This Fresh Forkin Friday I am wondering if I’ll actually be able to take next week off. Probably not entirely, but I’m going to try. My plan is to take the week and be a tourist with my kids. I think we’ll go to the zoo, run around some parks, perhaps hop on a segway tour, do a little stamp hunting, you know: relax. The big fun for me is that I’m going to make us eat in tiny places, strip mall joints, and maybe even an Asian buffet. It’s like spelunking for dumplings, and not a bad warm up for the Fair.

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CHANGES

Darin Koch, whose amazing wings are on the cover of the August issue, has taken over an old sports bar called Glory Days and will morph it into a newish sports bar called Glory : Days. Now that’s a renovation for the times! Just add an effective slice of punctuation and a whole tugboat full of better bar food, and you might win. I know you’ve heard about the crazy amount of wings that the : D-Spot owner whips up, but his burgers are just as good if not better. The new menu starts …. NOW.

CLOSES

The St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. has had to close the doors, hopefully temporarily. The tiny cookie shop is using a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to pay off some debt related to licensing, and they promise fresh cookies to anyone who chucks in.

COMING SOON

Republic is coming to Uptown. Matty O’Reilly plans to take over the second story space in Calhoun Square that was once The Independent (but come on, don’t we most fondly remember it as the cheesetastic Smiling Moose where once I shared nasty drinks called Shark Tanks with a young, strapping, post-collegiate Matty O’Reilly and friends?) and turn it into another beer-forward, locally owned joint that plays nice with bar food.

You Saw about AZ’s new food truck? And heard about Plymouth’s coming Eat Shop?

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You need any more proof that it’s September other than today’s brilliant cool blue sky? How about this weekend’s coming Augtoberfest block party in front of Tilia? This Sunday the street will be open for the wandering and there will be live music, photo booth, a hog roast, and a super special Harriet Brewing beer release! This is a kids-welcome event, what with the Wild Rumpus right there for fun!

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Speaking of beer, did you know you can enroll in the Better Beer Society University? Yes, you can go to school AND drink, the world has heard you and evolved! Sign up for the semester, 13 weeks for just $40, and you’ll get some school supplies that really rock, access to brewers and growers, lots of sipping opportunities, and apparently some field trips.

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There’s still time to get tickets for the IATP Bike and Bite this weekend! Celebrating the Year of the Co-op, this year’s tasty stops include some urban farms, Mill City farmers market, Seward Co-op, and a sneak peek at the new Kim Bartmann project on E. 38th St.

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If you want to see come chefs duke it out, get down to the Minneapolis farmers market for the Country Chef Challenge where it’s Riebel vs. Wadi squaring off at 10 a.m.. They have 20 minutes to run through the market for ingredients and then 30 minutes to prepare a dish. I’d watch out, Riebel will check you into the bok choy if you get in his way.