Main Street
Coffee Shops
I like Beggo! ♪ Love since I lied ♪ ♪ All I need is pizza ♪ ♪ We're gonna ride ♪ ♪ Eat some barbecue ♪ ♪ Full sauce and some nice red beets ♪ (upbeat music) - And with that music, it means it's time for Prairie Place with Rick Guillain. Rick, thanks for joining us today. - Good to be back with you, Ashley. - We're always happy to have you on Main Street. And today, we are not quite in the Main Street studio. - Well, where are we, Rick? - We are at Moonrise Cafe in downtown Fargo, which has great coffee items and really good baked items, and their cakes are phenomenal. So, yeah, we're enjoying our outing today. - All right, so why did you want us to chat at, not just a coffee shop, but, you know, not a chain, a coffee shop? - Yeah, I think local, we try to emphasize local on this segment, not that we're against chain and franchise places. They employ a lot of people, and that's really good for the economy, but I think there's a really good local scene happening honestly throughout North Dakota, and you really see it in these coffee shops, and it's not only here in downtown Fargo, but you see it in Bismarck quite a bit, Grand Forks, and I was just down in Elgin and Mott, North Dakota, and they have a coffee shop called the Sippin' Chicken. - Oh, I love that, tell me everything. - Yes, okay, for starters, why is it called the Sippin' Chicken? Are you drinking chicken, Bob? (laughing) - Well, maybe next time I'll ask that question, but yeah, it's-- - You know, you're up with the chickens, and you're having coffee, and that wakes you up? You know, I don't know, I'm just speculating. - There's a lot of farms around there, so that's probably it, but it's a nice little coffee shop that's very well-run, two younger gals are running it, had a nice conversation with them, and so next time I will ask them, what's up with this name, really? - Or send an email to Main Street at PrairiePublic.org, if you know the origin of that name. But Rick, I want to zero in on the two words that you used a moment to go, local scene. - What do you mean when you say local scene? - I think you're seeing kind of... I don't know about a resurgence, but just a really good development of locally run coffee shops, butcher shops, restaurants, North Dakota, and I think a lot of people would agree with me that 20 plus years ago it was a lot of franchise and chain places, and again, I'm not against that. I just think that people are really interested in food, they're really interested in agriculture, they're really interested in community, they're really interested in serving people, and this is the way they can do it. And so it's really been phenomenal. When I drive around the state, I really try to emphasize going to these local places, whether it's a butcher shop, a cafe, or a coffee shop, like the tulip and mat, or the sip and chicken and elgin, or here at Moonarizon, down top par. - I love both of those names. - Yeah, and in Bismarck, you're seeing like anima, kuchina, brick oven, bakery, there's many others, there's many coffee shops throughout the state, these are just places I like to go, and I understand people like to go other places too, but you're seeing like developments like James Beard semi-finalist nominations, such as anima, kuchina, and Bismarck, or here in Fargo, Luna, burn bombs. You're just seeing these things happen. Molly Yay up in East Grand Forks, so I just got a nice note from, 'cause I sent her a Buddhist Essen cookbook not too long ago, but she's really running a nice outfit called Bernie's at East Grand Forks. So you're really seeing a large development, especially after COVID, which is surprising because I think... The food industry is giving a lot of staffing issues. - Staffing issues, supply chain, prices are high. It's not an easy business to be in. So I'm thankful to be on Main Street in the show to not promote, but just discuss all these local places that are popping up. - Well, talk a little bit about the feel of a place when it's local versus, you know, when you are walking into something that could be in any city. - Yeah, I mean, for a coffee shop, it's definitely the smell. And I think it smells great no matter if it's Starbucks or moonrise. But I think you're just gonna find a little bit more feelin' things. You're gonna find a little bit more personality because they're not doing the corporate thing, I guess. And again, I... - I've seen a lot of local art, a lot of posters that are literally put up, like you can see the tape line. - Yeah. - These are not professionally framed. - Yeah, holes in the wall. - Sports a thing. - Yeah, holes in the wall from the pins, that sort of thing. And yeah, the local art is great. Being involved in community, the Red River Market's coming up here right next door on Saturday. It becomes a community is what it does. And that's just, I think it's an upper Midwest thing. It's just really, it's been really fun to see. - You know, it's funny for me, I grew up in Wahala. And there was a section of the, the Senex, where you'd go and get gas, and there was one booth there, and it was the same, eight, older men. (laughing) Who would come and sit there and drink their gas station coffee and have their conversation. - About the weather, probably. - I mean, probably, that's pretty important to most of the careers in that area. - Yes. But yeah, in that case, it wasn't so much about the coffee, but it was very much about having a place where people who just kind of get it, like they understand your life and where you're coming from, and it's like it's its own little safe space. - It is, and people that have gotten to know me over in the East Wing, probably public offices, know I drink coffee, kind of like an old man. Some days like a grumpy old man, some days I'm not grumpy. So I really-- - Does it depend on the caffeine intake if you are grumpy or not? (laughing) - It depends on the part of the day, but yes. But yeah, that is all a part of it too, and we can't discount the Senec station at all because that's where a lot of the community revolves around too, but coffee kind of brings people together, food brings people together, and it's not a new thing, but it's just kind of shifted gears, I think, in the last 20 years in North Dakota to more locally owned places, and I think it's really good to see. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about the pastry game, which is rarely do you go into a coffee shop for just coffee, come on. - Oh, you need a treat, you need a little snack. - Right, the amount of times I've convinced myself I deserve a treat for walking into a building, it's just shocking. (laughing) - Yeah, so here the cakes are really good, they make extremely good cookies, sandwiches, the soup here is amazing, but then on the other side of the state, in Elgin, North Dakota, and the Sip and Chicken, there was an article in one of the newspapers not too long ago saying that they had some of the best caramel rolls in the state, and I did buy one, and it was the size of my head. - How do they do that, I make caramel rolls from scratch, and they're never bigger than my fist, and I follow all the directions, it's from a cookbook from a world-renowned baker. How do you get them so big? - Sounds like you need to go to the Sip and Chicken. - I think so. (laughing) - But it was quite good, and I will say it's one of the better caramel rolls I've had in the state, so yes, they're onto something here. - So tell me about, there's a cinnamon bun, there's a caramel roll, there's honey almond, you can do all sorts of different sorts of slurries. - Where are you at when it comes to this most delicious of refined carbohydrates? - I'm into the caramel rolls, and at the Sip and Chicken, they have both cinnamon bun, huge ones, and caramel rolls, but I'm into caramel rolls all day, I love 'em, they're just really good. I just like the caramel, I like the butter, I like the cinnamon, it's just a really good caramel. And it goes well with coffee obviously. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - It's an incentive. (laughing) - I feel like I'm a little heavier on the butter end of things, so I tend to gravitate towards the pastries that are a little bit more, like European versus American, because I'm like, oh no, I want the butter. Like if I could just have the butter in an IV, I would do that. (laughing) - You and I both, and Nicole's fine pastry on the edge of downtown Fargo here is amazing. For that, Bernie's makes some really good croissants and the East Grand Forks, but I think the best one on that end is Brick Oven Bakery in downtown Bismarck. They are killing it. Those pastries are world-class, they're amazing, that place is busy, they sell out of pastries, and their Nefla soup is actually quite good. So just a little tip there, it's not all about the sweets. (laughing) - All right, so what else you got going on? Like food-wise, what are you, 'cause we're still doing some food festivals and stuff coming up for the summer. We're a little bit past fair season around here anyway. So you're maybe not eating too much on a stick right now. - My big thing is the Red River Market on Saturday right next door to here. I'm guessing there will be five to 10,000 people here. The first three or four of 'em. - Our first market, Sue Belltham is a fixing to be at the one in Bismarck this Saturday, I know. - Oh, great. - Yeah. Well, maybe I'll go to the one here and the one in Bismarck, I don't know. (laughing) Gotta check things out. - So, yeah, well, I mean, it is the time where we can start getting some of the early season and produce. - It is. The lettuce, the radishes, some of the, maybe the carrots, string beans, maybe peas. I don't know, it's kind of been an interesting growing season this year, 'cause it's been chilly, and a lot of moisture. - It's been very wet. - A lot of moisture. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that my, and I'm not growing food, but I'm just, got plants, but my garden is as lush as I have ever seen it around here. - Yeah, and it's interesting, I was talking to some farmers at Anima-Kachina in Bismarck a couple days ago, and they were saying the wheat in South, this is in South, Western North Dakota. - Yeah. - Doing quite well, but the corn needs hot, it needs sun, it needs hot, there's got a lot of moisture in. So, corn crop may suffer a little bit this year if we don't get these hot days, but it's hot this week and pretty much the whole state. So, I think they're getting what they're asking for. - Well, and if it's good for the wheat, I mean, it could be good for the caramel roll industry. - Yeah, it all is connected, isn't it? Yes, and the sugar for the sugar beets and the valley here and all of that stuff. - We're growing ourselves a lot of treats here on Main Street, and if you have ideas for Rick or want to get in on this best caramel roll instead of North Dakota options, send an email to plates@perrypublic.org. That will get you directly to Rick, or if you want to contact us through Main Street, you can send it to mainstreet@perrypublic.org. Always looking forward to hearing about what it is you love to eat and what brings us together about food. Well, Rick, it has been a pleasure. This is my last official recording of the Prairie Plates with you, but it's been a real pleasure working on this segment, and I sure appreciate the way that you are getting around the state and showcasing the incredible talent in what I consider to be the finest of all the art forms, which is food. - I do too, absolutely. It's certainly the most delicious. - I mean, I love painters, I love sculptors, I love musicians, but you can't eat it. - Can you lick paintings? - I don't know. - Ooh, let's not find out about that. - Well, I'm gonna miss you too, and this has really been a lot of fun to do, and just to talk about food in North Dakota, the Upper Midwest, and the growing food scene, and happy to be a part of that. So thank you. - Yeah, I look forward to following you on your Facebook page, which one more time, as a reminder. - Fargo Morehead Eats, it's a big Facebook group, about 40,000 members these days, so. - Okay, and what was it when you started? - Well, obviously it was zero, but like, how long did it take to get to 40,000? - I started it about three years ago now, to be three years in September, so it really blew up. It's one of the larger group pages in the state of North Dakota, and there's a lot of people on it from all over the area. - Yeah. - It's pretty insane, so. - You know, I've said it before, you might need to change the name. - Tom Broso was actually mentioning that too. - You might have to call it North Dakota Eats. - You too, you too, you two need to be my marketing director right now. (laughs) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)