🍴 Ex-Cardamom workers allege retaliation

Ex-Cardamom Workers Allege Retaliation

In mid-April, the restaurant inside the Walker Art Center quietly moved to replace hosts and servers with QR codes and counter service. Employees were shocked to learn they might lose their jobs in a matter of days. On Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported 17 former Cardamom staff have filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The workers allege DDP Restaurant Group, owned by chef Daniel Del Prado, retaliated against their organizing efforts during Operation Metro Surge. [Star Tribune / beyond beurre blanc]

• Tough times: DDP Restaurant Group insists the shift to QR codes was in response to the “economic impact” of the winter. Reports have shown heightened immigration enforcement has pushed the hospitality industry to the brink. DDP Restaurant Group offered staff new jobs as food runners or bussers, but management told MPR News that most declined and received severance instead. Still, the Walker Art Center was not a fan of the move and Cardamom closed in May as a result. [Star Tribune / MPR News / Walker Art Center]
• Other controversial moves: The restaurant group portfolio includes a number of high-end restaurants in Minneapolis, like Martina and Porzana. Last year, del Prado drew criticism when DDP Restaurant Group closed all four Café Cerés locations. Recently-unionized staff were in contract negotiations at the time. [MPR News / DDP Restaurant Group]

Diploma, earned: Congrats to Roosevelt High School’s class of 2026, who persisted even after ICE agents set off chemical irritants in front of their school and detained a staff member. Some students' family members have been detained by immigration enforcement, leaving the graduates to celebrate this milestone without them. Check out this great Sahan Journal piece on where students are headed next. [Sahan Journal]

Counting losses: Minneapolis is estimating Operation Metro Surge cost the city $700 million, above the initial $203 million assessment. Businesses lost $445 million in revenue, and workers lost $152 million in earnings. The city also reports people from Ecuador and Mexico accounted for most arrests. [KSTP]

Clean-up: How’s everybody doing after Tuesday night’s storm? Host Sean McPherson went without power in his home until about 10:30 p.m last night. A neighborhood tree sustained some heavy damage.

R.I.P fish: Como Lake has about 10,000 fewer fish, after crappies and bluegill sunfish died en masse last week. Experts point to low oxygen levels, which happens when water quickly warms up. It’s apparently natural and common during this time of year, the Star Tribune reports. Sure, but imagine being the person who has to do clean-up. [Star Tribune]

Fraud fallout: Vice President JD Vance is using his newfound powers as the head of President Trump’s anti-fraud taskforce to demand the Department of Justice investigate Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison. Vance blames the two leaders for not stopping widespread social services fraud in the state. Walz’s spokesperson called the move “nothing more than a joke,” while Ellison criticized it as a "political stunt.” [Pioneer Press]

Thursday, June 11

• 🆓 Lake Harriet Buckthorn Slaying | Lake Harriet (West Side)
• 🆓 Minnesota United World Cup Soccer Celebration | Peavey Plaza / Nicollet Mall
• 🆓 Lowertown Sounds: Poliça & Sophie Hiroko | Mears Park
• 🆓 The Social Soundtrack with Brass Solidarity | Walker Art Center
• 🆓 The Stories We Keep: Prince and Purple Rain | Minnesota History Center
• 🎭 Come From Away (Opening Night) | Guthrie Theater
• 🎶 Paolo Angeli w/ Laura Harada & Tim O'Keefe | Berlin
• 😂 JR De Guzman | Acme Comedy Co

Friday, June 12

• 🌿 Shinrin-yoku "Forest Bathing" | UMN Landscape Arboretum
• 🆓 612 Day Community Celebration | 38th & Chicago
• 🪩 Earlybirds Club | First Avenue Mainroom
• ✈️ The Thrifty Traveler Podcast: Live! | The Parkway Theater
• ⚽ Minnesota Aurora vs. Edgewater Castle FC | TCO Stadium, Eagan
• ⚾ Twins Pride Night | Target Field
• 😂 Mohanad Elshieky | The Cedar Cultural Center
• 💿 Molly Brandt: Museum of Being Album Release | Icehouse
• 🆓 Worldwide Discotheque | Black Hart of Saint Paul

• Director of Broadcast Engineering at Twin Cities PBS | $135k – $150k per year
• Director of Programs at American Indian Family Center | $75k – $105k per year
• Director of Litigation at Housing Justice Center | $102k – $112k per year
• Director of Workplace & Business Operations at Wilderness Inquiry | $99k – $128k per year
• Director of Legal Affairs & Risk Management at Center for Energy and Environment | $132k – $140k per year