We co-hosted, helped concept, curate and design a panel discussion on the future of food in “The North” with Steve Hoffman, who moderated the conversation. Bringing amazing voices of Hmong Chef Yia Vang, The Wall Street Journal’s* Beth Kracklauer, Splendid Table’s Lynn Rosetto Kasper; JBF award winners and finalists Beth Dooley, Alex Roberts and Ann Kim of Young Joni, Sooki & Mimi, Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza to the table to talk about how our region is much more than hotdish.

On June 25, 2018, some of the most influential voices in the food of our region gathered together on the Walker Art Center auditorium stage to talk about Northern Food. Twin Cities food writer Steve Hoffman (expanding on an article, “What is Northern Food?” that he recently wrote for Artful Living magazine) hosted a discussion with some of the brightest lights currently shining in our food culture:

Lynne Rossetto Kasper (legendary host of NPR’s The Splendid Table)
Alex Roberts (chef and visionary behind the iconic Alma Restaurant)
Ann Kim (James Beard finalist and owner/chef of Young Joni, Sooki & Mimi, Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza)
Beth Dooley (James Beard Award winner and coauthor of 2018’s Best American Cookbook, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen)
Yia Vang (chef and owner of Union Kitchen and passionate spokesperson for Hmong culture and cuisine)
Beth Kracklauer (Food & Drinks editor at the Wall Street Journal

TOPICS EXPLORED →

What does it mean that we are newly a national food destination?

What, actually, is a regional cuisine and what does ours look like—from the inside and the outside?

How do we get past the clichés we still tell ourselves about a cuisine made up of bland Northern European survival food?

How might a definition of Northern Food include cuisines as varied as Anishinaabe, German, Norwegian, African American, Ecuadorian, Somali, and Hmong?

To what extent are we still bound by the rules of place—which here include what they have always included: fertile glacial soil, abundant fresh water, proximity to wild land, and the constraints of northern latitudes?

COLLATERAL →

*Steve Hoffman went on to win the James Beard MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for “What Is Northern Food?”, the story that sparked this panel + conversation. You can watch his acceptance speech here.

EVENT: BEYOND HOTDISH

What does it mean that we are newly a national food destination?

What, actually, is a regional cuisine and what does ours look like—from the inside and the outside?

How do we get past the clichés we still tell ourselves about a cuisine made up of bland Northern European survival food?

How might a definition of Northern Food include cuisines as varied as Anishinaabe, German, Norwegian, African American, Ecuadorian, Somali, and Hmong?

To what extent are we still bound by the rules of place—which here include what they have always included: fertile glacial soil, abundant fresh water, proximity to wild land, and the constraints of northern latitudes?