Bachelor Farmer

Zen: like a leaf on the river

There are drink mixers, there are mixologists, there are bartenders, and then there is the masterful Pip Hanson of the Marvel Bar at the Bachelor Farmer. Nothing can come between him and his mission to mix the perfect coctail. Not even a shelf completely crumbling, taking with it glasses and expensive bottles of booze. Check out how the consummate professional observes utter chaos. Pip Hanson will not be deterred from drink service.

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National Jerky Day is June 12

In honor of National Jerky Day (that's today for those of you who didn't already have it on your calendar), Jack Link's, now one of the "fastest-growing meat snack manufacturers in the world," has created an all-jerky portrait of Sasquatch, the creature featured in its current ad campaign.

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It's 5 o'clock. Do you know where your steak is?

Hide your steaks, hide your chicken breasts: It appears the Windom neighborhood of southwest Minneapolis may have its very own Hamburglar.More »

​Everybody online today is enjoying the publication of The Greatest Restaurant Review Ever Written, a piece entitled "Long-awaited Olive Garden receives warm welcome" by Marilyn Hagerty of the Grand Forks Herald.

There are so many evocative parts of the review: The "two long, warm breadsticks," the raspberry lemonade that is proffered but rejected in favor of water. The understated yet wistful tone is reminiscent of a William Carlos Williams poem.

So far, the Olive Garden review has been tweeted over 6,800 times, and Liked on Facebook 4,477 times. The editors at the Grand Forks Herald are scrambling to assemble an article on the outsized reaction for tomorrow's paper, but in the meantime, we called Marilyn Hagerty to get her response to the sudden Internet fame.

UPDATE: I'd like to make clear that I didn't intend to come off as disrespectful in this post. The reason I asked about the lemonade and the breadsticks is because so many of her readers seemed to enjoy those lines in her review and I wanted to get the back story. I'm a fan of Marilyn and her work--I really do think she has a brilliant voice, both in print and on the phone--and I apologize if my enthusiasm seemed sarcastic rather than genuine.

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Olive Garden

Yes, it has black olives

​After a great run writing reviews for City Pages, I will probably need to tender a letter of resignation because Marilyn Hagerty, Eatbeat columnist for Grand Forks Herald, just won restaurant reviewing. Forever.More »

Cooking with Katniss!

​Never has the adult world gone so over the top rabid for a young adult book trilogy.  Except maybe that one other time with the Mormon-inspired sparkly people.  But as the movie for theHunger Games, the first installment of Suzanne Collins' trilogy about a dystopian future approaches and the media surrounding it whips expectant viewers into an unsightly froth, we noticed an interesting food-related trend.

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Tony Nelson

Too lazy to show up in person?

​Even a relatively normal-for-January snowfall like yesterday's six inches can make the basics like getting to work and hitting up the grocery store seem like gargantuan tasks. Which is why a service like newcomer Minneapolis Restaurant Connection suddenly seems like the best idea in the world: Simply pop on their website, put together an order from one of the restaurants on offer, and the food comes to you. More »

ewan and donnabel/flickr

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Remy Mumby is a little different than other kids. On his website, foododdities, the fifth-grade boy from Lansing, Michigan, eats all sorts of gross things while sitting in his parents' living room and looking directly into the camera.

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