Best Restaurant for Lunch
Next up in the series of polls for the <PDD Awards Index>PDD Awards, we will determine the best lunch restaurant in the Duluth area. We’re taking nominations in the comments to this post, then a poll will follow, as usual.
For some of you, the ideal lunch is the place that kicks out the fastest, cheapest grub. Others might prefer a slow-pace escape from the daily grind. Either notion is fine, but the majority vote will decide what is best.
Once again, we define our territory: Any restaurant in Duluth or 10 miles of its border is eligible. So establishments in Superior, Hermantown, Proctor and the various bordering townships all qualify; Two Harbors, Cloquet and farther away municipalities are out of bounds.
Looking for a specialist in preserving antique needlework
We inherited an old piece of needlework. It is probably about 50 years old, maybe older. It could be as much as 100 years old. We have it, but in a move the glass broke and we need it to be re-framed/matted — whatever you do to keep a piece like this looking good. Who do I call, where do I go to begin tracking down this?
Jim Carlson – Guilty
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Headshop owner guilty of selling illegal synthetic drugs
A Duluth headshop owner was found guilty of selling banned synthetic drugs Monday afternoon in a case likely to have major impact on the handling of artificial hallucinogens.
Jim Carlson, 56, owner of the Last Place on Earth, was found guilty on 51 of 55 felony counts. His girlfriend, Lava Marie Haugen, 33, was convicted on all four counts against her, including conspiracy. Carlson’s son, Joseph James Gellerman, 35, was convicted of two of four counts against him, but not guilty of conspiracy.
The trial lasted two weeks, and the seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated for about two days over the 55 felony counts.
Duluth News Tribune: “Jury finds Last Place on Earth owner Jim Carlson guilty on most counts”
WDIO: Carlson guilty on 51 counts
Northland’s NewsCenter: “Jury upholds 51 counts against Jim Carlson in federal court“
Duluth Parks Blog
If you are interested in Duluth city parks you might be interested in my parks blog:
Portable Amateur Radio from All Duluth Parks
kd0etc.blogspot.com
This week: bikes and philosophy
Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.
‘Tis the season for ghosts and goblins and you can check out all things Halloween on the calendar. Already this week you can go to the Haunted Ship and the Silver Brook Corn Maze, see Nosferatu at the Scottish Rite, bring your kids to Boo at the Zoo at the Lake Superior Zoo, and meet at Pineapple Arts to help prep for All Souls Night. And there’s much more to come in the weeks ahead.
Tonight you can celebrate the Weber Music Hall at the Weber Music Hall with music… in the hall. Maybe they’ll fire up some Webers outside.
Need to work on your bike? The Bike Cave is a free cooperative bike shop where people can come in and work on their bikes or build new bikes. It’s open Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons. And on your bike you can Bike with a Cop on Saturday starting at Leif Erikson Park.
On Friday you can get your think on at Adeline’s with Prof. Jason Ford of UMD (aka our reigning Geek Prom King, all hail) in a Philosophical Salon.
So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.
Ugly Stick Saloon
A splash of Coyote Ugly is in the city of Superior, just minutes off of the Bong Bridge on Belknap Street, in the former dining area of the Shack.
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Video Archive: KBJR Topline News and the Cheers party at the Western Tavern in 1993
This is the complete Topline News broadcast from May 20, 1993. You’ll notice it’s pretty short; that’s because from 1992 to 1998 KBJR experimented with an abbreviated 10 p.m. news program that ran about six minutes, not counting commercials, followed by a re-run of Roseanne with sports scores at bottom screen.
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Credit card found in Chester Park
Found a credit card in the parking lot at Chester Park on October 4. If it’s yours, post a comment here to contact me (your return email is sent to me automatically when you comment).
Perfect Restaurant: New Scenic Café
You have to leave Duluth to get to its best restaurant. The New Scenic Café is located about three miles beyond the city’s northeastern border, in Duluth Township — roughly a 20-minute drive from the center of the Zenith City. It’s a drive Duluthians and tourists alike have been happy to take repeatedly during the 14 years since chef Scott Graden and his aunt Rita Bergstedt opened their contemporary American restaurant.
Above: New Scenic Owner Scott Graden
The location on the scenic North Shore Drive is a big part of the allure, but what’s so new about this 14-year-old café? The menu, that’s what. It’s always new, changing with the seasons. Today one might try the seared duck breast or ratatouille lasagna, while six months ago the lamb meatloaf was the temptation of the moment.
Sure, it’s the kind of place ham-and-eggers will make fun of, scoffing at the prices and snickering at the notion of an “heirloom” tomato, but it’s hard to be the best restaurant in the area without a hint of snootiness. At least it’s a North Shore brand of foodie snootiness, where your flannel shirt and/or socks with sandals will fit in just fine.
Props must go out to the runners up in this poll, because the voting was close. New Scenic edged out Zeitgeist Arts Café by two percentage points, and Zeitgeist edged out Duluth Grill by three percentage points. A bit behind the top three, but still pulling nearly 15 percent of the vote, was Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar.
Duluth Demon
Just in time for Halloween the Duluth Demon emerges and has been seen lurking around UMD. It seems he was last seen terrorizing people in Bagley Park and has not broken character yet. An article from the UMD Statesman explains his presence. The demon can also be found on Facebook.
Jerry Polinsky tries his luck in Atlantic City
Related to Minnesota Woolen Mills posts on Perfect Duluth Day is this December 1978 Corporate Report article.
Jerry Polinsky Tries His Luck in Atlantic City
Considered ‘insolvent’ in Duluth, the former Minnesota Woolens executive is laying heavy bets along the Boardwalk …
By Charles I. Mundale
In early summer 1977, a new hotel corporation was formed in Atlantic City, N.J.
In late summer 1977, an old retailing company bellied up in Duluth, Minn. (more…)
Outside Duluth
PDD local hero Brian Barber designed the cover of my new book. I think he did a good job. It makes me look like I know what I’m doing. You can buy a copy of Outside Duluth online via most major book retailers at my webpage.
Best Twin Ports Dining Deal Rooms
Can the PDD faithful help me find some private dining “deal room” options in the Twin Ports?
I’m tapped out on my short list of places to broker deals with customers and vendors. I often need to have a quiet area for two to six people to conduct business over a working lunch.
Some deals are very casual and low key, some not as much. Some are software demos and require a screen and projector — these are not very high-brow affairs, so …
Serve me up some critiques on food, atmosphere, memorable experience and privacy please.
Fashion Wagon – Minnesota Woolen
A vintage flannel caught my eye this afternoon while taking a break from work and strolling into the Wise Buys thrift store in Bellingham, Wash. I was shocked to see “Duluth, Minnesota” on the tag. Does anyone know where this was located? I have never heard of it before.
A quick Google search shows the trademark was registered around 1960 and expired in 1987.
My arms are still itching from trying the shirt on.
A Case of Kid Cussedness from 1901
A Letter to the Editor at the Duluth News-Tribune on November 11, 1901:
I would respectively [sic] call the attention of the chief of police to an example of “Hoodlumism” on a street car in your city as I have never witnessed anywhere.
Surely the “kids” are under the surveillance of the police authorities, if the bums cannot be controlled.
Business relative to a burned building called me to Duluth Heights. When I returned to the city, just getting dark, half a dozen passengers came on the car; while passing a store, seven “kids” climbed aboard, and clear down to the incline gave such a specimen of cussedness that would never be tolerated on the Bowery.
Wrestling, scrapping, kicking and yelling, annoying all the passengers, even to insulting two women passengers by throwing one another’s dirty cans into the faces of the women!
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Seven Great Minnesota Fall Color Drives
Bob Berg wrote a great article in Lake Superior Magazine about “7 Great Fall Drives” to check out the changing colors. Let’s add to the list. What are some of your favorite Minnesota fall color drives in Duluth and along the South and North shores of Lake Superior? You can see the current fall color reports here.
I’ll start with the Temperance River road. The over-hanging canopy acts as a colorful tunnel as you make your way from Highway 61 north. You migth as well hit the Trestle Inn for a beer while your up in that area.
Perfect Duluth Soda?
So, I make Fizzy Waters a regular stop while I am in Canal Park, but it’s not the only place I get tasty sodas. (more…)
Duluth Playhouse Centennial Season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7G8i6dVbxs
The Duluth Playhouse is celebrating its 100th season in 2013-’14.
Closing Graffiti Graveyard?
The Minnesota Dept. of Transportation is posting no trespassing signs up at the entrance of graffiti graveyard.
The Nonchalant Jaunt and other 2003 stuff
The Perfect Duluth Day Archives for September 2003 feature a number of posts about the Nonchalant Jaunt, an event in which seven hearty PDDers walked the length of Duluth, from the Wabegon Supper Club in the Superior Township to the Lakeview Castle in the Duluth Township.
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Where in Duluth?
This is probably a gimmie this time of year, but it was so gorgeous I wanted to share it.
A “Noteworthy” call for poetry submissions
The Duluth Poet Laureate Committee is seeking submissions of poetry for a collaborative project entitled Noteworthy. Twelve area composers/songwriters will each select a poem to serve as the inspiration for an original piece of music. There will be a performance of the readings and the music in May 2014.
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