Cafe 128 Closing (MSP)

[autmommy]

Saturday after dinner. They couldn't come to an agreement on a lease with their landlord. It's too bad, I really enjoyed that place, it felt like eating dinner at a friend's house.

[The Dairy Queen]

Hey, did you see Nancy Ngo's column in today's Pioneer Press? One of the former staff at Cafe 128 is re-opening the place, hopefully at end of October, with many of the original folks and...the original recipes! Yippee!

~TDQ

[njbackus]

Do you guys know who the owners were? I want to do a story for the St. Thomas newspaper.

[mcgeary]

Brock and Natalie Obee.

[KTFoley]

Per Rick Nelson's column today, Brock Obee has another job already -- in retail, not cooking.

So I hold out hopes for another incarnation of this restaurant but they seem a bit slimmer than before.

[St Paul Susie]

I thought that they both always had other jobs for the entire time.

I'm still hoping.

[KTFoley]

Went for dinner tonight (got the ribs, of course, and an amazing glass of cabernet) and asked the host directly whether B&N were planning to open up someplace else.

She said that the owners had moved on emotionally some time ago, especially since they have two children now. They are not looking for another location. This is it.

Everyone, close your eyes and remember the your favorite local band's last tour. Husker Du, Semisonic, Suicide Commandos, Replacements, Jayhawks, Gear Daddies, Zuzu's Petals, Hoopsnakes, SPCO with Zubin Mehta, whomever. Did you go? Uh-huh. And have the occasional reunions resonated anywhere near as well? Of course not.

Now: Aquavit, Auriga, Cafe 128. See? Call these guys right now to get a reservation. The best danged basement in the universe of food is not coming back.

[St Paul Susie]

Love Husker Du....

Thanks for the update.

[mcgeary]

Susie, have you been to The Nortons in Bay City, Wis.? I thought the food was amazing and the setting lovely, and I was deeply thrilled to have Greg Norton himself mix me a cocktail . . .

[St Paul Susie]

I don't leave St Paul for much....but I sense a future roadtrip

Thanks for the tip.

[mcgeary]

It's totally worth it -- I'd make the trip even without the fangirl factor.

http://www.thenortonsrestaurant.com/I...

[The Dairy Queen]

Wow, y'all make a recent transplant work hard to figure out the relevance of the Norton's reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hüsker_Dü

~TDQ

-----
128 Cafe
128 Cleveland Ave N, Saint Paul, MN 55104

The Nortons' Restaurant
135th Ave, Bay City, WI 54723

[soupkitten]

AWW. . . yeah. bittersweet it is--

[AnneInMpls]

Oh, woe! Cafe 128 is one of those great, been-there-forever standbys that always provides a great meal. I really hope they can relocate and reopen. Perhaps their web site will have some news eventually.

http://www.128cafe.net/

And now I'm craving their amazing appetizer of roasted garlic, chutney, and goat cheese. Yeah, I can make my own (Epicurious has the recipe), but it's better at the restaurant.

Anne

[The Dairy Queen]

What a shame. I hate to lose good places.

~TDQ

[MSPD]

Agreed. I hope they find a good place to relocate -- maybe they should look at the old Pad Thai space up by Macalaster.

I wonder what will go in the 128 Cafe spot next -- another Chinese place or the revival of "Wings and a Prayer"?

[St Paul Susie]

That stinks - wonderful place.

Luckily there are more than a few empty store fronts in St Paul right now. Hopefully they can find a new spot soon.