A gem in the middle of a corn field. Impossible to find and confounding when you do; Minneapolis, Minnesota is definitely this year’s biggest surprise. I must admit, with a population of 300,000 I was anticipating yet another strip mall community – you know the scene: a few too many Barns and Nobel’s and a few too few brick wall murals. Apparently I was not the only traveler whose jaw hit the floor upon arrival to this Midwestern city, for game maker, Cranium Inc. just rated Minneapolis number one on their
America’s Funnest Cities list over San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York.

Yes, Minneapolis is the needle in Middle America’s haystack. And I think one of the things that makes this urban community so special is just that: it’s location location location in the heart of the Midwest. People here are listening while you talk and looking you in your eyes. They are buying vintage guitars at the resale shop and hosting spectacular haunted hayrides. They are freelancing $3 prints of their paintings from the trunk of a well-used car and they are doing it for all the right reasons.

Minneapolis has roots. One of the strongest of which is Ecopolitan Restaurant, an organic, raw vegan café situated prominently in the center of the city’s coolest neighborhood. For two stable years, Ecopolitan has been a resource center, eatery and gathering spot for the raw food community – something Austin, Seattle and cities twice Minneapolis’s size even can not boast.

Upon entering, I first noticed Ecopolitan’s moody autumn colors, dark wood floors, and a single dried flower on each sturdy table, immediately feeling nourished in that part of me that is often insatiable. It may have had something to do with Jessica, our server being so completely present, that even in small talk, I knew she had listened to every word I said. Or how the chef invited me right into the spotless kitchen to observe his majestic machete skills (I have never tasted sweeter coconut milk). Or how every young employee seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and how grounding it felt to be in their space. Whatever it was, I knew I was home.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the experience was that the restaurant and café seemed to be run completely by young people whom choose to ride bicycles instead of drive cars, who choose to travel instead of hide out in school, who read the Teenage Liberation Handbook instead of Cosmo…who choose the extraordinary life instead of the predictable. Chef Joe was one such young people. Not everything was his on the menu, but the best things were - mushroom pate exploding with bright gravy flavor served on a monstrous bed of baby greens, or Flax (flap) Jacks topped with fresh pineapple, strawberries, tahini and drizzled artfully with raw butterscotch. And how I achieved this honor I may never know, but I was the first ever to taste Chef Joe’s cuisine altering creation, a recipe that will soon define the raw ice cream experience nation wide: raw coconut vanilla spearmint ice cream. With a texture so appropriate and sensation so true, I insisted the dessert be added to the menu immediately…before I left town, if at all possible.

After an hour of thought provoking conversation, finding out that the kitchen produces only a small waste basket of organic garbage every 3 days, I wiped my lips with a hemp napkin. I hugged the employees and they hugged back. I thanked them and they thanked me. I left Ecopolitan feeling deeply nourished in that place that is often insatiable. What a surprise Minneapolis turned out to be.

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