Whole Foods is coming downtown

​Whole Foods is opening a store downtown next year.

The store will open on the corner of Washington and Hennepin and will feature a separate liquor store for customers.

It's planned to be a 38,000-square-foot store, which means plenty of space for fresh foods for the health-crazed among us.

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What has happened to the talented staff since the Inn closed its doors?

​Certain restaurants create a mythology that lives on long after the lights have gone out. These restaurants become a symbol of a special place and time, a nostalgia that inspires late-night tales over too many cocktails of "Man, we really killed it." Restaurants like Auriga, Chet's Taverna, and the Town Talk. Hotbeds of talent that shined brightly and then were gone. A more recent entry into the local food lore is the Inn. Opened almost a year ago, serving comforting food with creative cocktails worth swooning over and a front-of-house staff trained to make each diner feel like one of an exclusive gang, it lasted for six months before closing so abruptly that the press knew before some of the staff.

As the year winds down, we caught up with a couple of these talented guys to see how they've been spending their nights.

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Lars Leetaru

Chris Kallal is a former reporter for Metromix and co-founder of Twincy.

​Almost two years after being charged, Twin Cities foodie Chris Kallal has been found guilty of stealing his ex-girlfriend's identity.

Kallal, the former Metromix reporter and co-founder of public relations firm Twincy, must pay $22,576 in restitution and serve up to five years of probation.

He was also sentenced to 120 days in the Hennepin County workhouse beginning this Thursday, which could be served through house arrest and work release, according to court records.

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Michelle Bruch

Chef Robin Johnson hosts a party for last night's television appearance.

​Our local Sweet Retreat chef Robin Johnson appeared as a contestant on the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars" last night, and she nearly took home the grand prize.

She says the show was an immense pressure-cooker.

"They kept handing me little pieces of Milky Ways, because I thought I was going to faint," she said. "They had to keep powdering my nose."

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Westword

Applebee's: Corporate posers

​The Simpsons famously asked, "If you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they gonna come from?"

Entertainment is built on stolen ideas, of course. But so, it seems, is the food industry, especially in recent years. Indie food trends--from food trucks to lobster rolls--aren't immune to being co-opted by big businesses. So we present four indie food trends stolen by chain restaurants and invite you to share others that come to mind.

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Will Steel Toe ever be able to start brewing?

​The state shutdown is preventing a new local brewery from opening for business.

KSTP reports that owner Jason Schoneman, an experienced brewer who has worked at various breweries around the country, just installed the boiler at his forthcoming Steel Toe Brewing in St. Louis Park, but a department of labor and industry inspector couldn't come out and license the machine before the shutdown.

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Brent Schoonover

The making of the Twin Cities Food Truck Map.

​City Pages Art Director Mike Kooiman was on FOX 9's Buzz Bash with Jason Matheson and Keith Marler this morning talking about our new Twin Cities Food Truck Map.

Kooiman explains how the site works and why it's a useful tool for tracking street eats. And the camera offers a sneak peak inside City Pages' Best Food Truck winner World Street Kitchen.

Check it out:

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​Every Twin Cities resident with taste buds can attest to the fact that we have one of the most vibrant and varied restaurant scenes in the country.  In fact, it may be a little too varied- How is a regular person supposed to be able to afford sampling from all of the amazing local eateries without busting their wallet?

Sites like Livingsocial, Groupon and Restaurant all help to make exploration and excitement less expensive.  It especially helps when they run offers like this!

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Brent Schoonover

Track this truck!

​Looking for an easy way to track your favorite food trucks in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul?

City Pages Art Director Mike Kooiman worked with local illustrator Brent Schoonover to create our Twin Cities Food Truck Map. It plots the regular haunts of popular street food vendors and offers quick linkage to their websites and twitter accounts for up-to-the-minute specifics on their current menus and coordinates.

Book mark the site for easy access and happy curbside eating!

www.mavericksroastbeef.com

The delicious meat sandwiches at Maverick's.

​Friday was a devastating day for Brett Hazlett of Maverick's Real Roast Beef restaurant in Roseville when his twin brother and restaurant co-owner, Bart, and two of Bart's children, were killed in an automobile collision near Lindstrom, Minnesota.

The Pioneer Press reports that Bart Hazlett, 52, was driving to a relative's graduation party with three of his children when another vehicle struck his and killed him along with children Olivia Ray, 11, and Roan Huy, 9, while Zoe Felix, 15, was hospitalized and in fair condition this weekend. Hazlett's wife and their fourth child, Jude, 12, had driven to the party in another car.

The driver of the other vehicle, Eileen Patricia O'Hara, 68, was hospitalized in serious condition. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.