I’ll cop to it; even though I co-founded the MOB, there are plenty of MOB blogs that I didn’t even know existed, much less read them regularly.
One of them is Is That All You’ve Got?, a blog written by a “public health nerd” from Saint Paul’s Selby/Dale neighborhood with the nom de plume “Shyest Violet”.
Fire-breathing conservative politics? Not that I can see (somebody tell this shrieking ninny). A few bits and pieces about Obamacare and MNCare here and there…
…and an awful lot of wry wit, updated pretty regularly. It sort of reminds me of a slightly-public-health-tinged Casual Sundays with Mr. Curry (TREBEK: “References to less-well-known blogs to define even less-well-known blogs?” BERG: “What is the most inside trivia game of all time?” TREBEK “Correct, and you have the board”).
No, really. As a Saint Paul guy who goes up and down University a lot, I loved this bit here – a plea to “Big Daddy’s Saturday Barbecue”, a University-avenue barbecue joint that was open on Saturdays, and isn’t open at all at the moment (because, if I recall correctly, its building was torn down):
Please come back soon. [Shyestviolet’s apparent sig.other and regular blog character] J and I are going into withdrawal. Yes, Costello’s is nice as a temporary substitute, and we really enjoy wings during happy hour, but now that Lost is back on TV, we’d really like a solid takeout option, and YOU’RE NOT HERE. Where are you? Why have you left us? Will you come back soon? Look at how much we love you. Please come back. I don’t want to go to Rooster’s. I don’t want to go to Hickory Hut. I don’t want to go to JJ’s. I WANT TO GO TO BIG DADDY’S. I’m almost out of my last jar of Big Daddy’s barbecue sauce, and can’t be responsible for my actions once we have to resort to some processed crapgarbage off of the bottom shelf at Target. If you want to talk about your temporary location strategy, you can find me wallowing in my misery at Lee & Dee’s. You know, that place that ISN’T BIG DADDY’S.
And now I’m hungry.
Anyway – make Is That All You’ve Got a stop on your MOB Tour!
Here’s good news for Shyest Violet…
http://www.twincities.com/restaurants/ci_14416850?nclick_check=1
Big Daddy’s will be serving its barbecued ribs in temporary digs
By Kathie Jenkins
Updated: 02/17/2010 11:14:04 AM CST
Big Daddy’s is back in town. Gene “Big Daddy” Sampson and partners Bob Edmond and Ron Whyte have taken over the former West Indies Soul spot on University Avenue near Dale.
On March 1, they hope to start serving the same barbecued ribs and chicken they did at their old digs just down the street in the former Abundant Bistro. That spot was recently demolished to make way for a retail and housing development.
When the project opens next year, Big Daddy’s Barbecue will be a permanent part of the mix. In the meantime, the partners didn’t want to stand idle and found a temporary spot where they could barbecue their famous ribs.
“We were concerned people were going to forget about us,” says Sampson.
This time around, instead of barbecuing in a big drum outside, they’ve installed an indoor smoker.
“That’s what’s taking so long,” says Sampson. “We’re working out the kinks so we can produce the same quality products.”
Until they get those kinks out, Big Daddy’s will open on weekends only and keep the menu small, serving beef and pork ribs, rib tips and chicken.
The partners have worked together for years and ran a part-time catering business in the 1980s, but they’ve changed the way they divvy up the work. Edmond is the pit master; Whyte handles the business side; Sampson makes the sauce and does the prep work.
“We’re trying to live that dream like when we were kids,” says Sampson. “But we’re in our 60s now and at the heart-attack age. We can’t take too much stress.”