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The Good Life – May-June 2024

On the cover – Frank Hunkler, Mentoring is Life. Also in this issue, Dad Life - Modern Dating as a Single Dad. Having A Beer with Peter “Casey” Absey, the Curious Creator of Blackbird Woodfire Pizza. Local Hero and Veteran Jim Deremo, Pinball Games and more.

On the cover – Frank Hunkler, Mentoring is Life. Also in this issue, Dad Life - Modern Dating as a Single Dad. Having A Beer with Peter “Casey” Absey, the Curious Creator of Blackbird Woodfire Pizza. Local Hero and Veteran Jim Deremo, Pinball Games and more.

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HAVING A BEER WITH | PETER "CASEY" ABSEY<br />

HAVING A BEER WITH<br />

PETER "CASEY" ABSEY<br />

WRITTEN BY: BEN HANSON<br />

PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA<br />

Well known to the crowd of<br />

downtown regulars, Peter Absey<br />

somehow maintains an elusive<br />

vibe. <strong>The</strong> man in glasses dusted<br />

in flour after hours of prepping<br />

the week’s dough seems more at<br />

ease back in the kitchen than his<br />

front of house. If I had to guess, it’s<br />

the free-flowing, HR-be-damned<br />

discourse known well by servers<br />

and sailors alike.<br />

When we sat down for what<br />

became more than a couple of<br />

beers overlooking Brewhalla’s<br />

central mall, I wasn’t sure what<br />

to expect from the creator of<br />

Blackbird Woodfire Pizza … who<br />

goes by Casey. Why Casey? He<br />

hasn’t the foggiest. It’s a nickname<br />

he’s had basically since birth. He’s<br />

got the birthday cards to prove it.<br />

His brother, James, goes by Gus.<br />

Not Jim. Not Jack. Gus. Go figure.<br />

I had to let the name thing lie, not<br />

for lack of curiosity. We were here<br />

to drink beer and eat … err, talk<br />

pizza.<br />

Blackbird had just celebrated its<br />

10th anniversary <strong>–</strong> a monumental<br />

accomplishment in a cruelly tough<br />

industry, pandemic or not <strong>–</strong> and<br />

the backyard oven baker turned<br />

professional pie slinger seemed<br />

content yet keenly focused. As a<br />

hardworking restaurateur who still<br />

puts in at least 50 hours a week,<br />

Absey was gracious in sharing<br />

his Friday afternoon with us. Like<br />

most subjects, he, I assume, had<br />

no idea what he’d signed up for.<br />

Salut.<br />

WHERE’D YOU GROW UP?<br />

East Grand Forks, Minn. I graduated<br />

from Northland Technical and<br />

Community College with a degree<br />

in Respiratory <strong>The</strong>rapy. I’ve been<br />

in Fargo since 1986.<br />

WHAT’S THE BLACKBIRD ORIGIN<br />

STORY?<br />

I’ve always cooked and baked.<br />

We’re Lebawegian [part<br />

Lebanese, part Norwegian], we<br />

10 | THE GOOD LIFE

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