On this week’s DeRusha Eats, Jason catches up with two iconic State Fair food vendors.
He speaks with Pat Mancini of long time St. Paul staple Mancini’s. They have now been at the fair for a decade dishing out their Italian delights at their booth Mancini’s al fresco on the north side of Carnes Avenue, between Nelson and Underwood Streets.
They’re joined by Stephanie Shimp, the owner of the Blue Plate Restaurant Group and their seven Twin Cities restaurants. They have run the very popular Blue Barn in the Fair’s North End near the fair entrance for the last 14 years.
Both have very popular new foods in 2022. They spoke about their fair experience and what has felt like a totally rejuvenated Fair crowd after the last two years dealing with the pandemic.
Jason DeRusha: Let me ask both of you, how is the fair going this year? Because it's been one year. We didn't have the fair, last year was sort of a depressing year at the fair Pat. How are things going?
Pat Mancini: Amazing. I mean the crowds are amazing. You can tell by the parking lots in the morning just what the whole day is going to be like, you know. Even the rain we had the other day, people were still coming out. It's going to be a great fair.
Stephanie Shimp: Totally. No comparison to last year which was just a clunker of a year for a fair. It was rough. People were uncertain whether they should be here and if they were here, maybe they didn't want people to know they were here. But this year everyone can be here and it feels so good.
DeRusha: Blue Barn was a brand new structure. Mancini's was a massive renovation and construction. I feel like you both probably spent a similar amount of money on these construction projects?
Mancini: Yeah. People would be shocked if I told them what we spent, but we gutted kind of an old, old building and we kept kind of the barn like inside.
DeRusha: More than or less than a million dollars?
Mancini: Less for me at the time, but not much less.
DeRusha: Blue barn was more?
Shimp: It was in the seven figures.
DeRusha: It's a big project, even though you don't own the land underneath the building?
Shimp: Imagine going to your banker and saying, ‘Hey, I need a loan for seven figures and I'm going to open a business that's going to just be open 12 days a year. And I don't own the land.’
Mancini: Thank God they know the State Fair. That's part of it and all the successful vendors of the past that you can kind of count on.
DeRusha: The first year for you, Pat, I know was a little nerve wracking because you just don't know if people are going to come?
Mancini: Well, that and it was a hundred degrees in the shade for like the first seven days. It was like one of the hottest fairs on record. And I'm like, is this normal? Thank God the last two days things broke and it was like amazing. I think it still broke a record for a Sunday.
DeRusha: It's weird from a business planning standpoint Steph, because you can only crank out food so fast. I mean, if there are 300,000 people here on the fairgrounds, there's still sort of a ceiling of what you can do, right?
Shimp: I think because of the finite time period that people have to visit, they're going to try to get it in. Unless they, you know, miss a day off of work or something like that. But absolutely, we grow, we ebb and flow and we certainly will open another line or open another cash register to keep things moving. Or I'll get up there. I'm like, ‘what can I get started for you’ to the guy behind.
Mancini: Once you get somewhat established, maybe five years into it, the numbers always seem to come out. You know, no matter how up and down it is during the week, the numbers always kind of come out at the end. So you're right.
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DeRusha: Stephanie for you guys, being so close to where all the buses let people out, do we give you credit for planning that? Or is this just like the greatest stroke of business luck you could have had? I mean, your product has to be good, but still you are like one of the first things that people see.
Shimp: It certainly helps with breakfast. We do breakfast all day. And when you come off the bus at 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. and you see us, I think that certainly is a stroke of genius. And after the concert, which is nice. Stop on the way out.
DeRusha: You guys do a lot of beer at night after a concert?
Shimp: A fair amount. Usually by that time of night, people have had their fill. But yeah, occasionally you'll find someone who wants more of something to eat.
Mancini: What I like to think, on our street, I call it Main Street Disney, kind of opening up to the Midway. So this is a fun street to be on also. Everybody passes down this way at one point or another.
DeRusha: Pat, I want to ask you about your new food this year, the white cake. It just is special.
It makes you feel special when you come over and you're like, ‘I’ve got to bring you some cake.’
Mancini: What's interesting about this cake is when my dad first started, uh, y grandmother, who was a great chef, she came from Italy, and she wanted something to celebrate because we were doing all sorts of functions from baptisms to anniversaries and all that. So she came up with this little white cake and she added a little almond flavor because in Italy, all the desserts are almond flavor and she kept it kind of a pound cake. I mean, every person has got a story about this white cake and my dad's thumbprint in it as he hands it over to you. So we thought we'd put it on a stick and kind of decorate it when we can. And it's just been a fun item and believe me, it tastes very good.
DeRusha: How much are you charging for these?
Mancini: Those are $6. People are having a great time with it. As I mentioned, there's some that say, baby's first state fair, you know, anniversaries. That's pretty fun stuff.
DeRusha: Stephanie, you guys have a new food this year as well. You have two new foods. Well three, if you want to sneak one in.
Shimp: We also like to sneak in a little bonus food or secret menu food. Breakfast Gnocchi which is by far leading the way in sales. Little bites of deep fried gnocchi, scrambled eggs, pesto cream sauce. I think you have to have something that's shareable at the fair because the whole idea is to walk around and try to save room for Pat's cake.
DeRusha: Then you also have a sweet potato poutine. So the waffle fries, I think I like the poutine better than the gnocchi which I thought I was going to be the other way around. There’s so much flavor in the sweet potato poutine. And it's got maybe what I think a lot of people will be their first exposure to Beyond Chorizo and tell people what that is.
Shimp: The turmeric gravy made with corn and on top of the Beyond Chorizo, which is a plant-based meat. Its fake meat, but jumping on the vegetarian trend and trying to make ourselves a little more available.
DeRusha: It's not vegan?
Shimp: It is not vegan. I don’t think we do vegan. It’d be tough.
DeRusha: I love it. And so it opens your mind to say like, ‘you know what, if I saw that on a menu, I would do it or I would try it at home.’ And I think that's part of the fair too.
Shimp: And isn't that what the new food should do? I mean, I feel like the new food should introduce you to something new. And it doesn't necessarily have to be here next year.
DeRusha: What's been your favorite thing about being a part of the fair Pat?
Mancini: My favorite thing is really all the vendors here that have been so gracious when we first came in and really have helped us along and continue to be like amazing partners at this whole thing at the State Fair. And of course all the people that come every day for sure.
Shimp: Making people happy. Everyone comes to the fair to have fun. And you see so much joy in the children. And you know, when you get to see something so esoteric as seed art or your friend that knit a Fair Isle sweater and won a blue ribbon, I just think there's something for everyone here and people are here to have fun.
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