Terry & Franklin Ventura

Terry Ventura is Minnesota's First Lady. Franklin Ventura is Minnesota's First Pooch. PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

TERRY VENTURA'S FAVORITES

Best spot for martinis and dancing with friends:
Redstone
12501 Ridgedale Drive
Minnetonka
(952) 591-0000
 
Best park to trail ride on horseback:
Hennepin County Crow-Hassan Park Reserve
12595 Park Drive
Rogers
(763) 424-5511
 
Best cranberry cornbread:
Diamond City Bread Company
315 Jackson Avenue NW
Elk River
(763) 441-0002
 
Best store for unique, creative gifts:
Stone Crop
13728 83rd Way N.
Maple Grove
(763) 416-4035
 
Best friendly and accommodating pharmacy:
Rogers Drug
21311 John Milless Drive (Rogers Plaza)
Rogers
(763) 428-2218
and
Bober Pharmacy
1059 Grand Avenue
St. Paul
(651) 224-1000
 
Best romantic spot for dinner (on the town):
Jax Cafe
1928 University Avenue NE
Minneapolis
(612) 789-7297
 
Best romantic spot for dinner (staying in):
The governor's residence (with meal provided by master chefs Ken and Nate)
 
Best place to buy and mix your own scents:
Garden of Eden
867 Grand Avenue
St. Paul
(651) 293-1300
 
Best place to call for gifts to be sent for any occasion:
Gifted Baskets
443 Union Place
Excelsior
(952) 474-1743
 
FRANKLIN VENTURA'S FAVORITES
Best bank:
Wells Fargo Banks
(various area locations)
(612) 667-9378)
They always have treats on hand.

 
Best place to buy dog food and horse feed:
Martie's Farm Service
345 Jackson Avenue
Elk River
(763) 441-7550
 
Best place to meet other dogs and bark at them:
Front yard of the governor's mansion
 
Best place to lay your head on $200 shoes and drool on the best of the best
The governor's residence, at any event
 
FRANKLIN AND TERRY'S FAVORITES
Best politician:
Gov. Jesse Ventura and
Lt. Gov. Mae Schunk
 
Best place to walk:
Along Grand Avenue in St. Paul

Thien-Bao Phi

Thien-Bao Phi is a nationally acclaimed slam poet PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

Best place to see Chow Yun-Fat
Asian Media Access's Cinema With Passion at the Riverview Theater
3800 42nd Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 729-7369

Fridays at midnight. I love Hong Kong cinema.
[For more information call Asian Media Access at (612) 376-7715.]

 
Best library
Franklin Community Library
1314 E. Franklin Avenue
Minneapolis
(612) 630-6800

Way back in the day, when I was a little kid, I would walk there and read books for hours.
 
Best chicken curry
Dung Nguyen

That's my mom. I don't know how she does it. She doesn't have a restaurant, though, so the rest of the Twin Cities will just have to suffer knowing they can't have the best chicken curry.

 
Best karaoke
DoReMi Noraebang
1977 Silver Bell Road
Eagan
(651) 405-9090

Songs in many different languages, plus great equipment. You can change the tempo of the tunes. My only beef: They need more hip-hop tracks. I'm sick of doing "Gangsta's Paradise."

 
Best local publication
A tie between Asian-American Renaissance's literary journal and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent's Paj Ntaub Voice
 
Best pho
Pho Ca-Dao
439 University Avenue W.
St. Paul
(651) 222-4615

Their pho has the most flavorful and fragrant broth, in my opinion.

 
Best place for a teenage Bao to get tipsy and play stupid board games with his friends
Dave's house, Powderhorn neighborhood

You know how, when you're young, there's always one friend's house that is the place to kick it? Dave's house, natch.
 
Best public display of art
Wing Young Huie's Lake Street USA
 
Best bowling alley
Stardust Lanes
2520 26th Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 721-6211

There's a 13-pound house ball there with a dent in it. It's my magic ball.
 
Best public program
Project Offstreets
1905 Third Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 252-1200

A cool program. The focus is for artists to have active interactions with homeless and "at-risk" youth. They do important work, and they should get props for it.

Darby Hendrickson My Favorite Things About the Twin Cities

1. Watching the birth of my son Mason in the Twin Cities this past March
   
2. Playing hockey in the Xcel Energy Center
   
3. Fireside Pizza
   6736 Penn Avenue S.
   Richfield, MN, (612) 869-4040 In Richfield, my hometown.
   
4. Hanging out in Uptown
   
5. Working out at the Calhoun Beach Club
   
6. Fishing at Lake Waconia
   
7. Broders' Southside Pasta Bar
   5000 Penn Avenue S.
   Minneapolis
   (612) 925-9202
   
8. The State Fair
   
9. Oceanaire Seafood Room
   1300 Nicollet Mall
   Minneapolis
   (612) 333-2277
   
10. Spending time with my family

David Unowsky

David Unowsky owns Ruminator Books (formerly the Hungry Mind), the oldest independent bookstore in the Twin Cities PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

My Favorite Things About the Twin Cities

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
3675 Arboretum Drive
Chanhassen
(952) 443-1400
www.arboretum.umn.edu

Amazingly peaceful and beautiful; a short drive to Chanhassen gets you there!

 
The State Fair
www.mnstatefair.org

The Great Minnesota Get-Together: A chow-hound's delight.

 
Rice Park Area
Downtown St. Paul

Landmark Center, Library, Ordway, the Saint Paul Hotel, and a park with a life-size statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald. What better urban landscape is there?

 
Williams Arena
1925 University Avenue SE
Minneapolis
(612) 624-8080

If you can't get excited about a basketball game here, check your vital signs: You're probably dead.

 
East and West River Road, Ford Bridge to Franklin Avenue

No better place to walk, bike, or drive, and without the crowds of "the Lakes."

 
Como Park
1325 Aida Place
St. Paul
www.stpaul.gov/depts/parks/

A great city park: zoo, picnics, mini-rides, golf, skiing, lake, and more.

 
Food co-ops

Lots of 'em. You know that junk food is healthy when it comes from a natural-foods co-op. Favorites: Wedge, Mississippi Market, Spiral, North Country.

 
Public radio stations

There must be more per capita in the Twin Cities than anywhere. Up with diverse opinions and ideas; down with multinational media conglomerates.

 
Ethnic emporia

Restaurants on or near Lake Street. Hundreds of restaurants of every type, plus Bill's Imported Foods, Ingebretsen's, Mercado Central, and United Noodle.

 
The large pile of book-related things and doings

Too long a list, but surely this is one of the best book communities anywhere.

Brenda Langton

Brenda Langton is chef and owner of Cafe Brenda PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

Best Saturday morning:
Minneapolis Farmers' Market
300 East Lyndale Avenue N.
Minneapolis
(612) 333-1718

I love the produce, cheese, and breads.

 
Best ethnic restaurant:
Da Afghan
929 W. 80th Street
Bloomington
(952) 888-5824

Hands down the weirdest location. Seriously, call for directions.

 
Best event:
Star Prairie Trout Fest
Star Prairie Trout Farm
400 Hill Avenue
Star Prairie, Wisconsin
(715) 248-3633
www.starprairietrout.com

Each year we have a private party and chef cookout. There is an enormous grill and we all take turns making elaborate trout dishes while eating oysters. It's great.

 
Favorite politician:
Fancy Ray McCloney
 
Best way to beat the winter blues:
Throw a potluck dinner party

Invite friends. It's the easiest way to entertain.

 
Best drive (day trip):
Alexis Bailly Vineyard
18200 Kirby Avenue
Hastings
(651) 437-1413

At the harvest I cook for the crew while they pick grapes. It's usually late August or early September and a great day trip. People can go down to the wine tasting and bring a picnic.

 
Best drive (weekend trip):
Gunflint Trail

We stay in a beautiful family cabin. It's only seven hours away, but it is so remote. I love it.

 
Best summer afternoon:
Bike ride around the Lakes

I bring a picnic: tuna-pea salad, potato chips, and pickles.
 
Best local feature:
The people

One of the best things about the Twin Cities is the people. It's a small enough town that you get to know so many of them. I'm proud to be a part of the community. A lot of the chefs know each other. We just got back from cooking at the James Beard House in New York. The chefs in New York don't know each other. Here, we're all friends.

Carol Bly

PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

My Favorite Thing About the Twin Cities

When I moved here in 1986, there were so many rude drivers I put some of them into my short stories. But now it's changed. What I love in the Twin Cities is the nice driving manners. No one on I-35E or I-94 has given me the finger for at least 20 years. I am grateful. Drivers pause to let you emerge from a side street into a solid line of traffic. Drivers wave thanks to other drivers. You will never catch me sneering at "Minnesota nice." If drivers stay this considerate, it will lessen the Pennsylvania Avenue Rage we feel even at this distance.
Author Carol Bly's large body of work includes the essay collection Letters From the Country. She lives in St. Paul with her husband.

David King

David King was born in Minneapolis and currently resides in St. Paul. He is the drummer for the bands Happy Apple, Love-cars, and 12Rods. PHOTO BY MICHAEL DVORAK

My Favorite Things About the Twin Cities

The black bean burger at Little T's
Little Tijuana Restaurant
17 E. 26th Street
Minneapolis
(612) 872-0578
 
Theatre Antiques
2934 Lyndale Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 822-4884
 
The light fixtures in the lobby of the Har Mar Cinema 11
2100 Snelling Avenue N.
Roseville
(651) 636-2664

The chandeliers make it a nice-looking, old theater

 
The veggie burger at Bryant-Lake Bowl
810 W. Lake Street
Minneapolis
(612) 825-8949
 
Brookdale Mall in Brooklyn Center (keeping it real)

I went there as a kid, and when I go back there now it's exactly the same. There's something ghostly about it. It's old and depressing and I like that. And there was a movie theater there that let me into R-rated movies as a kid.

 
Ellis Drum Shop
1948 University Avenue
St. Paul
(651) 603-0848
 
The jazz section at the Electric Fetus
2000 Fourth Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 870-9300
 
The tartufo at Figlio
3001 Hennepin Avenue S.
Minneapolis
(612) 822-1688

 
My in-laws live here and they are nice.

 
The Walker Art Center Free Thursdays
725 Vineland Place
Minneapolis
(612) 375-7622
 
The month of May

It's pre-mosquito and thank God the winter is over. April doesn't count as spring. May is the perfect month.

 
Oak Street Cinema
309 Oak Street SE
Minneapolis
(612) 331-3134

It is the only one.
 
The way the Old Colony gas station on Washington Avenue looks at 3:00 a.m.
1624 N. Washington Avenue
Minneapolis
(612) 529-0521

It looks like they made it out of searchlights. It's like coming over the hills driving into Vegas. It is really intense.

 
The Artists' Quarter (a real jazz club)
366 Jackson Street
St. Paul
(651) 292-1359

It's all about the music.

And finally, by coincidence, that the members of Happy Apple, Love-cars, and 12Rods all live here. It makes it easier to play.