MINNEAPOLIS — Minutes after the Minnesota Timberwolves punched their ticket to the NBA's Western Conference Finals, a very short exchange between NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley and Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards spawned an unofficial tourism slogan and intense speculation about the best local restaurants.
Charles Barkley: "I have not been to Minnesota in probably 20 years."
Anthony Edwards: "Bring ya a**."
Barkley: "Can you send me a list of good restaurants? We're going to be there for like five days."
By Monday morning, many on social media – including Explore Minnesota – called on prospective visitors and NBA fans to "Bring ya a**" to the state.
Meanwhile, the request from Barkley for a list of "good restaurants" led to numerous suggestions, invitations from local chefs and rampant speculation about where he – and the NBA on TNT crew – might end up.
"I was watching it with my 12-year-old and my wife," said Gavin Kaysen, chef/owner of Spoon & Stable in the North Loop. "The next thing I know, my phone is next to me and it's just going 'beep, beep, beep.' I'm like, 'I'm just going to let it go.'"
A few minutes later, Kaysen realized that his friend, celebrity chef Bobby Flay had offered a viral endorsement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Chuck.. Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis.. best restaurant in town," Flay wrote.
That single post had more than 100,000 views by Monday morning.
Erdahl: "Bobby Flay has just a little bit of pull?"
Kaysen: "A little bit of pull, that's what I wrote back. I said, 'The king has spoken, so now you know where to come Chuck.'"
Even if the TNT crew doesn't make it to Spoon & Stable, Kaysen says the boost from the Timberwolves playoff run has been huge, and hectic.
"Even today, we're getting emails from the Dallas Mavericks Executive Team to book whole rooms in our restaurant," he said. "It just feels very much like how the Super Bowl felt, but instead of having a year to plan it, we have a day and a half to plan it."
Kaysen says Mara, another one of his downtown restaurants, already hosted the Denver Nuggets, but it's his sports-centric catering business, KZ Provisioning, that might ultimately give him an inside track.
Kaysen: "Andrew Zimmern and I created this company 8 years ago, and we cook for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Wild and the Lynx. We're behind the scenes, we're in the locker rooms, we're with the players."
Erdahl: "So you're slipping Ant a list (of restaurants)?"
Kaysen: "Yeah, we already slipped him the list. We said, 'Here you go. Just forward this message.'"
Across the street, another local chef, David Fhima, already knows he'll be feeding Barkley in at least one respect.
"I'm exciting to show him what's happening in the arena," said Fhima, who is executive chef for the Timberwolves concessions throughout Target Center. "I'm excited to show him what's happening in the restaurants. He has come to our restaurants, actually."
Despite Barkley's claim that he hasn't been to Minnesota in 20 years, Fhima says the NBA Hall of Famer actually ate at his namesake restaurant, Fhima's, a few years ago during the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis.
"(Barkley) and my son were partying a little I think," he said, with a laugh. "There's a photo on his Instagram. It's there, you can see it!"
Fhima says he's not sure if Barkley will return, but he's excited for the week ahead regardless.
"We hope he comes to us, we hope he comes to other wonderful restaurants as well," Fhima said. "But you can't miss. Everywhere from downtown, to the North Loop, to the suburbs, we have some amazing restaurants."
And many of those restaurants have already been feeling the love from fans.
"Normally on Sunday we have 90 orders. Last night it was like 210," said Kai Glinsek, manager of Parkway Pizza in Northeast Minneapolis. "The cool part was, everywhere I went, everyone was watching the game."
The local pizza place may not have the fine dining prestige, or pedigree, of some other restaurants, but it does have a famous 'Honk if you love Naz Reid' sign outside.
"I also have a connect in the neighborhood who actually has a friend that's on the production of TNT and they are going to put a word in for me," Glinsek said. "So I've got my finger's crossed."
And just in case Barkley and the TNT crew sees this story, Kai has three words:
"Bring ya asses," he said with a laugh. "Bring 'em over here. You want to see the Naz Reid sign? You want to get some great pizza? Come on down to Parkway."
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