Inside the ‘Las Vegas of fish fries’ at Minneapolis church

NINA MOINI: Around this time tomorrow, in kitchens all across the state, fish filets will be hitting the fryer to be served to Lent observers and anyone else with a hankering for fish fry. The tradition has roots in the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays, especially in the 40 days before Easter. But it's expanded more widely. At Saint Albert, the great Catholic church in Minneapolis, Father Joe Gillespie presides over one of the largest fish fry dinners in the region. He's on the line with us now. Father Gillespie, thank you for being here.

FATHER GILLESPIE: You're most welcome.

NINA MOINI: And we're also very happy to have Mpls.St.Paul Magazine Food and Dining Editor Stephanie March. Each year, she writes a guide to fish fry in the Twin Cities. Thanks for joining us as well, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE MARCH: Well, thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: Well, I'm glad we're doing a deep dive on this because I know a lot of people are wondering. Father Gillespie, I'll start with you. What's on the menu for you all at Saint Albert tomorrow?

FATHER GILLESPIE: Well, we have hundreds of pounds of tilapia that just arrived this morning. So you can have it breaded or just without any topping. But it is an experience of gourmet dining, I believe. That's been generally the experience of a lot of people who come. So they're not at the VFW, necessarily, with a beer and a fish stick. But this is pretty classy stuff. And maybe Stephanie has been here before, or maybe others as well. But it really always is not only a good feast, but a lot of fun as well.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, I'm curious how long you've been involved with the fish fries. How do you think it came to be the largest or among the largest in the Twin Cities? That's kind of a big deal.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Certainly. Yeah, last weekend, we had 1,128. And the week before was 857. So we're not sure what this Friday is going to bring. But if it increases exponentially by 300 every weekend, we should be serving the entire city of Minneapolis, and St. Paul too, if they want to risk coming over to the City of Light.

[LAUGHTER]

But it really is. It's not just the dinner. It really is good music. It could be rhythm and blues, or it could be classical while people are waiting. And then lots of bingo and mini raffles and a full raffle for $500, and then 50/50 on the floor. And then bingo, of course.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, got to have bingo. Yeah.

FATHER GILLESPIE: It wouldn't be Catholic if we didn't.

[LAUGHTER]

NINA MOINI: Well, it sounds wonderful.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Oh, yeah. It's a circus.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, I love that. Stephanie, I'm curious to know, have you been to Saint Albert? Or is that a place that's been on the list for you before?

STEPHANIE MARCH: No, I've come to Saint Albert's many a year for the, what we like to call in the best possible way, the Las Vegas of fish fries. Because it is really, truly an event, and it's just a show. But it's really important to know that it's also about community. And half of the joy is being there among people who you may not know and sitting elbow to elbow and eating fried fish and just meeting new people. That's a huge piece of this.

NINA MOINI: Sure. So, Stephanie, how and when did you start writing the guides to Twin Cities fish fry?

STEPHANIE MARCH: I mean, I think I've been writing them probably for about 15 or more years, probably. Yeah, probably even close to 20 when you think about it. And we used to scout through the Catholic Spirit Newsletter and see who was doing good fish fries and then try to amplify that. And then there started to be this thing where people would go out in groups every Friday and go and rate the fish fries. And so that was kind of a fun thing to watch.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So did you grow up Catholic? Or what made you be interested in the fish fry scene?

STEPHANIE MARCH: Yeah, no, I'm an Episcopalian by trade, if you will. For me, it was always about just anything in the food community that brings people together, you want to pay attention to. And I did happen to go to college in Wisconsin, where, of course, fish fry is an every Friday, all year thing. And so to find that again, except for in this little lovely rite of spring that we have in Minneapolis and Minnesota, it's a lovely thing that you can't really ignore. You have to join in. You're compelled if you're a food person.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So they're happening all over, right? Father Gillespie mentioned VFWs. What does your list encompass, Stephanie?

STEPHANIE MARCH: Oh, it's really important for me, as we're talking about the food culture in the Twin Cities, to not just put restaurants and bars. But that's why we also list churches, and we talk about the Legions, American Legions and the clubs and the VFWs. And then we also do include restaurants because they're also doing fun things on special to help people eat meatless on Fridays.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Is anything really sticking out to you this year? Obviously, Saint Albert's is always thriving.

STEPHANIE MARCH: Yes.

NINA MOINI: I mean, I would imagine after 16 years, you've got to look a little bit harder? I don't know.

STEPHANIE MARCH: Yeah, no, what I love is, I love a little bit of variance, right? And so when I think about the Holy Family Maronite Church, they have a great thing, and they do this traditional Lebanese rice. They've got fried cabbage alongside the fish. They've got these green beans and this garlic sauce that is out of this world. So that's like a little bit you go to your fried fish one week, and you may want to try something a little bit different the next week. The Ukrainian-American Community Center is this really amazing spot that they have pierogi with their fish fry.

So finding these other ways in is kind of exciting. And then even the restaurants can get in it. You can do something very sort of like-- if you want to say dive bar, but community bar, like Obb's, which is in St. Paul. And they do this all-you-can-eat great fish fry that's a lot of fun. And then there's places like Bungalow Club, which is relatively new. And they're doing a whole Friday feast, which is maybe a higher dollar, a $75 thing for multiple courses. But it's chef-driven. It's multiple plates. It's really a lot of different kind of fun.

NINA MOINI: OK. Well, before I let the both of you go, I am curious about the different types of fish fries. So, Father Gillespie, you said tilapia. Is that something you do every year? Or what's the best, in your opinion?

FATHER GILLESPIE: We started out with cod and then found that tilapia was a better-tasting fish and easier to prepare. So that has been certainly in the last 10 years. But when I started 19 years ago, it was originally cod. And if we were running out, I could run down to Merlin's Celtic bar to pick up some cod from their basement. And I'm happy to report, Stephanie, the Bungalow Club is just down the street from Saint Albert's.

STEPHANIE MARCH: I know. I thought that was great. I love it.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Yeah, yeah. I wanted to know whether you had a Brandy Manhattan with those fish in Wisconsin.

STEPHANIE MARCH: Oh, always, forever. And I need the cherry and the orange to make it real, for sure.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Yeah.

NINA MOINI: Stephanie, what do you think about tilapia? Or what's the best, in your opinion?

STEPHANIE MARCH: I think tilapia is really great. People do some cod. You can definitely find cod. Tiff's Sports Bar is doing beer-battered Alaskan pollock. There's all sorts of different ways people go in and see what they can do. But it's really true. There's haddock and everything else. Really, the most important thing is that you don't overcook and dry out the fish, right, and that that batter sticks to it and makes it a good crunch. So I'm agnostic as far as which fish. I'm going to eat them all. I love it all.

NINA MOINI: Wait, what about walleye? I feel like that's big in our state.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Expensive.

STEPHANIE MARCH: It is, but it's a little bit harder as far as the kind. When you expect a good flaky, thick piece of fish to go along with the batter, it's just a little bit easier with those other ones. Walleye is there. People love it. In fact, I think there's a couple places I can't remember are doing it. But I think overwhelmingly, you're going to find tilapia or cod.

NINA MOINI: All right. Well, I'm glad we settled that. Tilapia it is. Thank you both so much for your time. Wishing you a great time in the days and weeks to come.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Well, we're certainly thankful for all the people that come. You're more than welcome. We treat you well.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye.

FATHER GILLESPIE: Bye.

STEPHANIE MARCH: Bye-bye.

NINA MOINI: That was Stephanie March, Food and Dining Editor of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, and Father Joe Gillespie, who leads Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church in Minneapolis.