Download: Inside Mothership Pizza, 100 Years of WCCO Radio, Fundraiser Season
My meal at Aster House, Great interview with Robb Jones, E-mailer looking for Options when Bar La Grassa is Full
It’s fall fundraiser and gala season - and I encourage you to go to one! I know, putting on a fancy dress or suit and going to eat hotel rubber chicken doesn’t sound fun. But I’ve found incredible joy in diving in to not just donate time by volunteering, but also to empower experts to do their work by donating money. Tomorrow is the Second Harvest Heartland DishGala, I’m on their board of directors, and fighting hunger is a passion of mine. It’s a solvable problem - and we’re working on more than just getting food to those in need, we’re working to cut hunger in half. If you’re able to donate - we’d love you to be on the team. DONATE: https://fluence-media.co/4eX43r9
IT’S TIME TO ORDER THANKSGIVING DINNER!
THANKSGIVING TO-GO: Let Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis handle your family’s dinner. Pick-up Thanksgiving morning - butternut squash soup with maple and sage, baby kale salad, oven-roasted turkey, dutch apple and pecan pies, and we’re just getting started. Download readers who order Thanksgiving get a free round of mimosas when you return to Mara for Sunday brunch! ORDER: https://fluence-media.co/3A1BtWs
I love having Mara / Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis as a Download Partner!
TOO BUSY TO DOWNLOAD?
Pizza From Mr. Paul’s at 50th & France
Dinner at Diane’s Place
Listen to a caller to my show get pulled over by police
My visit to Aster House
Emailer: BLG is booked - where else should I go?
DOWNLOAD DIALOGUE: 100 YEARS OF WCCO RADIO
I’ve always worked at “legacy” TV and radio stations: the places celebrating 75 or 100 years, the stations with tradition. KWQC (former WOC) in Davenport, WISN Milwaukee, WCCO-TV here, and now WCCO Radio. There’s something about the connection with history that I love and my mischevious way of trying to nudge these places into the future. This week we celebrated 100 years of WCCO Radio, I got to interview John Williams (he’s at the station I dreamed of working at when I was a kid, WGN) and Don Shelby (the man I idolized in my years at TV). WCCO is an unusual station in today’s environment - John noted that most spoken word radio is either sports talk or “hate” radio. WCCO has a real newsroom with opinion hosts (like me) who welcome everyone to the table.
Just like when I started blogging and using social media at channel 4 (not popular internally in the mid-2000s), I’m trying different things at radio (like this newsletter.) Some of you like working at big companies, others like to take tiny operations and grow them. I like the idea of being entrepreneurial within a place that could be stuck in its past: so here’s to 100 more years of WCCO!
MOTHERSHIP PIZZA PARADISE OPENING: Soft opens happened this week, the pizza place at 50th & France is opening next week. MNMO: https://fluence-media.co/3Ac0le6
TOUS LES JOURS OPEN IN MAPLE GROVE: The second location of this national bakery chain is in the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes.
SLICE BROTHERS PIZZA CLOSES IN ST. PAUL: “Downtown St. Paul has been hit particularly hard by rising crime and unprecedented economic conditions,” they wrote on IG. MOA is suing them for unpaid rent too. Not a great week for Slice.
DINNER COMES TO DIANE’S PLACE: Reservations open Monday for dinner starting on Nov. 9. She’ll serve dinner Thursday through Sunday. BOOK: https://fluence-media.co/43LdkxI
RUSSELL’S ST. PAUL SETS OPENING DATE: November 15. In the former Tavern on Grand, Todd Russell owns the building, Aaron Wittkamper designed the new restaurant (he did All Saints, Mr. Paul’s, Berlin). Pics in the MSPBJ: https://fluence-media.co/48dXWMq (Not much new has opened in St. Paul in 2024 so this is significant! Grand Ave. is bustling, despite the loss of national retailers.)
ROBB JONES: Great Steve Marsh interview that reveals how Robb Jones went from culinary school to Bradstreet Crafthouse to Saffron, Spoon & Stable and now Meteor and beyond. MSPMAG: https://fluence-media.co/3BTlpGL
DeRusha’s Bites is presented by Room & Board - see how they transformed my living room on my Instagram or read more about the process at JasonDeRusha.com
FOUR SEASONS NORDIC VILLAGE: Free opening party on the rooftop at Four Seasons Minneapolis on Saturday, November 2 11a-3p. Free welcome drink, shop vendors, take your fall city insta selfie. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/4fcvDR4
26 BEST BURGERS BY CHEFS: Always look forward to the Jess Fleming / Jared Kaufman Pioneer Press review of the best burgers right now. PI PRESS GIFT LINK: https://fluence-media.co/3AdU0is
ASTER HOUSE: Alyssa and I went to Jeff Arundel’s new Aster House on St. Anthony Main Wednesday night - it’s great. Supper club vibes, the smoked trout dip is glorious, the wild rice fritters were super-earthy and delicious, loved the pork chop too (a crazy value for $32). Great addition to the area: MENU: https://fluence-media.co/4hg1HVX
CENTRO POP-UPS in SKYWAY: This is the kind of stuff that makes working downtown fun. Centro popping-up “in the U.S. Bancorp Center, where U.S. Bank is headquartered, during lunch on Tuesdays with Hippo Pockets and on Wednesdays with Centro.” DOWNTOWN VOICES: https://fluence-media.co/3UlHLqO
CHICKEN SAMMIE GUIDE: Heavy Table has a great guide to spicy chicken sandwiches - paid subscribers to HT get the whole thing (you should be subscribing at least to their free version!)
YOUR GOOD QUESTIONS VIA EMAIL
Michael writes: “My sisters are coming in from Chicago for a visit on the weekend of November 2nd and 3rd and I wanted to take them to special restaurants in the Metro. My first choices were Chilango and Bar La Grassa, but the latter doesn't have anything earlier than 9:00 p.m.”
Michael: Instead of BLG a couple thoughts:
Snack Bar - sister restaurant right next door
Dario - the hottest pasta restaurant in town
There's a hot corner of NE Mpls that's also amazing - Vinai, Oro by Nixta and Young Joni at the same intersection
Butcher & The Boar and Borough are great North Loop options too
Guacaya Bistreaux is also a unique spot to Minneapolis
Terzo, is a pretty special South Minneapolis spot.
DRIVETIME PODCASTS ON DEMAND
A CALLER GETS PULLED OVER WHILE ON THE AIR: We were talking about that one T-shirt you can’t get rid of. https://fluence-media.co/4e2zW04
JUSTIN SUTHERLAND PLEADS GUILTY: But says he did it because he didn’t want to give “media vultures the circus [they] were hoping for” https://fluence-media.co/4e2GLz1
GROSSEST THING YOU DO: This convo about gross stuff became a politics convo and a great hour of our show. https://fluence-media.co/48kvtF0
SOLVING COLD CASES + VET HOMELESSNESS: Another good hour with Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and Hennepin County Veterans https://fluence-media.co/3NLB1i5
SWEARING IN THE PREZ RACE + HOAs: I don’t like either. https://fluence-media.co/3AgbBpV
MIKE + V SHAUGHNESSY FROM PINK IVY: The Hopkins restaurant renaissance https://fluence-media.co/3NDzpXF
DERUSHA’S WEEKEND
Tonight I’m emceeing The BIG Night - Building Industry Gala - for Housing First MN at Mystic Lake. Saturday night is the DISH Gala, a big fundraiser for us at Second Harvest Heartland. Sunday night we’re going out for Ethiopian food (Katar River or Selam - I’m not sure).
OTHER EVENTS:
FRI: Spoon & Stable pop-up for Khue’s Kitchen: in the bar. https://fluence-media.co/3UgvmEr
SAT: Holland Arts Open Studios - Noon-5 https://fluence-media.co/4hlMJOg
SAT: Keepers Heart Hallowhiskey Party at O’Shaughnessy Distillery https://fluence-media.co/4dWf5M9
SUN/MON: Amor y Amargo Pop-up At Flora Room Minneapolis with MN Ice https://fluence-media.co/3Yn2awY
Thanks Jason! Have a great weekend! 😁