DULUTH.com Jan/Feb 2019

HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH

RACHELLE RAHN BREWS UP DULUTH’S OWN KOMBUCHA

PG. 8

INSIDE:

GET HOOKED ON VEGAN

FOOD AT THE JUICE PHARM

DONATIONS, VOLUNTEERS

REVITALIZE GARY-NEW DULUTH

DOVETAIL CAFÉ AND MARKETPLACE

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to our readers

You are currently holding in your hot little hands the food — and, well, drink — issue of Duluth.com magazine. It is, dare we say, a bu et of fun content ranging from the science of chocolate to the artists who provide the soundtrack to your meal. Rachelle Rahn describes a SCOBY as a “pal and con dant,” and talks about Duluth Kombucha’s Sustainability Sundays. In his Plated column, food reviewer Dennis Kempton considers a second piece of quiche from Dovetail Café. Desiree Jenkins of Juice Pharm, Duluth’s rst 100 percent vegan restaurant, says that “you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy a delicious plant-based meal.” She recommends the shop’s gateway juice, the Gold Tonic. So do we.

So re up the dinner bell, tuck that napkin into your shirt and dig in, readers.

CONTRIBUTORS

Clint Austin

Tony Bennett

Valerie Coit

Samantha Erkkila

Beverly Godfrey

Justin Hayworth

Jana Hollingsworth

Brooks Johnson

Melinda Lavine

Christa Lawler

David Ballard Photography

Dennis Kempton

Steve Kuchera

Kathleen Murphy

Brady Slater

Michelle Truax

Nadine Yang

SWEET SCIENCE

UMD CHOCOLATE LAB ENGAGES STUDENTS THROUGH THEIR TASTE BUDS

BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

Chocolate makes everything better. Even … chemical engineering?

“Absolutely,” said Richard Davis, who heads the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. “Chocolate makes the chemical engineering process relatable to students.”

From this thought came the development of the chocolate lab at . It all began about five years ago, when yndon Ramrattan, a lab coordinator in the chemical engineering department, returned from a visit to his native Trinidad, one of two islands that make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. His family owns a cocoa bean plantation on the island, and Ramrattan frequently could be found enjoying a cup of cocoa tea. An uncommon drink here in the orthland, he fielded a lot of uestions about the drink and wanted to share, returning from a visit with a bag of cocoa beans.

It did not take long for Ramrattan and associate professor Steve Sternberg to realize that bag of beans was the answer to a problem they’d been having: How does one demonstrate chemical engineering concepts to new students in an engaging way? “In other words,” said Davis, “How do we help freshmen understand what chemical engineering is all about and keep them interested?”

Prior to opening the chocolate lab, they had been attempting to interest students in chemical engineering by using more traditional chemical engineering processes, such as making ethanol and creating liquid distillation columns. “They may be traditional,” said Davis, “but they’re not very engaging. You can’t sample the product you spent all that time making, for example. They were finding that freshman and sophomores in particular were losing interest and leaving the field.

That all changed with the development of the chocolate lab. The lab has its own permanent space on campus, where students can engage in a real-world example of chemical engineering concepts.

Every class in the chemical engineering curriculum touches back on the chocolate lab at some point. The chocolate-making process is broken down into easily defined steps and explored, depending on the subject matter of the class. Every step of the process is researched, from the chemical changes that take place when the raw cocoa beans are roasted, to what happens to the chemical composition of the chocolate when it solidifies in a tar ars illennium Falcon mold.

It is easier for students to understand the process when the subject is something as common and universally loved as chocolate, versus gasses they had never heard of before

entering the program. The students eventually do get into other processes, but it is the chocolate lab that ties them together throughout their time at UMD.

What happens to all that chocolate? Right now, it is simply kept by the students who make it, or shared amongst the lucky staff and students. Since the chocolate is not made in a kitchen that is approved for

commercial use, the chocolate cannot be sold or distributed.

“We would love to have a full kitchen someday,” said Valerie Coit, communication specialist for UMD’s Swenson College of Science and Engineering. “It would be so enriching to see the chocolate lab grow into a resource for the community.” Students are already researching how to make chocolate

that is low in sugar content and can be enjoyed by people who have diabetes, as well as an edible chocolate that does not contain any milk products for those who are lactose-intolerant. Both products involve chemical engineering principles and processes, and both show a clear idea of how chemical engineering affects real-world people and problems that need to be

Chocolate in all shapes and sizes is available to sample at the chocolate lab at the University of Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 21. The chocolates were made by students in the department of chemical engineering in an e ort to study chemical engineering concepts.

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

Cocoa beans from Trinidad are on display Nov. 21, prior to any processing. The beans taste like chocolate, but without the sweet aspect.

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

UMD science students

Madeleine Ogren (left) and Tayler Hebner make chocolate at the school this fall.

PHOTO BY NADINE YANG

Chocolate makes the chemical engineering process relatable to students.

overcome and solved.

“Of course, there are a lot of other aspects to making chocolate besides engineering and science,” Davis said. “There is also the economic and social aspects, the ideas of fair trade and importing. We want our students to see the big picture behind what they are making.”

In that pursuit, Davis, Ramrattan and their colleagues in the department are working on expanding the chocolate lab even past the Twin Ports. In the spring of 2020, up to 24 students will depart for a study abroad trip to Trinidad. The trip will be centered on learning more about the chemical

engineering process behind chocolate, but will be open to all UMD students. In Trinidad, the students will see in person the entire process of creating chocolate treats, from the harvest of cocosa beans to end production.

Everything from the lab to the study abroad trip is meant to pique and maintain interest in a career in chemical engineering. “Chocolate is accessible,” Davis said. “It helps to integrate the ideas of chemical engineering together in a fun way.” ❖

Kathleen Murphy is a freelance journalist who lives and works in Duluth.

Associate professor Steve Sternberg helps produce chocolate at the University of Minnesota Duluth with students Tayler Hebner (left) and Madeleine Ogren.

PHOTO BY VALERIE COIT

Q A& RACHELLE RAHN

BREWING UP DULUTH’S OWN KOMBUCHA

BY CHRISTA LAWLER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID BALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Rachelle Rahn

is the SCOBYhandler behind Duluth Kombucha, one of a few local large-scale brewers of fermented tea. In addition to what works and doesn’t work alongside celeriac, Rahn teaches at Duluth Folk School, site of her ’booch bar. The self-described DIYer talked to Duluth.com magazine about the sustainability tips she posts on her Facebook page and experimenting with SCOBY soap.

Rachelle Rahn slices watermelon to avor a batch of kombucha.

Dr. Amanda Webb St. Luke’s Pediatric Associates

Dr. Like He St. Luke’s Medical Arts Clinic

Lisa Hebl, PA St. Luke’s Lester River Medical Clinic

Did you nd kombucha, or did kombucha nd you?

A few years ago, I was working 60-90 hours a week and was going months without taking a day off. Inevitably, I was sick all of the time. y body was basically screaming, lease rest y partner introduced me to kombucha as a means of feeling better, and I was hooked after the first sip. I love craft beer, specifically sour ales, and so the tartness of kombucha drew me right in. eing a I -er, I started researching what it was and how I could make it at home. rom there, I started posting my excess batches to friends and family on acebook and before I knew it, strangers were asking for my kombucha. It naturally evolved from there.

What does the local kombucha scene look like?

I think that the local kombucha scene is at a pivotal point right now. There s myself, The nooty ox as well as a number of options from the Twin ities, like eane s ombucha, and so many others popping up throughout isconsin. eane s ombucha has been an inspiration for me as ryan ( eane) got started many years ago before it was hip, and I view him as a pioneer, especially in our local kombucha scene. ven ust a few years ago, kombucha options in our local stores were few and far

between with T s being the only brand you could find, if any at all. ow when I walk into the ( hole oods) o-op, it s like hristmas morning with so many options It s inspiring to see the creativity and gumption from so many local brewers.

You’re known for interesting avor combos. What has been your biggest avor victory?

I love to buy ingredients that I ve never worked with or might not even know how to pronounce and throw them in a kombucha. y favorite creation from this erratic process is lackberry eleriac. It s sweet and earthy at the same time A customer favorite is blueberry ginger by far. This year, I m going to try to sneak some urdock oot in there, too.

What doesn’t work as a kombucha avor?

Well, I took my newfound love for celeriac root a little too far. I thought an nlighten-mint flavor with celeriac root, spirulina and spearmint would be the bee s knees. The celeriac took over the whole flavor profile, and the spirulina didn t help the cause by turning the kombucha swamp green in color. It was not a very enlightened flavor choice.

Rachelle Rahn holds a SCOBY, which is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. It’s key to creating the fermented drink kombucha.

Tell us about the SCOBY. What does it feel like, smell like, do they ever wear out? And then, what do you do with them?

Ah, the is a pal and a confidant. is an acronym for ymbiotic ulture of acteria and east. Also referred to as the mother or less flattering terms such as, the weird alien-looking thing. Although not aesthetically pleasing, she s responsible for turning plain old sweet tea into bubbly, tart, delicious kombucha. They feel slippery and s uishy and have a pungent vinegar smell. It s like something you d expect to see as a prop on the set of an alien movie. ( ee, I m really selling my product here.) A healthy culture can continue to live on for years. uring each brew cycle, the self-propagates, creating a new . I m currently experimenting with a few different uses for my retired mamas, such as A (cold-process soap made with s) and fruit leathers. They re also great for kick-starting compost piles. There s even a new fashion movement coming out of using s to create sustainable clothing. I ll leave that one to the professionals, but wouldn t mind having a dress made by acha Laurin!

Has kombucha been a gateway to other fermentation projects?

I like to think that I ve been able to keep it under control. I ve experimented with fermented watermelon rinds, and (this) year am hoping to ferment everything in my garden. As I typed that, I reali ed how not-under-control it is. here there s counter space, there s fermentation space

You’ve started posting Sustainable Sunday tips for better, more environmentally-minded pro-activity. What else do you see the Duluth Kombucha brand taking on in the next months, years?

This winter, uluth ombucha will be hosting monthly ip, ip, nit meetings, which will serve as a gathering place for local knitters and crocheters to come together and fabricate hats, mittens and blankets for those in need. I ll also be teaching more workshops on how to brew your own kombucha at home, as well as having regular open hours at my studio inside the uluth olk chool. As far as long-term, I m beyond thrilled for uluth ombucha to have a stand-alone kombuchery. It ll be uluth s only dedicated non-alcoholic tap bar. A place where families and individuals can have a flight of kombucha, take a yoga class, tour the kombuchery, and take home a growler of booch. There will also be a small retail shop on-site supplying local and handmade goods related to fermentation and sustainability. In addition to displaying local artwork for sale, local music will be hosted on a regular basis. uluth ombucha looks forward to creating a sustainable, inclusive and vibrant space for and with our community. ❖

Rachelle Rahn

VEGAN FOOD FOR ALL

JUICE PHARM OWNERS SAY THEY DIDN’T MEAN TO SNEAK UP ON PEOPLE

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

The owners of Duluth’s Juice Pharm, Giselle Hernandez and Desiree Jenkins, didn’t intend to take their customers by surprise.

ut when the Twin orts first percent vegan restaurant comes to town and is not advertised as such, a few people are bound to get hooked by accident.

e ve discovered over the years that some people are turned off by the word vegan, enkins said. hich is a shame, because you don t have to be vegan to en oy a delicious plant-based meal.

Many of the food items on the menu at the Juice Pharm are obviously plant-based, such as the uices, smoothies and salads. But it is not uncommon for customers to order something like a gyro plate or tacos and find out after

they finished that the meal contained no meat. They both told the story about one customer in particular who came in for lunch multiple times before it dawned on him that there was no meat in his favorite taco plate. e almost didn t believe us when we told him, ernande said.

Hernandez started the Juice Pharm out of her home in uluth in by supplying customers with freshlypressed, raw uices. riginally, she focused on selling uice as a preventative type of food, a way to help people fight disease and remain healthy. As business grew, she moved into the Endion Station in Canal Park, then downtown to the ed erring, where she began experimenting with smoothies and smoothie bowls in addition to the uices.

Desi Jenkins, co-owner of the Juice Pharm, holds an Al Green smoothie at the downtown Juice Pharm location on Aug. 15. With her is employee Brad Minor, holding a Dragon Bowl, a smoothie bowl made with dragon fruit, watermelon and pineapple.

Smoothie bowls are similar to a smoothie that one would drink with a straw, but are thicker and usually include toppings such as fresh fruit slices, granola and honey.

Jenkins joined Hernandez in the business in 2016, and in early 2017, they moved into their present location under Anytime Fitness on East Superior Street. Business immediately boomed, and they were able to branch off from uices and smoothies into real, plant-based meals such as soups, salads and taco plates.

hen they first opened their ast nd location, they joked about opening a second store. “We were just so busy, the idea seemed ridiculous,” Hernandez said. A year later, the joke turned into reality, and their second location opened downtown in the skywalk. In their year at the East End location, they discovered they missed their downtown customers who had grown to rely on them for their morning smoothies and lunch breaks. The downtown location opened in June 2018 and is located across from Minnesota Power in the skywalk.

The downtown location doesn’t serve the same hot dishes that the East End location serves, instead focusing on their signature juices, smoothies and smoothie bowls. The downtown location also has a cooler filled with “grab-and-go” items, some items made by the Juice Pharm, such as ready-to-go raw juices, some made by Ellen Vaagen, a vegan chef from Duluth. Customers can grab lunch-size servings of Vaagen’s Fleetwood Macaroni Salad or Spring Rolls with Thai Chili. Everything in the downtown location is priced under $10, with most items hitting the $4-$7 range.

They try to stay active in other areas of the community as well. They like to support businesses that fit their health model, such as donating a growler of juice to the weekly Jessica Rossing Fitness run club. “After a run, your body can feel dehydrated,” Jenkins said. “A watermelon-cucumber juice can really replenish and fuel the body after a workout.” The Juice Pharm is often found serving food and juice at events around the area, such as the recent Femn Fest in downtown Duluth.

If there is one thing both woman want people to know about their business, it’s that vegan foods don’t have to be scary. “We’re just being creative with healthy, plant-based foods,” Jenkins said. She encouraged people who are curious about plant-based foods to go to the East End location and try the Mexicali tacos, which are packed with flavor and feature a walnut-based meat substitute.

Juice Pharm co-owner Giselle Hernandez (left) prepares a smoothie while employee Jesse Hattan prepares an acai bowl on Aug. 17. Acai bowls are a popular smoothie bowl topped with fruit, granola and honey.

or a first-timer trying out freshly-pressed raw uice, go to either location and try the old Tonic. ernande calls it a good opener for a person who is new to uicing, because it tastes like an elevated orange uice. It has extra ingredients, like carrots and turmeric, but they don t overwhelm the flavor. If a fresh smoothie seems more your style, try the Al reen, a green smoothie named after the American singer and

IF YOU GO

JUICE PHARM — EAST END

12 S. 15th Ave. E.

songwriter known as The ast of the reat oul ingers.

If you re new to green things, ernande said, you ll be shocked at how you can t even taste the greens in this smoothie. It s a good introduction to healthier foods.

hen asked if they have faced any obstacles as a woman and minorityowned business in uluth, ernande and enkins had different reactions to the uestion, but similarly positive

answers. I never even thought about it that way, enkins said. or me, I think it was ust about having the confidence to move forward that was important.

e ve never encountered a negative reaction, ernande said. uluth loves a woman-owned business. I feel so supported here. ❖

Serves raw juices, smoothies, hot meals and salads.

Open Tuesday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Saturday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

JUICE PHARM — DOWNTOWN

31 W. Superior St. – in the Skywalk

Serves raw juices, smoothies and grab-and-go lunches

Open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday

The Juice Pharm o ers several quick "grab and go" o erings at both locations. Customers can grab ready-made juices and food items made by the Juice Pharm, as well as vegan o erings provided by Ellen Vaagen.

Kathleen Murphy is a freelance journalist who lives in Duluth.

The Juice Pharm location at 12 S. 15th Ave. E. in Duluth is in the same building as Anytime Fitness.

PLATED

DOVETAIL PILES ON THE CHARM, CHOICES IN LINCOLN PARK

BY DENNIS KEMPTON

There has long been a rivalry between east and west ends of the city, but as far as food and culture go, the burgeoning Lincoln Park neighborhood of our fair city is giving downtown a run for its money — and not ust in the figurative sense.

In ctober, ovetail af arketplace opened up in the space occupied by uluth olk chool at . uperior t. The name was inspired by the dovetail oint that brings things together in carpentry. It s a fitting name, considering the space also serves nearly instructors and offers classes for aspiring artisans.

1917 W. Superior St.

(218) 481-7888

Find them online on Facebook

Dovetail Café & Marketplace shares space with Duluth Folk School on West Superior Street in Lincoln Park.

PHOTOS BY DENNIS KEMPTON

The dining room at Dovetail Café a ords customers a view of the developing revival of the Lincoln Park neighborhood through large store-front windows.

The building’s facade is colorful and inviting. It even looks hand-crafted. And when you walk in, it’s spacious and unstructured. The café occupies the right side of the building, where an amusing and charming wood cabin within the space features seating for people to gather for food, coffee, beer and conversation. r, you can tuck into a seat at tables forward of the bar, situated to give you clear views from the large storefront windows on Superior Street.

The staff were friendly. And I was hungry. Usually, I do some prep work before I show up anywhere. Dovetail doesn’t yet have a bona fide website or a menu anywhere online, and I hope that gets sorted out quickly. The café’s early popularity was a draw for me, naturally. Word-of-mouth marketing is a formidable force, but some people like to do some online peeking about before committing to a new place.

So, I stood at the counter, quickly checking out the menu. What I love about Duluth’s restaurant and café scene lately is the intrepid leap into taking traditional plates a step higher on the culinary scale. The menu offers the usual fast, casual coffee shop food you’d expect: sandwiches, salads, soups and baked goods — all prepared on site and, when possible, sourced locally. A selection of local beer, naturally, graces the menu.

Service was friendly and prompt. Before me were three plates and a 10-ounce pour of Earth Rider’s Cranbecrush.

I tucked directly into the quiche of the day, made with roasted red peppers. Delicious. The crust, house-made, is buttery, flaky and light. The filling was beautifully made and well-seasoned. The secret to a great quiche is heavy cream. A heavy cream makes a light quiche. This was good stuff and ust enough of a serving to tempt me to order up another.

Press-grilled sandwiches are standard café fair. Dovetail serves up a few, and its bacon, apple and mozzarella sandwich with caramelized onions on sourdough has a lot of potential. o wouldn t be my first choice to pair with apples. The sandwich would taste amazing with some creamy Gruyere or even cheddar to complement the sweetness of apples. The sandwich is filling, though, and served with kettle chips. The apples are ust crisp enough. ith the cranberry ale, it’s a great lunch option.

Dovetail Café's vegetarian quiche with roasted red pepper is one of the several breakfast options on the menu.

PHOTOS BY DENNIS KEMPTON

The interior of Duluth Folk School incorporates a cozy cabin within the building for Dovetail Café customers.

Dovetail Café serves a variety of specialty sandwiches including their bacon, apple and mozzarella on a sourdough baguette.

I ordered the vegetarian banh mi, and found myself facing the issue where restaurants run into problems when modifying sandwiches to serve vegetarians. I love a traditional banh mi, and it’s a delicious example of Vietnamese street food. But it’s meant to have meat on it, usually pork or paté. Strongly marinated vegetables — daikon, carrots, onions, with a hint of sweetness — are meant to blend with savory meat and bread. Personally, I don’t think it should be adapted to vegetarian fare, but if you’re going to do it, make something meaty for it. Use seitan or tofu, or even a plant-based pate or a thickly grilled mushroom.

My sandwich was marinated vegetables and bread. While the baguette was crisp and held up well with the wet ingredients inside, it missed the mark of being a banh mi. Restaurants should know that not everything is a successful modification for vegetarians. The café has a delicious selection of salads already. Let banh mi be banh mi.

I love cafés. And I love the ambition and mission of Dovetail Café. It’s an essentially Duluth kind of place, marrying the creative arts with a gathering spot for tempting food, fresh coffee, local ales and the din of friendly banter. It s a definite breakfast or lunch spot worth the dive to a neighborhood being restored and revived. There’s civic pride in that. And the menu is a developing diamond. v

Dennis Kempton is a Duluth-based freelance arts and culture writer.

A banh mi sandwich made with sriracha tofu aioli and mushrooms marinated in a soy ginger sauce is one of the items on the Dovetail Café & Marketplace menu.

Dovetail Café's selection of baked goods includes vegan options baked in-house.

PHOTO BY DENNIS KEMPTON

DULUTH RELICS THE HUIE LEGACY

CHINESE CUISINE HAS A LONG HISTORY IN DULUTH

BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

One would have to go back a long time to remember when a member of the Huie family didn’t have a restaurant in Duluth. It’s possible, in fact, that no one is left in Duluth who remembers that day.

The Huie legacy goes back even further than most realize. Most Duluthians remember the Chinese Lantern, a famous Duluth landmark and tourist destination in its own right. Many remember even further back to Joe Huie’s Café, a small diner on the corner of Lake Avenue and Michigan Street — where the Minnesota Power Building stands now.

The Huies were making their presence known in the Twin Ports even earlier than that. There is some debate as to when oe uie first immigrated to Duluth, with dates ranging from 1909 to 1925, but there is no doubt he came to Duluth from China to work for a relative who owned and operated a downtown Duluth restaurant called the St. Paul Restaurant.

By 1951, Joe Huie was ready to open his own establishment. Joe Huie served both American food and Chinese food, but the most famous dish was the umbo butterfly shrimp. It could be purchased with fried rice, but since Huie knew some of his customers weren’t yet ready for

such an exotic food item, the shrimp could also be purchased with a side of French fries and gravy.

Sharon Pearson of Superior still has a menu from the café. Her husband was childhood friends with former Duluth mayor Gary Doty, and the two of them met at Joe Huie’s Café often. It was thought to be the first -hour restaurant in town, and was definitely the only at the time of its operation. “We never close, lost key,” claimed a sign hung outside oe uie s af . It was definitely a stereotypical -hour diner, earson said. “It was kind of run down and greasy looking, but it was always busy.”

The inside of a menu from Joe

Café includes co ee for 15 cents. But a warning printed on the menu stated “Minimum order of 25¢ to anyone occupying a seat.”

Huie’s

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

Joe Huie’s Café closed when the Metropole Hotel next door was demolished. Fans of the food weren’t left craving, as his son Wing Ying Huie had already opened the Chinese Lantern on the corner of Superior Street and 4th Avenue West (where Maurice’s Headquarters stands now). Departing from the diner model, the Chinese Lantern was meant to be a fine dining establishment, a place locals and travelers would seek out.

till serving the popular butterfly shrimp, the restaurant served both American and Chinese food. Some people remember the Americanstyle hamburgers with fondness, others the egg foo young. When the restaurant outgrew its Superior Street location, it moved into the Duluth Athletic Club Building up the avenue on First Street and opened the Brass Phoenix Nightclub upstairs.

It was a heyday for the popular Duluth restaurant. Paul Lundgren, president (or as he prefers to be called, the Grand Poobah) of the local website Perfect Duluth Day, remembers how popular the restaurant and nightclub both were. “One of the best things about turning was I was finally able to get into the dry nights at the Brass Phoenix,” Lundgren said. “I was very excited about it, but I don’t actually remember being in the nightclub, only standing in the stairwell waiting to get in.” Lundgren still possesses a T-shirt from the Lantern/Phoenix.

Hockey teams that came to town to play the UMD Bulldogs made a point eating at the Chinese Lantern. Celebrity photos graced the walls, such as Walter Mondale, Jay Leno and Bob Hope. People around the Twin Ports celebrated date nights and special events at the Lantern. Customers celebrating their birthday at the Lantern were even sent home with a special gift, a birthday teapot. Sue Haver of Superior still owns her teapot, as well as a highball glass, a matchbook, and a set of stir sticks. “The Lantern was a great place to eat,” Haver said. “It was so fancy, and the staff went out of their way to make all the diners feel important.”

The fried shrimp recipe from the Huie family is still going strong at Huie’s Chopsticks Inn in Duluth. It is now called “Joe Huie’s Shrimp with french fries” and found on the American Cuisine portion of the menu. They use the same recipe that both Chinese Lantern and Joe Huie’s Café used.

Paul Lundgren, who operates the website Perfect Duluth Day, displays the T-shirt he still owns from the Chinese Lantern/Brass Phoenix. He said he believes the shirt was one given to his brother when he played softball for a sponsored team.

Stir sticks and a matchbook from the Chinese Lantern/ Brass Phoenix. These relics were owned by Sue Haver of Superior.

Workers were busy Monday, Jan. 17, 1994, removing heavy items from the smoking remains of the Chinese Lantern after a Sunday re destroyed the building.

< Sue Haver obtained this teapot as a birthday gift from the Chinese Lantern. Many people on an online Duluth memories forum remembered and still had these teapots. Haver also owns a highball glass from the Chinese Lantern.

A Lakehead Sign Co. worker takes down the Chinese Lantern sign on Sept. 29, 1994.

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO BY DAVID BALLARD

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE FILE

PHOTO BY CHARLES CURTIS

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN MURPHY

The Chinese Lantern was still riding high when disaster struck. The rass hoenix caught fire on an. 16, 1994, during a record cold night, destroying the Phoenix and severely damaging the Chinese Lantern. Lisa Anderson of Duluth remembers the date well — it was the night she gave birth to her first child. I was a little busy with other things,” Anderson said, laughing, but I remember a nurse coming in and telling us that the hinese antern was on fire, and everyone in the room except me ran to the window.”

Anderson gave birth to a healthy boy named Grady, but she did lament the loss of the Lantern. She and her husband had spent many date nights there, and had even held their rehearsal dinner at the Lantern the night before their wedding.

The Huie family decided not to rebuild after the fire, instead taking the opportunity to retire. Duluth was not left Huie-less, however. Soon after the fire, uie nephew ing uie and his wife, Lee, opened Huie’s hopsticks Inn on ourth treet and 5th Avenue East. There it remains to this day, with Huie and family still offering the same deep-fried butterfly shrimp recipe — amongst other favorites — to a grateful Twin Ports. ❖

Kathleen Murphy is a freelance writer who lives and works — and enjoys the food scene — in Duluth.

Acting Fire Chief Dan Haus emerges from the main oor of the Chinese Lantern after an early morning re heavily damaged the building in January 1994.

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO BY DAVID BALLARD

NEIGHBORHOODS

WITH THE HELP OF DONATIONS & VOLUNTEERS, GROUP REVAMPS

GARY NEW DULUTH REC CENTER

BY TONY BENNETT PHOTOS BY DAVID BALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Over the past decade or so, the Duluth recreationcenter landscape has noticeably changed. In places like Irving Park and Memorial Park, once-bustling community centers have been razed, leaving people in the area without buildings in which to gather. In other places, budgets have been cut, and upkeep has lagged. Much of this stemmed from the economic realities after the reat ecession of , and its effects are still being felt throughout the community.

In Gary-New Duluth, though, there’s been a concerted effort in recent years by that community to take matters into their own hands and make their recreation center better and better all the time. It’s been a campaign that has raised a great deal of money, and it’s attracted laborers of all kinds who have donated time and materials to revitalize the rec center. The Gary New Duluth Development Alliance is the organization spearheading the project, and they’ve already made great strides, building new soccer fields and sport courts, a performance pavilion, a dog park and more. The near future will bring the construction of a state-of-the-art skateboard park.

Amira Berhane chases Gary New Duluth Recreation Center sta member Andrew Lundberg in a eld at the center.

Gary New Duluth Recreation Center sta member Sara Eder laughs as she watches Jasmine Martin form circles with her ngers.

Gary New Duluth Recreation Center sta member Andrew Lundberg watches over kids playing in the new GaGa Ball pit.

It’s been a huge undertaking, but it’s been done with love and care by people who want to see their community provided with opportunities for enrichment.

Fran Morris is a board member with the GNDDA. “I grew up in Gary-New Duluth,” she said. “I went to Stowe school. Upon retirement, I knew I wanted to give back to the community.” She went to an early meeting of the nascent GNDDA about four years back, and she was immediately inspired to sign on.

“I’ve been involved with all the fundraising — we’ve had two ma or ra e fundraisers where we brought in $30,000 for one of them and $15,000 for the other one,” Morris said. “I’ve done a lot of events at the recreation center. I’m always looking for ways to fund this project. Right now, we’ve got about $2.4 million dollars (in work) done and paid for. We

don’t owe anybody money.”

She described the strides that have been made as “massive,” and she said that the Duluth business community has been “beyond generous.”

“The things that have been donated — our building’s been completely remodeled,” Morris said. “We’ve got a new HVAC system with air-conditioning. All new windows. Flooring. The list goes on and on.”

The GNDDA even has recycled materials from another notable area building. “We have to turn a nickel into a dime,” Morris said. “We went up to Central High School, and we took things out of there. We took sinks, cabinets, changing tables — we scrounged. We framed up the windows with salvaged wood.”

“The unions in town have been fabulous with helping us out,” Morris said. “When we built our new performance

Mark Boben and Fran Morris, members of the Gary New Duluth Development Alliance, stand inside the Gary New Duluth Rec Center. Tha GNDDA has been instrumental in getting the recreation area near Stowe Elementary School developed into an area for kids to play and hang out.

A sign that hangs in the Gary New Duluth Recreation Center depicts the values they try to instill in kids as they come into the center.

pavilion, they sent a journeyman and two or three apprentices, so we didn’t have to pay that cost.”

Mark Boben is board chair and project director of the GNDDA. He, too, is originally from Gary, and he went away for 30 years before returning upon his retirement. Like Morris, his interests are in giving back to the community that fostered him as a youth. “We had the old shack, when I was a kid,” he said. “We’d go there for baseball and hockey. Back in 2009, the city was in dire straits and shut down a lot of the recreation areas.” In the aftermath of this, the GNDDA was founded, community meetings were held, and Boben got a strong sense that there was a desire for the Gary rec center to be nurtured.

“The community’s in transition,” Boben said. “A lot of the elderly folks are passing. They’re selling their homes. We’ve got young families coming in. We have Stowe Elementary School there. We really wanted to help and work with the community to

strengthen the social fabric.”

Boben remembers hearing early comments that suggested that the City of Duluth should foot the bill for any improvement projects. “If we want it, we’ve got to do it ourselves,” was Boben’s response, he said. “The community — the greater Duluth community — has gotten behind us to make this the success that it’s become. We live in such a giving community. It’s humbling. There are so many good people and businesses. It’s been fabulous.”

The A s efforts have dovetailed with the vision behind the St. Louis River Corridor project. “We were named one of the four major parks” in that area, Boben said. “That made us eligible to get half a million dollars of tourism tax. But, to qualify for that, we had to raise matching funds, and we were able to do that in cash and in-kind contributions from the business community. We’re the only one of those four major parks that has done that.”

“It’s been really satisfying,” Morris said. “There’s almost a renaissance going on in the Western part of town, starting with Lincoln Park.” For her, the GNDDA’s work has been “something positive that I can feel like I gave back.”

“Our philosophy has been to under-promise and over-deliver,” Boben said. “I think what we’ve done has clearly demonstrated that. It’s demonstrated the competency of our organization and our board of directors. We feel good about what we’ve accomplished to date, and about our plans for the future.”

In addition to the new skate park, improvements are planned for the site’s parking lot, and an LED sign and a gazebo will be added. “We need to continue to raise cash,” Boben said. “But, also, we need additional support from the private sector to provide materials and labor.”

While there is much work to be done, the GNDDA’s existing achievements are ones that the folks in that group are quite proud of. “It’s been absolutely fabulous,” said Boben. “It’s humbling.” ❖

For more information, visit gnd.community online.

Tony Bennett is a Duluth freelance writer and entertainment critic.

Kobe Roner and Jacob Lester play with Legos at the Gary New Duluth Recreation Center.

A LITTLE DINNER MUSIC

MUSICIANS FACE SPECIAL CHALLENGES WHEN PERFORMING IN RESTAURANTS

BY TONY BENNETT

The thing about being a musician is, there are different types of gigs. ot every show is one where you re on a stage with good sound, playing to a rapt audience that hangs on your every word — in fact, even for established performers, shows can sometimes be challenges where a particular approach has to be taken. There s no handbook for this stuff.

laying music to an audience who isn t necessarily there for you is a common thing, and it often occurs in an environment where dining is the main focus. It s not easy to transition from playing for people who want to hear you to playing your music for people who are there to eat while you ply your trade in the background.

usician (and former uluthian) ary ue has played hundreds of shows over the years, and she admits it s still a challenge to perform in a situation that isn t centered around music.

I once played at a pub full of Packers fans eating burgers and fries on a unday, ue said. I was supposed to perform outside as part of a series, but it was only degrees out, so it was brought indoors. I was asked to play as soon as overtime was done, and the people at the bar sat with their ersey d backs to me watching the next football game. umbling stuff, but ue has learned with time to be prepared to treat every performance differently.

he s got a toolbox of approaches. If I bring people, or people come to hear me, I play to them, ue said. If someone turns around on their chair or ventures into the region where I play, I play to them. If people are chatting with their dining companions and seemingly paying no mind, then it is a paid live rehearsal to try out new material, to lengthen the songs with instrumentals, to shake things up.

“Performing in restaurants is not for the faint of heart, ue said. It is a dance for all involved to find the right volume, acoustics and energy to stay positive and offer the best entertainment for the environment at hand. It s a beautiful thing to be able to share music, and also to dine and be entertained.

ellow former uluthian yan an looten has also developed thoughts on the matter over his years as a performer. Ideally, what makes a good dinner/music setting is one where the customers are accustomed to having live music, he said. They expect it and know how to coexist with it. or a solo singer-songwriter like myself, that is optimal. It s all so dependent on the venue, too, because every place has a clientele uni ue to their establishment, which makes it very interesting. It takes a couple times playing to figure out how to work each room. ometimes it works, sometimes it doesn t.

“What makes for less-than-ideal playing conditions is indifference, Van Slooten said. “There

o, I am specifically catering to the audience that I’m expecting to have.

As with ue, von Agassi has learned to accept that, sometimes, being a remarkable musician isn’t always enough.

intentions are for having you there, and that carries over into the audience. Those rooms are very tough to read, because you re not sure if you should take the lead or sit back and simply be background music. It makes for an uncomfortable situation.

Asked for an example of one of those situations, an Slooten paints a picture: “The room was full of people, I set up in a corner, and a big group stands around a couple tables I have my merch and tip ar on, right next to me. They’ve got their drinks spilling all around my stuff, they re loud, in my sightline, knocking my stuff over unapologetically. It’s all I can do to stay professional, but I have to remember that these are not my customers, but the venue s.

Ingeborg von Agassiz is a local performer who doesn’t have as many miles on her as Bue and Van looten, but she s certainly learned quickly over many performances in recent years how to deal with having to work in different modes and adapt.

hen I do dinner gigs, she said, I typically play guitar and sing a variety of generally crowd-pleasing recognizable music — like the Beatles and Hank Williams — that a 5-yearold can understand and that a 70-year-old appreciates.

“I don’t try to engage audiences who are not there for me, she said. I ust resign myself to the fact that I m ust the wallpaper for them, background music. I am not personally offended if people ignore me while I sing. I don’t get too bothered if people are talking, unless they are talking so loudly that I can’t hear myself. Then, it becomes extremely di cult to perform well.

It s clear, then, that the best thing for artists, venues and patrons to do is to mutually and actively try to create an environment that works for all. When everyone’s on the same page, that s when things pan out best.

“One of my favorite places to play backgroundmusic gigs has a comfy little designated stage area, a sound system with a monitor that is always set up and easy to plug into, a server (who) always cheerfully waits on me, and a prominently-placed tip ar that always gets filled, von Agassi said. It s a fun, positive atmosphere that I think the venue in question nurtures by having music regularly, so that the diners go there expecting and looking forward to music, versus a place that seldom has music. ❖

Ingeborg von Agassiz

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA ERKKILA / DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE

Mary Bue

PHOTO BY CLINT AUSTIN / DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE

Tony Bennett is a Duluth freelance writer, musician and music critic for the Duluth News Tribune.

Ryan Van Slooten

PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAYWORTH / DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE

A SMOKING SUCCESS NORTHERN WATERS SMOKEHAUS HAS GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME

BY JANA HOLLINGSWORTH PHOTOS BY STEVE KUCHERA

Asort of upsidedown salumi garden hangs in tidy rows in the basement fermentation room of Northern Waters Smokehaus, where the humidity and air movement helps the meat lose the right amount of moisture.

It’s owner Eric Goerdt’s favorite room.

Northern Waters Smokehaus owner Eric Goerdt talks about the process of aging salumi hanging in the business’ fermentation room.

Ask him how salumi is made, and he grows intense, morphing into mad scientist-speak about how good bacteria, lactic acid, mold and humidity work to create the perfect pepperoni. A purist, he drills down on the virtues of learning the foundation before experimenting — know your German weisswurst before you make a blueberry brat — and then delivering an authentic product.

“If it’s not a saucisson sec like you would get in France, we’re not going to sell it,” he said. alumi, a classification of cured meat, is a big part of today s business, but smoked fish is how it all started. The famed smokehouse, which regularly ships smoked fish and meat nationwide, celebrated years in September of “smoking something.”

An obsession with tasting every batch of smoked

whitefish and hunk of pancetta that rolls out of the basement production kitchen is key to how a one-man smokehouse in 1998 has become the Northland’s most famous sandwich shop. A hankering for a Sitka Sushi in the summer means lining up with hordes of out-oftowners.

“It’s not just a sandwich to us,” Goerdt said. “We’ve had a thousand people say ‘this is the best sandwich I’ve ever had.’ It’s because we really give a s***.”

It also thrives because Goerdt believes in paying his -plus employees a liveable wage and offering them health insurance and paid sick time, said general manager and 18-year employee Mary Tennis. Goerdt was a vocal supporter of the City Council’s recently passed earned safe and sick time ordinance.

“Happy people make good food,” Goerdt said.

People wait in line both inside and outside Northern Waters Smokehous to place their orders while others wait while their orders are prepared.

‘IT MUSHROOMED FROM THERE’

An Iowa native, Goerdt came to Duluth with his wife, ynn, in by way of itka, Alaska, where he smoked fish for fun. As a vessel inspector and pollution investigator for the U.S. Coast Guard in Duluth, he dreamed of owning his own business. He noticed the popular West Coast style of smoking — kippering — wasn’t done here. Goerdt opened a business incubator in Superior and began smoking salmon. The former Allouez Marine Supply, which sold supplies to ships, bought oerdt s fish to sell to lakers.

“(Goerdt) is a hard worker with a stellar product and he’s good to his employees,” said Jim Banks, who owned Allouez Marine. “That’s got to be a key in any successful business.”

The mail order component of the Smokehaus had its roots in that uperior incubator. is first order was pounds of salmon for all niversity of innesota Duluth foundation members because then-chancellor Kathryn A. Martin was a fan.

“I got a vacuum packer and sent it,” Goerdt said. “And it mushroomed from there.”

The ewitt- eit arketplace shop opened in . It started with smoked fish and gourmet cheese, and deli meats, sandwiches, salumi, pate, kimchi, sausages and a delivery service were added over time.

The very first sandwich — the orthern agel — remains on the giant wall menu, but it has been joined by others with quirky names, like the Silence of the Lambwich and the Hedonist. Employees conduct a regular “sandwich lab” where new ideas are pitched and tried. The Purple Range and the Pork Lion sprung from that process.

The spicy salmon-stuffed a un inn remains the o. sandwich by half.

“It’s like, a quarter of our sales. Just that sandwich,” Tennis said.

ish is the most shipped product, and apan is the farthest place a product has been sent. (It wasn t fish.) In each of the last two years, orders have been sent to all states.

Appearing on the ood etwork show iners, rive-ins and ives both initially and in reruns introduced orthern

Waters to the world. Sales grew by more than half for several years following the first airing in .

e were uni uely poised to benefit because we mail ordered,” Goerdt said.

ow, you can even order orthern aters through Goldbely, an online marketplace that ships regional and artisanal specialties, like lobster from Maine and bagels from ew ork.

In the early days, employees would call Goerdt if the shop sold worth of sandwiches.

Some people questioned whether Duluth could support a shop that sold gourmet cheese and fish, Tennis said.

ales from August amounted to , . The business makes a profit nine months out of the year, which helps recover from the slow post-holiday winter season.

Nick Cleary grinds pork at Northern Waters Smokehaus.

Their customers return for real food, Tennis said, “and we’re smart enough to not sell them short.”

The line on a Thursday this fall wound outside the shop door: a typical lunchtime rush. A tourist snapped a photo of the wall menu.

Pat and Tara Loucks of West St. Paul were in the area touring colleges with their son, making their traditional stop at Northern Waters.

“If we’re up here for a weekend, we come here twice,” Tara Loucks said.

MAYBE MINNEAPOLIS?

This year, production and shipping will move out of DeWitt Seitz, which now operates on three different floors of the building. A bigger space will allow more catering and will mean doubling the amount of salumi made, with added varieties. A first catalog

will be released, and a cookbook is in the o ng. ooking ahead, Goerdt would like to expand into Minneapolis.

“We have tons of customers there,” Goerdt said.

Another go at a restaurant isn’t likely. The Northern Waters Restaurant near UMD was a popular but short-lived venture, closing at the end of 2017. With a small kitchen, the restaurant wasn’t making money fast enough, and the Smokehaus continued to grow.

“I really needed to set the Smokehaus up for the next 20 years,” Goerdt said. “I didn’t want to screw that up for everybody.”

The Northern Waters team is big enough now that it’s not just smokers, sandwich makers and deli counter workers. The roster is filled out by people who do marketing,

social media, mail order, graphic design, baking and writing, all in-house. Ned Netzel started in the prep kitchen and made sandwiches, and is now part of the marketing team.

“There are opportunities to work on all levels,” he said. “There are no real closed doors.”

Goerdt’s business model is one to emulate, said Duluthbased commercial fisherman ave Rogotzke, a longtime supplier of his Alaska-fished salmon to orthern Waters.

“I think everybody that works there does so because it’s a joy to work for him,” he said. ❖

Jana Hollingsworth is a Duluth freelance writer and former reporter for the Duluth News Tribune.

Northern Waters Smokehaus owner Eric Goerdt examines salmon llets in the business' smoker. Northern Waters celebrated 20 years as a smokery in September.

What We’re Into

I’m not typically drawn to the words “all you can eat” because I like my food to have a finish line, but I was willing to overlook that with Wasabi, the new-ish Japanese restaurant at 3333 Tower Ave., uperior. ere, for a flat rate, you can sample a roll here, hibachi chicken there and find personal favorites. ou re given a menu-slash-order form, you mark your meal picks, sip a Sapporo while you wait, then eat — or slurp if the warm, big-flavored miso soup with tofu is on the list. Then you do it again.

(Be careful with those orders. There is a financial penalty for unfinished meals.)

tuna

Our family faves include the miso soup, shumai — steamed shrimp dumplings at a temperature found in comfort food — spicy tuna roll where the word “spicy” is not hyperbole and the tempura flakes made it feel like gluttony, and its slightly more sophisticated kin the wasabi roll, which is like the spicy tuna roll, but adds tobiko and wasabi cream. Wasabi has a cool, unassuming vibe. It’s in the spot of a former fast food restaurant — there’s the telltale sign of the drive thru window that is no longer in

The Rustic Diner in Barnum is a staple stop on weekends in fall. It’s where Dad and I meet for breakfast before we head into the Mahtowa woods and our family hunting cabin. There, we sight in our rifles, check our array of wild game cameras and work on one cabin project after another in the lead-up to firearms deer season. It s father-son time, meaning it s filled with atta-boys and a few get-outta-my-faces. The bonding almost always starts with a meal at the Rustic on Front Street.

Sitting down, you feel like you’re sidling up to the knickknacks on your grandmother’s curio shelf. But for hearty country fare, look on the blackboard and hope the biscuits and gravy are the day’s special. At $4.25, the price for two eggs, two biscuits and a heaping of sausage gravy is unbeatable. That the dish is a standout of its kind is all the better. Covered in goo, the biscuits are always flaky and soft, never saturated and soggy. The gravy is ladled from a big cooking pot in yonder kitchen and

use. The single room is wide open — you can see the chefs at work — and the interior is a mix of apanese flair and fast food function. It feels like that super-Los Angeles thing of eating your best meals at a strip mall.

— CHRISTA LAWLER

served quickly. It’s hot enough, and the gravy brings a nice black and red pepper heat itself.

It s different every time,” said the server, “because he makes it fresh.” The gravy comes off with the right consistency — not watery and hardly pasty — and the attendant sausage is there in the right measure, too, in that these aren’t meatballs, just good crumbles of meat to satisfy the protein fix the eggs can t reach.

It’s always a no-brainer on Sunday mornings at the Rustic, the sort of decision that doesn’t require a menu at all. “Biscuits and gravy?” the server will say — as if she had to ask.

— BRADY SLATER

PHOTO BY DENNIS KEMPTON

Iwas an old man by the time I finally got around to appreciating chicken wings.

It was the summer of my 24th year, and to celebrate my future wife’s birthday, we descended on a sports bar known for inexpensive, flavorful chicken appendages. (It’s the Desperado in Missoula, Montana, if you’re ever out there.)

Once I got the hang of the carnal act, I was hooked, and we have been searching for a comparable experience since.

Enter Clyde Iron Works, one of our many-andgrowing neighborhood eateries. It’s a comfortable place for comfort food, and for the meat-eaters among us, what else does the trick but a hearty plate of wings?

We split 12 recently, a perfectly steaming batch of well-coated and partly charred beauties that kept a good balance between smoke and spice. All the sauces — honey chipotle, buffalo, barbecue, reaper and Asian — are worth trying, depending on your mood, but as a purist (outside of my affection for spicy-peanut-sauce wings) buffalo is the way to go. Don’t try to get 12 down on your own, though at $10.95, you might as well try, then take home what’s left — it’s $6.95 for six.

By no means am I declaring these the best wings in town — who am I to say, when I have yet to even try them all? But in this moment, they are my favorite, and they could be yours, too.

— BROOKS JOHNSON

We had never needed breakfastwith-acapital-b more than on a drive home from a reunion weekend on Gull Lake. We hadn’t ruled out gas station delicacies — it was that kind of day — when we found the opposite.

McGregor’s School House Cafe looks like a drawing of a schoolhouse: all straight edges with squares and triangles, red wood with white trim, a schoolhouse bell. Inside, it’s decorated with vintage and kitsch, old musical instruments, books, cowboy boots, retro gas station and street signage, maps, a wagon, a desk, memorabilia plateware.

We both got variations of the breakfast sandwich — egg, cheese and meat on a square of croissant bread served with hashbrowns. Me: bacon; Him: sausage. We didn’t even talk. We just scooped hashbrowns and chewed.

This was the perfect warm, gooey, salty, buttery, crispy roadside find. To think we had almost microwaved something maybe even made by robots. If not full-on love, this meal tasted like it was made with a whole lot of like.

The menu — thick slabs of French toast, things with gravy, an honest-to-goodness casserole — is a mix of ways to warm your innards. Our meals came with a sample of bread pudding. And, in a case at eye-level, a mound of sugar, cinnamon and frosting. This must be one of Grammy’s homemade rolls.

— CHRISTA LAWLER

Sure, they’re deep-fried and greasy, but they’re still vegetables, right?

I enjoyed the Flash-fried Green Beans on a recent visit to Tavern on the Hill so much that I didn’t have a lot of appetite left for my meal, so be warned. A restaurant employee offered the advice that it’s a serving size for one to two people, but I’d argue it’s sized for two to four, especially if you’re ordering other food. The employee also consulted with the kitchen for me because I asked how many calories the dish has. Based on its ingredients, they estimated

550-650. Again, I’d disagree because it seemed like more. A similar dish from TGI Friday’s is listed online as having 900 calories; a Ruby Tuesday dish is said to have 790.

But should I be worrying about this while ordering a basket of battered, fried beans and red peppers? Yes and no. Maybe “worrying” isn’t the word; being “mindful” is better. Despite the grease and calories, you can’t take the vegetable out of a vegetable, and the veggies in this dish maintained their freshness, just a little crisp, hot and

juicy. The spicy Thai Chili Sauce that comes with the basket is worth diving deep into.

The appetizer menu also includes cauliflower, onion rings, Brussels sprouts and avocados, so there are plenty of ways to get your fried veg.

— BEVERLY GODFREY

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