM, Fridays and Saturdays 4 PM - 9 PM.

¶ Posted 06 January 2008 § Pizza ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: wisconsin