Where to Support Women-Run Establishments in the Twin Cities

×

Expand

Photos by Caitlin Abrams

Women Run Restaurants

Clockwise from top left: Tamara Brown of Sassy Spoon, Lachelle Cunningham of Breaking Bread Cafe, Erica Strait of Foxy Falafel, restaurateur Kim Bartmann, Jamie Malone of Grand Cafe, and Ann Kim of Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, and Hello Pizza

In honor of the historic development of the big national Women Chefs and Restaurateurs conference coming to Minneapolis, I published a list of some of the top women-cheffed, women-owned restaurants I thought visiting chefs would want to check out. The community response was enormous, and we realized that a lot of you really wanted a much more thorough list. Some want the list so that you may patronize the restaurants. Some want it for networking. Some teachers asked for an expanded list so that students hoping to interview a female entrepreneur could ask a food-business owner. So here it is, an expanded list. But first, a few caveats.

Now, if at first you think an entirely comprehensive list would be manageable, short, and useful (because nationally only 33% of restaurant majority-owners are women, and Grubhub through their laudable RestaurantHER program estimates that only 20% of all chefs, and 9% of head chefs, are women) ... well, you have another think coming. There are more than a million restaurants in America, employing a full 10% of America’s workforce. While a lot of those aren't stand-alone restaurants, there are a lot of independent spots, and in Minnesota alone we can count some 10,000 members of the National Restaurant Association.

This is to say nothing of brewers, bakeries, caterers, jam-makers and so on. It’s easy to see that even if only 20% of chefs at restaurants are women, and only 33% have female ownership, a Minnesota list that was absolutely comprehensive would have maybe 2,000 or 3,000 people on it. Which is to say, it would be too big to read, write, or manage for mere human-sized writers such as myself. If you yourself want to compile that two- or three-thousand-person list, please do and I will link to it!

This is a list that counts local influencers, as it were—women in food and drink who are making waves, standing up, and making a difference in our Twin Cities scene. I’m sure I have missed people, and to them I apologize in advance. We will periodically update this, to reflect the thousand-or-so food business openings we see in the state every year. But till then, it can serve as a resource for us all. It’s a tasty world we live in here in Minnesota, in big part to the terrific female entrepreneurs hustling and dazzling in every corner of the industry.

Women Chefs and Chef-owners

• The Grand Café / Eastside | Chef-owner Jamie Malone is one of the most buzzed-about talents in town, with her Food & Wine best new chef nomination and her earthy, sensuous take on French fare at Grand. Eastside is her newest spot, with a chic downtown vibe.
• Hai Hai / Hola Arepa | Chef-owner Christina Nguyen making Vietnamese food for the next generation—and if you leave town without trying her banana blossom salad, you’re missing out.
• Pizzeria Lola / Young Joni / Hello Pizza | Chef and owner Ann Kim has gotten James Beard nominations, been called one of the best pizza makers in the country, and been spotlighted by GQ. But we love her because she’s a pizza fanatic, and makes a pie crust worthy of the angels.
• Chef Shack | Lisa Carlson and Carrie Summers make everything feel special at this Lake City restaurant with its charming little garden.
• Spoonriver | The Alice Waters of Minneapolis is a local legend named Brenda Langton. Not only did she start her first café when Jimmy Carter was in the White House, she went on to almost single-handedly found the Cities’ locavore scene and our most beautiful farmers' market, Mill City. Where healthy, visionary, and good meet, that’s where Brenda’s been breaking ground for decades.
• Rainbow Chinese | Minnesota’s dumpling queen Tammy Wong has been a hometown hero since 1987—and if you miss her Szechuan dumplings, you’ll be sad forever.
• Marla’s Caribbean Café | Chef-owner Marla Jadoonanan came from Trinidad to make the people of Minneapolis happy with her unbelievably spectacular curry channa and jerk chicken. 
• Nightingale / Mortimer's | Chef-owner Carrie McCabe Johnston runs two of the most popular spots in the Twin Cities, hit Nightingale for a chic cocktail and the city’s best deviled eggs, try Mortimer’s for a chef-burger in a pool-table-bar.
• On’s Kitchen | Adored, venerated, revered, On’s isn’t just probably the best Thai restaurant in the state, it’s where "On" Khumchaya taught us that she makes Tom Yum like the angels make in heaven.
• Victor’s 1959 Cafe | Owner Niki Stavrou is famous for her flan and the happy line that spills from her Cuban restaurant all Saturday and Sunday long for brunchers who want in to Stavrou’s always-sunny weekend.
• Joan’s on the Park | Susan Dunlop and Joan Schmitt own and run this St. Paul favorite together. Dunlop cooks the boat scallop risotto, and Schmitt charms the dining room.
• Café Margaux | Margaret Doran is the chef-owner of the organic-minded suburban eatery Café Margaux. Is it due to Doran’s Belgian training that she has a particular gift with moules?  
• Foxy Falafel | Erica Strait makes organic, Paleo- and Whole-30 friendly Mediterranean food that’s as craveable as it is healthy. 
• Black Dog Café | Lowertown St. Paul’s founding café was opened by two sisters and a brother, Andy, Sara, and Stacy Remke, some two decades ago, proving that sibling cooperation sometimes wins out over sibling rivalry, if there’s enough coffee for everyone.
• Sawatdee | Su Penn Harrison all but invented the modern Thai restaurant in Minnesota when her groundbreaking restaurant opened more than 30 years ago. She and her daughter Cyndy still run a tight ship. 
• The Buttered Tin  | Alicia Hinze makes one of downtown St. Paul’s most hotly beloved brunches—the sausage gravy biscuits are bliss. 
• Sassy Spoon | Tamara Ecklund wanted to open the Cities’ first entirely gluten-free restaurant, so she did, and the world beat a path to her door. 
• Gardens of Salonica | Anna Christoforides makes some of the Cities' best Greek food—it's wholesome, real, and inspired.
• Chin Dian Cafe | It's where Chinese and Indian meet, as cooked and imagined by Nina Wong, sister to Rainbow Chinese pioneer Tammy, and deft curry chef. 
• Naviya Thai | Linden Hills has a spectacular organic Thai spot, and chef-owner Naviya Labarge, who runs it with husband Kim, has a gifted hand with curries using the rarer farmers' market vegetables.
• Maeve’s Café | Owner Mary Cassidy makes good coffee and feel-better vittles like chicken wild rice soup—it’s the sort of spot that fixes you up, and sets you right.
• Lat 14 / Lemongrass Thai | Chef-owner Ann Ahmed’s two Lao-inflected, stunning southeast Asian restaurants have different super-fans, hit Lat 14 for steak larb and a good red wine, visit Lemongrass Thai for more everyday fare, still well elevated.
• Supatra's Thai | Chef-owner Supatra Johnson makes fresh and lively soups and truly beautiful Thai fish cakes, pretty as if she embroidered each one with bright scallions.
• Midori’s Floating World | Chef-owner Midori Flomer makes some of the most acutely precise and sensitive sushi in Minneapolis—and her discerning tea list is without rival.
• Hell’s Kitchen / Angel Food Bakery | Cynthia and Katy Gerdes are the mom and daughter team behind two of downtown Minneapolis’ most popular eateries. Downstairs the Edgar Allen Poe décor of HK draws as many raves as the bloody-marys, upstairs is for frosting-lovers who believe in all the color and fun.  

Women-Owned Bakeries & Bakeries with Benefits Like Coffee and Sandwiches

• Salty Tart | Most coastal types know chef-owner Michelle Gayer for her work as the author of Charlie Trotter’s critically important pastry cookbook, but we know her for her quick wit and her brilliant croissants—and her new St. Paul breakfast spot, where her savory side shines.
• Rise Bagel Co. | Sisters and co-baker-owners Jen and Kate Lloyd are the new artisanal bagel artists at the Hewing Hotel—start your day with some sister-power, why don’t you?
• St. Paul Bagelry | Why are all Minnesota bagel shops run by sisters? No one knows, but sisters Peggy Teed and Dodie Green make the chewy, pliant, irresistible St. Paul Bagelry bagels.
• Honey & Rye | Baker-owner Anne Andrus makes a killer challah and angelic madelines—it’s a bakery of wonderful extremes.
• Glam Doll Donuts | Sassy, sexy, silly, but very serious about quality, Glam Doll is the brainchild and passion project of Arwyn Birch and Teresa Fox, and it’s where all the hip late-night donut hunters end their evenings.
• Sunstreet Breads | Solveig Tofte is one of the country’s most accomplished bakers, pushing boundaries—especially in the realm of Northern-inspired breads made with local flour.
• Mojo Monkey Donuts | Behind the clever donut spot is Lisa Clark, whose kids inspired her to name it after a famed monkey villain from the Powerpuff Girls, and whose donuts went on to inspire St. Paul to get up early.
• Bogart's Doughnut Co | Anne Rucker makes a raised glazed worthy of driving across town for—which lots of people do.
• Sift Gluten Free | Molly Miller uses local eggs and butter to make the gluten-free donuts, muffins, and the difficult breads of your gluten-free dreams.
• Vegan East | Sheila Nelson’s White Bear Lake bakery and Lyndale and 24^th street Minneapolis eatery each work hard to get animal-free frosted cupcakes out into the world.
• Sarah-Jane’s Bakery | Stephanie and Audrey Botzet are the mom-and-daughter team behind some of the cities’ most legendary pies—like that knee-weakening rhubarb custard.
• Canteen | Liz Abene makes all her own nut butters, jams, and granolas for her third-wave coffee leader, and that’s why the weekend toast-bar is an object of South Minneapolis obsession.

Women-Owned Beverage Companies

• Urban Growler | Looking for a cold one? Jill Pavlak and master brewer Deb Loch of the first local woman-owned brewery will pour you a Blue Ribbon-winning Midwest IPA from their comfortable and relaxed taproom.
• Bang Brewing | Sandy Boss Febbo is the majority owner in Bang, a most excellent organic brewery surrounded by native prairie plants, and a leader in brewing with perennial Kernza wheat.
• Crooked Water Spirits | Heather Manley is behind some of the hottest bottles of hooch in town, find her Sun Dog citrus gin on many a back bar. 
• Twin Spirits Distillery | Raise a glass to all that women can accomplish in the food and beverage world, and do it with a sip of Mamma's Moonshine in Michelle Winchester's cocktail room.
• Forager Brewing | Small batch beers and wood-fired pizzas from owner Annie Henderson make this Rochester brewery something special.
• Grand Rounds | Owner Tessa Leung made a space in Rochester where a weary traveler can repair herself with a cranberry Berliner Weiss and a worthy breakfast dog.
• Finnegan’s | Dreamt up by Jacquie Berglund as a way to turn 100% of the profits from good beer into food for the hungry, the brewery's new taproom is a stunner.
• Her Spirit Vodka | Kjersten Merila, is the owner and co-founder of a brand bottled in Princeton, Minnesota which is mission driven and gives 50% of its profits back to women entrepreneurs on an annual basis.

Women-Owned Ice Cream

• Pumphouse Creamery | The ice cream shop evolved when Barb Zapzalka set herself the task of making everything as local, organic, and farm-driven as possible—don’t miss her Door County cherry sundaes.
• MN Nice Cream | Owner Katie Romanski is bringing all the sparkle-happy-pretty-joy to soft serve—with freshly baked cakes to add in to your shakes.
• Sweet Science Ice Cream | Ashlee Olds changed the face of ice cream cups in our time by making individual sundaes in each one, all from resolutely local and organic ingredients. Her scoop shop at white-hot Keg & Case Market is one of the hits of the year.
• Sonny’s Ice Cream | Carrie Gustafson is the ice cream chef and co-owner with her husband Ron Siron of the South Minneapolis landmark, don’t miss her ethereal sorbets.
• LaLa Homemade Ice Cream: Jennifer Lisburg runs an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor that looks like an Instagram star’s stage-set, all white marble and glass. Happily the ice cream, and home-made pie, taste as good as they look.

Women Restaurateurs

• The Kim Bartmann empire | WCR president Kim Bartmann owns a great many local restaurants, and she’s responsible for a lot of the good feminist energy pulsing through the Twin Cities these days. Her signature properties include: Retro bowling alley and Belgian beer specialist Bryant Lake Bowl, burger champion Pat’s Tap, French corner bistro Café Barbette, sustainable diner Tiny Diner, Wisconsin-style supperclub Red Stag, and mid-century California eatery Book Club. 
• The Birchwood Café | Owner Tracy Singleton has pushed integration with her supplier farms into such rich territory she’s discovered additional seasons—ask what Frost means to the Birchwood, for a very interesting answer.
• French Meadow / People’s Organic | When owner Lynn Gordon founded French Meadow in 1985, it was organic before organic was a thing, and later became the first organic-certified bakery in the entire country. Today chef Beth Fisher, who has worked with local farms and farmers her whole career, works with Lynn to continue to push forward what healthy, accessible food means.
• El Burrito Mercado | Milissa Silva-Diaz runs two of the most dynamic spots in the state, the St. Paul location is a market, a deli, a cafe, a full-service restaurant, and the heart of the community, while the brand new Minneapolis location is on the same trajectory. Please note, the chicarron prensado burrito is a wicked mistress who cannot (and should not) be resisted.
• Yum Kitchen & Bakery | Patti Soskin devised two of the most family-friendly eateries in the history of the Twin Cities, with comforting breakfasts as well as healthy eats, so grab your kids and treat them to a slice of real-buttercream Patticake!
• Jakeeno’s | Sisters Amy and Patty Keegan run this historic South Minneapolis red sauce joint founded by their dad in 1975—raise a garlic cheese toast to sister power!
• Fig + Farro | Michelle Courtright opened a globally-inspired vegetarian/vegan comfort food restaurant in Uptown, with a great tap wine list and a focus on raising issues around climate change.
• The Lynhall | Anne Spaeth had a vision for an artisan food space designed for the urban professional—think plump and towering chicken salad stuffed croissants, good wine, and business-level wi-fi.
• Maria’s Café | Owner Maria Hoyos’ has been serving famous sweet corn pancakes and other Columbian hits for decades, to constant wild applause. 
• The Depot & The Turf Club | Owner Dayna Frank has steadily guided the iconic Twin Cities music clubs in a direction that offers something savory with a little sizzle with your beer.
• Psycho Suzi's & Betty Danger's | Both are food-forward parts of the Leslie Bock Empire, which delivers the most fun you can have in Northeast, as imagined by America's only punk rock princess who owns a private ferris wheel.
• Broder’s Pasta Bar, Broder’s Cucina, and Terzo | All South Minneapolis Italian icons, this trio of spots was dreamed up by Molly Broder, who has great Italian food intuition—and sons making polenta and selling wine.
• Keys’ Café | Barbara Hunn opened the first of her neighborhood modern diners in 1973—now her kids help run them, and she’s created the conditions for probably a million caramel rolls, and a billion good memories.
• The Blue Plate Group | Mercury Dining Room and Rail, The Freehouse, The Lowry, and Highland Grill are just some of the Blue Plate’s local portfolio of everyday charmers, and all of them has co-owner Stephanie Shimp’s particular brand of cat’s eye pep and hospitality baked right in.

Sign up for our newsletter to get inside access to the latest local food and dining buzz.