minneapolis

From what I’ve heard and read, Minneapolis has undergone a huge change in the last 10 or so years. Thanks to growing food, design and blogging scenes, the one-half of Minnesota’s Twin Cities has become quite the creative hotbed. So when Eaman needed to me to tag along on his work trip to Minneapolis, I was more than happy to join.

Armed with suggestions from my friend and Minneapolis native Annie D’Souza of Worthy Pause (and the new site The Midwestival), here’s what I indulged in while there:

A cuppa local roaster Dogwood coffee at Canteen, a cafe in the Uptown area. Great coffee and an even better almond croissant in a cool, minimalist cafe smack dab in a residential neighborhood.

Loring Park and the crispy marinated tofu burrito from the World Street Kitchen food truck. The food truck was in a typical downtown-office building busy area, so we took the 10-minute walk to gorgeously lush Loring Park, which is a great place to go for a run, walk or run around with your pups. That burrito was as filling as it was delicious, which is to say…very.

Foundry Home Goods. The North Loop boutique is small but filled to the brim with beautiful things you didn’t know you needed, like a golden teaspoon and marble-print notebook. It was a wee bit too Kinfolk-chic for me and the prices reflect that. (Another boutique very much worth visiting is Cliche in Lynlake. Lots of local designers and reasonable prices.)

Pho at Lotus. Apparently it was 80-some degrees the week before we got to Minneapolis. When we arrived? Temperatures in the 40s and rain. So even though I loved a lot of Minneapolis—the small size, the fall foliage, the community feel—I did not enjoy the weather and happily downed this warming pho near our hotel. Bonus points for it being very cheap.

Angel Food Bakery for donuts, cupcakes and coffee. From my research, there isn’t much good food downtown, but what there is is this cozy bakery by Project Runway contestant Katy Gerdes. I loved the Michael Jackson donut (black and white) and beloved Minneapolis brew Peace Coffee and so wish I went back for a cupcake. This place was legit.

Breakfast at Moose & Sadie’s. Not too far from Foundry is this casual restaurant, serving all three meals plus brunch. My huevos rancheros were simple, tasty and not necessarily earth-shattering, but I’d certainly go back. The coffeehouse vibe was great.

Walker Art Museum. I didn’t go inside, but between the rolling green lawns, a sculpture garden, nice places to picnic and this famous “Spoonbridge and Cherry” piece by Claes Oldenburg, the area around this well-regarded modern art museum is beautiful.

Dinner at Muddy Waters. Hello, best meal of the trip! This bar-restaurant in the Lynlake neighborhood was incredible from start to finish. We ordered a bunch of small plates, including goat cheese wontons, grilled lamb skewers and the hot dog of the day (hot dogs are their speciality). Somehow we found room to demolish the blueberry cheesecake, too. We still talk about how good this meal was.

With the network of lakes and trails, Minneapolis is quite the nature hotspot. And in the fall, the beautiful foliage and lush trees are something this East Coast native has deeply missed here in San Diego, land of palm trees. Thank you, Mpls, for giving me my fill—in more ways than one!