Farm Fresh, Locally Raised

Phillip Becht, Modern Cafe,  337 13th Ave. NE., Mpls., 612-378-9882
Age 40  Hails from Columbus  First cooking job Perkins in Rapid City.  Culinary influence Doug Flicker and Steven Brown.  Favorite out-of-town restaurants WD–50 (NYC) and “anyplace with cold beer and good tacos.” Guilty pleasure Frozen pizza.  Dish I could never get people to buy Whole wheat fettuccine with potatoes and cabbage.  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Humility. Gives all the credit for his current body of work to Greg Reynolds at Riverbend Farm.

Building Blocks
Growing up as an Air Force kid took Phillip Becht to Guam, Virginia, Maine, and Germany and gave him a patience and global mindset not often associated with growing up in the frenzied United States. He credits Modern founder Jim Grell (“a guy who pays living wages, is kind, and puts his money into those of us who work for him and that do business in his community”) for much of his success. The rest of the credit he gives to the roster of local legends for whom he has worked over the years. “When I moved here, I worked at The Loring Cafe with JP Samuelson, Steven Brown, Doug Flicker, and Lenny Russo, and that is what lit the fire. Steven inspired me not only to be a better cook, but a better human. I have achieved any success that I have because I learned craftsmanship as well as curiosity and compassion.” Amen.

Alexander Dixon, Zander Cafe, 525 Selby Ave., St Paul, 651-222-5224
Age 47  Hails from Pittsburgh  First cooking job Little Jimmy’s Kitchen in Denver.  Culinary influence Fernand Point, Julia Child, and the dining public. “It doesn’t matter what you make if you don’t have an audience.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurant None.  Guilty pleasure An annual White Castle ten-pack with everything on them.  Dish I could never get people to buy L’anguilles aux Vert (eel in green sauce).  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Staked out his own turf on Selby Avenue when the street was rough and stayed put.

Starting Young
Zander Dixon has been cooking since he was a teenager and attributes his successes to having “never played to the lowest common denominator in terms of flavor and seasoning.” Dixon keeps to himself and proudly maintains no affiliations: “They can be a good resource, but they also distract from the business of cooking.” Observant St. Paulites can spot him making the rounds of the Farmers’ Market most weekends. Dixon began as a dishwasher and was promoted to the line when “Jimmy’s drinking habit restricted him to a chair muttering inaudible instruction to me while I maintained his reputation for having the kick-assingest green chili in Denver, available in two strengths, hottest and hotterest. . . . I liked the job because I was the only boy in my high school class to have real income and also was the official wet T-shirt judge on Saturday nights. But I also had to keep the job because I lived on my own and had to pay rent somehow.”

J. D. Fratzke, Muffuletta, 2260 Como Ave., St. Paul, 651-644-9116
Age 33  Hails from Winona  First cooking job “I was a sixteen-year-old skateboarder when I took a job slinging fried chicken sandwiches, brats, and Vienna Beef tube steaks at a Winona State hole in the wall called The Dog Shack. I discovered how great mayonnaise tastes on fries.”  Culinary influence Mississippi River Valley, the ancient spice traders, Suzanne Goin (LA), Gordon Hammersley (Boston), Norman Van Aken (Miami).  Favorite out-of-town restaurants Lucques (LA), Casa Mono (NYC), Beno’s Deli/Bloedow’s (Winona).  Guilty pleasure Cheeseburger and fries, refried black bean burritos, and (“though it will make my wife cringe”) French silk pie.  Dish I could never get people to buy Cheeks: beef, salmon, halibut, boar. “Braised veal cheeks on melted salsify with red wine pan jus and fried scallions. The flavors hit it, but they never moved.  Earnest or ironic Ironic.  Green street-cred In the deep winter months, Fratzke heads to Hovland, Minnesota, to cook for a dogsled team.

Accidental Chef
J. D. Fratzke’s grandparents taught him “bread baking, gardening, and hard work. His dad taught him “how to love the river and the valley and all the tasty creatures it provides.” Growing up, Fratzke learned everything he could from the family, which farmed the “bluffs, rivers, and valleys of Winona County.” His vision stems from holidays and family reunions, where he learned that food is a gift, not a talent, something given to another with appreciation and affection. Fratzke was mentored by Rick Truax, Omar Sakr, Wade Wiestling, and Vincent Francoual, chefs who, as he puts it, “had no reason to hire a punk, knucklehead greenhorn like me, but took their patient time to teach me how to love great food and where it comes from. I owe everything to my teachers.” Most impressively, Fratzke never intended to cook for a living. He always thought he was going to be an archaeologist and, despite his recent success, admits to winging it 90 percent of the time.

Russell Klein, W.A. Frost & Company,  374 Selby Ave., St. Paul, 651-224-5715
Age 35  Hails from New York City  First cooking job Waiting tables, then cooking, at Remi in NYC.  Culinary influence Cyril Renaud.“I worked for him at La Caravelle and Fleur de Sel. He taught me how to cook.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurants  Balthazar (NYC), Brasserie Flo (Paris), Molis des Torrent (Mallorca).  Guilty pleasure Izzy’s ice cream.  Dish I could never get people to buy Sweetbreads. “No matter what we do with them, I end up eating them myself.”  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred An obsession with local ingredients and quality.

Building Blocks
Russell Klein has worked hard to change almost everything about W.A. Frost’s food since taking over the kitchen five years ago. Many feel it now has the best local cheese program in the state. Klein extended the concept of working with farmers by focusing on small, artisanal producers. He always has been fascinated by the classics, a philosophy that informs all his work. “A huge amount of the technique I use comes from David Bouley, and the other major influence was Bill Telepan, who was then at Judson Grill. Bill showed me the importance of ingredients. He bought locally and had great relationships with farmers and he did it in a large cosmopolitan restaurant. I didn’t realize at the time how important that would be until I got to W.A. Frost. One mentor gave me exceptional technique, the other a love of ingredients. I had learned the two most important things for a chef.”

Brenda Langton, Cafe Brenda, 300 1st Ave. N., Mpls, 612-342-9230 ; Spoonriver, 750 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-436-2236
Age 49  Hails from St. Paul  First cooking job Commonplace Natural Foods Co-Operative Café “on West 7th, two blocks from the Harley shop.”  Culinary influence Macrobiotics, Mediterranean and Japanese style and food philosophy.  Favorite out-of-town restaurants La Madonna (Venice), HonMuraAn (NYC), Julien (Paris).  Guilty pleasure Bacon “once in a blue moon!”  Dish I could never get people to buy Won’t cop to one.  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Founded the Mill City Farmers’ Market just behind the Guthrie.

Leading the Parade
Brenda Langton and Lucia Watson are the Alice Waters and Larry Forgione of our local food scene. Langton has been fighting the good fight for almost thirty-five years, working alongside her mentors and “wonderful staff,” all the while trying to “cook beautiful food that makes us feel good to eat it!” Langton left Commonplace in 1976 and spent the next year in Europe, where she became fascinated with seasonal and local foods. Returning home, she opened Cafe Kardamena, a gourmet vegetarian and seafood restaurant in St. Paul that was years ahead of its time. She was twenty-one years old. Eight years later, she opened Cafe Brenda. Both restaurants were hailed for innovating new pathways for nonvegetarians to enjoy vegetarian cooking and the burgeoning health food movement. Wife Swap is her favorite TV show, and she swears like a sailor.

Paul Lynch, FireLake, Radisson Plaza Hotel, 31 S. 7th St., Mpls., 612-216-3473
Age 49  Hails from El Paso  First cooking job Fountain View Restaurant in Dillard’s department store in El Paso, 1974.  Culinary influence Robert Barral, executive chef when he  attended New England Culinary Institute. “He provided a model of what an executive chef should be. I had never experienced that level of professionalism. I went from being a very good line cook and manager to being a chef.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurant Craft (Dallas).  Guilty pleasure Ice cream, “America’s addiction!”  Dish he could never get people to buy “Each August, we do a corn festival at FireLake. So we did a corn chess pie, which I thought was unbelievable. Guests could not get their heads around using fresh corn as a base for dessert.  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Founding member of the Heartland Food Network.

Of Service
Lynch is all about perseverance and focus, and he’s obsessed with understanding who he is serving in his restaurants. His focus is on regional food, presented in an uncontrived format, using solid technique. “I like it clean and simple, and I have been lucky enough to have the available resources and support to serve my company and my community. Our clients have diverse and specific culinary needs, my honor is to fill them.” Lynch  joined the Heartland Food Network to help mobilize the entire food chain from farmers to producers and distributors to chefs and consumers, all to increase the availability of regionally and locally grown and produced foods. He is an avid gardener. “It keeps me connected to the land, the rhythm of the seasons, and it fosters a true respect and appreciation for the fabulous, fresh ingredients we are fortunate to have in the Upper Midwest.”

Scott Pampuch, Corner Table, 4257 Nicollet Ave., Mpls., 612-823-0011
Age 36  Hails from Winona  First cooking job Promoted from dishwasher to line cook at Happy Chef, 1989.  Culinary influence Alice Waters for “creating what truly can be considered real American cuisine.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurants Craft (NYC), Bistro Jeanty (Yountville, California), World’s Best Donut (Grand Marais).  Guilty pleasure Graham cracker–and–peanut butter sandwich dipped in a glass of milk.  Dish I could never get people to buy  Braised pork belly.  Earnest or ironic Ironic.  Green street-cred On the Steering Committee of the Kingfield Farmers’ Market.

Reaching Out
Scott Pampuch’s e-mail begging chefs, vendors, and food fanatics he knows to start a monthly salon discussion about food tells you a lot about this talented young chef who has turned his small Kingfield neighborhood restaurant into a poster child for chef-driven cuisine. Pampuch believes that if you are going to make a statement you have to learn how to use your voice for change. “I am an avid fan of discussion; I feel that the only way things can get accomplished is if you push people to tell you what they want. This is hard for Minnesotans. I think too many times chef/ owners get caught up in just being in the kitchen. You have to be able to talk to the person down the street who visits your restaurant for the first time and make them comfortable.” Pampuch primarily works with two different farmer networks and a handful of independents producing vegetables exclusively for his restaurant. In the warm months, he helps with existing garden programs aimed at getting young people involved in food. In his kitchen, there’s a small poster of a James Beard quote: “I don’t like gourmet cooking or ‘this’ or ‘that’ cooking. I like good cooking.”

Mike Phillips, Craftsman, 4300 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-722-0175
Age 40   Hails from Royal, Iowa  First cooking job With Mark Reinholtz at the Walker’s Gallery 8. “I had just finished a degree in Russian language and literature at Hamline, where I had worked as a dishwasher. I was in a band and applied for a dish job. I showed interest in cooking technique at the Walker, and Mark decided to train me.”  Culinary influence “The relationship that ensues between chef and farmer/supplier.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurant “I went to Chez Panisse once and that was a beautiful experience.”  Guilty pleasure Michael Season’s cheese puffs.  Dish I could never get people to buy “People seem to eat most of what we throw at them.”  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Slow food stalwart, a force in the Southeast Minnesota Farmers Network, the Minnesota Food Alliance, and to anyone else who will listen.

Totally Committed
For Mike Phillips, there is no path of least resistance, no shortcuts or half-measures; he is totally committed, dealing with a far-flung network of more than ninety farmers with whom he has been working for years, dating back to his chef/owner days at Chet’s Taverna. The same doggedness that has allowed him to brave a musical career, speak fluent Russian, raise three boys, and race bicycles has served him well in the kitchen. “I try to stay focused on the mission of using product that is grown locally and farmed sustainably. At times, that’s hard to do in Minnesota, but it’s not lip service. I foster lifelong friendships with those who value the same thing—farmers, chefs, activists, or whomever. I try to keep it simple and cook it well; I’m not blazing any new territory.” Maybe not, but he is a breed apart. More than 90 percent of his menus are locally sourced, his network of farms is larger than any other similar-sized restaurant’s, and he cures his own hams.

Alex Roberts, Restaurant Alma,  528 University Ave. SE, Mpls., 612-379-4909
Age 35  Hails from Minneapolis  First cooking job Capers at 50th and Penn in Minneapolis. “It was 1986, I was fifteen years old and enjoyed everything about it.”  Culinary influences Paula Wolfert, Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Alice Waters, Edna Lewis, Lynn Rosseto Kasper—and the other “chefs who are inspired by tradition.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurants Cibreo (Florence), Topolobampo (Chicago), Babbo (NYC).  Guilty pleasure Slow-roasted pork and fried green plantains.  Dish I could never get people to buy Braised pork belly. “I gave up.”  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Stays focused on his food and his restaurant to the exclusion of almost anything and everything else.

Focal Points
Creating and maintaining a restaurant that is chic, tranquil, and responsible for some of the best food in the Cities is what Alex Roberts pays attention to. A restaurant where bread is baking, tomatoes are slow-roasting, and homemade Pink Lady applesauce is sent out to little kids who show up with their food-obsessed parents for a 5:30 reservation. “Whatever I have achieved I owe to the people around me,” Roberts notes. “I try to be helpful to local organizations by volunteering time and expertise, which I prefer to teaching upscale classes. I consider nutrition one of my most passionate hobbies, and I’m always trying to educate myself.” Roberts keeps his food simple and doesn’t pursue fine dining when he goes out. “My favorite meals are home-cooked.” A premed student in college, with a black belt in martial arts, Roberts is a relatively new parent, with another baby on the way, and has dreams of opening a fast-casual, slow-cooking restaurant featuring organic and high-quality natural food.

Lenny Russo, Cue at the Guthrie,  806 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-225-6499
Age 48  Hails from Hoboken and Old Bridge, New Jersey  First cooking job Quintessence, a classical French restaurant in Miami. “I started as a dishwasher in the summer of 1977 and worked my way up to lead prep cook by summer’s end.”  Culinary influences His mother and grandparents. “They taught me the provincial Italian cuisine of my heritage.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurants Gallopapa (Castellina in Chianti), La Colombe d’Or (St. Paul de Vence,  France).  Guilty pleasure Italian white truffles and foie gras.  Dish I could never get people to buy Tripe.  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Russo’s first restaurant, Heartland, created a network of local food purveyors that energized a nice idea into a movement.

Integrity Personified
For decades, chefs (such as the legendary chef Ken Goff) had been drawing on local product for their menus and their restaurants always reflected some of the local terroir, but when Russo opened Heartland and declared that he would let farmers and the season dictate his menus, it was a watershed moment. Local and seasonal was best, and there was no excuse not to use as much of Minnesota’s bounty as possible, at the highest levels of culinary excellence. Russo continues to support his network of purveyors on a much larger basis at Cue. Even when he travels, he draws inspiration by visiting with chefs and people in local markets. He draws that same inspiration from our local larder. “The ingredients have a way of letting me know what to do with them.” Russo personifies integrity. “It’s not always about the money. Sometimes it’s just about doing the right thing. I have always done things this way. It’s not some trendy bandwagon. Most people can tell there is a lot of love in my cooking. ”

Tracy Singleton, Birchwood Cafe, 3311 E. 25th St., Mpls., 612-722-4474
Age 41  Hails from Minneapolis  First cooking job Birchwood. Culinary Influence Lucia Watson. “I was a server there for five years. She was always hands-on. She was tough, expects/demands the best, and respects and appreciates her employees in return. I appreciate the simplicity and seasonality of her menu, her focus on buying local.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurants Delfina (San Francisco), La Saletta (Certaldo, Italy).  Guilty pleasure Cream cheese frosting.  Dish I could never get people to buy “The opposite, actually. We are the ‘vegetarian friendly’ place, yet the BLT is always the biggest seller.”  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Runs the one organically hip neighborhood clubhouse in town that serves vegetarians, vegans, and carnivores.

Leap Then Look
Tracy Singleton’s involvement in the Birchwood “concept” was to be solely as a property owner, but when one of the original operating partners backed out, she stepped in rather than lose her earnest money. She had worked in restaurants since she was fourteen, but always in the front of the house. “I found myself in the kitchen. It was a pretty interesting year without a chef, but, hey, you do what you need to do, and now I know how my kitchen works, which is a good thing to know if you own a restaurant.” An admitted detail freak, Singleton is “influenced by the seasons and whatever Greg from Riverbend Farm is pulling out of the ground.” Today the Birchwood is not only the crown jewel of the Seward neighborhood, it’s a true Twin Cities original.

Lucia Watson, Lucia’s, 1432 W. 31st St., Mpls., 612-825-1572
Age 52  Hails from Minneapolis  First cooking job L’ Auberge, “a little French restaurant” in Middleburg, Virginia.  Culinary influences “Besides Julia Child, the farmers are my biggest influence. They keep me connected to the seasons, the land, and environment and give an authentic connection to the food we prepare and serve.”  Favorite out-of-town restaurant L’ Affriole (Paris).  Guilty pleasure Potato chips.  Dish I could never get people to buy Rabbit is a slow mover, but everything sells.  Earnest or ironic Earnest.  Green street-cred Three James Beard award nominations, years on the board of the Chef’s Collaborative and the Organic Advisory Task Force.

The Trail Blazer
While most everyone else in the state is content to follow, Lucia Watson has been a food pioneer for more than twenty-five years. She owns her businesses and  has written award-winning books, including Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland coauthored by Beth Dooley. She chairs the  board of the Youth Farm and Market Project and is, along with Edgard Pisani, a recipient of the Commitment to Community Award from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, honoring her for her work with local farmers and youth. She spent 2006 working with a local farmer trying to humanely raise and produce veal.