The Foodie

Hot Meals: First on the must-try list is the new local outpost of Fogo de Chão (645 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-338-1344), the Brazilian chain of spit-roasted meat emporia, where the carne is carved tableside, sizzling and fragrant. The Westin Minneapolis (88 S. 6th St., Mpls., 612-333-4006) is the new tenant of the historic Farmers and Mechanics Bank Building. Its vaulted lobby is home to Bank, where high-powered ex-MK Chicago chef Todd Stein leads a kitchen whipping up artfully plated, whimsically conceived Euro-American fare, plus desserts served in shot glasses.

Best Deals:
A day of deals starts with a breakfast of blueberry flapjacks at the legendary Al’s Breakfast (413 14th Ave. SE, Mpls., 612-331-9991) in Dinkytown. Lunch is a superb Neapolitan-style pizza at Punch (3226 W. Lake St., Mpls., 612-929-0006), near the lakes or in the booming Northeast Hennepin retail district. Dinner is hip, retro diner-style at the swinging Town Talk Diner on Lake Street (2707-1/2 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-722-1312). The Town Talk’s cheese curds in a caper-scallion crust will make you forget about the state fair. And there’s no cellulite to ruin the view either.

Dining Out: With apologies to Silver Butterknife steaks and wild rice soup, the best indigenous cuisine is fresh, unfussy fare from the soil and larders of Minnesota and Wisconsin farmers and food artisans. If you’ve got some time and a sense of class, head to St. Paul’s Heartland (1806 St. Clair Ave., 651-699-3536 ), where Lenny Russo and crew offer an exhaustive and exacting take on regional eats. Mike Phillips’s more informal Craftsman (4300 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-722-0175), just across the river on Lake Street, is a good choice after a tiring day of searching for good places to eat. In nice weather, the garden patio is delightful.

Photo Op: The Tin Fish (3000 Calhoun Pkwy. E., Mpls., 612-823-5840), in the Lake Calhoun refectory, serves a tasty array of seafood and parkside fast food, at the shoreline of Minneapolis’s scenic gem, the Chain of Lakes. The people-watching ain’t bad either, but don’t pose with (or impose upon) a hottie unless you get permission.

Foodie Tour:
The Midtown Global Market (E. Lake St. at Chicago Ave., Mpls., 612-872-4041 ) and Mercado Central (1515 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-728-5485), six blocks east, offer two delightful takes on the Twin Cities’ ethnic culinary tapestry, both in charming, family-friendly settings. The MGM is a celebration of the cuisines and ingredients that make up the Cities’ crazy-quilt ethnicity, while the Mercado is a pretty Latino market and food court that serves the area’s burgeoning Hispanic community. Start at the Mercado, then hop the Lake Street bus west to the MGM. Afterward, take the same bus west to the end of the line in Uptown (it runs every fifteen minutes or less). Leave the Uptown transit hub and walk a block north to 28th/Hennepin and fortify yourself with a cinnamon bun, homemade cookie, or coffee at Isles Bun and Coffee (closes at 4 p.m., 1424 W. 28th St., Mpls., 612-870-4466). Continue down 28th Street to Lake of the Isles, turn right along the path, and amble along the city’s grandest residential street. At the lake’s north end, go right and up the hill to Franklin Avenue, and a few blocks later reward your effort with a stellar ice cream cone at Sebastian Joe’s (1007 Franklin Ave. W., Mpls., 612-870-0065). From here, it’s a quick hike or ride on the #6 bus up Hennepin to downtown.
Photo: Sirena at Midtown Global Market by Dan Seipp

Must See/Do:
The Saturday Mill City Farmers' Market (Chicago Ave. at S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-341-7580) is chef Brenda Langton’s gift to the new Mill District. It’s a gathering of local growers, food artisans, and highlights of the season’s bounty. Next door, the Mill City Museum (704 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-341-7555) engagingly explains how refined carbs put Minneapolis on the map.

Where to Stay: The most food-focused lodgings these days are a stone’s throw from one another in downtown Minneapolis, and both are monuments to minimalism, modernism, and mouthwatering meals. The Graves 601 Hotel (601 1st Ave. N., Mpls., 612-677-1100) has been a culinary mecca since Seth Daugherty opened Cosmos several years ago. Under chef Stephen Trojahn, the place is firing on all cylinders. Two blocks away, the Chambers Minneapolis (901 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-767-6900) is knocking 'em dead (in a good way) with global chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s singular Euro-Asian fare at Chambers Kitchen.