The Heavy Table

This story was originally published in the Nov. 11, 2022 edition of the Tap newsletter. We’re republishing it here upon the news that the B’beri Desserts founders are opening an Afro-Caribbean-inspired restaurant called Arch and River in the former Owamni space.

Food has an incredible potential to expand our perspectives and connect us across cultures. If that food happens to be ice cream from Milkjam Creamery? Even better. Each month, Milkjam creates four limited run flavors focused on a specific theme. April’s flavors commemorate National Arab American Heritage Month, a grassroots effort launched in 2017 to honor the achievements, contributions, and heritage of the United States’ Arab American community.

Natalie Champa Jennings / Heavy Table For nearly 20 years, Alemar Cheese has been a prestige brand in Minnesota specialty dairy, a small-batch cheese company whose products have made their way to some of the best restaurants and tables from coast to coast. Bent River Camembert may be the company’s best-known product, but over the years it has scored a number of other hits with cheeses like Blue Earth Brie and the funky Good Thunder. As of last Sunday, the brand and its cheeses are no more.

Editor’s Note: In the course of writing about a newly reissued beer, Louis Livingston-Garcia recounts abuse and trauma from his childhood and a battle with substance abuse. If these themes are disturbing to you, you may wish to skip this story.

PHOTOS BY BECCA DILLEY / ART BY WACSO (FILE) “It doesn’t matter if we are Latino or white Anglo-American or Somali or Black. We’re all affected by the military actions that the president is taking against, collectively, everybody here in Minnesota,” says Basim Sabri. Sabri owns and operates Minneapolis’s Karmel Mall and Plaza Mexico, respectively the largest Somali and Mexican shopping centers in the state. Although everyone may be affected, some neighborhoods are hit much, much harder than others.

Living in Minneapolis and watching our scene progress as it has, it’s easy to forget that progress marches forward in other places, too.

Why draw a line around cafes and breakfast spots? They’ve got a different vibe from bars and restaurants, and they’re serving a different part of the day – there’s something about walking the sidewalks and parking lots of Lyndale Avenue under a shining sun that really sets the experience apart from the nightlife portion of this crawl. Even within this category, though, there’s plenty of variety, from old-school American doughnuts to cutting edge coffee to Asian-inspired tea culture.

This massively caloric and reasonably expensive story is only possible thanks to the support of Heavy Table’s paying subscribers. If you don’t get the Heavy Table’s four monthly newsletters, subscribe to the magazine here and get in the loop. Cheers! When peanut butter and jelly first met, they thought they went together like hot dogs and baseball. In recent years, the modest ballpark frank has climbed off the roller, out of the tinfoil, and into the limelight.

Indigenous cuisine restaurant Owamni hasn’t been afraid to tweak their James Beard award-winning formula, with an evolving seasonal menu, a summertime snack stand, and last winter’s 13-course Waníyetu tasting menu (covered in the January 19, 2024 edition of the Tap). Owamni’s latest venture is the Turtle Island Dinner Series, an eight-course tasting menu the Heavy Table was invited to experience free of charge on opening night.

It’s always tricky to write about a brewery that takes over an existing space. (I wrote about it earlier, if you follow The Tulip and Schooner closely.) Brühaven opened in Loring Park in June, in the building that formerly housed Lakes & Legends. And if you ever went to Lakes & Legends, you’ll immediately make comparisons when you step into the taproom, which has been touched-up but still feels familiar. But it’s another story behind the bar and inside the brewhouse.