Growing Food, Growing Leaders, Growing Community Food and music go hand-in-hand at Cultivate, the Chipotle-sponsored touring food festival in Loring Park this Saturday (p.s. it’s FREE). There’s more than burritos to be had, with a craft beer-laden tasting hall, cooking demos from celebrity chefs like Richard Blais, Jim Christiansen, Gavin Kaysen, Erik Anderson, Jamie Malone… Read More →
Minnesota summers may be short, but we never take a sunny day for granted. We jam-pack June-September with events celebrating the food, drink, art and music that make Minnesota an amazing place to live. You probably already know that my favorite food festival on earth is the Minnesota State Fair. But there are several other… Read More →
I need your help. I want to bring your attention to a new café that just opened in North Minneapolis. I’ve been working with Appetite for Change to get a youth training program started at Breaking Bread Café, and I thought you’d be interested. Take a look at the information below (including this video), and let… Read More →
Minnesota Restaurants Supporting Local Farms I love all four seasons, but there are few greater things in life than the first days of a Minnesota spring. We love celebrating another winter survived, and if you’re anything like me, food plays a huge role. I can’t wait until restaurants unveil their spring menus, teeming with fresh… Read More →
Minneapolis’ Young Chef in the Spotlight Mike DeCamp, the incredibly talented and creative chef de cuisine at Minneapolis’ award winning La Belle Vie, just announced he’s leaving his longtime mentor Tim McKee to open a new restaurant with Jester Concepts (the team behind Borough and Coup d’etat). They’ll be taking over Hotel Ivy’s first floor restaurant, formerly Porter &… Read More →
Trust me, you don’t want to miss this. Cochon 555, one of the country’s most talked about culinary competitions, comes to Minneapolis on Mar. 1, 2015 to celebrate family farms, heritage breed pigs and today’s emerging chef community. This epic culinary experience coming here is further validation of our position as one of the great… Read More →
Embrace the Cold A lot of people think I’m nuts when I tell them I live in Minnesota. Yeah, it’s cold here. However, the difference between Minnesotans and most other folks is that we embrace the cold. We ski, ice fish, skate and sled. We even still cook outdoors. We pack our weekends with loads… Read More →
A Few Important Issues Support Local Food The 70/30 law is a twenty-year-old sales ratio that’s no longer compatible with today’s dining culture. It’s antiquated legislation that needs to be removed for small businesses to be able to thrive and grow. Here’s the gist: In 1983, Minneapolis passed a law that required restaurants and bars… Read More →
Changing the Way We Think About Food Devoted to celebrating, nurturing and preserving America’s diverse culinary heritage, the James Beard Foundation is very dear to me. The JBF fosters thought leadership, provides scholarships for culinary students, and sets the bar for culinary excellence with the annual James Beard Awards. And this video sums it all… Read More →
NCSL 2014 Legislative Summit I’m committed to combating hunger in America and believe that solving hunger requires a social change movement, just like anti-smoking and seatbelt campaigns. At this year’s Legislative Summit in Minneapolis, state legislators came together to discuss and craft local solutions to hunger challenges. Thanks to everyone who organized the event and… Read More →
New State Fair Foods for 2014 Every year there’s a host of new foods at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and while the imaginative deep-fried-on-a-stick creations can be hit or miss, sometimes the shear novelty is worth shelling out a few bucks to try. Without further ado, here’s the line up for 2014: Photographs courtesy… Read More →
All-Star Festivities In celebration of the MLB All-Star Game in Minneapolis, Children’s Hospital chose 16 kids to form its own all-star team. It was a fantastic event, where the Children’s All-Stars signed autographs for sports and television celebrities, including actor James Denton, Wild player Zach Parise, Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers, and yours truly. The… Read More →
What to Eat & Drink at Target Field Open since 2010, Target Field is a beautiful stadium in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Thankfully, there’s a host of good eats from local chefs, restaurants and breweries, so don’t settle on a wimpy tube steak washed down with watery beer. In honor of the 2014 All-Star… Read More →
Our Picks for Pre- & Post-Game Dining Lucky for hungry baseball fans, Target Field sits next to some of Minneapolis’ best restaurants and bars. Just in time for the 2014 All-Star Game, here’s a round-up our favorite Downtown and North Loop establishments, from raucous pubs and local breweries to after hours fine dining. Pre-Game… Read More →
Redefining Scandinavian Cooking A former Navy Officer who opted for a chef’s life, Paul Berglund has made a name for himself as the executive chef of Minneapolis’ Bachelor Farmer, where he’s cooking trend-setting modernist Nordic cuisine. We talk with Berglund about the resurgence of Scandinavian food, taking risks and note-worthy chefs in the Twin Cities.… Read More →
Minnesota Food Truck Fair It’s that time of year again, so get out of the house, soak up some rays and head to the Minnesota Food Truck Fair in Uptown for great food and live music. Now in its third year, they’ve really expanded the festival with dozens of trucks offering cuisines from all over… Read More →
NFL Perks & Challenging the 70/30 Rule By Andrew Zimmern Local scribes and pundits have gone all “WHAT?!?!?!?” on their social streams expressing outrage that the NFL requested a massive perk list before awarding the 2018 Super Bowl to Minneapolis. All for free. That’s like crying fire after you passed around the gasoline and matches, for… Read More →
Where to Eat at Minnesota’s #1 Attraction By Molly Mogren We’re the land of 10,000 lakes, the birthplace of Prince and Bob Dylan, home to the Boundary Waters and some of the best live music and theater in the country. And yet, our number one tourist attraction is a mall. Don’t get me wrong, I… Read More →
#OnlyinMN I’m constantly traveling around the world, but there is no place I would rather be than my home state, Minnesota. What makes the land of 10,000 lakes so great? Check out just some of my favorites things to do only in Minnesota. MINNESOTA STATE FAIR I love the Minnesota State Fair so much that I try… Read More →
Hacking Fine Dining Chefs/co-owners of Travail and the Rookery, Mike Brown, Bob Gerken and James Winberg are a trio to be reckoned with. In the past year, they closed the original Travail opening Pig Ate My Pizza in its place, created a dim sum pop-up in North Minneapolis, launched an epic Kickstarter campaign and reopened Travail… Read More →
Artisan Chinese Tea A recent addition to Minneapolis’ Seward neighborhood, Verdant Tea Tasting Room & Tea Bar offers a curated selection of artisan, seasonal Chinese teas from small family farms. Owners Lily and David Duckler are obsessed with tea and the hospitality culture that revolves around it. They spend a lot of time in China each year… Read More →
Meet David & Lily The whole Food Works office visits Verdant Tea in Minneapolis for a tea tasting. There we meet owners David and Lily Duckler who share their vast tea knowledge with the team. David tells us about tea tasting and how Verdant Tea does business. Find out more about Verdant Tea here, and get… Read More →
Preserving Eastern European Heritage Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company is an iconic Twin Cities restaurant and deli, serving Eastern European sausages and comfort classics for more than 50 years. The Kramarczuk family’s story is an ultimate immigrant success story. Wasyl and Anna Kramarczuk moved to the United States to escape war-torn Europe in 1949. In the 50s,… Read More →
Democratizing Entrepreneurship By Andrew Zimmern The long awaited Travail Kickstarter campaign is live. Check it out #prevailtravail. The campaign closes on October 10th, and represents a sea change in terms of how local restaurants get funded. To me, these types of projects have democratized entrepreneurship (obvi!), allowing customers to help push dollars to restaurants they believe in.… Read More →
Biking in My Adopted Hometown So you want to spend a day in Minneapolis and you’re looking for something to do? My new hometown has got it all. Here in the Twin Cities, everyone bikes everywhere, and cycling around one of the city lakes is something that should not be missed. Don’t have a bike? You gotta… Read More →
Minneapolis Is Where It’s At I’ve lived in Minneapolis for a couple decades now, and every year I find more and more reasons to love my adopted hometown. Beyond the incredible food scene, we have world-class museums, cool bikeable neighborhoods, great music, and idyllic city lakes. It’s the best place to live in the whole… Read More →
Devoted to Sustainable Seafood Jamie Malone prepares incredible seafood at Minneapolis’ acclaimed Sea Change, located on the Mississippi River in the contemporary Guthrie Theater complex. Her artfully curated menu showcases a variety of well-researched sustainable species, so delicious that Food & Wine recognized her on this year’s list of Best New Chefs. We chat with… Read More →
Bringing Thai to the Twin Cities Supenn Harrison introduced Minnesota to the flavors of her native Thailand when she opened her first Sawatdee restaurant in 1983. Thirty years later her story is one of great success – she’s the owner of seven acclaimed Thai restaurants, a cooking class instructor, the recipient of numerous awards and… Read More →
The Gold Standard for Fine Dining After 15 years, executive chef/owner Tim McKee (the 2009 James Beard Award-winner for Best Chef Midwest) and chef de cuisine Mike DeCamp continue to impress with outstanding food and service at La Belle Vie. As the pinnacle of local fine dining, there isn’t a better spot in the Twin Cities… Read More →
A Field Trip to Primitive Precision Metalcraft I’m obsessed with these cleavers. Made in Minneapolis from scavenged metal, they are one-of-a-kind usable works of art. Hans Early-Nelson happened to be crafting a cleaver for a very special friend and food-lover, Anthony Bourdain, so we took a trip to his blacksmithing workshop to check out the… Read More →
