The Other Twin (City, that is)

Growing up in Minneapolis I was pretty much clueless when it came to St. Paul. This is how it works in the Twin Cities, there's a divide, you are either from one side of the Mississippi river or the other. So, MLK Day we were given a golden opportunity to get an insider's tour of good old St. Paul- hometown to one of the last American Ford plants, Garrison Keillor, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

St. Paul is the MN State Capitol and is much more stately and grand than punky artsy Minneapolis. Yeah, it's cool to have a whole other city to explore once we get sick of Mpls.!

Friends Benjamin and Jesse who went to Midwest Ivy Macalester College and are fellow foodies started the day off right by bringing us to the "best coffee in the twin cities"- Kopplin's. They have one of those high-tech "clover" machines that makes coffee to order one perfect cup at a time. It created this finely tuned coffee cowpie grounds, (you'd have to see it) which makes your coffee just so creamy and sweet. Miya even drank it black! [Consequently, Starbucks just bought Clover out, so now you have to give Starbucks your money to get a machine. Another reason to boycott!]

After the pilgrimage to the sacred Kopplin's site, we went over to the Como area to Abu Nader's Market - Home made fresh pita, delicious spicy fool (fava bean salad), crisp and flavorful falafel and lemony garlicy humus. Delicious!

Next up, Common Good Books, Garrison's cavernous and plentiful bookstore. A vast and assorted collection of everything you would ever desire to read about. A large local section of non-fiction and food writing. Made us want to spend the last of our dollars on some good reads!

From the bookstore, we went on a drive along Summit Ave. (glorious old blue-hair mansions). The James J. Hill House is a great museum for all to check out and get a sense of St. Paul history.

The weekend before we took a leisurely Sunday drive on Grand Street- a great strip with local coffee shops, bookstores, and shops. The Golden Fig is a wonderful shop specializing in locally made foods, cheeses, preserves, etc. The local food movement is strong here! St. Paul is actually really happening! I have to say that I have been converted. Happy, Benjamin??