The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

If you haven't seen Waitress, now's your chance. It's showing at the Hopkins Cinema for $2.50 per ticket. Part fairytale, part romantic comedy, part cautionary fable, this film is far from perfect but it's fun, colorful, unique, and features a killer performance by, of all people, Andy Griffith. A modern morality play about infidelity, spousal abuse, parenting and the importance of good friends, Waitress uses pie -- what could be more wholesome? -- as a literal emblem for just about every American value. And it features a diner that seems real, despite the fact that bizarre and unlikely things converge there: a wedding, a spacious and spotlessly clean restroom, and an owner (Griffith) who stops in wearing a bow tie to dispense salty wisdom.

It's rare that you find a film this light, yet wending and unpredictable. And for $5, it's a terrific cheap movie date that will give you much to talk about over dinner.

Speaking of waitresses -- I attended a family reunion of sorts at Lord Fletcher's and had a great one. In our party was one child with a severe peanut allergy, an adult with a raging gluten intolerance, two people celebrating birthdays, and a teenager who'd recently had his wisdom teeth removed and was high on Vicodin. The woman dealt with our motley crew graciously and the food (believe me, this came as a surprise to many of us) was actually quite good. I'm not a fan of big, huge beefsteaks or fried fish or the usual "choice of potato" array, so I asked them to double a dinner salad and throw on every vegetable the chef could find in the kitchen. Not only was it tasty, the six other special orders we requested (my family can be a wearying lot) were perfectly executed as well.

Old school, yes. I think our table had the lowest mean age in the dining room by about 15 years (which is scary, as one of the birthdays was a 70th). But Lord Fletcher's is, frankly, better than I remember. And the Fess Parker Chardonnay made for a lovely screen deck summer wine.