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Friday, July 24, 2020 | Page C1
SUPERIOR HAPPENINGS
Food stand serves up Cuban sandwiches By Shelley Nelson snelson@superiortelegram.com
Every year, Jake Kaufman heads to Floodwood to make and sell sandwiches during the Minnesota community’s annual Catfish Festival. But with festivals canceled this year because of the pandemic, Kaufman had to come up with another way to share the family’s authentic Cuban sandwiches with the community. That gave rise to Superior Cubans. Teaming up with Rich Cuisine, owner of the Wednesday Bakery, Kaufman said he and his brother decided to bring their recipe for the Cuban sandwich to the people of Superior. “You really can’t find an authentic Cuban sandwich around here,” Kaufman said. “Everybody here is loving them so far.” Now every Friday and Saturday night, 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., the Kaufmans are serving up the pressed sandwiches out of the Wednesday Bakery, 1202 Ogden Ave., at least throughout the summer.
Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com
Paddleboarders paddle around Barkers Island in Superior Monday, July 13.
OUTDOOR
ACTIVITY PICKS UP
IN DOUGLAS COUNTY By Maria Lockwood mlockwood@ superiortelegram.com
Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com
Jake Kaufman, owner of Superior Cubans, talks to a customer through the pick-up window Friday, July 17.
“We’re not too sure about the winter yet,” Kaufman said. “We might try to shoot for some in the wintertime. We’ve got a really good location here. We got the drive-thru here, the windows that slide right open. People wouldn’t even have to get out of their cars.” Superior Cubans opened as a food stand July 3 in the space it shares with Rich Cuisine and the Wednesday Bakery. “Business has been pretty good,” Kaufman said. Kaufman said the family started making Cuban sandwiches about 10 years ago and has worked to make improvements. The Cuban consists of ham, roast pork and swiss cheese “We’ve had a lot of people say the Cuban sandwiches they’ve had, people don’t press and grill them,” Kaufman said. “We do. That’s an essential step.” According to What’s Cooking American, the key to a great Cuban sandwich lies in the grilling because it pushes all the juices and flavors together while creating the desired crunch. “We also make a special mojo sauce … garlic, citrus juices, spices,” Kaufman said. “Not a lot of Cuban sandwiches I’ve seen have that on there ... it’s a really flavorful experience.”
W
ith the recent warm weather, the cancellation of many big events and an emphasis on staying close to home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears more people are turning to the outdoors for fun. “We’ve seen a pretty fast and furious June,” said Chris Terwey, general manager of Northwest Outlet in Superior. Terwey attributed it to pent-up demand from folks who missed spring camping during the state’s Safer At Home order, adults being off work with time on their hands and kids being out of school. Northwest Outlet has seen sales increase across the board, from camping and fishing gear down to sandal sales. “Whether it be camping or hiking or picnicking, it seems to be a pretty universally safe activity,” Terwey said, and the weather has been cooperative.
Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com
A trio of kayakers work their way down the Brule River near the Winneboujou Landing Thursday, July 9. Northwest Outlet typically sees a flurry of traffic from visitors in town for Grandma’s Marathon, Terwey said. Even though the race was canceled this year, sales have been good. “It’s been a lot more local traffic than traveling traffic, I guess,” Terwey said. Many Northwest Outlet customers have mentioned plans to spend more time out on the water or to try
their hand at tent camping since friends can’t come up to visit. Business has doubled at MAC Sport & Marine in Superior this summer, according to facility manager Ron Wilde. They’re seeing a spike in business service requests and sales with everything from trailers and pontoons to ATVs.
OUTDOORS: Page C8
Grant program focuses on small businesses By Shelley Nelson snelson@ superiortelegram.com
Superior’s small businesses are seeing improvement with the help of a new city grant program designed just for them. Nearly a year after the Small Business Grant Program was created, the city has invested $117,265 into small business improvement projects that has netted $495,233 in total improvements for a variety of businesses across the city. Another $43,468 in total project costs is in the works for grants totaling $20,430. Projects have included new heating and coolFile / News Tribune ing systems, signs, winEarth Rider Brewery in Superior. The brewery received a grant from the city to dow replacements, safety upgrades, equipment, offset costs on new equipment
furnishings and renovation costs. When Earth Rider Brewery opened almost three years ago, it was the first production brewery in Superior in 50 years following the closure of Northern Brewery in 1967. Since it started distributing its product almost three years ago, the business has grown. “We did add some tanks last year, and we realized we had room for one more tank,” said Tim Nelson, owner of Earth Rider Brewery. “We were going to sign with a wholesaler in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market and it would be very beneficial to meet demand if we had that extra capacity.” Work to install that
additional fermenting tank is currently underway as part of the second phase of expansion undertaken last year. In addition to installing the tank, the grant is helping with bar equipment for the taproom and furnishings for the beer garden. “For this project, it was critical for us to be able to do it at all,” Nelson said. “Having done business in Duluth and Superior, these kinds of programs that Superior offers are greatly helpful to the business climate … and helping us be competitive.” Nelson is the former owner of Fitger’s Brewery, the fifth craft brewery to open in Minnesota.
GRANT: Page C8