I’ve watched those DQ workers operating the soft-serve machine. I’ve sensed how superior they feel. I’ve always longed for that power. But no more… thanks to (yo)gurt[lab] I can soft serve myself. MYSELF. MUHWAHAHAA!!

Let’s see… I pull a lever, frozen yogurt magically oozes forth into my bowl, I spoon fresh toppings on it and I don’t have to hand it over to someone else and take their grubby money? AND all of this is in a room that is so clean I could (if I had to) perform surgery? How does Tanek make everything better??

What are you waiting for?? GO!! 3100 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis

Would I be happier if I lived in the Tanek-designed $1,000,000 Penthouse at Harvester Lofts? Hmm, if home is where you hang your hat and home is where the heart is then my heart will be happy wherever I hang my hat. Right?

I choose Harvester Lofts $1,000,000 penthouse, now For Sale by Edina Realty.

It’s time for the Tanek Holiday party! Bring your Jing Tinglers, Flu Floopers, Tar Tinkers, Who Hoovers, Gar Ginkers, Trum Tupers, Slu Slumkers, Blum Bloopers, Who Wompers, Zu Zitter Carzays, and your Who Camio Flunx on December 16th!

I was thumbing through a recent edition of Finance & Commerce (shut up, it’s totally true) and something caught my eye: An article (more of a list, really) about the restaurant-rush of 2011—a quote from Andrea Christenson, vice president with the local office of St. Louis-based Cassidy Turley sums it up perfectly, “I’ve never seen this much restaurant activity. It’s just crazy.”

That’s right. Crazy.

And just who laps up the sweet nectar of this fortuitous/delicious upswing? Well, we do. The economy may be shaky but a girls gotta eat and sometimes the crock pot is too tired to plug itself in.

Two of Tanek’s projects are on the list: the always-packed Lowry and the soon to be always-packed, Bar Louie.

Rick shared something private with his readers: A nerdy hobby that involves trolling vintage Minnesota Historical Society archives. Nerdy? Maybe. Voyeuristic? Undoubtedly. But who am I to judge? I am in a serious relationship with 10,000 pounds of letterpress equipment.

Rick’s nerdy hobby led him to the Grand Hotel. Specifically, the lobby. (the Six15 Room) More specifically, the lobby (re)designed by Tanek. Rick is a food savant – complex dishes are like poetry to his palate – but his other senses gobble up the surroundings:

He says of the new lounge, “The results are more than a guest amenity; it’s the kind of big-city hangout that I imagine locals will be happy to frequent.”