The Twin Cities

Minneapolis had some great food finds and a welcoming energy that we really enjoyed! We stayed in Prior Lake, MN which is about 10 min SW of "The Cities" at Mystic Lake casino RV Park (It was the best option in the area). Here are a few interesting fact about Mystic Lake Casino (www.mysticlake.com/ for future reference).

1. It is a "dry" casino so there is no alcohol allowed on the tribal property. :-/
2. It is one the highest profiting casinos in the country.
3.There are about 250 tribal members that get a check from the profits of the casino that range anywhere from $30k to $80k per month starting at age 18.  Yes, you heard me right it is not a typo "per month".  I don't know about you but I don't think any18  y/o kid should ever have access to that kind of money. It has gotten the nickname by some locals of being called "Mistake Lake". For our purposes, it was a good place to stay.


Now, we had a couple really great food experiences but the one that I really loved the most was probably Brasa! http://www.brasa.us/ What a great spread of all organic and locally sourced fare!  This place is a Cajun/ Creole style rotisserie. We ordered a little of everything on the menu and here is a look at that!

Rotisserie chicken, pulled pork, cornbread w/honey glazed,collard greens with smoked turkey,yellow rice/ beans,crispy yucca, roasted yams with andouille

It was all just fantastic, quick, simple, inexpensive, all local and organic, which made me very happy! It is a place that I would probably hit a least once a week if I lived in Minneapolis.  What a great concept this owner had and it showed; the place was a crowded, local, hot spot!

Other Minneapolis notable mentions was are Hells Kitchen located right down town (not related to Gordon Ramsey) We like it there a lot too! Im sad to say we didnt make it to Piccolo which I hope to try next time!

Next we went to Duluth for the day which was a few hours north up on Lake Superior.  I heard through Twitter about a place called Northwest Smokehouse. You can also try it yourself and buy right online! http://www.northernwaterssmokehaus.com The pictures on their website are better than anything I could take.  The place is very crowded and very small, so it was hard to get any good shots.  Please trust me when I say being from the Pacific NW I am a major salmon snob.  The smoked salmon I had here was the best I have ever had.  It was light, very moist, buttery, tender and perfect! So was the smoked whitefish and the house made salumi.  I made a nice smoked salmon Benedict a couple days later that was outstanding, and pretty healthy too as far as Benedict's go.  I started with a whole wheat English muffin, braised kale with onion & garlic, the North Waters smoked salmon, a poached egg and topped it with a made for scratch hollandaise with a little fresh dill, cayenne and red onion garnish. 

We also found the cutest old school malt shop in the whole entire world called the Portland Malt shop http://www.portlandmaltshoppe.com/.  It is perched up on top of the hill looking over Lake Superior. I am a big fan of malts. I think they are way better than just a regular old milkshake. These folks are mixing up the real deal!

What a perfect ending to a great day! Except for this part...I couldn't finish my malt so, it melted while sitting in the cup holder of the car and on the drive home my iPhone got dropped in and went for a swim! ...Occupational hazard I guess!