A few months back I shot a story for Food Management Magazine profiling Jean Ronnei, the Director of Nutrition and Commercial Services for St. Paul Public Schools. I met Jean at one of the public schools some portraits, then I stuck around to photograph a {gulp} lunch hour. Yes, it was a melee.

When I think of school lunches I remember back to some pretty bland, mediocre stuff: the most basic of dishes, with the bare minimum of fruits and vegetables. So I was surprised and heartened to learn more about what Jean’s got going in St. Paul.

Menus have expanded to offer dishes representative of St. Paul’s diverse population. Efforts are made to source ingredients locally. Student helpers scrape food waste into compost bins prior to sending the trays to the dishwasher. As I don’t have kids myself I’m not really up on the state of school food programs in general, but what they’ve done in St. Paul gives me hope.

Not only that; the lunch ladies were super nice.

Some images from the story:

Is there anything better (I’m talking food-wise here) than a neighborhood deli? Sure you’ve got your schmancy once-a-year places that stretch your palette and show you something amazing. You’ve got your exotic street foods, your bakeries and pubs. But in terms of an experience that grounds and comforts you, I’ll take a neighborhood deli any day.

Now I’ve definitely got a certain amount of loyalty to the Birchwood Cafe – it’s the neighborhood deli in my neighborhood, after all – but I’ve got to shout out to the Cheeky Monkey Deli in St. Paul too. Beautiful fresh bread. These amazingly airy homemade potato chips. Organic meats. It’s the good stuff.

Cheeky Monkey is my friend Sarah’s neighborhood neighborhood deli, so I called her up to see if she’d be interested in letting me take pictures of her with a meatloaf sandwich – one of the signature dishes at the deli. As it turns out, Sarah orders the meatloaf sammie every time she goes to Cheeky Monkey. Her husband Craig has traveled the menu, but not Sarah. And, as she told me, every time a meatloaf sandwich lands in front of her she makes this face:

and that’s one of the reasons she’s my friend. : )

Here are a few more photos from our lunchtime shoot. Thanks loads to the fine folks at Cheeky Monkey for their hospitality and for plating up such photogenic and delicious food. Hopefully we can collaborate again.

What’s your favorite neighborhood joint? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

The magnificent Pot Roast Sandwich. Oh, the pickled onions. Ah, the horseradish sauce. . .

It’s weddings like Pepper and Brendan’s that make things about as easy as they can get on a wedding photographer: beautiful weather, a church full of character and color, bubble-blowing kids, delicious food, and most of all a ton of very happy people. In fact, I think the image that will stay in my mind from this day is Brendan’s Mom, smiling nonstop with this expression that said, Isn’t this the greatest day ever?

You can see more photos from the day on my Facebook page. While you’re at it, join the party and become a fan!

Thanks again to Pepper and Brendan for having me along for such a warm, personal day. Best of luck to you both and to your families!

Last Sunday was one of a few types of Perfect Minnesota day: 70 degrees, sunny, leaves budding and daffodils out. (The other types: 50 degrees and peak fall colors, 20 degrees after a nice snowfall, pretty much any time on the patio at Sea Salt Restaurant.) Not only was it phenomenal outside, but a good friend of ours turned 70, and rented out the historic streetcar station at Como Park for a potluck. There was a roving accordion player, eleven apple pies (the birthday boy’s favorite), creamed herring, hotdishes, and just a great time. Plus one of those foam gliders.

Ahhhhhh Spring.

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