On course: Our annual golf guide

The best course in Rochester. Tips and tales form the city's golf pros. Golf fashion from tee to green-stirped dress. And, maybe most importantly, the area's best 19th hole.

Great 'scapes

From Old World pavers to the newest pondless waterfalls, we give you some of the season's landscaping staples.

How's it feel...

To run a marathon ... in Antarctica. To run away and join the circus. To have survived the flood of ‘78. To perform a heart transplant.

Lured details

From Babe Winkelman to Kent Hrbek, and from Rainy Lake to Lake Winnibigoshish, six of the state's angling experts reveal their top fishing spots.

Summer School

Learn how to mesmerize five-year-olds through sleight of hand (with magic lessons), pose like you’re made of plastic (at mannequin school), and tack and jibe in your wet suit (with windsurfing lessons).

Weekend Warriors

Four locals who take hobbies to the extreme

Downtown Development

Does the downtown need a strip club? Could a children’s museum be the ticket? is downtown parking a big problem?

Alter Egos

Normal vocations, unusual avocations. We profile a Harley-riding attorney, a belly dancing mom, a rock singing business manager, and a gyroplane-flying marketing director

Coaches

Football coaches get fired up about their favorite restaurant meals

The Dating Game

Six Rochester singles (and two married couples) give us their firsthand take on the city’s dating scene, from their best cheap date (“renting a canoe or paddleboat at Silver Lake”) to what to avoid on a first date [“asking questions back and forth like a job interview”] to the worst pickup line they’ve ever heard (“If I said I liked your body would you hold it against me?”).

Rochester Fire

They’ve got a now-local owner. A roster peppered with former area stars. A mascot. A dance team. A reputable group of Rochester-based backers. But can the Rochester Fire—the latest local foray into a professional sports franchise—overcome the city’s less-than-storied pro sports history?

Gift Guide

Present perfect: Our annual holiday gift guide From a theater-themed date night to Knight’s Chamber-themed holiday wear, we give you the wheres, whats, and how muches of those perfect last-minute gifts that don’t look like last-minute gifts.

Holiday Gift Guide

From a theater-themed date night to Knight’s Chamber-themed holiday wear, we give you the wheres, whats, and how muches of those perfect last-minute gifts that don’t look like last-minute gifts.

The Rochies

From Understatement of the Year (“My initials are P.C.,” city council member Pat Carr told the Post-Bulletin, “but apparently I’m nowhere near P.C.”) to Strangest Local Invention (The Hillary Clinton Nutcracker has sold 100,000 units), we look back at the best (and mostly worst) of 2007.

Making spirits bright

Six of our favorite local holiday drinks, including City Café’s luscious City Candy Cane.

Rochester unwrapped

Spend your holiday dollars on locally-made products

How to do everything better in 2008

Local experts tell you how to throw a killer cocktail party, score the best seats at the Civic Center, gamble like a pro at Treasure Island, say you're sorry after a screw-up, and much more.

Motor Maid

Get your motor running. The hottest new colors in bridal attire and the fabulous colors of the 2008 Harleys are a match made in hog heaven.

Waist Management

Fitness gurus say you can dine out without decimating your diet. Three local personal trainers and one wellness coach talk about local restaurant meals they love—and that won’t require you to unbutton your pants.

Best of Restaurants

Our readers tell you where to get the best dessert, burgers, nachos, mixed drinks, hot dogs, bar popcorn, barbecue ribs, and ice cream. Then, after a week or so of that, you should probably try their suggestions for the city’s best salad and best vegetarian selection.

Hairdos and don'ts

A handful of Rochester’s top hairstylists reveal their favorite salon products for hairdos and do not ‘dos.

Faces of Rochester

From the Shoe Shine Guy to the Salad Ladies to the Storyteller, we put the names to the ‘I know I know you from somewhere’ faces.

The Sweet Life

Who needs Godiva or Ghirardelli? Locally-made gourmet sweets can satisfy your every craving, from funky fudge (with a kick) to decadent caramels (just like your grandma used to make).

Best Happy Hours

Our readers picked their five favorite happy hours. And, in the interest of research, we made repeated visits to each.

Spring ahead, golf's back

Nine of the area’s toughest golf holes, eight of the area’s best golf deals, three years in the making of the new Eastwood front nine, and the story of one local golfer struggling to make it on a pro tour.

Pack your bags

Whether it’s by plane, train, or automobile, we’ve picked the perfect bags and accessories—including games to keep those kids quiet and the gadget that no man (traveling with a woman) should leave home without—for your next trip.

Three stories that really annoyed some people

It is better to be hated, I like to say, than ignored.

Oddchester

Oddchester

How's it feel?

To be buried in an avalanche. To ride atop your house in a flood. To hit the wall in a race car at 190 mph. To get fired. To hear for the first time.

Sweet Spots

“Life is uncertain,” said American writer Ernestine Ulmer, “eat dessert first.” Our readers pick their five favorite local meal openers—creme brulee, coconut cake, Death by Chocolate, chocolate cobbler, and French Silk Pie.

Break Point

At age 10, Bethanie Mattek got a chance to play tennis with Monica Seles at the Rochester Athletic Club. Mattek’s parents took it as a sign. Thirteen years, three states and one game overhaul later, the former Rochesterite is ranked in the top 100 in singles, the top 30 in doubles, and the top 3 in the “most watched for her fashion sense” category. Oh, and she just might make the Olympic team.

Upscale & downtown

Sushi Itto, 300 First, Chester’s. In one three-month period, the city’s already-solid downtown restaurant scene added three instant classics.

Split shift

Timeless little numbers, 24-7.

Summer School

Learn where (and how) to race a car. Tiptoe through the treetops. Build a piece of furniture out of twigs. Waterski as part of a giant, on-water pyramid.

Anchors Away

They’re hair today, gone tomorrow. Whatever happened to your favorite local TV newscaster?

Good Libations

Good, bop bop, good libations. Here’s to the top five mixed drinks in town.

Best of Rochester

From best car mechanic to best massage place, best public restroom to best place to meet singles (and those last two are not the same), our readers voted for their favorites in 30 business and entertainment categories.

The last supper

Four local clergy give their choices for the last supper they’d have on earth—at least if that last supper had to come from a Rochester restaurant.

Style Sheet

From Popsicle red to sherbet green, shades of summer style.

Case Files

Three area attorneys recall that one legal win—or, for one attorney, that legal loss—that helped define their careers.

Wright angles

By the time he turned to projects in Rochester, Frank Lloyd Wright had already gained fame—and infamy—as America's most forward-thinking architect. Today, we take you inside the city’s three Wright-designed homes that still turn architectural heads.

Choice eats

Our readers pick their five favorite restaurant meals, from Butternut Squash Ravioli to Stuffed Pork Chops to the Fab Five Pizza.

Style Sheet

The top trends for a fabulous fall face.

Neighborhoods

Four neighborhoods, four stories.

Quick-Hit Road Trips

Our readers pick their favorite day trips within an hour drive.

Single in the city

Seven singles, and seven takes on the city’s single scene.

Taking the wait off

Our readers pick five of their favorite places when they don’t really want to be there.

Style sheet: Coat check

The hottest trends for staying warm this season.

Rochester Magazine Newsletter

Rochester Magazine Newsletter category

Better chance

In 26 years, 100-plus kids have graduated from Rochester Better Chance, a program that brings high-achieving minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds to high school in Rochester. We follow up with four of those RBC grads—from the California kid who foraged in dumpsters to the Bronx kid who promised himself he “would not die poor”—and find stories of survival and success.

Cheap eats: A perfect $10

Our readers pick five of their favorite meals, especially if they only have $10 to spend and they have to spend it at a Rochester restaurant.

Present perect: Our annual holiday gift guide

From a license plate purse to dog-shaped soaps to something called the Fropper Bouncing Ride, we give you the wheres, whats, and how muches of those perfect last-minute gifts that don’t look like last-minute gifts.

Bar Belle

By day, this upcoming professional model poses for regional and national print ads and struts Twin Cities’ runways in couture fashions. On one recent night, we caught up with Ashley and persuaded her to come out and play in her home town.

Choice eats

In our tenth annual Best Restaurants issue, nearly 2,000 readers voted in 50 categories, from our standards (Best Burger, Best Bartender) to the new categories we regularly rotate in and out (Coolest-Looking Menu, Best Martini).

Faces of Rochester

From the Hot Dog Guy to the Ticket Taker to the Biz Blogger, we put the names to the ‘I know I know you from somewhere’ faces.

Fare game

Las Margaritas? Metro? We take a look back at a decade of our “Best New Restaurant” winners, and where—or if—they are now.

Faces of Rochester

From the Hot Dog Guy to the Ticket Taker to the Biz Blogger, we put the names to the ‘I know I know you from somewhere’ faces.

Fare game

Las Margaritas? Metro? We take a look back at a decade of our “Best New Restaurant” winners, and where—or if—they are now.

Course catalog

The Rochester course with the best four finishing holes in Minnesota. The greens with the toughest downhill putts. The best course within an hour of Rochester. The area course that started with a farm magazine. It’s our annual golf guide

That 'wich makes us stronger

Our readers pick the city’s top sandwiches

Jean therapy

A great white shirt and a pair of dark wash, boot cut jeans belong in every woman’s closet. We love that these fashion staples are timeless, classic and stylish on their own, yet form the perfect backdrop for an endless variety of styles.

Road rave

A Twin Cities neighborhood that’s been called a “hipster haven.” An Aerial Bridge. Natural beauty coated in crass commercialism. A bookstore-heavy hotspot in the St. Croix Valley. And the 4 million-square-foot mall that, even in the dead of mid-Minnesota winters, never runs a furnace. Our readers pick their five favorite road trips more than an hour from home.

Veg out

Meatless doesn’t equal tasteless. And just to prove it, here are five meals from Rochester restaurants that our readers voted as the city’s best vegetarian options.

Beauty Book

From teeth whitening tips to must-have make-up to makeovers that take four Rochesterites from the same old, same old to “Is that really you?”, our special advertising section puts beauty in the hands of the holder.

Silicon Prairie

Weekly company cook-outs? Hammocks? Red Bull on tap? We take you inside four of the city's coolest tech companies that you've probably never heard about.

Food drive

Our readers pick their top five restaurants within an hour (but not in) Rochester.

Summer School

Learn to hold the yoke (and conquer fears) at flying school. Learn to build a fire with a pop bottle (and eat ferns) at survival school.

THE ULTIMATE OUTDOOR ADVENTURE guide

From racing cars to climbing walls to diving through the sky, a dozen of our favorite ‘Oh, man that was a rush’ junkets

The Ultimate Outdoor Adventure Guide

From racing cars to climbing walls to diving through the sky, a dozen of our favorite ‘Oh, man that was a rush’ junkets

Family Fun

There’s never “nothing to do” in Rochester—and we’ve got the unlimited bouncing, treasure hunting, sunset swims, and 400 million year old, four-foot-long cephalopod fossil to prove it.

Walk the vine

It’s an old cliché of the ideal romantic getaway: biking through wine country, sipping various reds and whites, and taking in the breathtaking scenery of rolling hills and acres of lush green vines bearing fruit. And up until recent years, Minnesotans would have had to travel far and wide to enjoy such an experience. But thanks to the University of Minnesota’s research vineyards, which in recent years have developed and produced varieties of cold-hardy grapes that can survive the harsh Minnesota winters, the wine business has begun to boom in our own backyard. According to the Minnesota Grape Growers Association, Minnesota had six wineries in 1997 (and only two in 1975). Now, there are roughly 30, and we’ve picked five of our favorites within an hour of Rochester. So no need to plan a few days’ vacation in Napa Valley. Instead, pack a picnic and a couple of bicycles and head to one of these wineries in southern Minnesota.

Rochester 101

Best secret garden. Best urban waterfall. Our favorite mayoral edict/threat of physical violence. Best business motto. Best china plates stuck into the walls next to an adult book store. Favorite area guy with a city named after him. Rochester’s worst-ever parade float.

Higher Education

Our practical guide to the area’s higher education opportunities—offering everything from residential campuses awarding bachelor’s or associate's degrees to technical schools offering Violin Repair certification programs to online graduate courses to hands-on work in the medical field.

Rising stars

The actress. The chef. The figure skater. The singer. The conductor. The goalie. Six of the city’s stars in the making.

Secret recipe

Lamb shank? Nikudon ribeye? Peanut butter bacon cheeseburger? In our tenth annual Best Restaurants poll, readers—and they had to be in the food know just to be able to vote in the category—chose Rochester’s “Best meal not normally on the menu.” Now you can get in on the secret, too.

Single in the city

Eight area singles enlighten us on the city’s dating scene.

Catching up with ... past “Single in the city” profilees

We track down ten former Single in the City profilees from the past ten years.

Beautiful music

Fancy gowns, festive hair, and fabulous makeup hum in perfect harmony with The Rochester Symphony Orchestra at Mayo Civic Center’s Presentation Hall.

Working models

Rae, fresh off a stint on “America’s Next Top Model,” and Emily Sandberg, former supermodel-turned-aspiring actress, talk about modeling, movies, and motherhood.

Great big gift guide: Thoughtful (and local) holiday gifts

Whether you’re shopping for The Home Body, The Free Spirit, The Material Girl, The Wee Ones, or more, we’ll give you tips for last-minute gifts that don’t seem like last-minute gifts. CLICK ON COVER IMAGE TO VIEW THE GIFT GUIDE IN IT'S ENTIRETY.

The Rochies

From the bail bondsmen who allegedly handcuffed a 57-year-old white guy (when they were looking for a 26-year-old black guy) to the hoaxster who tricked a woman into smashing her motel room window, we take a look back at the best (and by that we mean worst) area stories of 2009.

Best Restaurants

Nearly 2,000 votes (between the online and paper ballots). Three dozen winners. One sentence each. It’s our 11th annual Best Restaurants results, in an easily digestible format.

Gruve thing

Wearing a device that calculated every calorie they burned during a six week-plus stretch, three Rochesterites tested the Gruve-y theory that diet and workouts aren’t as important to weight control as taking the stairs, cleaning the house, and just plain standing up.

Course of action

The ranger. The beer cart woman. The groundskeeper. The golf pro. Sure, there are negatives, from ungodly starting times to unruly golfers to uncontrollable weather. But, to a person, every course employee we talked to said the same thing: a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office. It’s our Day in the Life of a Golf Course.

The tastiest catch

Sure, you love a Friday night fish fry just as much as the next guy. But if you're hungry for a seafood dish with a little more sophistication (and pizzazz), try one of these creative and zesty meals—the top six vote-getters for "Best Seafood Dish" in our 11th-annual Best Restaurants poll.

Classic kitsch

Paul Bunyan! Twine balls! Spam! A giant rock lodged inside a medium-sized house! Ten years, six of our favorite roadside attractions revisited.

The beauty book

Our annual style manual: Get your best hair, make-up, body, smile

The beauty book

Cosmetic surgery comes out of the O.R. and into the light; Jennifer Koski goes online to get a new ‘do; The latest in hair and make-up; much more.

Weight Loss Winners

Three local folks who lost a whopping 270 pounds (combined) through Olmsted Medical Center's HMR Program for Weight Management deserve to look as dazzling as they feel. So in exchange for sharing their inspiring stories and answering Rochester Magazine’s questions (How'd they do it? How do they keep it off? Do they still get to eat cupcakes?), we coordinated hair and style makeovers for them.

Family Fun Guide

With the help of some real experts—seven Rochester kids ages 5 to 11—we found a host of ways to beat the “I’m boreds” this summer, from driving a two-person go-cart to climbing the walls (literally). We promise—each of these hot hangouts and cool activities will get your parental stamp of approval!

Summer School

Learn How (And Where) To: Get sweaty in hot yoga; Tack and jibe in sailing school; Ride the wind (by balloon or parasail)

Making waves

Can local dad Bryan Bachman swim the English Channel?

Ultimate Business Guide

Need a little nudge to stay on top of your personal business? Well, consider yourself nudged.

'Warrior from the sky'

In June of 1943, WWII pilot Fred Hargesheimer's twin-engine P-38, after being shot by a Japanese fighter, went into a one-engine nosedive over the jungles of New Guinea. The former Rochesterite's freefall, though, was just the beginning of a 65-year journey.

A day in the life of courtroom one

Every year, upward of 10,000 alleged wrongdoers-from the oddball harasser who thinks he's a vampire to the sad sack drunk driver who went into a ditch on his way to buy some chicken wings-show up for an appearance in Olmsted County's biggest, busiest courtroom. What happens in Courtroom One-the starting point for all criminal cases in the county as well as a high-volume clearinghouse for petty misdemeanors-is sometimes stranger than fiction, and sometimes sadder than sin. ("It's organized chaos, that's what it is," says court administrator Chuck Kjos.) Who knew there were so many ways to get in trouble with the law?

Art health

While redecorating recently, Olmsted Medical Center gave a cheerful dose of color to its waiting rooms and other public areas with artwork created by local artists.

County fare

Some of the most delectable meals in Rochester go from a nearby farm to your restaurant plate in less than 24 hours.

Family Fun Guide

Play while the sun shines at these fun, local outdoor spots.

Girl Scouts Cookie Creations

Cookie Creations is an adults-only fundraising event where fine chefs create unique dishes -- appetizers, entrees, desserts and drinks -- using Girl Scout cookies in the recipe.

Holiday Gift Guide

From a theater-themed date night to Knight�s Chamber-themed holiday wear, we give you the wheres, whats, and how muches of those perfect last-minute gifts that don�t look like last-minute gifts.

Ice Man

Nick Majerus lived "where human beings don't belong"

It's as if my soul gets to open up and pour out

Caroline Worra is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, getting ready to perform the lead in Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love.

Judge of Character

Joe Chase is a dozen years—and 100 feet—into the stone wall he's hand stacked and puzzle fitted together in front of his Chatfield farmhouse.

Novel Approach

As a 15-year-old Japanese immigrant, it took Yuko Taniguchi two hours to read a paragraph from her high school textbook. Today, her novel The Ocean in the Closet has been called "a beautiful and poignant novel" and "remarkable for its music and vision."

Smile makeovers

Fueled by television makeover shows and better tooth-beautification techniques, cosmetic dentistry is gaining momentum in Southeastern Minnesota and giving a growing number of Rochesterites reason to smile.

Sultan of Sleaze

David Hans Schmidt, Dover-Eyota grad, former RCTC student, has brokered the Colin Farrell sex tape, released (very near the anniversary of Nicole Brown Simpson's murder) a videotape of O.J. Simpson's alleged sexual escapades, and is auctioning off the contents of Paris Hilton's storage locker. And that's just in the past month.

The Business of Show Business

It's quarter after seven, about fifteen minutes before the opening night curtain rises on his new Minneapolis production of Rent, and Andrew Rasmussen is adding yet another title to producer/director: ticket taker.

A Midsummer's (to Early Fall's) Night Dream

ALL THESE ETHEREAL FASHIONS GRACE THE RACKS OF THE CRATE, a lovely local store tucked in the hamlet of the Subway. We adore them for late summer soirees, journeys to exotic realms, and general flights of fancy.

Behind the lines: A night with the 911 operators

"My baby's choking!" "He's kicking in my door!" "My brother just O.D.'ed!" For the people making the 911 calls, they're the kind of incidents that can tear lives apart. For the emergency dispatchers taking the calls—4,000 911 calls per month—it's just another day on the job.

Following in Fitzgerald's Footsteps

Ah, the escapades of F. Scott and Zelda: They Charlestoned in fountains, hitched rides on taxi hoods, drank themselves silly and sick and even then tossed out ultra-clever witticisms-bon mots in mid-fall-as they passed out face-first onto art-deco tile floors.

Hybrid Houses

ECO-FRIENDLY homes take the green lifestyle a step further

Tempting fate

I've never been one for fortune-telling. I've always preferred to bumble along clumsily from one day to the next, letting the great unknown be just that.

The Rochies

From the guy who purchased the identity of a murder suspect to the beauty salon manager who was allegedly let go for not being a "cutie patootie," we look back at the best (and by that we mean worst) area stories of 2008.

The Twister Sisters

The Twin Cities women are acclaimed storm chasers, self-named the Twister Sisters, though their only relation is their passion for severe weather.

Underground adventures

Some of the coolest caves in the country are located within a few hours' drive of Rochester, and each one has its own unique claim to fame.

Your Ultimate Wedding Guide

To see the full wedding guide click on the link "The Wedding Book" on our home page.

10 (or so) questions with... Carla Thelen Hanson, opera singer

10 (or so) questions with... Danielle Teal

Danielle Teal, web designer at Mayo Clinic by day, comedian by night

10 (or so) questions with... John Towey

10 (or so) questions with... Mark Zahn

10 (or so) questions with...Alex Camilleri

Lourdes ('06) and Vassar ('10) grad whose student film Still Here, a documentary profiling a man who has lived with HIV for 30 years, recently won a number of prestigious awards, including Best Student Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.

10 (or so) questions with...Bethanie Mattek-Sands

10 (or so) questions with...Lauren Bernofsky

Lauren Bernofsky, the former Rochesterite who has been called "a master composer," and whose works have been performed all over the world.

Culture couture

The fashions were hot and the cause was cool as Minneapolis designer Dina Fesler presented her culturally inspired couture collection at a recent Children's Culture Connection and 4th Street Marketplace Passport to the World fundraising event at the Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls.

Editor's Note: Romantic comedy

For many men, Valentine's Day periodically triggers some deep-rooted response that makes us think, "Hey, maybe it's time for me to make some grand romantic gesture, like Matthew McConaughey might do in one of those chick flicks my wife/girlfriend always drags me to.

Game on

With a nose for what sells and a youthful enthusiasm, Rochester native Paul Rinde has powered his way to the top of the video games industry.

GEMS AT THE JEM

Historic Harmony theater to showcase films from Hollywood's Golden Age

Gift Guide

Here it is-our best and brightest gift guide to date! From tasty to techie and pretty to practical, this year's picks are guaranteed to delight everyone on your holiday list.

It's in the bag

Look no further: the spring line up of these classic Coach duffles has arrived.

Light fantastic

Low voltage lights can make back yards, decks, porches, patios, ponds, gazebos, and pergolas into romantic retreats.

Tale of the tape

Ann Chafoulias loves tape. Really. In fact, the Rochester native, now of Orono, loves decorative tape so much that she designed, developed, patented, produced and marketed a line of innovative painters' tape. She even named her company Agapo (which translates from Greek to "I lov"). That's right. I love tape.

Well-spoken broads

Listening to the Broad Talk ladies' twice-monthly radio program is like eavesdropping at the coffee shop as an irresistibly entertaining and lively group of longtime friends shoot the breeze.

Design wise

Make room in your jewelry box for stylish, one-of-a-kind necklaces, bracelets, and earrings created by a talented trio of local artists.

Editor's Note: Marmaduke

Got game?

Sport courts, putting greens, outdoor pool tables-area experts can turn your backyard into front-and-center fun.

The heart of Winterfest

Five can't-miss events

Downhill from here

When the snow builds 36-inch bases—or the temperature drops low enough long enough for giant machines to mist and crystallize water and spray man-made snow over 700-foot Minnesota mountains—then upwards of one million skiers per season pack cars and head to the state's two dozen downhill ski resorts.

Finnish lines: Marimekko

Marimekko-that little company from Finland that burst onto the design scene in the 1950s-still brings its bold, brightly-colored pattern to everything from bedspreads to boots. All with a Rochester connection.

Rochester Magazine Newsletter

Rochester Mag Summary

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How to say you're sorry after a screw-up at work

As much as we try to avoid mistakes at work, they're inevitable now and then. It's how mistakes are handled that really matters.

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