Thursday, August 16, 2007

Minneapolis St.Paul Airport/ St. Cloud/Grand Rapids, Minnesota

So recently I was in Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, and St. Cloud. First things first, the MSP airport is a great place to connect (if you have to).

I was in northern Minnesota for a conference starting near Duluth, to Biwabik, Grand Rapids, then down south to St. Cloud. Usually before I travel to places where I won't have much control over my food (i.e. a conference for work) I pick up a few Luna bars, some vegan dehydrated soup cups, etc. but I recently I was connecting through the Minneapolis St. Paul airport which has so many great vegan options I thought I'd pick a few things up there. Unfortunately my flight came 2 hours late and I had a 5 minute connection so my plan was derailed. I arrived in Hermantown (right outside of Duluth) late Monday night, my boss asked what restaurants were still open- McDonald's, Outback Steakhouse, etc. but when I inquired about a grocery store luckily the person at the front desk at the hotel told me about one right around the corner. (Side note: I know Duluth itself has several vegan options, but I was outside of the city and it was late so I needed a quick and close option) I thought I'd try to see if there was anything I could pick up for the week. Well to my delight the Super One grocery store had a mini-health food section. I picked up a box of kashi oatmeal (honey-free) for breakfast, a few pieces of fruit, a couple Luna bars, a box of Boca original burgers, a can of lentil soup with a pull top, soy milk, and low and behold they had whole wheat hamburger buns with nothing funny in them just wheat, water, etc. Then I put it all in one of those hot and cold traveling cooler packs so I didn't have to use a "disposable" bag either.

Duluth Airport Vicinity
Super One Foods Duluth

Miller Hill 5401 Burning Tree Road Duluth, MN 55811 Phone: 218-722-6019 (near the Duluth airport)

Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (June and July 2007)

Fresh Meadows Bakery

Has vegan soups, tofu-hummus wrap, tempeh reuben, cupcakes, cookies, etc. They have an ingredient book so you can double check ingredients. Note: the balsamic dressing contains honey that comes with the med. tofu-hummus wrap.



360 Burrito

They have a listing for a vegan burrito and and even have tofu offerings. They'll change your gloves if you ask but make sure they don't put your tortilla on the grill to heat it where they make the chicken.



St. Cloud

Hmm this was more of a what can I eat as opposed to an oh wow I get to eat kind of place. We went to a Mexican restaurant which can make a bean and chip platter. It wasn't very good to be honest and next time I would try the Thai restaurant (Sawatdee Thai Restaurant ). Although the coffeeshop had soymilk and raw sugar and made a great soy latte. Everything was around the corner from the Radisson, so I think the Mexican place was MEXICAN VILLAGE RESTAURANT and the coffeehouse is Java Joint.

Grand Rapids

Rivers Wine Bar & Bistro
It's a higher end restaurant in town but they were able to easily accommodate me as a vegan. I had a big grilled vegetable plate with portobello mushrooms, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, and so on. It was nicely seasoned, not mushy, and not too oily.

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