If all proceeds as planned, Lincoln Park Café could open in the former Randy’s Café location as soon as next week.
Mike Delich said he hopes to have everything in order by then to open the rebranded diner at 2125 W. Superior St. in Duluth. He has owned the building for 35 years and ran the restaurant for 10 years when it was called 21st Delight.
Jeff Petcoff and Conor Maki – Photo by Lissa Maki
Corktown Deli and Brews is busy prepping for an early June opening. The fast-casual eatery in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District is inspired by the iconic sandwich traditions of New York City.
Fitger’s Brewhouse owner Rod Raymond told Fox 21 News this week he is handing his company’s beer recipes over to his son, who will establish a separate enterprise to produce the products for distribution statewide. Brewhouse beers sold at Fitger’s Brewhouse and other establishments owned by parent company Just Take Action will continue to be brewed separately at Fitger’s as always.
Beau Raymond’s new entity will be called Bold Brewing and will sell the Duluth Brewhouse brand through the Duluth distribution company Bernick’s to liquor stores and restaurants. Fitger’s Brewhouse has been unable to legally distribute its product or produce more than 3,500 barrels per year because it is considered a brewpub under state law.
The beards were polished and groomed at Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. last week. Earth Rider Brewery of Superior claimed a bronze award in the 2018 World Beer Cup, a global beer competition that evaluates beers from around the world.
Awards were given in 101 beer-style categories. Earth Rider award was in the Oatmeal Stout category for its North Tower Stout, an ale with malty accents of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit balanced with a restrained hop presence.
On April 26 at the Husky Energy Oil Refinery in Superior, public safety officials responding to a series of petroleum explosions that rocked the area were also concerned a tank holding 78,000 lbs. of hydrogen fluoride was going to explode. Being unfamiliar with this substance, perhaps as many of you were, I was compelled to explore the many wonders and uses of hydrogen fluoride.
Duluth was featured prominently in a CBS Sunday Morning story today. Correspondent Lee Cowan visited Bent Paddle, Loll/Epicurean and Cirrus.
After four months of locked doors, the Island Lake Inn is back open for business, under new management. The well-known bar and grill, located about 12 miles north of Duluth in the Gnesen Township, announced its return Monday on Facebook.
Construction is ready to begin at Irving Park in West Duluth. A news release from the city’s Parks and Recreation division specifies May 7 as the date KTM Paving, Inc. will launch the first phase of a $1.1-million revitalization plan.
Minnesota taxpayers might have wondered, while gazing at the State Election Campaign Fund portion of form M1, why there are two political parties dedicated to marijuana legalization. Is there some subset of beliefs that divide the parties to the point where they can’t work together? Does one party want cannabis legalized in a different way than the other?
The answer is neither.
Iron Mug Coffee and Ale House in Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood will close May 25 according to a post made on the business’ Facebook page today:
As most of you know we have decided to make the hard decision to close our wonderful restaurant. We have enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people in Morgan Park as well as all the people that drove out to check our place out. I’m so glad that I got to witness and be part of all the new friendships that developed here because that really was what this place was all about. Again thank you for all the support these last four years.
Chef Brian Udenberg
The new restaurant and music venue will also scale back its schedule of national musical acts to one or two per month, according to Cheryl Fosdick, Sound’s primary investor. Taking a cue from Minneapolis’ Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, the focus will be on genres complementary to a fine dining experience, such as folk, acoustic blues and jazz.
“The vision Chef Patrick had for the music had become larger than could be sustained at this time,” said Dennis Kempton, who handles public relations and marketing for Sound. Kempton noted the restaurant’s management is stepping back to refocus on the food and create a better balance with music that more fully aligns with its brand.
Sound is housed on the main level of 132 E. Superior St. in Duluth’s Old City Hall building. The establishment launched on Jan. 9 with a performance by G. Love. Touring acts like Dessa and Red Molly have also performed there, along with a number of local bands. Upcoming shows for May and June will feature the Bill Frisell trio and John McCutcheon, respectively.
MPPL Financial President Scott Wallschlaeger stands outside 309 W. Superior St., the old Zelda Theatre building.
The NorShor isn’t the only historic theater seeing a new life in downtown Duluth.
MPPL Financial purchased the former Zelda Theatre in December and plans to move its operations from a historic bank building in Proctor to 309 W. Superior St. this summer. Renovations are underway both inside the heavily altered building and outside on Superior Street, where the city of Duluth recently launched a major road reconstruction project.
The building had been home to Peterson Anderson Flowers since the 1980s.
According to the website cinematreasures.org, the Zelda Theatre was constructed in 1914. It was designed by architects Wangenstein and Guliuson for owner W.M. Abrahamson, who named the building after a daughter. A University of Minnesota Duluth Kathryn A. Martin Library photo shows the building once boasted a marble facade, a grand second story archway and 15-foot high pillars framing the entrance.
“Unfortunately, almost nothing is left of the original building,” said MPPL president Scott Wallschlaeger. “It’s really a shame because the front of the building was amazing.”
According to the Duluth history website zenithcity.com, the theater closed in 1927, becoming the Zelda Inn and later Boyce Drug Store.
April (and hopefully winter) is drawing to a close. How many of this month’s headlines do you remember? Test your smarts and quiz on!
The next PDD Quiz, on Duluthians and the movies, will be published on May 13. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 10.
Lake Superior Brewing is poised to begin distributing its line of craft beers in cans.
“We’re using a mobile canning operation, Lagersmith, that will come and set up right here in our brewery,” the brewery’s co-owner Lisa Blade said in a news release. “Cans are lighter, won’t break and can be crushed for easy pack out — plus, it was a great opportunity to refresh the brand art. The Mesabi Red cans will feature a beautiful laker on Superior.”
The first beers to be in cans will be the brewery’s best seller, Kayak Kölsch, and the return of Mesabi Red Ale, available for the first time in five years.
An event is planned in the brewery’s taproom on May 4 at 4 p.m. where the public can watch the Wild Goose MWC-250 mobile-canning line in action.
“I am lifting the evacuation order at 6 a.m. this morning,” Superior Mayor Jim Paine wrote on Facebook. “All indications are that the refinery site is safe and stable and the air quality is clean and normal. Welcome home.”
The city of Duluth has lifted last night’s precautionary shelter-in-place advisory for the western neighborhoods.
