It’s hard to believe Clicquot was having rough times because every time I would go there on the weekends they were packed! But I guess looking back, I remember some very slow weekday evenings. Plus it’s a small place, so it’s probably difficult to find seats on winter weekends. It’s really a bummer – they were the epitome of a small friendly neighborhood coffee shop. I wonder what will happen to that cute little building? What else could end up there that would possibly help to create a vibrant neighborhood? And if a place like Clicquot can’t survive in a neighborhood like Seward, what hope does it have elsewhere?

Students at the U have a LOT of coffee shop options on campus; many of them are independent, many are not. My favorite on-campus coffee place is the French press on my studio desk, but when I want to get away from a project I head to Bordertown Coffee. It occupies the first floor of a beautiful old brick and timbered building hidden behind Frat house row on University. To read the full and fascinating story of how the owners acquired the building, read their website.

I love the warm cozy feel of the main sitting room, complete with armchairs and stone fireplace. This room is frequently busy during the lunch hour but most times you can find a small table. There is an additional smaller sitting room on the main floor which can be reserved for free as a conference/study room. Apparently the upper floors contain some sort of student housing, perhaps another fraternity or co-op.

The website mentions the cafe’s owner’s Christian beliefs, but I was pleased to note that the cafe did not advertise this fact; I’ve witnessed several blatantly religious coffee shops that were a bit of a turn-off.

The Fair Trade coffee and espresso are quality, and the homemade bakery items are usually delicious (I loved the dark chocolate nut bars but was not crazy about the vegan blueberry muffins). For lunch options, I wasn’t impressed with either the quiche or the basalmic chicken wrap, but maybe I’ll have to give some of the other breakfast items a chance. The hummus and pita is a nice snack option, but I’d ask to have the pita toasted – cold pita not so appetizing.

So if you find yourself on campus in need of a cozy coffee shop, sneak behind the frat houses and see if you can locate this little treasure. Bonus points if you can figure out a way to get there via the underground campus tunnels!

As we walked in, we saw this fellow sitting near the front:

A guy working on a 20″ iMac.

Apparently, we’ve moved from just using laptops in cafes to using entire desktop computers. No doubt, the iMac is very easy to cary and plug in, but it seems a just little excessive to me. I think there is a point at which computing in public is not OK, especially given Blue Moon’s already noted problems with people working for too long.

Unless you own the coffee shop, this is socially unacceptable behavior.

Here is a back-to-school quiz.

Where would you rather hang out:
A) On a fake turf-covered lawn, or
B) In a landscape architect-designed plaza complete with fountains, vegetation, and benches?

I imagine most people would pick B, wouldn’t you? What would you predict other people would say?

Turns out it may not be that obvious. This article found on the American Society of Landscape Architects’ blog compares several public spaces in a DC suburb with surprising results. The beautiful plaza was indeed packed on a summer evening, but so was the fake lawn nearby! Locals had adopted the astroturf square as an impromptu park.

So what’s going on here? What we don’t know is whether this is the norm or maybe if the area was so packed on this particular special occasion that people were just plopping down where ever they could. Was the plaza packed because of the show going on, or is it always full? Or maybe it has mainly to do with the fact that there was a place to eat near the lawn.

It’s not easy to get a real picture without data like this, but the question has been asked: what kind of public places are most popular? Clearly it is not solely a function of the quality of the design of the space. How important is design then? Or, what kind of designs would appeal to the most people? Or maybe it’s more about the context of the space. It goes without saying that even a prize-winning design will see few visitors if it’s in the middle of nowhere.

I once read about a grassroots design strategy that looks at current uses of a public space and then designs the new space to better address those uses. For example a public park was used by a group of persons for drinking during the day. Some people might have a problem with this (illegal?) activity. But the designers saw that this was a real use in that park and, rather than judging the morality of the issue and reprograming the space, designed an informal beer garden that would provide a legitimate place for drinking. In this way they were respecting the local citizens and creating a distinctly local place to serve their needs.

Now I’m not saying we should install beer gardens in all parks (though it might be fun), but maybe this example could give us a new way of looking at designing public spaces. Instead of programming a plaza in a way we THINK the public might want, what if we asked them or observed current behavior to find out how they might actually use it. I know this isn’t a new idea (public charrettes are common steps in today’s design process) but this is where landscape architects might need to put aside their idealistic tendencies and consider pragmatic results.

It’s an ongoing discussion that provides endless questions. Any thoughts?

Especially in light of the high gas prices, it might be helpful to re-think where we choose to live and why. What is the most important factor in making that decision? Amount of green space? School system quality? Distance from work? How will this change or stay the same in the coming decades? At what level in gas price will walkability become a factor once again?

Raises a good question for cafe-goers. How long can we stay before we wear out our welcome? My rule of thumb is until my drink or food is gone. If I’m taking up a chair in their space, I should be paying for it. Especially if they have free wireless. Especially if it’s busy. Now as to how long you can stretch out a drink…. that is debatable. I’m known to nurse my drinks from time to time. The fact remains that coffee shops are not extra offices to use for an entire day. Be considerate and remember that the only way your favorite coffee shop will stay open is if it can pay its bills – and that’s where you can help.

Hello everyone! Did you think I’d abandoned my quest? I’m close to wrapping up my holiday break so I thought I’d pump out a quick review before I am lost in another semester. I miss writing while I’m in school but I also love being in school, so I win either way.

Most of my past reviews have featured coffee shops in south Minneapolis because they are in almost every neighborhood and they are easy to find. But part of my reason for this blog to explore other parts of the city, so I recently wandered up to the industrially mysterious Northeast Minneapolis to check out what sort of community coffee shops serve this side of the river. Forgive my lack of photos of the neighborhood, but I happened to visit on the coldest day of the year so far.

NorthEast

Aside from the extra “pe” added to the end of their name, I liked Diamonds Coffee Shoppe right away. Mostly because it is located in a sweet old brick building within spitting distance of a regularly-used railroad track. I’m a sucker for old buildings and railroad tracks. It’s located on Central Avenue in the Logan Park neighborhood in the larger area know as Northeast. What I know about the Northeast is that it started as a separate city (St. Anthony) back in the day, growing in industry, mainly milling, and later merged with Minneapolis. The population was working-class immigrants from Eastern Europe and is currently home mostly to new African immigrants, young families, and students. It is described as diverse, especially in recent years, and tends to be lower income. Logan Park itself is fairly divided between residential areas and industry.

I also know that Northeast has a large artist population, apparent in the numerous old warehouses now converted to artist lofts. If you wander out past the railroad, you will find a maze of these old buildings which you can visit during Art-A-Whirl, an open studio extravaganza every May. The old Thorpe building in which Diamonds is located is one such building. A friend of mine creates beautiful ceramic pieces in one of the studios downstairs and the coffee shop shares a floor with an art gallery. Needless to say, it seems many of the Diamonds’ customers are artists themselves. The free wi-fi also ensures a certain population of students and the self-employed.

Photo by Chuckumentary

Prospect and Refuge

To me the space in a coffee shop is most important. Yes, the quality of the coffee is key, along with other features such as decor and music and fellow customers. But to me, if the space feels uncomfortable, awkward, or exposed, I will just not enjoy spending more than a few minutes there. In landscape architecture (and general architecture) we speak of the idea of Prospect and Refuge. This is the idea that humans feel most safe in a space that allows for easy visual access of a surrounding space from a hidden or protected spot. This is handed down, most likely, from our ancient ancestors who needed protection from predators. This is why, for example, we prefer to keep to the perimeter of a room – to keep one eye out for people-watching and to feel the protection of a wall behind us.

This is what I thought of as I surveyed the space in Diamonds. The shop is made up of different types of rooms, as opposed to one giant room, which to me is a more comfortable space. The ceilings are lower in some of the rooms; some rooms have windows, some have couches, some have music. One is allowed to pick what type of space to inhabit. The room I chose was a small brick room painted a lovely pale green. Since it connects two rooms with larger ceilings it felt especially comfortable, intimate, and warm on a cold winter afternoon. Another room at the back is more exposed with a painted warehouse-feeling. Here, I assume, is where they show “off-beat cult movies” on the weekends. An old couch and cheap tables are scattered about and strange hallways with creaky wooden floors lead mysteriously off to other parts of the old building. Toward the back of the building are more studios, complete with an old freight elevator. A small room in the front of the shop pleasantly reminded me of what I could only imagine a sitting room to look like.

Food and Such

The music in Diamonds rotates between the regular artist fare of 60’s rock, Tom Waits, and some old blues and funk. Good enough for me. The food sounds delicious (breakfast, soups, sandwiches, hotdogs!, and bakery items) but prices are a bit steep for likes of a graduate student. I have no complaints for my dark small coffee, which was fine, but the yummy pita and hummus plate left my stomach hungry for the $5.25 I paid. On my second trip I tried the tea and was very impressed with a flavorful loose Earl Grey. The decor is fairly minimal, focused on subtle color, old lamps, and real art on the walls.

On my drive home I tried to navigate without a map, which tells you how well I know my way around Northeast. I had a good time getting lost in nice little working-class neighborhoods and discovering how an unknown street might lead to a familiar one. Even though I’ve lived here over two years now, I still find new sights to see in this city. Northeast has found a new patron.

• Super eco-friendly
• Bright, airy atmosphere, but not so bright that you can’t see your laptop screen
• Delicious sandwiches, salads, soups, bagels, and baked goods made from local ingredients
• The perfect range of beverages for a cafe, including fresh coffee, juice, tea, beer, and wine
• Great wireless signal
• Pretty outdoor patio seating with lights and vines

I couldn’t agree more, and I’ll be back there again.

We are very excited about this next coffee shop. We discovered it in our new neighborhood shortly before transferring here to Seward, and it has since become our new hangout. And we’re not the only ones. It seems that every time we make our way to Clicquot Club Cafe (pronounced “KLEE – ko”, named after a historic soft drink company now defunct) the place is packed. Is it the delicious coffee? Or is it the gigantic mouth-watering menu? Could it be the spacious outdoor seating, including a pleasant courtyard stocked with lounge chairs surrounding a bubbling fountain? Take your pick.

New Author

And just who is the “we” that we speak of? Added to the list of authors on this blog is now Justin Heideman, who will be filing some occasional posts, while Adrienne is in grad school for the next several years. In the mean time, we still like coffee and now that Adrienne is laptop equipped, we hope to visit more coffee shops together.

Seward Neighborhood

Seward is one of our favorite neighborhoods in the metro area, which is part of why we moved here. Progressive, family- and community-oriented, diverse, historic, and beautiful, it lies between the lightrail and the river, Lake Street and the University. The little bungalow houses date back to the turn of the century when people still built on small lots but included big porches. Almost everyone has a garden. You’ll find restaurants, bars, stores, co-ops, and galleries not only along the main corridors, but also tossed on the most unlikely neighborhood street corners. Bikers abound, on their way to the Greenway bike path, which pulses through Seward like an artery. In generous Matthews Park children line up for Little League or splash in the kiddie pool, while teens shoot hoops on the pine-shaded courts.

Inside and Out

You’ll find Clicquot Club Cafe two blocks north of the Greenway and one block east of Matthews Park. It’s hard to not notice the little white building with giant orange vintage signs on both sides. It’s distinctly old-fashioned, with its big picture windows and narrow siding. Ten or so streetside tables line the front and side, but the best seating for nice summer weather is in the fair-sized garden on the west side of the building. White lawn chairs, complete with umbrellas and footrests, circle round a brick patio and a pleasant wildflower garden. You might feel like you were in your own backyard, especially if your backyard came complete with wait staff offering you refreshments from time to time. Mine does not, which is why I (Adrienne) like to take a book and waste a couple hours in the Clicquot courtyard. For outdoor seating, it doesn’t get much better than this. One could even see replacing the fountain with a bonfire in the cooler months.

Inside, the atmosphere is bright and cheerful, with kind of a homey cosmopolitan feel. Along with colorful walls and clean woodwork, crisp skylights bring a feeling of airiness to an otherwise small space. It feels new and fresh, which makes sense because the cafe opened in the winter of 2005 after a thorough re-vamping of the old building. The decor is a nice non-fussy balance of vintage and casual modern with attention to design detail not found in other shops. The lighting fixtures are modern and cool, not retro or quirky. The wall colors, tile and tables all work together well.

One thing you don’t find in every coffee shop is children. But at the Clicquot, given its delicious menu and friendly neighborhood atmosphere, children frequently stop in with their parents for lunch. In fact, I believe I saw several neighborhood kids stop in for a soda on their way to the park, the way my little sister and I used to trek down to the local drug store in search of candy when we were kids. Otherwise the clientele is every type of neighbor. Families having dinner, couples sharing coffee, and the like.

Food and Drink

Cliquot doesn’t have that hippie vibe that Seward establishments often exude (read: the Seward Cafe and Co-op) in the sense that it is not over-run with houseplants and leaflets. But it’s still new – there’s time for that. The crowds that swell every gorgeous summer Saturday will soon claim it as its own. If you visit at these busy times, you’ll be lucky to find a table. Most evenings, though, seating is not an issue. We’ve always felt very welcome there and were never rushed to finish our meal or coffee treats.

The first thing you notice when ordering is that the menu is huge: at least 6 pages, each crammed with options. Fourteen different panini, twelve pizzas, fifteen sandwiches, not to mention the breakfast foods, appetizers, brunch, or drinks. Part of me wishes that they’d trim the menu a bit to make ordering easier, but then again everything we’ve tasted has been excellent. The menu is straight Italian deli fare: hot grilled panini, pizza, and lots of olives, artichokes, peppers, cheeses. There is a wide selection of vegetarian friendly items, though vegan is more sparse.

On one occasion, we started with an appetizer of Artichoke Ramekin, which was baked to absolute perfection. It was one of the best artichoke dips we’ve sampled, with a bit of a hearty flavor, almost with a hint of red wine. The bruschetta is also excellent. For dinner on the same occasion, we shared a Portabella Tapenade pizza, which was excellent, but seemed a bit heavy on the tapenade. At our server’s suggestion, we topped it with some of the left over artichoke dip, which added an entirely new layer of flavoring to the cheesy goodness.

The coffee is fair trade, and depending on what blend you order, is about 75% the strength of a regular Starbucks pour, never tasting burnt. The drinks are also quite good, having sampled the Cubano and the Cafe Clicquot. You get the impression that while the staff might not be professional barristers with the attitudes that would go along with a good cup, they have been trained pretty well on how to make all the drinks just right.

The Service

Since we live two blocks from the club, we’ve been there more times than I have fingers. The service on our first few visits was underwhelming. Food was slow to come, or our order had been misplaced. To their credit, the staff was apologetic and our food eventually came. Despite these early letdowns, we could tell the cafe had character and we came back. Our last several visits have been much more satisfactory, with quick service and fantastic fare.

A word from the regulars: don’t be confused upon arrival as to whether you just sit down or go to the counter to order first. If you’re there to eat, just grab a seat and someone will drop a menu off right quick. Otherwise, to just grab a joe to go, head to the counter. Be warned though, you won’t get the same 30 second in and out time as you would in a Starbucks or even the local Bad Waitress, but that’s not the Cliquot’s schtick anyway.

Working there

In the rest of my life, I (Justin) do a fair amount of work on the computer. Often, this entails trying to escape the solitude of my studio so I can avoid the label of “hermit”. The Clicquot is a great place to grind out some code (or study). There are plentiful power outlets, almost one for every table, even a few outside if you sit by the door or bring an extension cord. The wireless is strong, and fast. Unlike some more popular shops where you swear everyone is running limewire, the Clicquot has wireless that feels as fast as broadband at home. Each time I’m there, there are usually only one or two other people on the wireless, so it may just be an undiscovered resource at this point.

An Unfortunate Accident (8.17.07)

Just a side note: we had been working on this story for several weeks when we heard about the accident that occurred in front of the cafe on August 17th. Apparently a truck jumped the curb in front of the Clicquot and ran into the outdoor seating area while going 30 mph. Thirteen people were hospitalized. See this Star Tribune article for the whole story. We just wanted to draw attention to this tragedy and offer our condolences and best wishes to any folks injured – it could have been us. We stand by the Clicquot as a fine neighborhood institution and hope that people will continue to patronize it.

Green Space

While walking around, I happened upon the park. The sod had just been laid and curious citizens walked amidst the trees to check out the site. Last fall, at the Walker, I attended a lecture given by Thomas Oslund, the architect of the park. He didn’t say very much about it but showed a few slides of the plan and the progress thus far. At the time, it looked nice and it occurred to me that it would be pleasant to have more greenery in the downtown area, especially seeing as Minneapolis has no large downtown park.

Any project that adds 7.5 acres of green space to these dusty industrial blocks is an instantly appreciated oasis. Located along the river, it features a grassy man-made hill 32 feet high and 320 feet around (supposedly made of landfill material from the immediate area). A sidewalk curls around to the tree-lined crown, which presents lovely views of downtown and the river. The other space in the park is pure sod supporting 300 trees and 20 wooden benches. It has been described by some as “simple”, “modernist”, “ethereal”, and like a “paradise”. After spending time in the park and seeing it from several angles, I’ve come up with my own description: admirable but boring.

Questions of Usage and Aesthetics

Like I said, I admire the large green space. There is a kind of simple aesthetic that I can appreciate in the clean lines and simple forms. The mound is fun to walk up, especially at sunset to view the lovely riverfront scenery. But aside from that, I question the use of space. Yes, the trees are nice. Trees are always nice, and they will be especially lovely in several decades when they create a shady cathedral effect with their arching branches. In the meantime, I find it difficult to see the usefulness of the sporadic grassy spaces – not large enough for even a game of frisbee. The sod seems to go on for miles. Some say it’s pretty, others say it looks like astroturf. There is nary a shrub. I like grass as much as the next person, but if the architects wanted to create something uniquely Minnesotan they might have considered incorporating a few beautiful native plants. Instead we have seven acres of grass that will need fertilizing and mowing for constant upkeep. Seeing as the park is next to the river, where do you think all that run-off will go?

The park looks lovely from afar and from above [see my photos taken from the Guthrie]. But I don’t believe parks should just be lovely to look at; there should be some usefulness, some reason to spend a little time in the park. The Oslund and Associates website calls the park walkways “dendridic”. I’m not sure I would use that word, seeing as the walkways from the main sidewalks turn in a few feet and then end at a bench in the middle of nowhere. The wooden benches are pretty (and at night they light up a Guthrie Blue from the inside), but are they durable enough to last more than a few years? I’m no expert but I believe city parks should also take into account the environment, the locality, and the needs of the people.

Who is going to use this park? Upon looking at the surrounding area, I would say three types of people:

1. Residents of the neighborhood (condo-dwellers)
2. Patrons of the Guthrie and Museum
3. Bikers/walkers along the river

Residents might enjoy taking their little dogs on walks around the park (and perhaps using one of those 300 trees as a doggie toilet). Are they going to sit in the park? Maybe, but I find that most people who sit in quiet empty parks are either homeless or on lunch break. They might have a picnic if there were a reason to sit but plans for a bandshell were scrapped because residents didn’t want the noise.

Arts patrons might find the energy to walk over to the park after a show but they will find it a bit of a haul. There is a parking lot between the Guthrie entrance and the park, and there are no communal places to sit and visit once in the park. The only place worth loitering is at the top of the mound and I doubt ladies in heels would be willing to make the hike (I certainly would not).

Questionable Patrons

If you follow local politics or do a bit of detective work online, you’ll find that a good chunk of the money to build and maintain the park was donated by William McGuire, the former CEO of United Health Care who is under criminal investigation for fraud and other scandalous financial operations. Since this deal went down he has given millions of dollars to various arts foundations around the city. Seeing as his crimes are of a particularly heinous kind, I’d like to be able to say that his gifts cover over his sins but I just cannot. You cannot buy our love, Sir McGuire, with your big green park.

Disappointment and Hope

This all being said, I must admit that my judgments on the park may eventually prove short-sighted. Parks can last forever and most likely this one will improve with age. Anything is better than the brownfield that used to reside in this space, so can I really complain? Perhaps a shortage of funds left the architects with little room for plant variety, or all their original ideas for useful features were turned down. Who knows. I just feel that more could have been done with the area to create a useable, native space that respects the history of the area.

To me, the jewel of this district is Mill Ruins Park. A few years back the historic remains of the old mills along the riverbank were saved from complete deterioration and laid out for the public’s viewing. I was impressed with how the skeletons of history where uncovered but left untouched, and how the paths that led visitors through the ruins blended well with the surrounding area. Prairie grasses along the slopes bring to mind the milling days and the landscaping still feels refreshingly wilderness-y and real. It comes across as respectful, beautiful, simple, and peaceful. I just don’t feel that Gold Medal Park brings the same qualities. It feels a little alien, a little conservative, a little timid, and a little unthoughtful. I’m hoping that time will tell otherwise.