A Summer Cocktail Party, Minnesota-Style: Surdyk’s and Friends!

Story and photos by Julie Craven

If you're known by the company you keep, then Surdyk’s is in very good company. Surdyk's hosted a summer cocktail party to show off their catering capabilities, and to make sure the party was complete, they brought along their friends from Tattersall Distilling and Lakes & Legends Brewing Company.

Now, Surdyk's to me had always meant a trip to the Twin Cities from Austin, Minn. for the wine sale, and more recently, my go to place for wine and cheese for an impromptu happy hour. After Doug and I had been in the Mill District for awhile, we also came to know them as generous, community-minded neighbors in the Northeast.

Surdyk's is the contract caterer for all events at Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. Emily Dunne heads up Surdyk’s catering in this beautiful and historic location.

“We started with cheese trays," Emily explained. "We were a cheese shop so it made sense. The catering extended into other platters - local veggies, imported and local meats and sausage.”  Sandwich platters and box lunches have been their catering mainstays for the past several years, but the turning point was the contract with Northrop in April of 2014. “We knew we could execute it. We run the cafe and hundreds of large and small events during the school year.” The newly renovated auditorium on the U campus has become Surdyk's second home base. “We learned a lot about what we could do here. We went from dropping off a cheese tray, to breakfast for 1000.” What was the scariest event? “The first commencement for 2700. When the doors opened and everyone came out of the auditorium, we all took a deep breath!” Emily said.

A hands-on, family-owned business, now in its fourth generation, Surdyk's was the 11th liquor license granted by the city of Minneapolis when Prohibition ended. The grocery store-turned-liquor store evolved, and now there's a location at MSP Airport and dedicated beer and sake buying, in addition to their signature wine and cheese offerings.

So Emily, what's the trend for summertime entertaining? “Weird vegetables!" she exclaimed. "More crudités, people are eating light and they're eating their veggies! It's fun to see trays full of colorful, healthy vegetables.”

Dan Oskey from Tattersall Distilling (pictured below in plaid) was on hand to help demystify craft cocktails for a crowd. “We're letting folks know that making craft cocktails is simple because you can batch them and we'll show you how,” Dan explained. Salty Dog and Southside cocktails were on the menu and the recipes were available as well. “They will be consistent, but you can also be creative,” he added.

What's new at Tattersall? “We're distilling rum, 100% molasses rum, as we speak,” Dan shared. Known for their gin and vodka, Tattersall will have some new offerings out this fall, a bourbon, liqueurs and an apple brandy. “The holiday markets will be back this year," Dan said. "They're insane, but in a good way! The markets and Art-A-Whirl - they are our busiest days of the year.”

If it seems like Lakes & Legends Brewing Company has already been at all your summer parties this year, that's no surprise. They are now at over 45 area retail outlets. Partner events such as the Vegetarian Dinner at The Strip Club Meat & Fish restaurant, scheduled for August 16th, are also making their summer fly. Derrick Taylor with Lakes & Legends pointed out that their Belgian and Farmhouse Ale story was truly the “white space in the market” and they are having a blast discovering all the ways their beers complement the local food scene.

To complete the experience, Bridget Reddan from Northrop was there and was generous with her time and tips about their 2016-2017 season. Asking someone like Bridget which upcoming performance is her pick really isn't a fair question. Yes, she talked about each of the dance and theatre performances on the schedule, but with a food and entertainment experience like this, why not attend them all?!

Julie Craven can be reached at julie@millcitymedia.org.