Here in Minnesota, local is loved—and the relationships its farm-to-table restaurants have with local providers are proof. By going farm-to-table, you’re choosing a restaurant that is part of the Minnesota landscape and economy. Consider these farm-to-table options as you plan your next event.
As Homegrown As It Gets
Wise Acre Eatery in Minneapolis’ Tangletown neighborhood can be fully booked (capacity of 80 guests, including patio), or you can reserve its outdoor pergola area. We can’t say too much about the menu, though, as almost all its ever-rotating ingredients come from its farm 5 minutes away in Plato. There, livestock, a greenhouse, aquaponics, and fields result in fresh food year-round.
While Common Roots near Minneapolis’ Lyn-Lake neighborhood doesn’t have its own farm, it harvests as many as 1,800 pounds of produce per year from its 3,000-square-foot garden beds. Its menu is the best of the best—milk and cheese are local, and meat is locally sourced, grass-fed, free-range, and organic. If you want libations, you have your pick of local beers, sustainable wines, and unique cocktails.
Enjoy it all by buying out the whole interior (up to 80 seated or 100 mingling with plenty of room), or go for a more intimate gathering in the separate 16-person Common Room. Both options have picture windows, and the outdoor patio is also reservable.
For another exclusive option, head over to Create Catering Dining Studio in Northeast Minneapolis, which can seat 12 to 40 guests or up to 50 guests for a cocktail party. Amid its high ceilings, open kitchen, and glass walls, guests will enjoy personalized catering and bar service. We particularly recommend any dish with potatoes—they are exclusively from the establishment’s farm in Wadena—but no matter the menu item, you are bound to reap the benefits of decades-old farmer-chef relations.
Farm-to-Table Favorites
Local event coordinators and food enthusiasts are more than happy to recommend spots like Margaux’s Table in the northeastern Twin Cities suburb of White Bear Lake, Joan’s in the Park in St. Paul, or Alma, nestled in a boutique hotel of the same name on University Avenue Southeast in Minneapolis. For breakfast—the most important meal of the day—consider favorites such as French Meadow Bakery & Cafe or Copper Hen Cakery & Kitchen.
After starting in 1985 as the country’s first certified organic bread bakery, French Meadow now offers a bounty of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, and the restaurant lists the local growers and farmers it supports on its menus. For a private dining experience, head to its Minneapolis location, the French Meadow Nord Social Hall and Tasting Room or Nord’s Bluestem Bar.
Copper Hen on south Minneapolis’ Nicollet Avenue makes everything in-house in a farm French style, and must-haves include its cupcakes and burgers. Adding to the charm is its cafe, which leans into a modern cottage aesthetic with string lights, hanging greenery, a wooden ceiling, and illustrated woodland animals on its exposed walls.
At Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis’ North Loop, James Beard Award-winner Gavin Kaysen is honing his Midwestern- and seasonal-inspired menu with French cuisine techniques. The restaurant is a favorite fine-dining establishment in the Twin Cities, and you can elevate the experience by booking one of its two private rooms (up to 24 for a seated dinner), which feature clean lines, white-painted wooden details, and paned skylights.
Connected to Mall of America and situated inside the JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America Hotel is Cedar + Stone, Urban Table. The restaurant offers a refined aesthetic and menu, but for a private experience, you can reserve its 14-person dining room, which comes with dedicated serving staff. Or, go for its 70-person open-air patio, which features a large fire pit to keep your evening gathering warm as the sun goes down.
Newer on the scene but connected to longtime favorite D’Amico Catering is Bushel + Peck Cafe, located in downtown Minneapolis’ Mill City Museum. This is the perfect spot for a refreshing break of fair-trade coffee, organic salads, artisan burgers, and more—or you can host a private event for 10 to 400 in one of the museum’s five event spaces, including its 10,000-square-foot outdoor courtyard, which is bordered by historic masonry walls.
Wherever you choose, if it’s farm-to-table, your attendees will experience what Minnesota is about: a bountiful state with an appreciation for all things local.
