Lowertown.info—Filmmaker, poet, and photographer Mike Hazard remembers the Black Dog Coffee & Wine Bar, one of the last community hubs in Lowertown, Saint Paul, MN. After 23 years of operation, the cafe posted a simple note on its front door on January 2nd:

“The Black Dog Café is closed.

We are grateful for each and every one of you that has walked through these doors.

We have loved you as best we could.

We would be honored if you would join us
for a dram or a drink
and a goodbye
on January 15, 2022.”

To get over the shock of the news that the Black Dog has closed, I romanced the memories.

When I lived in the neighborhood the Black Dog was a home away from home. It was family.

Searching my social media history, I found some 50 picture stories of, by, and/or about the Black Dog and Black Dog people.

I loved the series of table top art shows I mounted at the Black Dog. Weird Wood, Local Color, Media Mike’s Mask Museum, Media Mike’s Menagerie, Cornucopia, et alia.

When the RNC madness exploded, the Black Dog was an oasis. Al Jazeera was telecasting to the world. I met Hunter, a retired postal worker turned itinerant photographer, who traveled the world “to be where the action is.”

I was inside looking out at a blizzard one Saturday morning when a dozen cop cars appeared. Trunks popped, cops pulled out (OMG) machine guns, and marched towards the Union Depot. (So that’s the state of the police state.) They surrounded the parking lot at the Depot. It turned out a ten year old with a toy gun was playing by himself in the storm.

It was the go to place to see the neighbors. I loved finding Dick Bancroft there on a Saturday morning, playing cribbage with Peter Leach. Both are deceased now.

The buzz in the house was sweet as their waffles.

I read poems out loud.

I attended political talks. One by Paul Erlinder stands out.

I watched Mni Sota Wakpa develop.

I bent Sara’s ear for hours with rants and riffs and ruminations. She never said no to any of my asks for exhibits and poetry readings.

The jazz jazzed.

Book launches for Saint Paul Almanac brought down the house.

I got a great present there of a painting by Jim Denomie which Tressa purchased.

The eve of the the 2016 remodel

June 3rd, 2016—Queried for comment about today’s soft opening and celebration of the renewed, bigger Black Dog Café, the siblings speak.

“Pins and needles!” crows Andrew Remke.

“Exciting and a bit of nerves,” says Sara. “Lots of new things to learn and relationships to build. Which always makes life interesting.”

“OMG! A lot needs to happen between here and renewed!! LOL!” states Stacy.

OMG! I love these guys. Friends comment on the photo.

By my buddy Michael McColl, they are “friendly, organized, passionate, music-loving, persistent.” I’d add art-loving.

Patricia Hibbard Chavez: “Beamers.”

Kimberly Nightingale dubs this kitchen cabinet, “Entrepreneur sibling trio.”

“They look happy!” Jonathan R Thunder thunders.

“Joy. It’s always a joy to walk into the Black Dog and see them,” Tressa Sularz summarizes. “The Black Dog is a community hub.”

OMG, I love these guys. They are the Black Dog, Lowertown. They make me smile out loud.

The Black Dog Café was the biomagnetic center of the universe that is or was Lowertown.

The Black Dog was dreamed up and operated by the Remke siblings, Andy, Sara, and Stacy. I love these folks for the love they give.

Sara Remke

Sara loved the Black Dog and I love Sara.

She listened to me rant and rave and ruminate 10,000 times when I visited the Black Dog daily. She was, is always present.

Sister Stacy says, “She has a passion for social justice and believes people should be authentic and do their part. She likes to meet people from all over and hear their stories. She is a fierce mama bear. She has mentored more girls than she or they know! Black Dog has been her dharma.”

Brother Andy says, “Sara is the most outgoing of the three of us. She is great at making connections with and among people. Sara enjoys meeting people and was always interested in finding out where they were from and what brought them to the Black Dog. She is a creative, idea person. She’s the one that says ‘Why not?’ Few things please her more than putting together an event or creating a ‘happening scene.’”

The future? “I am going to go deeper into teaching meditations and energy work and start working with people one on one,” says Sara. “Most likely looking for a part time job as well. For now I am in California having a stare at the ocean looking for a whale or two.”

The dog was created by Christopher D Lutter-gardella with community participation.

I love Sara and I loved the Black Dog.

Stacy Remke

“Stacy is a caring, compassionate, grounded teacher and wonderful nurturing baker and cook,” says her sister Sara and Black Dog partner. “It is a real treat to have her cook for you. She has also helped me to process years of my life. A treasure.”

“Stacy is the one that keeps us moving forward together. She is the harness between Sara’s horse and my wagon,” says brother Andy describing the dynamics of Black Dog life. “When my eyes glaze in paralysis at filling out forms and paperwork, Stacy is there to stop me from making things more complicated than they really are.

“Stacy always counsels to keep the standards high, do the best you can, and don’t sweat the minutia. The Black Dog has been ‘the home of Stacy’s cakes,’ craveably delicious but with a quintessentially homemade appearance. Stacy loves good wine and the finer things in life but knows that at the end of the day it’s the people you are with, and the intention of the preparation, that make a great gathering. Stacy understands the importance of ritual, tradition, and gathering in life… the large and the small, the daily and the infrequent.”

By social media, I was ever aware that Stacy was not only organizing wine tastings and baking for the Black Dog, but also racing all around the world with her teaching and social work.

“I have over 25 years experience working in the field of pediatric palliative and hospice care. Helping families cope with serious, life threatening illness remains an important interest area of mine.” Her book “The Insider’s Guide to Grief” is available on Amazon. “I also have a special interest in team functioning and wellness, especially the complex group process that evolves in work groups.”

Asked if they are grieving the loss of the Black Dog, Stacy said, “Well it is sad but also really felt like the right time and Andy and Sara really felt done. So grief but also peace. And it’s not over so maybe more grief to come when it hits, when something else occupies the space.”

Andrew Remke

“A master at logistics and organizing,” Stacy says describing her brother. “Also needs time to work out a solution but then what a great solution it will be!”

“Andy is in the shadows but supported everything. Kind and smart as heck,” says Sara. “He is an amazing writer and he will be looking for next steps for himself. He does not miss a beat and is unassuming, but on the case. Self taught whatever we needed to learn. A true pillar. So much love for him. A quiet but keen sense of humor.”

Andy’s seen here in his office. The “WE” postcard over his head speaks volumes.

The Black Dog is dead, long live the Black Dog.

The Black Dog was my best friend.

We have loved, love you.

#blackdog #lowertown #saintpaul #stpaul #biomagneticcenteroftheuniverse #blackdogcafe #lowertown #saintpaul #stpaul #familybusiness #biomagneticcenteroftheuniverse @sararemke @stacysr27 @remkea1 @blackdoglowertown


Mike Hazard (www.mikehazard.org) is a filmmaker, poet, and photographer. Nine of his films have been telecast nationally on public media. A collection of Hazard’s poems, This World Is Not Altogether Bad, is published by Red Dragonfly Press. With a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, he is organizing JOURNEY, a retrospective for his wife, the fiber artist Tressa Sularz.

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