Buzz

Two local breweries ranked among the best in the world

RateBeer Wednesday, February 15, 2012

RateBeer, a site that compiles reviews of beers, bars, brewpubs, and festivals, has released a list of the "Best Brewers in the World" for 2012, and two local breweries have found a place among the best.

Town Hall Brewery (at #42 on the list) and Surly Brewing Company (#11) are recognized alongside some of the world's most notable breweries from the U.S., Belgium, Norway, Italy, and other countries.

The list includes 100 breweries, and recognizes Three Floyds Brewing Company in Indiana as the best in the world, followed by two Michigan breweries.

Minneapolis named a top city for "organic foodie lifestyle"

Organic Authority Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Food and lifestyle site Organic Authority has named Minneapolis one of the top nine cities for residents who embrace organic food.

Following cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, the Minneapolis area came in sixth on the list, ahead of San Diego, Denver, and Austin.

"[A] little ice and snow hasn't stopped the progression of organic food in Minnesota," the site noted. "Swing on by the booming co-op, The Wedge, or sign up for a CSA from a local organic farm for a year-long bounty of organic goodness."

The Atlantic features Minneapolis classical music crime-fighting strategy

The Atlantic Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A recent posting from The Atlantic highlights an interesting crime-fighting strategy at work in Minneapolis.

Classical music is being played at various light rail stations to “dissuade criminal behavior,” it states.

The strategy, which the city began using last summer, is based on the idea that “potential criminals find classical music so detestable that they won’t hang around the station long enough to realize their criminal potential: 'If it encourages some people to wander away because it's not their favorite type of music, I guess that's okay,'" said Acting Transit Police Chief A.J. Olson.”

Minneapolis took inspiration from Portland. “Oregon lawmakers liked the tactic so much." says the Atlantic, "that they proposed a bill that would require light rail stations in high-crime areas to play classical music as long as they remain open.”

Minneapolis and social media jobs go hand-in-hand

City Pages Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Minneapolis is full of opportunity for job seekers looking to work in social media, according to a study on the Mediabistro/All Twitter web site, City Pages reports.

The city comes in number 13 nationally, “second in the Midwest only to Chicago,” City Pages states.

New York, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston top the list.

In Minneapolis, the highest-paying job in this niche is social media marketing manager, which has a salary range of $54,000 to $85,000. “Minneapolis may not be the home of new-media giants like Twitter and Google, but we're aren't the social media backwoods, either,” says City Pages.

Minnesota leads the Midwest in funding for health care startups

BioEnterprise Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Midwest health care companies attracted $810 million in new investment, and Minnesota led the way, according to the BioEnterprise Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report.

The report noted that Minnesota attracted $223 million in investments, followed by Ohio with $178 million and Missouri with $169 million. Tracking deals for 11 states and western Pennsylvania, BioEnterprise looked at investments in fields like health care services, biopharmaceuticals, and medical device manufacturing.

The state's largest deal last year was Entellus Medical, which raised $35 million to develop technology related to sinusitis.

Twin Cities rank fourth for "staying young"

Real Age Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Minneapolis and St. Paul residents are adept at staying young, according to a ranking by the Real Age website.

The site lists the Twin Cities at number four on its list, noting that we're best at eating whole grains, defeating stress, and getting adequate sleep and vitamin D.

Top cities were determined using a number of factors, including lifestyle choices, exercise, and diet. San Francisco topped the list, coming in first for its significant fruit and vegetable consumption, low smoking rates, and high exercise statistics.

Twin Cities featured on premiere of "Bizarre Foods America"

Mpls/St Paul Magazine Wednesday, February 08, 2012

The recent premiere of the Travel Channel’s new show, “Bizarre Foods America,” hosted by local chef Andrew Zimmern, featured a number of outstanding local delicacies.

In his column in Mpls. St. Paul Magazine, Zimmern lists some of the distinctive places to which the new show goes, including area farms, streams, and lakes and a Hmong market.

The Minneapolis restaurant Piccolo offers a “lesson in meat glue 101” from Doug Flicker; a local VFW hall has a hot-dish cook-off, and at Haute Dish in Minneapolis, Zimmern pitches in with offal hot dish. St. Paul's The Blue Door Pub also makes it into the show.

Zimmern adds, “I couldn’t be prouder of the show, our local crew, the fans who came out to watch, and the local stars [who] opened up their farms and restaurants to us. “

Publishers Weekly highlights Coffee House Press

Publishers Weekly Wednesday, February 08, 2012

A January posting from Publishers Weekly praises Minneapolis' Coffee House Press for its recent accomplishments amid a change in leadership.

Two of its fall 2011 releases, Leaving the Atocha Station, a first novel by Ben Lerner and Song I Sing, a debut poetry collection from Bao Phi, “have been published to critical acclaim in major media publications," it states.

“Leaving the Atocha Station,” PW writes, “landed with the sort of bang that most book publishers can only dream of,” with a lengthy and positive review in the New Yorker.

It’s also been talked about in the New York Review of Books, National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” show, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Foreign Policy.

Minneapolis named as one of the country's most literate cities

Central Connecticut State University Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Minneapolis is the third most literate city in the United States, according to a survey done annually by Central Connecticut State University.

The university looks at each city's newspaper and magazine circulation as well as library and Internet resources. The study compared data in cities with populations of 250,000 and larger. Minneapolis has ranked in the top three since the study's start in 2005, and came in in first place in 2007.

This year, Washington, D.C. was ranked first on the list, followed by Seattle. Others in the top five were Atlanta and Boston. The bottom five included Fresno, El Paso and Corpus Christi.

Twin Cities ranks high in national salary survey

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Among more than 400 metro areas, the Twin Cities ranks 37th for average annual worker pay. The analysis comes via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which noted that workers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area earn an average of $49,140 annually.

The San Jose metro area ranked first for worker pay, at an average of $67,850, followed by the San Francisco-San Mateo area, where salaries average $63,290.

The rankings were reported in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, which noted that within Minnesota, Rochester ranked second, followed by Duluth, St. Cloud, and Mankato.

USA Today offers top 10 reasons to visit Twin Cities

USA Today Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In a regular column in USA Today called, The Pop Traveler, local writer Amanda Fretheim Gates makes a list of top 10 reasons to visit the Twin Cities.

The iconic First Avenue, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Chain of Lakes, skyways, Hennepin Theatre District, local brews, public art, and Jucy Lucy hamburgers are just some of the things that she enjoys about the area.

From her home, “I'm never more than 15 minutes from a play, museum, park, lake, farm-fresh dining, and tax-free shopping,” she says.

In general, “The people are friendly, the cultural offerings stellar, the sports exciting (if not depressing at times) and the outdoors flourishing all year round,” she writes.

The Atlantic gives Kopplin's Coffee a nod

The Atlantic Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The Atlantic magazine features Kopplin’s Coffee in St. Paul in a compilation of 35 top-notch neighborhood coffeehouses around the country.

The article starts out with a point about coffee trends in the U.S.: “Despite, or perhaps because of, the rapid expansion of Starbucks and other standardized chains, small coffeehouses are flourishing,” and Americans are getting more sophisticated in their coffee tastes.

Kopplin’s Coffee in St. Paul stands out in part because it’s “truly about supporting the local community,” with milk from locally raised grass-fed cows and Fair Trade and organic coffee.

The magazine also suggests stopping by Rustica Bakery in Minneapolis for a pastry.

Reuters traces the history of a fizzy local cocktail

Reuters Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A cocktail pioneered by a Minneapolis country club in the early 20th century got some 21st century attention, in a recent Reuters article on the city's dining-and-cocktail culture.

Dubbed The Bootleg, the drink is a fizzy, sweet-and-sour mix that's similar to a Tom Collins, but features a touch of mint. There doesn't seem to be a standard recipe, the story notes, and some are made with frozen lemonade mix and 7-UP, while others are blended with grenadine and orange juice.

True to its name, The Bootleg isn't on cocktail menus, but the article notes that many Twin Cities bartenders know how to mix them. In the story, a recipe is included from La Belle Vie's bartender, Johnny Michaels, for those who want to shake up some speakeasy glamor at home.

Report predicts Twin Cities restaurant growth

QSR Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Restaurant industry magazine QSR ranked the Twin Cities in the top 10 in its annual "Growth 40" listings.

The list ranks metro areas that are best positioned for more restaurants, particularly those in the quick-service category. The article notes that Minneapolis saw a 25 percent change in spending at these types of restaurants within the past 10 years.

Topping the list were Orlando, Seattle, and Portland, which all had similar numbers in terms of spending increases at quick-service restaurants.

One major contributor to more growth may be the introduction of Chick-fil-A to the area. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported last year that the fast-food chain is looking toward the Twin Cities for future expansion, and has started to scout for locations for next year.

Minnnesota one of the top 10 states for LEED building

US Green Building Council Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Recently the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a list of the top 10 states for green building through the internationally recognized LEED standards.

The results are based on U.S. Census data from last year.

Minnesota rounds out the list that’s topped by the District of Columbia.

The LEED Platinum Marquette Plaza in Minneapolis is named in a prepared statement about the list.