Sarah's

Chef/owner Sarah Norton presides over a wide-open space (formerly a Ben Franklin five-and-dime) and serves an appealing around-the-world flavor tour. There's Cuban-style pork roasted with garlic and oregano, shrimp and sausage jambalaya, gnocchi with butter and Parmesan and tasty grilled pork meatballs with a zesty peanut sauce. Norton also grills up a good burger, and dessert means a rapturous rhubarb crisp.

• 307 Main St., Red Wing
  651-388-2711

Nosh Restaurant

Chef/owner Greg Jaworski scours local farms for ingredients and inspiration, channels that bounty through a Mediterranean lens and then capitalizes on bold flavors, whether he's searing foie gras and balancing its richness with traces of strawberry jam and bee pollen or coaxing maximum tenderness out of a pan-seared duck breast. Loved the quirky strawberry-chile pepper soup, the scrappy house-made lamb sausages and the desserts, including an expertly rendered strawberry shortcake. The lakeside view is spectacular.

• 310 1/2 S. Washington St., Lake City, Minn
  651-345-2425

Third Street Deli

Judith Hanks recently dove into the outdoor pizza business, and it's a gas. Server Kate Kraujalis kept us happy with a few deliciously hoppy Ambergeddon ales, and from our counter perch we watched as pizzamaker Michael Kolkind deftly coaxed one cornmeal-crusted beauty after another into the red brick oven's intense oak-fueled heat. We scarfed a blistered spinach/blue cheese/Braeburn apple/lemon zest pizza.

• 1015 3rd St. (Hwy. 35), Pepin, Wis
  715-442-3354

Lakeview Drive Inn

At Winona's oldest restaurant, the carhops define perky and the quintessential burgers-dogs-fries fare stretches far beyond McDonald's drive-thru window: There are burgers from locally raised bison and elk meat, the BLT utilizes bread from another Winona institution, Bloedow's, and the house-made root beer is served in heavy frosted mugs.

• 610 E. Sarnia St., Winona, Minn
  507-454-3723

Old Village Hall

The restaurant's 125-year-old stone pile of a home screams "quaint." Chef James Sisler gets right to the point with five enticing entrees, and his spirited handiwork was encapsulated in a single dish: chicken thighs, the crispy skin glazed with a teasingly spicy paprika sauce, the meat juicy and deeply flavorful, paired with dainty spaetzle and rich, pan-roasted mushrooms. Each delicious bite heralded the pleasures inherent in cooking with simplicity and integrity.

• 111 Coffee St., Lanesboro, Minn
  507-467-2962

Söntés

Chef Bryce Lamb specializes in gleefully imaginative and expertly nuanced small plates: a riot of color in the form of a tagine of perfectly cooked vegetables and couscous, velvety cured tuna with tangy pickled watermelon rind, tender-as-can-be tortelloni filled with beets and Swiss chard, and the crowning glory, a hoisin-glazed pork belly, shimmering with glorious fattiness and hints of five-spice accents, resting on a pear-ginger waffle with a barely-holding-together poached egg, a clever exercise in sweet vs. savory. Try the wicked-good honey-infused ale from Olvalde Farm and Brewing Co. in tiny Rollingstone, Minn.

• 4 SW. 3rd St., Rochester
  507-292-1628