Who: Restaurateurs and a thousand foodies who love them What: Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s The Best of the Best Party 2010
Where: The Guthrie
When: Monday, President’s Day, February 15, 2010
Why: To celebrate the cities best and kick off our March “Best Restaurants” issue
President’s Day sizzled when 1,000 Twin Citians flocked to the Guthrie for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s 7th annual Best of the Best Party. Every year we throw a party to launch our March “Best Restaurants” issue, reveal the 2010 Restaurateur of the Year, and invite you to sip and sample bite-sized treats from Twin Cities restaurants.
So back to the sizzle . . . the night was themed Brazilian Carnaval, complete with fire throwers, babes in body paint, chicks on sticks (stilt-walkers), and Samba music reverberating throughout the Guthrie’s deep, great halls.
And like Brazil, there were plenty of sexy and intriguing party people there, including some featured in our February issue “Sexy in the (Twin) Cities,” or voted on in our Sexiest Twin Citian contest. Pra caramba!
More than 20 popular Twin Cities restaurants gave out samples, from Cowboy Slims’ Tator Tot “this would be great if you were hung over” hot dish, as one put it, to Manny’s steak tartare. Icy cold vodka cocktails and wine were a plenty to wash it all down. At a party full of foodies, it isn’t unusual to bump into restaurateurs at Best of—we saw OM’s Vik Uppal and Randy Norman, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s 2010 Restaurateur of the Year Phil Roberts of Parasole, Keyvan Talebi and his Crave crew, La Belle Vie’s Tim McKee, and Spoonriver’s Brenda Langton.
The best guest of the night was Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Brian Anderson, one of the longest serving editors of a regional city magazine. Thirty-three years! Governor Tim Pawlenty acknowledged Brian’s dedication to the Twin Cities when he declared February 13th Brian Anderson Day, proclaiming, “Whereas, Anderson’s gentle Scandinavian wit and deft magazine touch has charmed millions of Minnesota residents for more than three decades.” At Best of, Brian charmed us by shaking hands, giving out hugs, and spreading smiles to friends of the magazine. There was a lot of love and respect around him Monday, and we were all happy to see him.
Best of is a fundraiser for Second Harvest Heartland, the largest hunger relief organizations in the Upper Midwest, and proceeds from this year’s party will allow them to distribute $55,000 worth of food.
P.S. Save the date, foodies: Restaurant Week, where local restaurants offer specially-priced meals, is Sunday, February 28—Friday, March 5.
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