For the past two years, the Brainerd Dispatch Dining Guide has been named Minnesota’s Best Magazine by the Minnesota Newspaper Association. The staff loves hearing how visitors flock to area magazine racks to secure the publication and leave it in their cabin, summer home or RV to plan their dining adventures.
The Dining Guide has grown in popularity not only for visitors, but area residents. Last year’s magazines “sold” out by the middle of last summer so hang on to your copy. Like the food coming out of area kitchens, it’s made with love.
In each featured dish you’ll find a QR code you can scan using your smartphone to watch a video of the Dining Guide’s Jeremy Millsop talking with owners and chefs about the dish and other exciting happenings at their restaurant.
Curious about what else a restaurant might offer? Scan the QR code in each restaurant’s ad to see up-to-date menus. Enjoy your lakes area dining experience. 26 42 14
Publisher: Pete Mohs
Advertising Director: Susie Alters
Contributing writer: Jeremy Millsop
Content Coordination & Video Production: Susie Alters & Jeremy Millsop
Video Editing: Click Content Studios
Copy Editor: DeLynn Howard
Page Designer: Mollie Burlingame
ON THE COVER: House made perfection, raspberry chocolate cheesecake made by Chef Matt Urspringer, Executive Chef at Cragun’s Resort, Golf & Conference
PICTURED ABOVE: Irma’s Kitchen at Cragun’s Resort, Golf & Conference. This seasonal restaurant is open May to September offering dinner to onsite guests and the public. This fine-dining establishment is a must visit bringing new menus each season. From the classic Irma’s Pot Roast, steaks, seafood and more. Prepare to delight in unique offerings that will satisfy your palate.
Cragun’s Resort, Golf & Conference was established in 1940 and has been one of the iconic year round resorts on Gull Lake. Hosting families for years, Cragun’s is a gull lake tradition. Recently, they have undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation at their resort and golf course, Cragun’s Legacy Courses. For more information about Cragun’s, visit Craguns.com.
Cover photo by: Cragun’s
Ingredients: It can officially be called Oreo Popcorn because there are chunks of actual Oreo cookies, Oreo cream and Oreo powder mixed with the house popcorn.
Popcorn options: Depending on the time of year, High Wheel has tried 40 different varieties of both sweet and savory flavors like a caramel apple in the fall, peppermint in the winter and cinnamon coming this summer. Also this summer, perhaps around the Fourth of July, look for confetti popcorn with
Ingredients: White sauce, prosciutto, whipped burrata, mozzarella, truffle oil, fresh basil.
The build-up: A beautiful combination of creamy, smooth sauce and mozzarella, with the earthy flavor of truffle and a hint of saltiness from the prosciutto.
Paired with: Dough Bros has over 20 beers on top and any one of them will pair well with the saltiness of this pizza. On the side: some of the best wings in the area. Don’t believe me? They sell over 250 pounds a week of their smoked and woodfired dry-rubbed wings.
Ingredients: Cuttlefish ink, spaghetti noodles, escargot, garlic, shallot, capers, grape tomatoes and scallions in white wine
In your face: Chef Tower Kruse has a flair for the dramatic with the eye-catching noodles by way of squid ink, a popular ingredient in Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine. It adds a dramatic black-blue color and a savory taste to the pasta.
Mediterranean vibe: Ernie’s is offering a unique twist on nachos with its Greek nachos.
Braised leg of lamb, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese, oregano, cilantro, tzatziki, house cheese sauce, tortilla chips.
Protein power: Wild Acre’s duck is on the menu. The locally raised product will be served two ways with creamy leek potato puree, charred broccolini and a juniper aquavit beurre blanc.
Ingredients: The orzo, a short-cut pasta, is mixed with sweet peppers, haricot vert green beans and sugar snap peas. The salmon is topped with a pickled fennel for acidity and flare.
The build-up: The honey glaze paired with the sweet vegetables creates a nice contrast to the rich salmon. The choice of orzo makes this a light, flavorful dish perfect for the warm summer months.
Paired with: Pick your favorite white wine or continue with the sweet notes and pick a Riesling or Moscato.
A different option: If you’ve been to Main Street recently, you’ll need to go back as this summer will feature new tacos and burgers on their menu.
Ingredients: Cream sauce with grilled chicken, bacon, onion, tomato, scallions and a “secret” spice over linguine. Simply put: think chicken bacon ranch. They’re back: This dish is on the Baia Della Italian Kitchen menu, but the big news is the return of Prairie Bay, which will be in the same building as Baia Della, but feature all the classic hits from the popular restaurant.
Two menus, two different Baia Della will keep the same Italian menu and same vibe on the right side of the building, while Prairie Bay will take over the bar area on the left side. It’s two different atmospheres, just in one building.
Ingredients: A king-cut prime rib with au gratins and a side salad.
The starch: The au gratins are a new addition to the prime rib special.
Dunmire’s layers its au gratin with cheese, bacon and hash browns and serves almost like a pie.
When: Served Friday and Saturday nights at the North Long Lake restaurant. You can also get prime rib at the Highway 210 location near the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport, but owner Chris Dunmire likes to mix things up so it’s a different recipe, but the same quality and sizes.
Paired with: A red wine or a bourbon.
An assortment of seafood like crab and shrimp coated in Old Bay Seasoning along with fresh herbs on a sweet roll. Served with kettle chips. Think Maine lobster roll with a Quarterdeck twist.
The Quarterdecks’ signature strawberry basil smash. Vodka mixed with a strawberry-basil simple syrup, smashed strawberries and basil and finished off with a Amy
DeSanto’s Key lime pie should be a must-try on your summer dining
From the decor inside to the beachside dining views and amazing seafood and drink options, the Quarterdeck Grill has a fun day at the
THE PRESERVE SMOKEHOUSE
Meat: Texas-style pit barbeque smoked brisket. Smoked for 11-to-14 hours so the rub mixture and seasonings pop.
Sides: When it comes to barbecue, the sides are almost as important as the protein and The Preserve doesn’t skimp with Southern-style, burnt-end baked beans, smoked cavatappi mac and cheese, an apple-cranberry slaw (which is more like a gourmet salad), along with cornbread and honey-maple butter.
Saucy: The Preserve has its house-made bourbon barbeque sauce. Don’t dare ask for the recipe.
Paired with: Not much goes better with smoked meats than an old-fashioned. The classic brisket and bourbon pairing is ramped up with Grand View’s smoked oldfashioned. Choose your bourbon and let them take care of the rest.
EAST GULL LAKE — Darrell Lorenz doesn’t take much for granted.
Whether it’s hard work, ingredients or life in general, Lorenz’s childhood prepared him for being a head chef at the Classic Grill at Madden’s Resort.
It started at a young age when he cultivated an appreciation for many of the ingredients he works with today growing up on his family farm in Little Falls. But at each of life’s stepping stones, the 39-year-old used hard work to prepare him for life in the kitchen of one of the Brainerd lakes area’s top restaurants.
Lorenz knows how the ingredients he uses are grown. He’s been in the dirt. He’s kicked the hay in the barn. Now he’s putting what he learned on a plate in an eye-catching way that blows people’s taste buds away.
“My philosophy about cooking is to respect the products that you cook or make for someone just like the person who made it, grew it, or produced it and then delivered it to you,” Lorenz said. “Somebody is going to care for that ingredient. Whether it’s growing or harvesting, watering, weeding, or whatever it may be, someone cared for it. Then they take that carrot or whatever and it comes to you. It is now your obligation to respect that product and take that product where it should be and show it as much respect as possible.”
Lorenz’s long, dusty road from the farm to The Classic began when he was five. It was around this age that life threw him signs. He found he enjoyed gardening. He learned how vegetables grow. He learned when to pick them. He was exposed to different varieties of
each plant and how the flavors changed. The curious gardener was hooked.
“I believe I was five years old when I got the idea that I wanted to start cooking and one day become a chef,” Lorenz said. “There were a lot of different factors. I don’t tell a lot of people this, but when I was younger — around five years old, I got diagnosed with leukemia. When I found that out, I believe it changed my perspective. That connected me to things living and life — food, nature and animals. It humbles you and that experience makes you appreciate more of the little things in life. When I did have that, I was in the children’s hospital for a bit. They had a cooking demo class there. We made some pretty interesting, fun desserts and little things like that which made you feel more at home. That was comforting.”
Also comforting and instrumental in Lorenz’s early development was his grandmother Adeline. She wanted Lorenz to become a baker, but that was never his passion.
Lorenz remembers and sometimes copies his grandmother’s tomato canning technique of adding onions and celery. He recalls her having a jar of bacon grease near the stove for making gravy or adding a bit of flavor to whatever she was cooking.
“She was an amazing cook and gardener,” Lorenz said. “At one point in country school, she had Laura Ingalls Wilder in her class. My grandmother was a very nice lady. She had a lot of that old world charm. She was very put together and very by the book. She was helpful and taught me how to garden. She would always be making the best things. I was the helper for her. You learn a few tricks here and there. Those things brought me together and tied me into who I am now.”
Lorenz’s family raised black Angus beef. At different points in his youth, they raised pigs and sheep and they raised chickens. Around this time he became a dishwasher at Jason’s Restaurant and Catering in Little Falls.
“You have to start somewhere if you’re going to start,” Lorenz said. “You learn your skills. You put in your time. You wash some plates. It’s just the way it is. Eventually, I became a cook in high school from that same job. That’s where I got a lot of my starting knowledge. I was baking bread, baking desserts from scratch, baking cheesecakes from scratch. That’s where I started doing all of that.”
In high school, Lorenz got his feet wet, learned the basics and found his calling to be a chef was true. He attended Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights and worked a few odd jobs to pay for college. The small-town farmer wasn’t feeling the city blacktop and returned north to Madden’s Resort where he’s been for 20 years.
“BEING A CHEF, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH PEOPLE. IF YOU KEEP THAT ALL TO YOURSELF, WHAT IS THE POINT OF BEING A CHEF?”
- Chef Darrel Lorenz
“It’s the northern area,” Lorenz said. “It’s the atmosphere. It’s the company. It’s the whole feel to it. If you want to put down some roots and do your own thing, they’re very accepting of that. If you want to build a name for yourself, do different things, try new stuff, or if you want to run your own specials that is completely open and they give you the freedom to do that here. I like that.”
Lorenz said menu concepts start from a crazy idea and build off of that. He said there’s a creative collaboration between Madden’s different chefs. They aren’t afraid to ask questions. Lorenz’s main question always remains the same — is the ingredient being used with respect and to its full potential?
There are a few ingredients he is excited about this summer. One is American Wagyu beef. He said the farming standards have improved as have products coming out. He is hoping to take steaks to the next level with the product.
He’s always interested in the specialty vegetables people grow in their backyard gardens. Items no supplier is selling.
He didn’t want to tell me all of his summer fun plans, however. He’s hoping hungry customers come out and see for themselves.
With countless hours perfecting his craft, Lorenz has come full circle. He’s where his grandmother was 34 years ago. It’s now the chef’s turn to pass on what he’s learned.
“Being a chef, you have to be able to share your knowledge with people,” Lorenz said. “If you keep that all to yourself, what is the point of being a chef? It’s about making the next person better and advancing them and showing them what you know. It’s passing down that knowledge. What am I supposed to do? Die with that and nobody knows my secrets. That’s not a good way to go. It’s kind of like what my grandmother did for me.”
Ingredients: Grilled chicken breast atop Arugula, spinach, baby greens, roasted corn, and Poblano chiles. Dressed with chile verde salsa and topped with crispy tortillas and pickled red onions.
Pairing: The salad has a Mexican flair so one of Ox Lake’s Margaritas would go best.
Small but mighty: Ox Lake Tavern’s menu is not typical bar food fare. It is smaller, but most everything is housemade and steeped with flavor.
Summer in a glass: For a taste of summer sunshine try Ox Lake’s very own Lily Cocktail made with Empress Indigo Gin, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, freshly squeezed lemon juice and housemade simple syrup. Ox Lake will be doing monthly featured cocktails over the summer.
IRMA’S KITCHEN AT CRAGUN’S
Ingredients: The shrimp is marinated in buttermilk with smoked paprika and Thai sauce. It’s then quickly pan-fried and tossed with panko and more seasonings and served with a sweet chili sauce.
A fresh addition: Cabbage and mixed greens provide a bed for the shrimp to lay on, but it offers the option to make this light, summer dish into a salad if so desired.
Paired with: This shrimp is going to have a kick so something refreshing, light and exciting to match it like a margarita.
Dig in with us!
Berkshire porterhouse pork chops served with roasted red potatoes and asparagus. It’s served with a Thai chili sauce.
Patience is a virtue: Having the bone in keeps the meat juicy, but also means the pork chop needs to cook slowly and longer. It’s then pan-seared at the end.
Paired with: A white wine or a hearty beer.
Options are good: The dish is pictured with roasted red potatoes and asparagus, but other potato options are available like a loaded baked potato topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and onions and the vegetables will
CRAGUN’S LEGACY GRILLE
Ingredients: Sliced cucumbers form the bottom layer then topped with a 7-ounce beef patty, pepper jack cheese, seared pork belly, pickled daikon radishes and carrots and sriracha aioli.
The build-up: It’s a bacon cheeseburger on steroids. Despite the mound of meat, this burger eats lighter than it looks because of the cucumber and pickled vegetables. The aioli is a great addition as well.
A full belly: Grille menu and this burger gives Chef Matt Calistro another opportunity to use the ingredient. Crispy, bacon flavor with a bit more meat to the bite.
AMERICAN LEGION
POST 49 MESS HALL
Ingredients: 6 ounces of deli ham, 6 ounces of smoked pulled pork, three slices of cheese and two thick-cut pieces of bacon on a ciabatta bun. All sandwiches are served with chips and a pickle.
Pairing: A light beer would be best as this is a hearty sandwich.
A touch of smoke: The Pequot Lakes American Legion smokes
many of its meats including pulled pork, ribs and chicken.
The challenge: The running joke among Legion members is nobody can eat two Terminators. One person tried and failed. Are you up for the challenge?
Never board: The Friday night special this summer will be smoked ribs. The Saturday night special will be smoked brisket and everyday items will be the smoked burnt end sandwich and smoked and spicy chicken wings.
Ask and you shall receive: Sunshine’s is leaning heavily into the smoked meats and barbecue this summer because its customers asked for more. The brisket is smoked for 14 hours with a seasoning. The ribs are St. Louis style so they are a bigger, meatier cut with a light glaze of sauce.
Tequila sunrises and sunsets: Fresh made margarita specials are always available at Sunshine’s, home to over 60 different tequilas! Try the Sunshine Margarita, it pairs great with all you can eat tacos on Tuesdays!
Ingredients: Two or four pieces of chicken lightly breaded and deep fried in an official Broaster. One of the few Broasters in the lakes area. Dinners include a starch, a soup, salad or coleslaw and a dinner roll.
Pairing: To combat the fried aspect of this dish, a lighter beer will do the trick.
New owner, same great taste: The Cedar Chest is under new ownership. Go meet Patrick who enjoys St. Patrick’s Day and his Irish/Scottish heritage. Despite new ownership, expect the same food. Patrick said he’s not reinventing the wheel.
Weekly specials: One change the Cedar Chest is doing this summer is a weekly special. Follow them on Facebook for more information on those specials, which could be a burger or sandwich special or even a dinner special.
22- to 24-ounces of double-cut pork chop that’s been brined, smoked and then cooked to temperature. This massive mound of meat speaks for itself, topped with an apple horseradish
Simple sides: They aren’t au gratin. They are just cheesy potatoes. The staff at Sherwood wants you to know exactly what you’re getting and it’s a perfect complement with the hefty pork chop.
A double area connection: Chef Paul Fitzpatrick hired fellow Brainerd High School grad Logan McAllister as his executive chef. The two make a potent pair of chefs at Sherwood North which helps ensure consistency
Chef Paul wanted an old-style supper club with cocktails, live music, steak, chops and seafood. Along with the magical building, the menu and staff have created a trip down memory lane.
Cheese platter one The Night Walker by Henning’s Deer Creek is a bourbon-soaked sweet cheddar from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and it pairs well with stouts, porters, cognac or port. The Big Sky Grana from Bleu Mont Dairy is one of the rarest cheeses at Victual. It’s best paired with dark beers, whiskey or a robust red wine. Both cheeses are best eaten as nugget-sized pieces or crumbles.
Cheese platter two: Mimolette from France, which has been in production since the 1600s. It’s best paired with bourbon, merlot or strong beers. St. Angel or Fromagerie Guilloteau is a triplecream brie from France. Pair this with sparkling wine or a crisp white. The Blue Jay from Deer Creek. It’s a blue cheese with juniper berries. This one pairs perfectly with a gin martini, sparkling wines and Zinfandel. Quadrello di Bufala is an Italian cheese from water buffalos. It’s a washed rind cheese which gives it a pungent smell. It’s best paired with sweet whites or Riesling or a fruity red like Malbec and even a cider.
Another Northern Italian cheese called Crucolo is made in only one place and by just one family since the 1700s. Pair this with a sparkling white or fruity red.
Ingredients: Fresh Wild Acres ground turkey, cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado and topped with a balsamic onion jam.
Pairing: The Wharf Bloody Mary or an amber lager.
Locally grown: Wild Acres Farm is exactly 11.9 miles away from The Wharf meaning the turkey is as fresh as it can be. It’s also not as heavy as ground beef. Don’t be fooled, however, as this burger comes with flavor to last all day on the boat.
Battle the heat: The Wharf hopes to feature cold seafood this summer like oysters on the half-shell and shrimp cocktails.
Ingredients: Smoked ribs, smoked chicken with two different barbecue sauces and au gratin potatoes
Smoked: While the trend, as you’ll see in this year’s magazine, leans toward smoked foods, Norway Ridge has been smoking its meats for decades and many of its current recipes have been passed down generations.
Paired with: Borne of Fire Cabernet Sauvignon.
Options: All dinners include a homemade soup or house salad with a choice of dressings. Caesar salad is also an option. If patrons enjoy the housemade salad dressings they can purchase it by the pint. Also included with each dinner is a choice of au gratin, deep-fried peels with parmesan cheese sauce, baked or garlic mashed potatoes, wild rice pilaf, or the fresh vegetable of the day.
Butter Brickle & Chocolate
BY JEREMY MILLSOP | BRAINERD DISPATCH
Lakes, fishing, golf and mountain biking are all reasons why people flock to the Brainerd lakes area during the summer.
A byproduct of that is the tons of tons of ice cream sold in the area. Don’t believe me?
When it comes to selling Ice Cream, no one does it better than Lake Country Crafts and Cones in Crosslake, which is the No. 1 coneshop seller of Kemps Ice Cream in Minnesota.
With 36 ice cream varieties on display and another 12 options in the back year-round, there’s always something for everyone. Plus, the Big Yellow Building in Crosslake serves its ice cream on regular, waffle or coated cones. Buy it by the dish, pint, or quart. Make it a sundae, float, shake, or malt and you can also buy housemade specialty ice cream cakes.
“We sell thousands of tubs of ice cream during the year,” Pat, the owner of Lake Country Crafts and Cones said. “In a summer weekend,
we can go through three to four hundred tubs of ice cream. That’s three-gallon tubs.”
For years, cotton candy was the top seller, but the high demand forced Kemps to start selling that variety in grocery stores. That dropped the sugary delight to No. 2. It has been replaced by peppermint bon bon. Chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies and cream are heavy hitters in the ice cream business as expected.
For those with an ice cream appetite, Lake Country Crafts and Cones offers the Doozie, which is three scoops of multiple varieties in the cone of your choosing.
Lake Country Crafts and Cones also adds a little surprise to its cones. For that secret, you’ll have to visit them.
Another stop in Crosslake that might be a bit unknown, but worth the investigation is Riverside Inn, which doesn’t have walk-in cone
service, but rather just good, handmade ice cream as a dessert menu item. The owners love the classics and take care in making the flavor profiles. A few of their flavors include butter brickle, toasted coconut, pistachio brittle, butter pecan, vanilla toffee, cherry chocolate chunk and salted caramel.
During the summer months, Mixed Company, A Kava House in Crosby has 12 flavor varieties of ice cream. They do rotate flavors, but sometimes they offer a special “Kitchen Sink” variety with four different ice cream flavors packed with brownie and cookie bites.
“It’s not for just one person,” Mixed Company owner Johnna Johnson said. “There’s a walk of shame if you can eat it by yourself so usually bring a couple of friends.”
Johnson says customers dictate the flavors, but many argue they have to have maple nut and praline pecan, but for the children and
kids at heart, Mixed Company offers cotton candy and Superman.
The beauty of Mixed Company is it also serves brownies and cookies so putting a scoop of ice cream on a baked good is a tasty option.
For those who aren’t agreeable with dairy, next door from Mixed Company is Victual in downtown Crosby, which specializes in premium ice cream for the lactose-intolerant population with their very own ice cream brand RAVE Cream Works.
“Lactose is a milk sugar and some people can’t digest it,” Paul Kirkman, co-owner of Victual, said. “We add a natural enzyme that breaks down the milk sugars into something that everyone can digest.”
Their ice cream is made on-site using their recipes and only takes about eight minutes to create a four-and-a-half-gallon batch. It’s a full dairy ice cream, but it’s all lactose-free.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot,” Kirkman said. “There’s more that goes into the preparation. The base mix is produced in Forest Lake and delivered to Victural in a mixture form. At that point, we flavor it and then we churn it. Depending on how sophisticated the ice cream recipe, it could take 10 minutes to pull together
all the ingredients, but once it hits the machine it’s about eight minutes.”
Victual has 24 options in the case at one time. Half of those are permanent options, while the other half changes out on the whims of owners or by season. There is a fruit focus when different options are in season.
The store, which also features cheeses, charcuterie items, wine, fine liquors and gifts, goes through about two tubs during the winter season. Come spring up to 25 tubs a day are being restocked.
Kirkman is not afraid to experiment with his ice cream flavors. One of his more exotic flavors was a South of the Border option that featured a Mexican chocolate ice cream infused with Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce, cayenne pepper, Mescal, chocolate cinnamon and a bit of espresso.
“It’s a sneaker,” Kirkman said. “You have your first bite and you get chocolate and then about 30 seconds later it’s all heat.”
Combining ice cream, coffee, popcorn and candy for its main sales is High Wheel Confectionery and Coffee House in Ironton. This newer establishment in the Cuyuna Lakes area offers 16 varieties of ice cream. Its top seller is amaretto cherry. Those 16 flavors get rotated often between 30 different varieties. As soon as one tub is gone, a different flavor gets added.
“There’s a couple that we kind of hang on to all of the time like the amaretto cherry,” Brent Katzenberger the owner said. “We also try and keep the kids’ favorites whether it’s Superman
shop that carries it in southern Minnesota so we went down there and saw how they liked it and they loved it.”
A few blocks away you can enjoy Station 13’s twist cones. They have the standard vanilla and chocolate soft-serve ice cream and they can twist it for those with trouble making decisions.
On the other side of Crow Wing County, the Chocolate Ox has Nisswa covered with two locations and 28 options of ice cream. Of those 28 options, 20 of their best sellers stay in rotation with the other eight changing by the season. Oftentimes, the eight are different at the two locations -- downtown Nisswa and on the Grand View Lodge property.
“We go through a lot of ice cream in the summer,” Kelsey Bean, Chocolate Ox owner, said. “We keep our Chocolate Shoppe driver in shape.”
The Chocolate Ox sells Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream out of Madison, Wisconsin. Bean said it’s a rich, creamy option with not a lot of air in the ice cream. They’ve been partnered for 10 years.
Again, for those lactose intolerant, the Chocolate Ox always carries one option fit for you. At a most recent visit, Oat on the Boat was that non-dairy option; a blend of oat milk and rich vanilla.
The above are mostly hard ice cream options. For those soft-serve lovers, almost every lakes area community has a Dairy Queen nearby. And if not, the drive is worth it.
High Wheel sells Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream
“Jill (Brent’s wife) probably sampled 20 different ice cream vendors and thought this one was the best,” Brent Katzenberger said. “I really like it, too. There’s one other
What makes the lakes area an ice cream oasis during the summer heat is the fact these are just a handful of places. There’s at least 15 more independently owned or walk-in cone ready establishments in the area, which doesn’t include restaurants or fast food establishments that sell the cold, cream delicacy.
Ingredients: Croissant with egg, American cheese and bacon served with a side order of hash browns.
Options: The sandwiches can be served on an English muffin, a bagel or a biscuit and the bacon can be substituted for sausage or ham.
Open for breakfast and lunch:
Schaefer’s Foods has full breakfast and lunch menus and a place to eat the tasty food coming out of the deli. There are also daily lunch specials like tater tot hotdish, chicken pot pie, red pepper bacon mac and cheese and chicken fried rice.
Fan favorite: There’s a quarter or a half chicken dinner or buy it by the bucket. You can even purchase the chicken by the piece. The dinners come with your choice of two sides, a roll and a fountain pop.
Ingredients: Chicken breast topped with house-made chorizo and smothered in a house-made cheese salsa and served with rice and beans.
The build-up: The chorizo, a Mexicanseasoned sausage, is made in-house and has a spicy kick. The cheese salsa is smooth and flavorful and also made in-house. This lowcarb entree packs a protein punch.
Paired with: It’s a Mexican restaurant so of course we’re going to say a margarita, but a must try is owner Gabby’s homemade natural organic margarita made with fresh lime juice, natural triple sec, organic agave nectar, Tres Agaves Tequila certified organic tequila and a splash of water.
A different option: The same ingredients for the Chori-Pollo can be found in the Queso Burrito. Everything is just packed into a nice 10-inch flour tortilla and topped with sour cream and jalapenos.
Ingredients: Marinated ahi tuna served atop jasmine rice, cucumbers, carrots, avocado and edamame topped with sesame seeds and sriracha aioli.
The build-up: This light, cold, crisp dish is a summer hit at Lakes Tavern. The marinated tuna contrasts with the fresh and light vegetables and coupled with the aioli makes for a new mouth-watering bite with each fork full.
Paired with: Enjoy a crisp white wine with this dish to diverge from the richness of the tuna and pair with the vibrant vegetables.
A different option: There’s an Asian and Louisiana flair to the Lakes Tavern menu with jambalaya and gumbo on the features menu along with Thai burgers, spicy Thai salad, peanut noodles and other items.
Ingredients: Shaved turkey and pepper jack cheese on grilled Texas toast. Add bacon and avocado for a bigger bite. Sandwiches, burgers and wraps are served with seasoned kettle chips and a pickle or substituted for French fries, tater tots, onion rings, coleslaw or cottage cheese.
Pairing: Cocktails aren’t usually a go-to pairing, but this versatile sandwich could be paired with anything from beer to a margarita.
Not just food: Yes, Moonlite Bay has many great menu options, but it’s also the place for summer entertainment with live music on Fridays and Saturdays on the patio overlooking Cross Lake. There’s also the Classic Boat Show June 15, Jack’s Big Bass Bash Fishing Tournament July 28 and the Cardboard Boat Races Aug. 10.
Ingredients: Three shots of espresso, a bit of milk with Bear Creek Caramel ice cream.
They’re No. 1: Lake Country Crafts and Cones is the top-selling cone shop of Kemps Ice Cream in Minnesota. There are 36 varieties on display and another 12 options available. The ice cream is served in regular, waffle or coated cones, dishes, sundaes, malts, floats, shakes and cakes.
Not just ice cream: A plethora of sandwiches are available, each named after a floating device like the Pontoon, Raft, Rowboat and even a Schooner.
Locally local: The craft portion of the name features up to 150 local artisans who sell their talents in Crosslake.
Ingredients: Topped with smoked pulled pork, red onions, pineapple, mozzarella, cheddar, bacon, banana peppers and chipotle aioli.
More pulled pork: If you’re craving pulled pork, Rafferty’s Feisty Pig also has heaps of smoked pork along with smoked bacon, red onion, pickles, jalapeno peppers, mozzarella, cheddar cheese with a bourbon molasses sauce. It’s garnished with green onion.
If there is an ingredient that isn’t to your liking or something you’d like to add, Rafferty’s is accommodating especially if you’re ordering online. They’ve got some interesting add-ons like ketchup mustard sauce, 3 shroom blend, oranges, 1000 Island, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.
Ingredients: Salted caramel ice cream with sea salt fudge and salted cashews.
The build-up: Get it in a cone or a cup, either way, you’re going to eat up. It’s creamy and salty and the cashews give it a textural contrast.
Revolving door: The Chocolate Ox has 28 flavors on hand with 20 of those being yearly standards, but the other eight rotate with the seasons. Plus, the selections are often different at the two Nisswa locations —downtown and on the Grand View Lodge property.
Happy hour is back: Three dollar cones and that’s for sugar and vanilla cones or a cup for a single scoop. It happens Wednesday and Thursday nights at both locations.
Lakeside Patio | Complimentary Dock Slips
Breathtaking
Ingredients: Parmesan- and almond-encrusted walleye with a wild rice blend and seasonal vegetables.
Frangelico butter: You can get your standard tartar sauce with your walleye, but Manhattan’s offers a Frangelico butter you slather on the walleye. Frangelico has hints of vanilla and white chocolate as well as herbal flavors. It’s a unique and interesting flavor combination.
On the menu for a reason: Believed to be the original recipe, the walleye is a top seller year after year at Manhattan’s, which is celebrating its 95th year.
Summer’s outdoor hotspot: views in the lakes area can be found at Manhattan’s and because of that they’ve expanded their outdoor seating area to create more great dining experiences.
Ingredients: Fried wonton crisps topped with Asian slaw, sesame ginger sauce, cucumbers, ginger and ahi tuna. Each bite is drizzled with wasabi mayo and sweet chili sauce.
Pairing: A white wine like a Chardonnay.
A bite: While the crisps look delicate, they pack a flavor punch. The tuna and cucumber come through, but the sauces are the star of this appetizer, which could be a summertime lunch or dinner.
The big gig: The weekend of Aug. 17 is the Lakers Lions Corn Feed, with all proceeds going to the Emily, Outing and 50 Lakes Lions Club, food, outdoor fun and the Queen tribute band The Crown Jewels.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Ingredients: The tuna is coated in togarashi, a seven-ingredient Japanese spice mixture, and then seared. A bed of dry slaw, mixed with cilantro and green onions provides a bed for the tuna to sit on. Pickled cucumbers and red onions sit on top with a sriracha mayo and a sweet soy glaze.
The build-up: A light, but flavor-packed bite. The seared tuna hits with an Asian flair and the pickled vegetables give it acidity and crunch. The glaze and mayo give it the right amount of moisture.
Lunch trailer: Morey’s food trailer also serves tacos, seafood baskets, salads and other sandwiches, including an Atlantic lobster roll.
On the side: Morey’s sandwiches come with kettle chips, a pickle and coleslaw. Its baskets come with fries and the tacos come with chips and salsa.
OLD MILWAUKEE CLUB SALOON AND EATERY
A local secret: The food trailer, operated by the staff from the Old Milwaukee Club and located at the Bertha Boatworks parking lot on Bertha Lake just off Highway 16, is the only place on the west side of the Whitefish Chain where boaters can get a meal or beverage. Operating hours are Saturday and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to around 5:30 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. It is weather-pending. Customers can boat and drive to the location.
The menu: The food items change every weekend, but there is always a flatbread pizza and Old Milwaukee’s famous Whimpie burgers. Other items in the past have been a quarter-pound hot dog, pulled pork and tacos.
Fully stocked: The trailer is also a full-service bar with beer, wine and liquor along with soda for the kids.
Ingredients: This flaky pastry is woven around different filling options like Nutella, strawberry, almond or mixed berry.
Paired with: Coffee. Mixed Company serves Duluth Coffee Company in a variety of ways and flavors.
Name game: The Crunas were named by a customer with the CR representing Crosby and the UNA repping Cuyuna. Owner Johnna Johnson said it best. “Cruna is a made-up word for a made-up recipe.”
Delicious delectables: Crunas are made fresh for Mixed Company along with all of its scones, breads like pistachio, banana and lemon poppyseed, brownies, muffins, cinnamon rolls and cookies.
STATION 13
Ingredients: A single beef patty grilled on a puddle of Station barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, grilled pineapple ring and topped with housemade luau slaw.
Bark: We’re not talking about trees or dogs, but the charred edges of the burger after it’s smashed on the grill, which makes them desirable to many.
Paired with: Station 13 offers a variety of soft drink choices, but their root beer floats are hard to pass up.
Don’t be chicken: Authentic broasted chicken is in Ironton.
With an official Broaster, Station 13 offers 8-, 12- and 16-piece buckets of juicy chicken and offers traditional and
NISSWA — The restaurant business is a gamble.
In the Brainerd lakes area, much of a restaurant’s success is based on weather. No snow in the winter means no business for many establishments. Summer rains keep the eaters away. Many restaurants are tied to the lakes and rivers and golf courses of the area. If people aren’t enjoying the outdoors then they’re likely not enjoying the fabulous cuisine area chefs create.
The weather is a fickle friend, but it hasn’t stopped restaurant owners and chefs from giving back. It’s in their nature. The fastest way to a person’s heart is through the stomach and chefs are people pleasers. They want to make people happy. It’s one reason many participate in Kinship Partners’ annual Taste of the Lakes. Planned for November each year, Taste of the Lakes combines food and beverages and friendly competition to help raise funds for Kinship, which services Crow Wing County and parts of Cass County. Kinship is a nonprofit dedicated
to empowering the community through safe and trusting mentor partnerships. They welcome, value and affirm all young, regardless of identity or lived experience.
Kinship Partners began 38 years ago and started Taste of the Lakes three years later. In November 2023, it celebrated its 35th year.
The first year it was more about art. There was some wine and cheese, but mostly about highlighting local artists and auctioning off art to raise funds for the cause.
“The first time I ever went to Taste of the Lakes was in 2013,” Amy Gray, executive director of Kinship Partners, said. “That’s when you couldn’t even get tickets. They also sold the tickets differently. They sold them as business sponsorships and would buy out whole tables. They sold out to the business first and by the time the tickets went on sale to the public there weren’t that many left. People knew you had to call ahead of time and you better be on the phone because, within the first couple of hours, those tickets were gone.”
Taste of the Lakes did not sell out last year, but Gray said many nonprofit organizations are seeing a decline in fundraisers. A sellout crowd would be 300 people. Last year’s Taste of the Lakes raised close to $60,000. Events like Taste of the Lakes and Taste of Cuyuna Lakes — scheduled for spring — and smaller events raise about 30% of Kinship’s annual budget.
Along with the dining aspect of Taste of the Lakes, guests can do raffles and silent auctions. Mark Dockendorf of Cash Wise Liquor donates what Gray called a “truckload” of wine and beer to be raffled away.
Many of the same restaurants and chefs compete every year in Taste of the Lakes. This year’s event had 14 different restaurants represented with two new ones.
“A lot of people want to do it,” Gray said. “They enjoy being there. We have many who come back year after year because they love the event. It’s great visibility for them and it’s a
chance for them to do something unique that’s not on their regular menu.
The chefs are culinary artists. To find the true chef who sees their vocation as something more than just giving people food is truly an art. It’s an avenue for their creativity as well. When they have an avenue like Taste of the Lakes they can bring their creativity. It’s a lot of fun. The things they come up with are oftentimes not things you will find on their regular menus.”
Chef Quinn Fisher at Main Street Ale House brought home the coveted People’s Choice award for his smoked beef short rib, riesling poached shrimp, truffle sweet potato puree and sage bearnaise sauce.
“It always feels good of course,” Fisher said. “It was just a little surf and turf with a sweet potato mash. It sounded good. People like their braised short ribs and smoked meats. I think that really won us over.”
“It didn’t take long to come up with the dish. Execution was the main thing and we just figured things out as you go.”
Main Street Ale House is owned by the Foy brothers and their other popular property Ernie’s on Gull Lake captured the judges’ nod for the best main dish. Chef Tower Kruse, who won best starter in 2021, won with a juniper-encrusted tenderloin bite with sumac butter and fried leeks.
“That was awesome,” Fisher said about the Foy wins. “I love to share any victory with Tower and the Foy group. It feels good.”
Kruse is no stranger to taking home gold from Taste of the Lakes, but says it never gets old.
“I’ve been a chef in the area for 20 years now and I think that was probably my 12th Taste of the Lakes,” Kruse said. “That one was cool though. I’ve been trying to explore a lot of local ingredients and local flavors. Particularly that dish, the summer before I did a cedar plank steak. So I did that concept as a steak bite. The burnt cedar with all of the cedar around here and the juniper, which a lot of people don’t use. A lot of the natives used that as their pepper. I took that and kind of elevated it.
“It’s so much fun. I look forward to it every year.”
The Foy family of restaurants is no stranger to giving back to the community, especially for their alma mater Brainerd High School.
B*merri secured best dessert honors with its grey duck tropical mousse and this year’s best starter went to chefs Joe Seaver and Claire Driessen from Sunshine’s SummerHouse for their burnt ends parfait. This was Sunshine’s first year at the event.
Judging last year’s contest was Brainerd’s own and the owner of Sherwood North Paul Fitzpatrick. He said judging his peers is not fun and eating so many dishes wasn’t easy either, but he said the food was fantastic this year.
“Not only do we need to find chefs, but we need to find a judge,” Gray said. “We need to find somebody who is respected and people will agree that they have the culinary expertise to judge fairly. Paul said he won when he was at Main Street Ale House, but he was a great example of someone who wasn’t able to compete, but volunteered his time to judge and that was great.”
Each business provides the food for Taste of the Lakes. They also provide the serving staff, which means it’s a huge expense for the restaurants.
“We don’t pay for the food and that keeps our overhead costs down significantly,” Gray said. “More of the funds that are raised go back to our programs. That’s a huge amount of money we save. The chefs and restaurants make a huge contribution to this event.”
This summer when you’re dining at one of the lakes area’s extraordinary eateries, remember your hard-earned dollar will likely find its way back into the community helping several causes. It’s just who our chefs are.
Ingredients: Stewed dark meat chicken with merlot, garlic, bacon, onion, mushrooms and served with three-cheese potato au gratin.
Madden’s Barrel Aged old fashioned.
Classic bistro options like chicken pot pie, Swedish meatballs, walleye, thickcut rib chops and Minnesota classic nightly specials like pot roast, stuffed pork chop, roasted chicken and prime rib.
MISSION POINT AT MADDEN’S
Ingredients: Six East Coast oysters served with a champagne yuzu mignonette sauce or the spicy bacon baked version with garlic butter, sambal chili sauce, bacon and topped with parmesan and panko.
Paired with: Finca Can’ Estella Cava Brut Rose.
Happiest of Happy Hours: The oysters will be featured starters on the Mission Point menu, but will also be a savory option for Mission Point’s new daily Happy Hour menu, which will run from 3 to 5 p.m. and offer drink and appetizer specials.
Ingredients: Pan-fried scallops with a citrus truffle beurre blanc. Slices of orange lay under the scallops for even more citrus flavor. This entree includes a choice of sauteed asparagus, chef’s vegetable, Pecorino Romano mashed potatoes, or a three-rice blend.
Paired with: Cline Cellars Viognier.
It’s in the name: With a view of The Classic Golf Course at Madden’s from both inside and out of the dining area, The Classic Grill has a warm, welcoming ambiance, which is further accentuated by the flavorful and aesthetically pleasing food.
•
•
•
•
Open 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.
Located at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport, Wings Airport Cafe is chef owned and operated, offering homemade breads and desserts as well as a made from scratch breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Wings offers breakfast all day.
16384AirportRoad,Suite#7,Brainerd,MN56401 (218)828-0206
www.wingsairportcafe.com|KBRDisourAirportdesignation. JoinusonFacebook
The steak is marinated in a Korean barbecuestyle marinade for two days. Carrots and red peppers provide crunch and color and the chimichurri is housemade. Butter lettuce ties all the ingredients together.
The build-up: Light, crisp, fresh and the steak is tender and flavorful. No knife is needed when biting into this outer cut of prime steak.
Paired with: Breezy Point Resort grows fresh mint for its mojitos, which would pair well with this light dish on the patio watching the golfing action at Whitebirch Golf Course. Or try a sweet red wine.
On the side: Afraid to try calamari? Antler’s crispy calamari and peppers appetizer is a fantastic introduction to the seafood. Lightly breaded and covered in an Asian chili sauce and served with roasted garlic and lime aioli.
Curry : Matt Annand’s housemade chicken curry can take up to two days to make. It starts with marinating the chicken and a few secrets Chef Matt wants to keep close to the vest. Served with basmati rice, raita—a creamy yogurt-based sauce, mango chutney and naan.
Served with Brines Fine Honey and lavender dressing, toasted pistachio and chevre goat cheese. Soup, salad or sandwich options with different duo variations depending on the day.
The food will be more from scratch and the restaurant space will transform as well with two new patio areas for outside dining. For now, Notch 8 will be focusing on catering before major changes occur, all the more reason to keep coming back.
