DeRusha Eats

Steven Brown is one of the finest and most acclaimed chefs in Minnesota. He owns two of his own restaurants (Tilia and St. Genevieve) in Minneapolis, and also is the Executive Chef at Giulia in the Hotel Emery. Marque Collins has worked at top restaurants in Chicago for a decade and now is the Executive Chef at Tullibee, inside the North Loop hotel hotspot, the Hewing. Both share the challenges an...

Two pizza guys with two unique journeys: John Puckett founded Caribou Coffee, grew it, sold it, and then bought into a Neapolitan Pizza joint called Punch. He shares Punch’s growth and the choice to grow it slowly into a dozen locations. Fascinating story of how Punch’s business flipped from mostly dine-in, to mostly delivery during the pandemic. Plus, Chris Kolstad made mistakes as a young man -...

You can’t talk about food and restaurants without talking about the farm. There may be nowhere quite like Wise Acre Eatery, a Minneapolis restaurant that sources 90% of their produce and proteins from the owner’s farm. Scott Endres and Dean Engelmann explain perhaps the shortest version from farm to table in the country. And Erika and Brandon Goette grew up in rural Minnesota - they explain how th...

More than professional critics, food influencers may really be impacting what restaurants we eat and how we enjoy food. Kim Ly Curry has been named one of the top 100 food Instagrammers in the country. This Twin Cities mom has nearly 52,000 followers on IG. https://www.instagram.com/kimlycurry/   JD Hovland is a computer engineer who has exploded on TikTok with his restaurant tours - 43,000 follow...

Christina Ngyuen and Birk Grudem fell in love at her vintage shop. The veteran bartender and self-taught cook opened a food truck selling an Argentinian-inspired sandwich - Hola Arepa was born. How this power couple went from a truck to two locations and several James Beard Award nominations. Plus: Sameh Wadi was the youngest and first Palestinian-American chef to battle on Iron Chef in 2010. He o...

How did the suburb of Robbinsdale, Minnesota become known for high-end, experimental cuisine? Mike Brown and his partners built the first iteration of Travail Kitchen with the money in their savings, using sweat equity to refurbish a restaurant. Today, his team has been James Beard finalists, bringing the most expensive tasting menu experience in town. Plus, a suburb north of St. Paul and Minneapo...

Stephen Hesse worked in some of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities before opening his  Mexican-inspired restaurant Pajarito. Today his Eclectic Culinary Concepts owns 13 restaurants including a chain of suburban pub-style restaurants. How’d that happen? Plus Joe Ehlenz and Brad Nordeen went from city restaurants to an East Metro tourist town - bringing craft cocktails and high-technique to St...

It’s the luck of the Irish - the drink of the Irish! Irish Whiskey is a key part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations - meet two founders on this episode of DeRusha Eats. Kieran Folliard started as a pub owner in Minneapolis, created a whiskey and ginger ale cocktail that went crazy, and then founded his own Irish Whiskey. After Folliard sold Two Gingers, he founded an even better whiskey - Red Locks...

Bottoms up: this episode of DeRusha Eats is all about bourbon and cocktails. Luke Castle was a bourbon aficionado with a real job who bought his favorite liquor store, Ace Spirits in Hopkins. What’s the future for this highly allocated and sought after spirit? Jesse Held was one of the bartenders who helped usher in the era of the craft cocktail in Minnesota. Now he owns his own distillery and res...

Like many downtowns, Minneapolis has struggled to regain a working population in the years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two restaurateurs are doubling down: Brent Frederick’s Jester Concepts has a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant in a hotel, and a North Loop upscale restaurant. Now he’s leading the rebirth of a restaurant that soared to heights before the pandemic, Butcher and the Bo...

It’s all about beef - from the rancher specializing in regenerative agriculture and grass-fed beef to the multi-unit burger restaurant guy who grew up in the business. John Abdo is the President of My Burger, a local chain of burger restaurants, with ambitions of blowing up. Matt Maier started supplying grass fed beef to restaurants, now Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed beef supplies grocery stores...

Skilled chefs leaving the world of sit-down restaurants to start fast casual spots. Christian and Karen DeLeon’s taco shop is in a very unusual spot: the corner of a south suburban gas station convenience store. How they found each other and found a spot to build a dream called El Sazon. And Paul Backer worked in some of the finest restaurants in the Twin Cities: he left that grind to build his ow...

It’s more than just dry January - the non-alcoholic beverage sector is growing like gangbusters. Peder Schweigert was in charge of the most acclaimed bar program in the Twin Cities, Marvel Bar, before he decided to stop drinking. Now he’s launching a non-alcoholic beverage brand, DryWit. And Erin Flavin ran her own hair salon in Minneapolis - during COVID she felt her drinking was getting out of c...

Replacing a local icon, Jon Cheng talks about his unusual path to being the main food critic for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He shares his view of what a 2-star, 3-star or 4-star restaurant should be, as well as how he judges the role of a critic in a social media world. And an icon in her own right, Sue Zelickson. 88-years-old, 4’7” tall, a dynamo of the food scene, Sue has been an incredible c...

Four blocks apart in South Minneapolis, two families have developed into a culinary powerhouse. Broder’s built a Little Italy at the corner of 50th & Penn beginning with a market in 1982, growing to a pasta bar and a wine bar. Now the next generation is running that business - we speak with the matriarch Molly and one of her kids, Charlie. At 54th & Penn, Peter Campbell and his wife Jackie...

Chef Yia Vang has become a national celebrity for his work talking about Hmong cooking and tradition. We visit at the Minnesota State Fair, where he was debuting Union Hmong Kitchen. Pedro Wolcott has brought a Caribbean / New Orleans tapas flair to the North Loop’s Guacaya Bistreaux. And Milissa Silva continues her family tradition by growing and expanding El Burrito Mercado in St. Paul.

Overrated or underrated? Matt’s Bar of 508 Club? The Jucy (juicy) Lucy debate gets heated with Mpls/St Paul Magazine editor Stephanie March. Plus Carley Kammerer talks about her coffee shop, Wildflyer Coffee, which hires young people experiencing homelessness.

Why should great food only be in a restaurant? Jamie Malone was a James Beard Award nominee for her work at Grand Cafe, now she’s doing pop-ups and meal kits in her Paris Dining Club. She’s doing special meals at Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and director Katie Luber talks about the intersection of art and food. Plus David Fhima has been a restaurateur in Minnesota for decades - he’s revitalized...

Tim Niver owns Mucci’s, Saint Dinette, and Mucci’s Frozen pizza and lasagna. He talks about why he’s launched his own podcast, Niver Niverland. Plus Mike Brown, the co-founder of the groundbreaking suburban restaurant Travail Kitchen & Amusements. Two of the Twin Cities great restaurant people, and great talkers.

GUESTS: Mike Patterson, and Thomas Boemer   Let’s get porky! Jason talks to Goodhue County pig farmer Mike Patterson about life in rural Minnesota, and how his family went from dairy farmers to now four generations of farming. Plus Chef Thomas Boemer (Revival and Revival Smoked Meats) talks about bringing his southern sensibilities in cooking and barbeque to Revival.

GUESTS: Justin Sutherland, and Ann Kim   Justin Sutherland nearly died in a boating accident: how he’s doing now, plus the story behind Handsome Hog in St Paul. Justin has a new cookbook, and shares how he went from a Suburban Twin Cities kid to a national food TV star. Ann Kim (Pizzeria Lola, Young Joni, Hello Pizza, Sooki & Mimi) is the focus of Netflix’s documentary series Chef’s Table, sha...

Guests: Gavin Kaysen and Stephanie Hansen   Gavin Kaysen grew up in the Twin Cities, learned from the best chefs in New York City, and returned home to open his own restaurant. He shares the story from Subway sandwich artist to 5-star chef launching a cookbook of what he cooks at home. Plus: food writer and host Stephanie Hansen has a different kind of cookbook featuring recipes she cooks at the c...