Poop's and Patty's

Crossroads Corner menu ‘surefire’
Article and photo by Matt Bewley (Contact) The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

One of the best ways to get a new restaurant and bar off the ground is to bring in a sure-fire menu, a comfortable but up-to-date interior and lots of experience — as the new Crossroads Corner did in Pelican Rapids.

“Business so far has been overwhelming,” co-proprietor Derek Satter said. “It’s been very, very good. People are coming in to check it out, all the locals are coming into to support us, and then people are coming in to follow Pam’s menu from Barnesville.”

Pam and Lanny Carlsrud, owners of Pam’s Cafe, brought most of their popular menu items with them, including chicken-fried steak, meat loaf, roast beef and homemade pies, rolls and doughnuts.

“Their menu is unique,” he said. “It offers so many different things. It’s down home cooking, not just fast food, at very good prices. We also serve their breakfasts all day long, and I brought a few things over from other places, like buffalo chicken sandwiches.”

Formerly the Bridges Bistro and Bar, the establishment’s new business owners made some major changes to the interior decor.

“We’ve remodeled the entire inside,” he said, “but left up the mural of all the people of Pelican Rapids. It has a lot of history and we want to show our respect for the people there, so we didn’t paint over it. We took out the pool table and dart board and turned the front room into a non-smoking area, and divided the dining room and bar with a wall.”

They have seating for about 45 guests in the dining areas and 100 altogether.

Rounding out the group of entrepreneurs is Jean Satter.

“I take care of the bar and Pam and Lanni run the kitchen. Mom does all the financial work,” he said.

The quick rise to success has left the owners scrambling to bring in more wait staff.

“We don’t have enough,” Satter said. “We still need waitresses, but I’ve probably got four of the best cooks around. The staff we have now has been doing a great job. We have seven employees besides the four owners, and could still use about four more waitresses.”

While not advertising to promote special events there, Satter is always willing to try and help.

“We can do some small events — we like to keep the dining room open to the public - but we will still work with people if they want to have something down here,” he said.

The Crossroads Corner is located at 10 S. Broadway in downtown Pelican Rapids.


Muddy Moose reopens to ‘brisk’ business
Article and photo by Matt Bewley (Contact) The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Moose is on the loose again in Pelican Rapids. After being in hibernation since October, the Muddy Moose Coffee and Wine Bistro is again serving fine food, coffees and wines.

“We ended last season on a high note,” owner Patty Dahl said, “and re-opened on Easter Sunday.”

The Moose looks much the same as it did last summer, and still offers some of the best coffee for miles. But there have been several changes, particularly to the lunch and dinner menus, courtesy of a new chef.

“His name is Brian Morrison,” Dahl said. “He does a variety of styles, from Tex-Mex to French pastries.”

His candied brandy sauce is already creating quite a stir at the Moose, as patrons who were lucky enough to try the porterhouse pork chop have reported.

“This sauce is good with any meat,” Morrison said. “It was a blue-ribbon winner in four out of five meat categories in Kansas, and probably would have won the fifth, which was the chicken, if I’d remembered to enter it.”

Morrison is a culinary veteran of 16-years, trained at the Houston Art Institute and has recently been applying his talents at the Grand Forks Hilton. He plans to begin offering the sauce on other dishes, such as their chicken Marsala in the summer.

“I cook everything to order,” he said. “So the sauce takes about 15 minutes to prepare. You don’t just make a big batch of it in the morning.”

The dinner menu has 10 new entrées, including another of the southerner’s creations, the Shrimp Diablo.

“This is eight jumbo shrimp wrapped in julienne seedless jalapenos, Swiss cheese and bacon,” he said.

There are eight new sandwiches for the lunch crowd to try, including a BLT on focaccia bread, a French Philly dip on ciabatta bread and a chicken Caesar wrap.

“It’s a nice, diverse Americano menu with some Italian,” Dahl said. “Before long, we’ll be featuring ‘Brian’s Bistro Specialties’ each week with something of his that’s not yet on the menu.”

The Muddy Moose has not only returned, as promised, but has put more on the table for its patrons to enjoy. Given the already fine atmosphere and delicious coffees, the new menu is bound to round out a fine dining experience.

Call 218-863-2900 for more information.