If you're looking for a model for how to do Upper Midwestern fine dining, look no further than In Season. Rising from the metaphorical ashes of the French-inspired Fugaise, chef Don Saunders has taken his gift for deft execution of beautifully pared-down dishes in a new, soulful direction. The result is some of the state's best and most exciting dining.

In Season sounds like a bit of a gimmick until you experience it. The front of your menu lists a bunch of ingredients that serve as inspiration (right now, they include baby turnips, chiogga beets, kale, oxtail and sweet potato). The back features the actual small and big plates for ordering. Prices are fair-to-cheap, considering the quality -- small plates hover around $10 and larger dishes around $20. The menu is flexible enough that you can take a passed-plate tapas style approach, or an appetizer-entree-dessert approach, or some hybrid of both.

Saunders is in tune with local food but not a slave to it. Oysters, Rio Star grapefruit and Clementines are among his current winter inspirations, and the presence of seasonally appropriate tourists brings a sparkle of excitement to the mix. Dishes such as roasted monkfish with five-spice sweet potato gnocchi and roasted garlic ($24) may not be all sourced next door, but the pairing of a mellow, tender ocean fish and hearty, deeply flavored winter staples like sweet potato and roasted garlic is a good one.

Similarly, In Season's cheese plate ($14) is a masterwork of international diplomacy. Three-time American Cheese Society "Best of Show" winner Pleasant Ridge Reserve (from southern Wisconsin) shines even on a plate with French selles sur cher and Spanish manchego. Tangy Castle Rock Bleu from Wisconsin rounds out the plate and holds its own just fine.

The best dish we sampled may have also been one of the most unusual. The elk goulash featured velvet-tender pieces of elk wrapped in sensuous blankets of creamy paprika flavor, floating above finely mashed potatoes at the base of stew's urn-like white bowl.

Most of our orders wowed. The charcuterie plate ($14) was stellar, recalling the glory days of the Craftsman. All of the meat tastes both deeply flavorful and light on its feet -- the flavors are clean and fresh.

If the charcuterie was a dish to savor, other starters didn't last as long. The cured salmon on blinis with a chiogga beet and horseradish creme fraiche ($10) was obscenely good. Three blinis come in a standard order; I would have eaten 12 if given the opportunity. Possibly 15. People talk about "inhaling" good food. These were like whippets.

It's worth going out to sample this stuff for yourself -- and noting that there's a whole new menu on its way when spring finally arrives.

The churn

The sustainable catering company Chowgirls (1224 NE. 2nd St., Mpls.) is hosting an epic way to spend Valentine's Day. It's a five-course meal called the Locavore Love Affair, featuring artisan cheeses from Shepherd's Way and Stickney Hill; free-range meats from Southeast Minnesota Food Network and Callister Farms; and other local ingredients including Dragsmith Farm greens, Ames Farm honey, Hope Creamery butter and Cedar Summit milk. Make reservations and check out the menu at chowgirls02142011.eventbrite.com.

• The Heavy Table team writes about food and drink in the Upper Midwest five days a week, twice a day, at www.heavytable.com.