FOODSERVICENEWS TOP CHEFS Platinum Sponsors Gold Sponsors Elite Foodservice Specialists Plymold Sysco US Foodservice Thank You to our Sponsors for supporting our local chefs.
This year’s annual <strong>Top</strong> <strong>Chefs</strong> Book is about the chefs and managers that make a great chef and restaurant owner look, well, great. There isn’t a clever title in which to fit those people. So here’s an explanation: A top chef can make a restaurant a destination. But there’s always more to the story. <strong>Top</strong> chefs have also failed (some miserably) with their own restaurant ventures. It takes a certain collaborative personality to assemble a team to maintain exacting standards. It also takes a willingness to delegate responsibility, among an assortment of intangibles. It’s with that premise that Foodservice News approached this year’s annual <strong>Top</strong> <strong>Chefs</strong> Book: Who are the people behind the name? The Twin Cities have been lauded in recent years for culinary excellence, notably with two consecutive James Beard Awards: Tim McKee (2009) and Alexander Roberts (2010). Finalists for that award in recent years include Lucia Watson (Lucia’s Restaurant), Isaac Becker (112 Eatery and Bar La Grassa) and Lenny Russo (Heartland). There are, of course, other great restaurants that haven’t been officially recognized by the James Beard Foundation. No active Twin Cities diner would argue that Vincent—A Restaurant in Minneapolis and Meritage in St. Paul (headed by acclaimed chef/owners Vincent Francoual and Russell Klein, respectively) couldn’t stand beside those mentioned above. Those restaurants have always been ranked among the top dining destinations—Vincent for nearly a decade, Meritage since it opened its doors in 2007. Both also earned spots on Zagat’s Twin Cities <strong>Top</strong> Ten Restaurants list this year, along with Heartland, McKee’s La Belle Vie, Becker’s restaurants, Watson’s Lucia’s and Roberts’ Restaurant Alma, which is strong evidence that consumers’ palates have become more discriminating and demanding. All the chefs mentioned above have earned accolades for their talents in the kitchen. But they’ve had help. McKee (La Belle Vie, Solera, Sea Change, Smalley’s Caribbean Barbeque, Il Gatto), Becker and Roberts (Alma and Brasa Rotisserie) own or operate more than one restaurant—many days they leave the operation to others. Francoual, Klein and Russo operate single businesses, but rely on a skilled staff to carry out the vision of their enterprises. So, we’ve arrived at the theme of this year’s <strong>Top</strong> <strong>Chefs</strong> book: The top talent behind the “names” of our James Beard and Zagat notables. It’s talent that could strike out on its own and perhaps earn more accolades, but choose instead to remain part of strong organizations that function at the highest level. The team • Vincent—A Restaurant 4 Jim Christiansen • Il Gatto 5 Jon Beyreuther • Meritage 6 Bryan Morcom • Restaurant Alma 7 J.P. Samuelson • Solera 8 Mike DeCamp • La Belle Vie 9 Table of Contents FOODSERVICENEWS 3 Mike Mitchelson Editor Foodservice News Sean Smalley • Smalley’s Caribbean Barbecue 10 Denny Leaf-Smith • 112 Eatery 11 Erik Sather • Bar La Grassa 12 Erik Anderson • Sea Change 13 The team • Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market 14-15 Photos for Heartland, Bar La Grassa and 112 Eatery were taken by Billy Robin McFarland. All photos were taken by the particular story’s authors.
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