Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Heartland in St Paul just made me a vegan tasting menu as well. It was really good. My salad was roasted brussel sprouts with potatoes and a toasted hazelnut dressing, entree was a dish of wild rice with roasted squash and mixed wild mushrooms, and dessert was an apple walnut spice cake with some sort of a raspberry sauce. I would definitely go back for another special occasion type meal.

I really enjoyed what I had when I was there, but they brought out my dessert with whipped cream on it the first time. It must have been when they were first trying it out. I asked if it was vegan and they apologized and took it back.

This isn't directly related to the Twin Cities, but seeing how many people like to travel between Duluth and "The Cities" (as we say up here), and how no one seems to be around at the general MN forum, I thought I would post some vegan-friendly restaurants in Duluth, in case you're making a trip to Duluth.

First of all Duluth Grill is amazing. Do not let the Embers/Truck stop-like location and facade fool you. They are all about from-scratch, local and organic cooking. There are a lot of veg. and gluten-free options. The servers are also very helpful and knowledgeable about the food. (As a gluten-intolerant person, I find it refreshing to not have someone stare at me as if I have two heads when I ask about coating on french fries.) They carry some of the traditional omni diner fare (but are grass-fed, cage free, organic, etc.) but also have options such as a Buffalo Tofu melt, Thai Basil GF Pizza (ask for vegan cheese), Tempeh & Portabella Mushroom Stacker, Ratatouille, Polenta with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce, Polenta (made from Garbanzos this time) & Mushroom Breakfast skillet, a Wild Rice Melt and Tempeh Breakfast Burrito. They have a ton of options and are really accommodating about making substitutions. Just about everything, right down to the ketchup is homemade. You have to try this place, but if you go for breakfast on the weekend, be prepared to wait in line for a while.

Pizza Luce has a location in Downtown Duluth as well. I'm not sure what the Luces in Mpls/St. Paul offer, but there is a great Brunch menu in Duluth. They've started offering a gluten-free menu (a while after the cities did), and there are many veg. options.

Chester Creek cafe has a lot of organic and vegan breakfast and lunch options. I think their dinners seem to be more focused on local fishes and meats. The food is simple, but well-prepared. The prices are a tad steep, but you can also just come in for coffee and a dessert. There is a wine bar that has a Thur-Sun happy hour with very reasonably priced snacks, dates, hummus, etc.

Taste of Saigon (in the Dewitt-Seitz building) has a lemon-grass tofu dish that is to die for.

Amazing Grace has homemade breads, soups and sandwiches. (Since this is a bread-based place, I haven't ventured there for a while.)

If you're going to be in Duluth for a while and need groceries, you should stop by the Co-op. They seem to have just as much in stock as any co-op in the Twin Cities. They also have some great stuff available in the hot bar and deli, including freshly-baked gluten free and vegan treats.

This is, by no means, an exhaustive list. I'm sure there are several other places that are great for vegan eating, but these are the first that came to mind.

Thanks for posting this Suzanna! I'm heading up to Duluth in a couple of weeks and other than Luce had no idea where to go.

Sarah: We had an incident with a person I was with ordering the "flora", the vegetarian meal, and they brought out whitefish for the amuse bouche. Some of the newer servers aren't as good, but if you mention something or ask they fix it for sure. The owner and head chef's wife (Megan I think?) is awesome as are some of their longtime staff. The waiter we usually seem to get, who has been with them forever, has a sister who is vegan so he's great. I wish I could remember his name...

Has anyone found a place that sells larger TVP chunks? I can find the smaller ones, and in a town with a gazillion co-ops, TJs and Whole Foods stores it seems insanely silly to mail order them...

I don't live in MN anymore, but when I was in Minneapolis I found giant TVP chunks at the Indian grocery store on Central in NE Minneapolis. I still have them, actually....

SWEET. Do you remember which one? Here are some...
Asia Imports *** Minneapolis Directions & Maps
The Store is Closed
1840 Central Avenue NE Minnesota (MN)

Devon Indian groceries Minneapolis Directions & Maps
The Store is Closed
2520 Central Avenue Minnesota (MN)

Patel Groceries & Video Minneapolis Directions & Maps
1848 Central Avenue North East Minnesota (MN) Phone: (612) 789 8800

Sahara International foods Minneapolis Directions & Maps
2513 Central Ave NE Minnesota (MN) Phone: (612) 781 2627

Sahib's Gateway to India Minneapolis Directions & Maps
The Store is Closed
4022, Central Avenue North East Minnesota (MN)

Shah Rezad Int'l Market Minneapolis Directions & Maps
1850 Central Ave NE Minnesota (MN) Phone: (612) 788 0656

Patel! I'm pretty sure that's the one, although I don't think that's what it's called anymore.

Edit: My boyfriend's quick internet research leads us to believe it's called Little India now. Or that it was called Little India and is now called Patel. Anyway, it's attached to a restaurant called Marakesh if that helps.

Also, that place is awesome. Even if you're not in the market for giant TVP chunks, you should go there for the giant selection of instant Indian food packets. Seattle is great, but there are no good Indian groceries within the city limits.

Allison, you rock! Thank you!

Question for Twin City PPKers:

I may have an opportunity to move to Minneapolis within the next month or so. My husband has never been and I've only been briefly (like for a week or two at a time).

His requirements for a place to live are safe and relatively quiet. He would also like good access to shopping (like not in the middle of a housing development without anything for miles). If it was someplace where we could have two bedrooms and a yard for around $900 a month, that would be a bonus. I'm searching online -- what neighborhoods do you suggest (I would be working downtown).

Thanks!

When you say downtown are you referring to Minneapolis or St Paul? I'm guessing you prefer to live in a more urban area than a suburb? The Twin Cities are really sprawled out.

Oh, sorry! Minneapolis. We could live in a suburb if it had good access to shopping and I could get to public transportation relatively easy.

Longfellow neighborhood in South Mpls is pretty popular with my colleagues. Seward is a good neighborhood too, but I suspect the rents are higher, since it's in demand, but I love the character of the neighborhood - quirky and not completely gentrified.

Uptown is very near shopping, but is not quiet by any stretch of the imagination, and it's also very expensive. It is, however, very close to downtown and with excellent bus access.

Maybe look along the Hiawatha light rail corridor? Then you could easily take the light rail downtown to work.

The Dowling area of South Mpls is decent too as is the Como Ave area of SE Mpls. Lots of bus routes around those neighborhoods.

I don't think you'll find prices like that in a quiet city neighborhood, so you might want to look at closer suburbs. Columbia Heights is a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis where you might be able to find prices like that. And it contains some delicious Indian restaurants and groceries! Robbinsdale is similar. They are suburban, but not too spread out. On the other side of Minneapolis, St. Louis Park is a pretty good 'burb too. All of those places should have decent access to public transit, at least for getting to downtown Minneapolis.

Awesome! Thanks for the suggestions, all. It's so intimidating to try to look online when you only have a vague idea about different neighborhoods.

I used to live in St. Louis Park and Minnetonka and I really liked both. Now I live in a St. Paul suburb. The bus system and light rail make it really easy to commute and not have to worry about paying for parking, which is really, really expensive downtown. Plus the rent/mortgage payment is cheaper in the burbs.

A few new random vegan treat encounters in Minneapolis:

gluten free and vegan donuts at the Birchwood Café
vegan donuts at the Donut Collective down the street from the Birchwood (in the old Orange Crush spot)
coconut milk based soft serve at the Wedge (replacing my old beloved Oatscreme, now sadly defunct)

And in St. Paul:
vegan mushroom broth in place of fish stock for dreamy noodle soups and bento boxes at Tanpopo Japanese in Lowertown

To be clear, I love Mississippi Market. But at the Wedge yesterday I found several treasures:
- Arrowroot powder in bulk. MS Market used to have this in bulk but doesn't anymore - you have to buy a whole bag for $7! Way more arrowroot than I'd ever use.
- A good selection of Gardein. For some reason, MS Market recently reduced its Gardein products to the burgers and chicken tenders. Frustrating - another reason I have to go to Whole Foods. I don't WANT to go to WF, MS Market!
- Bulk black sesame seeds.
- Bulk smoked, black and pink salts!
- Bulk powdered agar agar. HUGE WIN - I've been scouring Asian food stores for this.

Also, I love that Seward and the Wedge stock berbere.

The Target in Roseville has a pretty good selection, followed by Fresh and Natural Foods. I think they closed their Bloomington location temporarily, so it's either Shoreview or Hudson. Though I worry about the Shoreview location if the staduim thing goes through.

I should clarify - I'd rather spend my shopping dollars at a co-op than at a commercial grocery store. But thanks for the heads up re: Target in Roseville, fatcat!

My husband and I went to Evergreen for our anniversary in December, then we went back with the whole family (we have four kids, so six of us) just last weekend. We all loved it so much! We live an hour away, so it's not somewhere we'll go often, but it was so good and we're all still dreaming of the food. There's nothing vegan in our town (although we have a decent health food section at a local grocery store) so it was a real treat. Afterward we went to The Wedge and the kids all got a coconut milk soft serve. What a thrill!

I love that softserve at the Wedge. It's to die for.

I'm not a huge fan of Evergreen but maybe I'm just not getting the right dish - what did you guys have?

I've had a couple different things, but keep going back to the sesame chicken. Highly recommended!