Kiger's Notebook

While relatives visit Roch., Saudi King takes up NYC hospital wing

Here's some more info on the King of Saudi Arabia and his medical treatment in the U.S.

Some of his family members are currently in Rochester, presumably for their own care at Mayo Clinic, as I I've previously reported. Vacationing in Minnesota in late November would seem like an unconventional choice for Saudi royalty.

However, the king flew off to New York City at the same time as his royal family members flew in here.

Here's some from a New York Post article today about the king and his time in the Big Apple. Thanks for pointing this out, Ed.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is causing his own diplomatic drama at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the 86 year-old monarch has commandeered an entire wing as he recovers from back surgery on the VIP floor.

King Abdullah -- who repeatedly exhorted the US to "cut the head off the snake" by launching military strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear program, according to leaked diplomatic cables -- has forced other patients out by block-booking the hospital's top treatment and recovery rooms.

A family member of one patient told us, "The king has taken the entire luxury treatment wing and booked out all the rooms, even though they are empty and he doesn't need them, to protect his privacy.

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The king underwent surgery for a blood clot and a slipped disc last week.

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One law enforcement source told us that Abdullah -- who was visited in Saudi Arabia by four Cornell doctors who advised him he had to have the surgery in New York -- is a generous donor to the hospital and visited a month prior to his surgery.

Abdullah arrived in town on Monday of last week with an enormous entourage. He chartered three flights to JFK, arrived with a massive security team and a film crew, and left the airport in a convoy of 40 vehicles, including 20 for luggage alone.

Surly on its way

  Here's good news for Med City micro brew fans.

A pallet of Surly beer is on its way to Rochester, according to a tweet by the beer maker.

Thanks to the Post-Bulletin's ever alert Local News Editor Mike Dougherty of Digital Mike fame for spotting this and passing it along.

No word yet on what varieties are shrink wrapped and on there way here.

My guess would be Coffee Bender and CynicAle.

And for those out there who are wondering what they should get their favorite cynical newspaper columnist and blogger, I'd say that a bow on a can of CynicAle might a good way to go.

Heh.

 

Serving up the cheese news

After all of the cheese tease, here's the scoop on how a Wisconsin dairy operation is cutting a slice for Rochester.

The 100-year-old Ellsworth Coop Creamery, conveniently located in Ellsworth, Wis., is known as the "Cheese Curd Capital of the United States."

It plans to open its first ever satellite location in the Med City and sell more than 80 types of cheese, along with milk and butter. Fresh batches of squeaky curds will arrive three times a week.

"This means no middleman," says David Carisch, who will manage the Country Creamery, Rochester's wedge of the Ellsworth Coop. "It will be fresh and value-priced."

Expect the curds to start flowing at 3120 Wellner Drive N.E. during the week of Dec. 13. That's by Whistle Binkies North in the spot last filled by Zadeo's Pizza. Look for an official grand opening in January.

Beside cheese and butter, look for the new shop to offer maple syrup, honey, cookies and fudge.

After the start of 2011, Carisch plans to heat things up by adding a deli menu of soups and sandwiches to the mix. The Creamery will have seating for more than 25 people.

Ellsworth cheese is nothing new for Carisch. Since retiring from teaching, he has been delivering Wisconsin's top export in this area via a sales route for three years.

Now he is parking the truck to open the doors of this new deli.

Area biology students might recognize his name from Carisch's many years teaching anatomy classes at Rochester Community and Technical College before he started dissecting cheese.

He expects to have about six to eight employees on staff when the shop opens.

George Rownd of Braasch Commercial Real Estate handled the deal to bring the creamery into that space.

Signs of opening

  Two eagerly anticipated Rochester opening dates are now out in black and white.

Signs are up at the Med City's new Trader Joe's grocery and Chuck E. Cheese pizza place with specific  opening day dates.

So I'd say it is slated to open on Dec. 22. Look for the Mouse to open its entryway at 9 a.m.

Thanks to all of my readers who spotted these signs Sunday and passed on that info.

I really appreciate the help of my sharp-eyed readers.

By the way, Trader Joe's is now on the map for FourSquare. I added it when I snapped these pics. I suspect there will be quite a battle for the mayor title in the coming days.

 

What's churning in N.W. Roch.

Here's the answer for all of the people who have been asking what is being built on Rochester's 37th Street Northwest on the site where the ex-BP Pump N Munch gas station was demolished.

A churn of action in northwest Rochester is whipping up a new homemade ice cream shop as well as a new building for a current eatery.

Construction is underway on the site of the recently demolished BP Pump N Munch gas station along 37th Street Northwest near U.S. 52.

The owners of Subway sandwiches are building a new restaurant on that spot. The plan is to move from their current location on the nearby U.S. 52 frontage road to the new building when it is completed.

That will open up Subway's current spot at 3525 22nd Ave. N.W. for a new business to be served up… with sprinkles.

Flapdoodles Ice Cream, the creamy creation of Rochester's Matt and Vicki Tierney, is slated to scooped up there, possibly by early May.

  "We want Flapdoodles to be an experience. We'll have premium, handmade ice cream in a fun, lighthearted environment," says Matt Tierney.

The upbeat, sweet and slightly silly flavor they hope to serve up is one reason why the Tierneys chose Flapdoodles, defined as foolish talk and nonsense, as a name for their new shop.

Expect seating for about 40. They also plan to serve from the drive-through window.

"I think there is a need for an independent ice cream shop in Rochester," says Tierney, who recently sold his previous business Navis Pack & Ship Center. "This is a dream of mine."

A happier landing this time

Here's some from piece about the Rochester International Airport and what happened when more than 300 Sun Country passengers were stranded there after midnight Saturday.

The scene was similar to one in 2009 that turned into a national horror story. But this year's tarmac tale had a very different ending.

More than 300 passengers on four Sun County flights landed in Rochester about midnight on Saturday, after being diverted from the Twin Cities because of bad weather.

  In 2009, an Continental flight was forced to land in Rochester about midnight. That flight became a national news story after its 47 passengers were kept cooped up in the plane for more than five hours as a variety of airline employees debated what to do.

The lesson was not lost on the staff at the airport.

"Historically, it is airlines that take care of diverted planes. After that (incident in 2009), we got together and said we're not going to let that happen again," said Kurt Claussen, Rochester's assistant airport manager. "We decided to be proactive. We decided we'll take care of the passengers, and then we'll sort out who pays for what later."

The unexpected landing of four planes Saturday night put the new plan into action.

An airport employee called Claussen, and he was on the scene by about 1 a.m. Airport Manager Steve Leqve, local Transportation Security Administration director Ken Rowe, other airport staff and American Airlines workers also helped deal with the situation.

The 310 passengers, who had been sitting in the airplanes for about an hour, were helped across the runways into the airport terminal. All of the terminal bridge connections were tied up.

With hundreds of stranded travelers milling about the terminal, airport staff members started working on how to feed them.

Claussen thought pizza might be the answer, and he called Papa John's in south Rochester — 10 minutes before the pizza place's 2 a.m. closing time and the end of a 10-hour shift for Shannon Burshem.

"I asked if they could stay open and help us out, and the guy there, Shannon, made an executive decision and said 'sure.' He was great," said Claussen, who ordered 46 pizzas. They were delivered to the airport in several trips over the next couple hours.

Canine coifs and doggy daycare

Thanks to the new owners at Bear Creek Kennels, your canine can get a new coif.

Keri and Timm Peters took over Bear Creek at 2009 Eastwood Road S.E. in the spring. As of Oct. 1, the kennel has added a full slate of dog grooming services to its offerings.

The staff of three also provide long-term and short-term boarding as well as daily doggy day care services.

The Peters recently revamped Bear Creek's indoor and outdoor dog play areas and will soon launch a partnership with Annalissa Johnson of Good Dog Camp in Rochester.

In December, Johnson, a local dog obedience expert, will begin offering puppy classes through Bear Creek.

What inspired the Peters to buy a kennel business that can accommodate up to 45 canines?
As you might imagine, they are ardent dog lovers.

"This has always been my husband's dream," Keri says.

The couple own five dogs themselves — three American bulldogs and two Schipperkes.

Walgreens North is open

At 7 a.m. this morning, the new north Rochester Walgreens drug store opened its door for its first day of business.

The 7,000-square-foot store stands, Rochester's second Walgreens in the past two years, at Civic Center Drive and 11th Avenue Northwest.

This new store stands on the site where The International Buffet used to stand.

 

Semper Development of Minneapolis built the new store and will lease it to Walgreens.

More cheese tease, if you please

Here’s another nibble about the coming of a new cheese shop and deli:

Look for fresh cheese curds to start appearing in early December near the popular watering hole of Whistle Binkies North.

Perhaps of special interest to all the Rochester folks wearing Badger hats and Packers jerseys with an “emergency” bag of curds in their pocket.

The wheels of golden cheddar goodness for the cases of this new shop will be rolling here from the city that is sacred to all those who fondue.

I’m talking about the cheese curd capital of the world.

For the unenlightened (and the folks from Iowa), that is Ellsworth, Wis.

Big name makes stop in Roch.?

Here's an interesting tip, especially given recent news this weekend:

A reader sent me an e-mail asking if that old king of the gridiron, the Vikings' Brett Farve, was in Rochester Friday.

The chatter is that Farve was on way back north after a hunting trip on he made a stop at CJ's Midtown Lounge in downtown Rochester.

This tipster said that Farve ave autographs and took pictures with fans (and assumably non-fans).

Anyone out there know anything about this? Did anyone get their photo taken wih him?