Better late in the season than never. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will open the new and improved Bde Maka Ska pavilion on Oct. 20, featuring a market and restaurant from Pimento Jamaican Kitchen.
Pimento on the Lake (3000 Bde Maka Ska Pkwy., Mpls., pimento.com) will offer beachy twists on Pimento Jamaican Kitchen's popular food and drink menu. Pimento's Tomme Beevas joined forces with the team from Lola on the Lake, which operated the Bde Maka Ska concessions building before it burned down in 2019. Located in the pavilion's north building, it will be open seasonally.
In the south building is Pimento Market, which will offer a curated selection of "gifts and goodies" from more than 20 mission-driven BIPOC vendors. The market will be open year-round.
Other improvements include plenty of outdoor seating, a performance stage, redesigned landscape, public art and memorials and more. The former pavilion was built in 1930 and was open seasonally until it burned down in 2019.
Shakopee House closes after less than a year
Two concepts under one roof in Shakopee closed permanently over the weekend. Shakopee House and Rum Row Basement Tiki Bar — themselves newer inhabitants of a 100-year-old riverside building, the former Dangerfield's — served their last customers Sept. 30.
The supper-club-style Shakopee House opened late last fall, and reimagined itself once again with a Cajun and Creole menu earlier this year. The size of the space (with two floors and four patios), two floods and the economic challenges facing restaurants are the reasons for the closure, wrote Tony Donatell, owner of the Hospitality Collective restaurant group, on social media. "We missed the target of what this community was looking for, didn't hold ourselves to the standard we set, and made changes too late."
There is good news for fans of the lower-level rum bar. Rum Row will be moving to Chanhassen, to the backroom of the restaurant group's Tequila Butcher. "This move will allow us to keep our fun, tropical tiki bar alive in a beautiful space that won't flood and has a covered patio," Donatell wrote.
Yummy news for Woodbury
The week started off on a bright note for Woodbury residents — the fourth location of Patti and Robbie Soskin's Yum Kitchen & Bakery opened Monday (8340 City Centre Dr., yumkitchen.com). The space, which in previous lives was a Timber Lodge Steakhouse and an Asian buffet, has been transformed into a light-filled dining space along with a 40-seat patio. Other Yum locations are in St. Paul, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park, and all are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Bring on the Patticake.
The end of a red-sauce era
After seven years in downtown Excelsior, Red Sauce Rebellion (205 Water St., Excelsior, redsaucerebellion.com) is closing. Oct. 7 will be the last day of service for this Italian spot, where chef/owner Eli Wollenzien put creative twists on classic dishes. The building has been sold to another restaurant group, according to a social media post from the restaurant, and its lease is ending at the end of the month. Sister restaurant Coalition, just a few doors down, will remain open.
A new Northeast hangout
In brighter news, Zhora Darling is now open in northeast Minneapolis (509 1st Av. NE., Mpls., zhoradarling.com). The bar and restaurant take over the former Red Stag Supperclub, now with neon lights and a couple of pool tables. The menu, designed by Five Leaves — a Brooklyn restaurant — offers small plates, salads and sandwiches, including one with grilled pineapple, a pickled beet and a sunny-side-up egg.
It's game on for women's sports bar
After struggling to get a bar to show a Gophers women's softball game this past spring, the idea for the Twin Cities' first women's sports bar was born. "We stopped to ask ourselves, what if fans of women's sports had a place to come together and cheer loudly for their favorite team on the biggest screen in the bar ... with the sound on?" Now, the team behind A Bar of Their Own ("All women's sports. All the time.") has announced a crowdfunding campaign for $200,000 to go toward finding an "inclusive, family-friendly" location, purchasing equipment and staffing up with servers, cooks and bartenders. Stay up to date at abaroftheirown.com or follow them on social media.
Time to get your Barbie groove on
The wait is over — the Malibu Barbie Cafe is opening Oct. 27 at the Mall of America (60 E. Broadway), and tickets are now available. Each reservation at the fast-casual restaurant includes a 90-minute dining window, a choice of entree and side dish, and access to exclusive merchandise and Barbie-branded interactive activities, from a life-size Barbie box to roller skating. Tickets for the concept, from Mattel and Bucket Listers, are priced according to when you visit and what you order (entrees range from sandwiches and salads to breakfast favorites and have to be selected at checkout). Early bird pricing is $29-$34 for kids, and $39-$44 for adults. For more information and tickets, go to bucketlisters.com. The beachy fun will last until Jan. 15.
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