Stephanie A. Meyer - Twin Cities Chefs Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the City of Lakes to the Capital City

Stephanie A. Meyer is a Minneapolis-based food writer, photographer, cooking instructor, and recipe developer. She writes a popular food blog, Fresh Tart, and is a columnist and blogger for Minnesota Monthly magazine and Mother Earth Living. Meyers recipes and photographs have appeared in numerous magazines, cookbooks, and websites, including Food & Wine, Cambria Style, and Edible Twin Cities. She is the founder and organizer of Fortify: A Food Community, a group of Minnesota food writers and industry professionals who host educational events and raise money for local charities.

Meyer is a self-taught food photographer, inspired to share the simplicity and healthfulness of home cooking. Her approachable, flavorful recipes and beautiful, simple photography get people into their kitchens and cooking from scratch. A whole, fresh food advocate, Meyers next project will focus on grain-free cooking.

Its been quite a year. After committing last summer to working full-time on my food blog and business, Fresh Tart, I was contacted by Tracee Williams, acquisitions editor at Globe Pequot, about writing a Twin Cities edition for the Chefs Table series. After much discussion with my dear friend Zoe Francois, coauthor of the wildly popular Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day series of books, I decided to set my Fresh Tart plan aside and embark on the adventure of writing a cookbook.

At the same time, I started writing a monthly chefs recipe column for Minnesota Monthly magazine, called Cook Like, and all of a sudden my whole world was restaurants and chefs and their recipes. Its been a transformative experience of making new friends and connecting with old ones, learning more about my own cooking, and pushing my writing and photography in new directions. What a gift and opportunity to connect even more deeply with the Twin Cities food community.

And so, I must heartily thank Tracee, who has been a much kinder and more supportive editor than I deserve. It has been my sincere pleasure to work with her. Im so grateful to Zoe for her advice, depth of knowledge, and generosity in sharing it, and for introducing me to Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, who has kindly instructed me in the ways of the publishing world as well as offering support throughout the project. I also want to thank Patrick OBrien for his wise counsel and guidance all the way along.

When I took this book on, I knew I needed helpbig timeand Angie Zirngible answered the call. Her project management experience was invaluable in gathering recipes, fact-checking restaurant names, and getting the ball rolling. I wish wed been able to work side by side more often, because she is a lovely person.

To select the eateries included in the booknot an easy taskI made a list off the top of my head and then leaned heavily on my food-industry friends, the ladies of #L2, to help me narrow the field. But thats not all they did. I also thank them for recipe testing, gathering releases, sharing recipes, and scooping me from The Treehouse for sustenance, with a special thank-you to Joy Summers for her occasional photography assistance, but mostly for her creative genius and many hours of work on the project.

They were not the only recipe testers. Thank you also to recipe developers Emily Anderson, Laurie Jesch-Kulseth (thanks also to Laurie for her beer expertise), and Kate Selner for their cooking knowledge and excellent taste. Im grateful to my friend and collaborator Chef Scott Pampuch for fielding many culinary and recipe-related questions, and to Andrew Zimmern, Daniel Klein, and Stephanie March for their insight into the Twin Cities food community.

I am lucky to be part of a collaborative and supportive food-blogging group known as Fortify: A Food Community. I thank them heartily for cheering me on, checking in on my progress, sending notes of encouragement, and offering assistance with recipe testing and editing. They are big fans of Twin Cities restaurants and chefs, and they are so excited to see this book. How cool is that?

The members of my family have been saints waiting for me to finish. I missed vacations, dinners, and holidays while I worked, and they supported me completely. Thanks in particular to my mom, who is always my number-one fan.

And, of course, I am so grateful to all of the chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, co-ops, and other purveyors who donated their talent, time, and recipes to Twin Cities Chefs Table, the way they donate their talent, time, and food to countless causes, events, and charities throughout the year. It has been an honor to photograph and write about you. Thank you.

50 N. 2ND AVENUE

MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401

(612) 206-3920

THEBACHELORFARMER.COM

OWNERS: ERIC DAYTON AND ANDREW DAYTON

EXECUTIVE CHEF: PAUL BERGLUND

In Minnesota, were fine with knowing we arent exactly the hippest spot in the country. Trends tend to arrive a few years tardy, and despite being a hotbed for Coen brothers movie plots, not many aspire to be us. That is, until they get a taste of what Eric and Andrew Dayton have created at The Bachelor Farmer and Marvel Bar. The restaurant space is quintessential Midwest, right down to the barn-wood floors, crocheted blankets, and country-blue be-hearted wallpaper, yet it somehow all feels modern, trendsetting, and decidedly hip. The Nordic-inspired foodboth aesthetically clean and cozy comfortingmatches the old-meets-new vibe in stunning form (just ask President Obama, who dined there in 2012).

Chef Paul Berglund is drawing national attentionincluding a 2014 James Beard Foundation nomination for Best Chef Midwestwith dishes almost too pretty to eat. Almost. The menu changes daily, but with dishes like duck (breast and confit) with black lentils, roasted rutabaga, celery root, and pickled beets, or toasts topped with beef tartare, fermented sunchokes, cashew milk, capers, and horseradish, you get a sense of the depth of flavor and technique at play in Berglunds kitchen and of what motivates his menu and commitment to hospitality. Family meals at the dinner table meant more to me than I could have imagined as a child. The food itself was simple and honest. It was the experience of eating as a family, however, that solidified my understanding of the relevance of food to the connection between people.

The fast-growing North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis is keeping The Bachelor Farmers beloved weekend brunch packed with late-rising young professionals who probably sipped a few cocktails the night before at Marvel Bar. Bar manager Pip Hanson is at the crest of the Twin Cities craft cocktail revival, drawing attention from around the world for his marvelouslypun intendedsophisticated drink program. While most mixologists are rediscovering the classics, Hanson is busy inventing new ones. Rather than simply serving scotch straight up or neat, he infuses it with kombu, enhancing the peaty beauty of the spirit.

When the Dayton brotherssons of Minnesota governor Mark Daytonfirst announced their intentions to open a restaurant and speakeasy-style bar, a few skeptics wondered what they knew about running a restaurant. The result speaks for itself. In addition to the smash-hit restaurant, the restored, historic warehouse now houses one of the most in-demand event spaces in town, a chic clothing store, a rooftop garden that supplies the restaurant, and more Minnesota glamour than you can shake a stick at.