Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts And Foods

User Reviews

2 User reviews

• 

  citypagesbestof

  | Wed, May 06, 2009

  The following is an exchange, recounted verbatim, as it was overheard at the beloved Scandinavian gift and meat shop on East Lake Street: "Look, Lori, a gnome," said one woman, in a proud second- or third-generation Scandinavian drawl. "No, Deborah, that's a troll," came the impatient response. And they were both wrong, but the people at the counter were too Scandinavian to point it out. What these women were looking at was, in fact, a tomte. Here's how it breaks down: A gnome is a gnome and that is all—a small man with a big beard. A troll is, more or less, an ogre. But a tomte? Well, a tomte is a shape-shifter. This is no small distinction—and Ingebretsen's deals in nothing if not distinction. Namely, the distinction of the Scandinavian from all that is not. More specifically, the distinction between, say, the Scandinavian countries that cover their folk art in red and those that use blue. A cynical eye might spot the seeds of ethnic war among the shelves of Swedish this and Norsk that—but inter-Scandinavian bloodletting is so 16th century! In the 21st century, you of Scando heritage are free to buy the meats of one subgroup while admiring the tiny, hand-carved horse of another. And there is no better place to do this than at Ingebretsen's. Onward, brave Viking! (Or whatever your people call themselves.)

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• 

  RobertT989

  | Sat, March 21, 2009

  Need some lutefisk? Need some chocolate? Need some Scandinavian arts and/or crafts? Need some Rocket fuel coffee? Ingebretsens is the place to get it. A little expensive, but it is an importer. Great butcher shop/grocery and gift store. Nice place for out of towners to start connecting with their Swedish/Norwegian/Dannish ancestry.

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