Prescription: More cow

The landmark Burch Pharmacy building at Franklin and Hennepin avenues in Minneapolis has just landed a shiny new tenant: a restaurant by spouses Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre and their business partner Ryan Burnet, three of the forces behind the insanely popular Bar La Grassa. They're calling it Burch, and it's going to be a steakhouse.

"But it won't be your average steakhouse," said Becker. "It sounds weird when I call it that, but I can't think of any other way to describe it without using that label."

There will be beef, yes, all kinds of it. Becker is promising a variety of cuts in a range of sizes and prices.

"And we'll have prime, grass-fed and grass-fed with a corn finish," he said. "My goal is to find the best beef in the country. I can't commit to just locally sourced beef -- there isn't enough variety -- and I don't know that local producers can keep up. But there is a lot of great beef out there, and the goal is, if you want grass-fed, we'll have it, and if you want prime, we'll have it. It's kind of like how you want your eggs done. People are specific. They want what they like. I know I do."

But he's also pledging to cater to diners who aren't interested in a medium-rare porterhouse.

"We're not going to offer a token piece of halibut," said Becker. "We're going to offer a lot of vegetables. We want it to be a destination for people who don't like beef."

Margaret Andrews, Star Tribune
Now, Now

Running the show will be chef Danny Del Prado, a Bar La Grassa veteran who has spent the past several years working in Portland, Ore. "Having him coming here and doing this was a big victory for me," said Becker. "With Danny signed on, I'm not as nervous or as scared about it."

Becker and St. Pierre also own 112 Eatery, and Burnet is co-owner, along with Tim Rooney, of the Barrio empire.

The project has a vague, late 2012/early 2013 opening date. The restaurant will cover most of the drug store's street-level footprint, with a 100-seat dining room and bar and an open kitchen.

The limestone-lined basement will house a small kitchen equipped with a wood-burning oven ("All of the food that we serve in the basement will come out of that oven," Becker says) for a casual, neighborhood cafe-style 50-seat bar and dining room.

That busy Franklin-Hennepin intersection has particular significance for Becker, winner of last year's Best Chef: Midwest accolade from the James Beard Foundation. He once lived in the apartment building across the street from the former drug store ("It's where I bought my shampoo and toothpaste") and spent five years cooking next door at the former Lowry's (now Rye Deli).

"I mean, this is my intersection," he said with a laugh. "I've been driving past that place for the last two years thinking, 'What a great space.'"

Diners interested in a Burch preview need look no further than the 112 Eatery. On the first Tuesday of every month, Becker is offering a four-course dinner for $50, and using each course as a test-drive for possible Burch menu items. Reservations are essential.

  • Rick Nelson

MayDay parade postponed to Mother's Day

For only the second time in its 38 years, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre postponed last weekend's MayDay Parade and Festival to this Sunday. According to marketing director Brie Jonna, the call was made not because of Sunday's rain, but because of the waterlogged ground at Powderhorn Park. "The park couldn't have sustained all the people and the food trucks, so we made that call to protect the park," she says. Despite the postponement, HOTB offered the opportunity to those who came to town last weekend specifically for the event to check out the puppets in the theater space, and even did an impromptu jaunt to the park with a couple of the outsized puppets. The parade has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday (Mother's Day), beginning at E. 25th Street and Bloomington Avenue S., and ending with the festival at Powderhorn Park.

  • Jahna Peloquin

Impromptu Beasties tribute at Record Room

Last Friday, Mike 2600 joined his fellow DJs in the Get Cryphy crew in First Avenue's Record Room to spin a special set of Beastie Boys jams. The news of Adam "MCA" Yauch's death had only gotten out 10 hours earlier. While Mike put some fun twists on what was essentially a greatest-hits list, the real joy from his set simply came from watching the crowd get off and sing along verbatim to the songs -- a largely underage crowd, including many fans who were born the year "Sabotage" came out and are 10 years younger than "Fight for Your Right." Yauch's legacy has already proven to be one for the ages, in other words.

  • Chris Riemenschneider

No food trucks at Fulton

Since Monday, no food trucks have been stationed outside of Fulton brewery and taproom in downtown Minneapolis. Apparently, a couple mobile food vendors were told by city officials that Fulton actually sits outside of the designated food truck zone. The zone ends at 3rd Ave. N., while Fulton's brewery is at 414 6th Av. N. Twitter began buzzing Tuesday night about the issue; even Mayor R.T. Rybak responded with a tweet, hinting he'll try to help. Wednesday, a couple of city officials said beer and foodie fans shouldn't worry too much. City spokesperson Matthew Lindstrom said City Council Member Don Samuels and Rybak "are working to expand the zone to allow food trucks in the North Loop. Fulton co-founder Ryan Petz thinks the situation might have gotten blown out of proportion. "The city isn't cracking down or hassling us about it," he said, adding that it appears the issue is moving quickly toward a resolution.

  • Tom Horgen

Now, Now with fun.

Indie-rock trio Now, Now is going to have a fun. summer -- as in the band fun. The "We Are Young" hitmakers picked the young Minnesota band to open 10 gigs on their tour in June. Now, Now will then head out with buzzing Philadelphia trio Jukebox the Ghost, which will stop in at 7th Street Entry on July 9. Now, Now has been chugging along nicely since the March release of "Threads," their second full-length album and the first for Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla's label, Trans.

  • Chris Riemenschneider

Film fest hits it big

The final figures aren't in yet, but it looks like the 2012 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival was one for the record books. Preliminary numbers indicate that grosses are up over last year by 10 percent. Purchases of all-access gold passes were 30 percent higher than in 2011. The fest's parent organization, the Film Society of Minneapolis/St. Paul, gained 200 new first-time members during this year's festival. There were about 15 percent more sellout screenings than last year. And donations made during the festival pushed the group's $50,000 fundraising campaign more than halfway to its goal.

  • Colin Covert

Justin Townes Earle downcast at the Varsity

Justin Townes Earle's songs seemed a little sadder than usual during his fine performance at the sold-out Varsity Theater Monday night -- if only because he focused on material from this year's "Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now." It's not just that the tunes are downcast but the mood and tempo are hopelessly melancholy.

The measured softness of Earle's vocal delivery suggested Boz Scaggs but the often poetic lyrics cut to the core. This 30-year-old has been as unlucky in love as his dad, Steve Earle. But the younger Earle seems more like a sympathetic character than a loser, though you'd have to dig deep to psychoanalyze any of his issues.

Earle essayed a little honky tonk music to pick up the tempo, and offered a nod to Minneapolis with a too-slow reading of the Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait." But he was best when he beat himself up with his own material: the bleak "Harlem River Blues," the Southern-bathed "Memphis in the Rain," the boardwalk soul of "One More Night in Brooklyn," the apologetic tribute "Mama's Eyes" with its slurred vocal coda, the toe-tapping Dr. John-evoking "Baby's Got a Bad Idea," and the hopeless country plaint "Roger's Park" with its mournful steel guitar.

  • Jon Bream

A beer Saga begins

Summit hasn't released a new year-round beer since its Horizon Red Ale in 2009. Now Summit Saga, a West Coast-style IPA, will hit bars and stores next week. To celebrate, Summit will have a beer dinner Tuesday at the Uptown Cafeteria (6 p.m., $65) and a release party Wednesday at Sea Salt Eatery (6 p.m.). We got a taste of Saga during a preview party at the brewery. The beer has big bitterness (clocking in at 80 IBUs), but isn't overpowering. Saga is named after the Norse Goddess of Poetry, apparently a drinking buddy of Odin's. And Summit owner Mark Stutrud's father's name is Odin. Info at www.summitbrewing.com.

  • Tom Horgen