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Robb Long
Sheela Namakkal's cupcake creations.
By Alison Fiebig
With or without the fall rain, I knew I was in for a Saturday delight. It was just past noon and I was on my way to Letterbox, an Uptown stationery and home décor shop, for Cupcake Saturday and I had planned accordingly — I tactfully harvested what felt like a week's worth of hunger for the brainchild of local celebrity baker, Sheela Namakkal: Miel y Leche cupcakes.
I arrived just as a group of smiling guests were exiting and gleefully peeling the wrapper from the little bakery bite. Now my senses were aroused and my appetite had married my sweet tooth, both begging for sugary confections. Not only could I smell the reason why people were leaving with radiating smiles but I could tell some of the people were regulars, asking, "What do you have for us today?"
Tucked into the front corner of the store, Namakkal was simultaneously reciting the five different flavors and boxing the art-for-food, round-topped cakes. The chef-gone-baker was busy serving mouth-watering buyers pumpkin, butterscotch, and Namakkal's favorite — Mexican hot chocolate. Made with cornmeal, the sweet and spicy dessert is meant to imitate the unrefined texture of real Mexican hot chocolate. For only $3 a pop, you're guaranteed a homemade indulgence.
Finally, it was my turn to taste. Staring up at me from their cake stands were thickly whipped frostings in butter cream and chocolate ganache, chow mien noodle toppings coated in butterscotch, and for the Halloween holiday, sugary marshmallows. I had a hard time deciding which cupcake would tickle my buds, but I chose a pumpkin one, nicknamed Jack-O-Lantern, crowned with a candy corn pumpkin for good measure.
Be aware, if you're stopping in any other day of the week, you won't find cupcakes. Namakkal and Letterbox owners Kimberly Yurkiewicz and Zach Barocas partner up only for a few hours of cupcake chaos on Saturdays. She starts baking Friday afternoons until just before dawn Saturday morning before unveiling her little darlings for business at noon. Get there early for the first pick of the sweet delicacies.
Letterbox
2741 Hennepin Ave. S.
612-870-4529
Saturdays, noon–6 p.m., or until the cupcakes run out
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Art beat // Closing and opening
By Dylan Thomas
Art of This leaving current space, but won’t cease to existLYNDALE — A few weeks before they planned to shutter their Nicollet Avenue art space for good, John Marks and David Petersen of Art of This Gallery reflected on “Open Summer,” their ongoing, open door, last blast summer project. A free-for-all residency program that eventually enrolled 80-some artists, the slowly percolating “Open Summer” was building steam as it headed into its, and the gallery’s, grand finale at the end of August. And for all the potential pitfalls in telling some seven dozen people where the gallery key is hidden, about the worst thing that happened all summer was when someone spilled salsa in the refrigerator and never cleaned it up.
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On the mat // Green yogis in Linden Hills
By Sarah McKenzie
Devanadi Yoga, a new studio near Lake Harriet, is a trailblazer in the local yoga community. The small 525-square-foot studio, tucked behind the Bruley Center on West 43rd Street in Linden Hills, is the first yoga studio in the state to be certified by the Green Yoga Association for its environmentally friendly efforts. The studio’s green practices include using non-VOC paint, controlling the thermostat to keep the building energy efficient and encouraging students to walk, bus or bike to class. Tanya Boigenzahn Sowards, studio director/owner of Devanadi Yoga, said being green is “core value of the studio and it ties back to the yogic philosophy of doing no harm.” “Minneapolis frequently ranks as one of the top green
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Everyday gardener // Q&A
By Meleah Maynard
Struggling tomatoes, rain barrels and rootbound plantsEven though spring started in earnest in March this year, it still seems like summer is going by too fast. So, fast, in fact, my inbox has been a bit stuffed with questions. As always, I’ve replied directly to people who asked for help with various things. But here in the column I’m going to cover some of the questions that seem likely to be of interest to a lot of gardeners. By far, the questions I’m getting most are about tomatoes, so I’ll start there. Q: My tomato plants look good and have a lot of flowers, but I’m not getting a lot of fruit this year. What’s going on?A: It’s been too hot for tomatoes to set fruit
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Flavor // A smokin’ sensation on Nicollet
By Carla Waldemar
If you’re wondering what caused the traffic stand-still on South Nicollet the other evening, let’s just say I should have kept my window shut. When passing cars got a whiff of possibly the best aroma in the galaxy — I’m talking about barbecue, of course — they halted to demand, “Where’d you get that?” At C&G’s, of course. Greg Alford launched C&G’s Smoking Barbecue exactly a year ago; the anniversary balloons in the otherwise-Spartan, clean-as-a-whistle hole in the wall provided the only touch of whimsy in this serious business. Greg was born in Louisiana, which may explain his superior taste in food. He grew up in Detroit, one of 12 kids whose mamma set him to cooking when he was 5, he
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Wild city // Eating the yard
By Mary Jean Port
I love August. It is so lush. All summer, as I nurse the garden along, I anticipate these eating days. We now have too much of everything: tomatoes, green beans, heat, humidity, and also thunder, for those of us who have a dog frightened by it. I have been working our piece of ground for 14 years, and have good soil to show for it. Back when we first started, my husband was more of a lawn guy. He liked the idea of a garden, but drew a line in the grass with his toe. Don’t dig up anything beyond here, he said. So I dug my first of what are now 10 beds, and planted the pumpkin right on his line. The vines ran out of the garden and took over the whole backyard. My husband good-naturedly threw up his hands. We started with vegetables, and
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Kid rock
By Sam Lane
Twin Town Guitars hosts a camp that gives young musicians a chance to play and perform in a bandMore than 60 excited, camera-toting fans packed Cause Spirits and Soundbar on a warm August afternoon waiting for two headline bands to take the stage. The hotly anticipated musicians weren’t well known. They weren’t 20-somethings trying to strike a record deal. They weren’t middle-aged men trying to relive their youth. They were kids, ages 8–17, who spent prior weeks at Twin Town Guitars, 3400 Lyndale Ave. S., preparing for their first concert. In an economy where budget cuts deal constant blows to public school music programs, the owners of Twin Town have spent the last three summers providing a haven for aspiring
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