By: Sheila Crowley
Murray County News Staffwriter
The Left Bank Cafe was recently recognized by ‘Only in your State’ as one of eleven hometown restaurants in Minnesota that will take you back in time.
The article describes the Left Bank as the following: “This little spot in Slayton is full of hometown charm. The restaurant doubles as a coffee shop – so be sure to order a fresh-roasted coffee before you go. The food menu is full of light fare such as salads and wraps” and continued with…”A nice stop for a quick lunch.”
The author Betsy Rathburn talks about the fact that there are hundreds of restaurants all over Minnesota. Many of the most popular are in the Twin Cities. But she says there are plenty of other great restaurants in Greater Minnesota. According to her, these spots may often be overlooked, but their small-town charm makes them truly special. One visit to these hometown restaurants and you’ll be longing for the good ol’ days.
Growing up near Ruthton, and upon visiting the area, Paula and her husband decided to move their family from the Twin Cities to Slayton.
At the time Paula kept walking by the old bank building and thought to herself what a shame it was to let this historic building with the corner door entry set empty. She contacted Larry Aanenson in Fulda to see the building. Paula bought it and returned home to explain to her husband what she had done. He said, “What are we going to do with it?” As fortune would have it, a friend from the Twin Cities had an espresso machine in his basement so the two of them decided to open a little coffee shop. Left Bank opened its doors to business on June 16, 1999. In the beginning they purchased their coffee from New Prague and the espresso from ESI.
Three years into the business they began roasting their own coffee. At that time Left Bank got all of their beans from Minneapolis. According to Paula initially it wasn’t their intention to roast their own beans until little one pound roasting machines came on the market making it affordable for small coffee shops to roast their own instead of purchasing already roasted beans.
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