eat + drink

THE GREEN ROOM

Waconia, Minn.

"These beets came from a farm just down the road," said our server as he presented an eye-catching plate of purple-red beets, chèvre and spinach. Turns out the server was co-owner Tom Peterson. Chef Keven Kvalsten picked up the menu's potatoes, herbs, lettuces and other enticing produce from that same organic farm.

If those names -- or perhaps faces -- are familiar, it's because the two both worked at a pair of south Minneapolis eateries (Peterson at the former Bakery on Grand, Kvalsten at Corner Table) before leaving the city's crowded restaurant field for the greener pastures of the far western suburbs.

When a storefront in sweet downtown Waconia became available this year, Kvalsten, Peterson and Peterson's cousin Matty O'Reilly teamed up, rolled up their sleeves, stretched a shoestring budget and launched the Green Room.

Kvalsten's cooking stresses comfort, quality and value. A hearty bacon-wrapped meatloaf is just $11, and a mouthwatering Minnesota-raised pork loin, paired with apples and cabbage, is a bargain at $15. Kvalsten livens things up with daily specials (halibut with haricort verts and a roasted beet sauce was a recent dish) and at lunch he does both standards (BLTs, angus beef burger) and surprises (an open-faced spread of asparagus, walnut pesto, grilled onions and roasted red peppers on focaccia). Dessert means lavender crème brûlée and a hot-from-the-oven molten chocolate cake.

The cheery room (yes, the walls are the color of a freshly mowed May lawn) matches the mood of the friendly staffers, and the brief wine list is priced to move. In short, it's the cafe every town should be so lucky to have on its Main Street.

CHEZ JUDE

Grand Marais, Minn.

From my perch at the enchanting Chez Jude, my eyes bounced among countless postcard-worthy images: the town's snug New England-like harbor, the delphiniums bursting like rockets from the restaurant's well-tended gardens and the lovely piece of smoked lake trout dressed with capers and herbs that chef/owner Judi Barsness was sending out as a salutation to her guests that evening.

The menu changes weekly at this year-old gem, housed in a lovely yellow cottage, with Barsness and her crew buffing a polish on local treasures: Lake Superior fish, breads from a skilled neighboring baker, produce raised by a nearby subscription farm. "We have such abundance here," said Barsness, a vet of the Coho Cafe & Bakery just down the road in Tofte, Minn. "It's fun to play with that. It's like a new adventure every day."

A smoker in the back yard and a wood-burning oven in the kitchen add tantalizing flavor layers, from meaty pork ribs slathered with a slow-burn maple barbecue sauce and flavorful duck with wild rice risotto to wild-caught salmon and a brioche sandwich piled with prosciutto, apples, cheddar and a sweet fig jam. (Chez Jude's barbecue sauce is sold across the street at the Dockside Fish Market.)

Careful touches abound: crisp white linen and gleaming blond floors in the cozy dining room, a front porch that catches cooling lake breezes, a well-chosen wine selection, small-town friendly service and marvelous desserts (especially a divine rhubarb tart) by pastry chef Misha Martin.

I can see it in the travel brochures now: Don't visit the North Shore's most charming town without stopping at its most charming new restaurant.

FISHER'S CLUB

Avon, Minn.

Nothing embodies up-to-the-lake goodness better than Fisher's Club. The 74-year-old glory was recently sold by its second-generation owners, and the transaction could have been a cause for concern. But not to worry. This veritable chapel of knotty pine was purchased by a group of investors that includes Mr. Lake Wobegon himself, Garrison Keillor, and these new keepers of the Fisher's Club flame appear to be exceptional stewards of its irreplaceable legacy.

The kitchen follows standard operating supper-club procedure, which means lots of walleye, broasted chicken, steaks and burger baskets at reasonable prices. But many dishes go back, in Minnesota-speak, to "olden times" (translation: recipes resurrected from the club's archives), including battered and deep-fried sunfish (with a chunky, packed-full-of-chopped-pickles tartar sauce), a lusciously creamy coleslaw, a potato salad fit for a king (or at least radio royalty) and a boffo relish tray loaded with liverwurst, meatballs, pickled herring and garlic toast.