DeRusha Eats

Hoyt Hill is the sommelier at Forepaugh's Restaurant in Saint Paul, in late April he got the opportunity to stage a couple days at Chef Thomas Keller's yountville, California restaurant The French Laundry. He talks about the experience, what makes a 3 Michelin starred restaurant different, and the guest who bought a $25,000 bottle of wine. Imagine what the tip was! Well don't imagine, listen to Hoyt talk about it in this edition of DeRusha Eats.

A 38-seat restaurant in South Minneapolis is the Best New Restaurant in America! Bûcheron was named James Beard Foundation's best new restaurant for 2025, built by two veterans of fine dining, both with experience in Gavin Kaysen's Minneapolis restaurants. But Jeanie Janas Ritter and her chef/husband Adam Ritter are trying to do something different: a new version of fine dining where high technique is matched with casual and friendly service as well as a family-friendly life for their team. Bûcheron joins Jason on DeRusha Eats.

On this episode of DeRusha Eats, Jason is joined by Kitchen and Rail Co-Owner Joe Newhouse as they discuss opening a second location, opening during challenging times, their tribute to "Mort's Deli", what makes a good pastrami sandwich, having an "approachable menu" and more.

Megan Luedtke is the most significant voice in deciding what cocktails Minnesotans are drinking, and no one's talking about her. DeRusha Eats is. Megan shares what inspired her to start creating craft cocktails, the challenges of being a woman in a part of the restaurant world that's stereotypically male, and how she finds flavor inspiration for Daniel del Prado's restaurant group. You can find her cocktails at Porzana, Minari, Rosalia, Martina, Dexter's, Colita, Cardamom, Flora Room, and Thérèse, newly open at 50th & France in Edina.

In 2024, Chef Eric Pham got the call that his restaurant was on fire, days before opening. He considered calling it - but he found a new location and opened Khue's Kitchen. In 2025, the Minnesota Star Tribune named it the New Restaurant of the Year. Eric talks about growing up in his family's restaurant, Quang; he talks about dropping out of college to get a job at Spoon and Stable, and his goal as a 25-year-old to create a restaurant perfect for younger diners. High technique, affordable prices, and lined up with his experience as a Vietnamese kid growing up in Minnesota.

Gluten-free. No seed oils. The hottest trends in nutrition have been part of life for nearly a decade at Brim, a farm-to-fast casual restaurant founded by former personal chef Kate Sidoti. Kate talks about her food inspiration, the challenges of running a restaurant, and why after so long in Uptown Minneapolis she's now in the suburbs with her second spot. Brim survived through COVID, through riots after George Floyd, and through a very slow recovery in the city.

Two Minnesota women, linked through a connection to Prince, have founded their own mezcal brand. Why? How? Ingrid Chavez and Jacqui Thompson, co-founders of Las Melodías de la Luna Mezcal, join Jason DeRusha on DeRusha Eats to talk about their history, their love for mezcal, and why having a woman-owned company with a woman distiller makes a difference. The Prince connection? Jacqui Thompson managed Prince’s Paisley Park recording studios and co-founded the PRN Alumni Foundation, a nonprofit established by Prince’s team to continue his legacy of social justice. She co-founded the agave brand Revel Avila in 2012. Ingrid Chavez is a songwriter, poet, producer, artist, and entrepreneur who has collaborated with major musicians like Lenny Kravitz, Madonna and was a recording artist on Paisley Park Records albums.

From college friends to garage beer brewers, the buddies who started Fulton in 2009 rode the craft beer wage. Sweet Child of Vine and Lonely Blonde were on tap everywhere, the tap room near Target Field was bumping. Today - the business has changed, and Fulton has matured as a business along with it's founders. Jim Diley is a lawyer who left his day job to be COO of Fulton and talks with Jason DeRusha about the growth in seltzer, THC drinks, and the future of beer in Minneapolis.

It's one of the oldest producers of wine, some call it the birthplace of wine: Georgia. And a group of Minnesota brothers are working to spread the word about their homeland on the coast of the Black Sea, where Eastern Europe and Western Asia come together. The Lanchava Collection is seeing sales increase three-fold, through a combination of hustle, passion, and quality production. Luka, Konstantin and Saba Lanchava join Jason to talk about their partnership with Total Wine & More, why they've named their wines after their 9 Georgian-born brothers and sisters, and how Minnesota fits into their success.

When Stephanie Hansen sold her Twin Cities printing and direct marketing business - she faced a crisis. Who was she? What did she want to do? A decade later, she's just published her second cookbook, and her Emmy-award winning TV show "Taste Buds with Stephanie" is syndicated all over the United States. Stephanie talks with Jason DeRusha about finding her lane from the perspective of an eater and a home cook. The "True North Cabin Cookbook - Vol. 2" is in bookstores everywhere

He's the co-anchor of CBS This Morning, NFL Today, host of Hollywood Squares, and a former Minnesota Vikings player. But Nate Burleson is coming to Minneapolis as he puts in the work to support his new vodka, created with Detroit micro-distiller Valentine Distilling Co. Lionblood Orange Vodka is his vision in a bottle. Nate and Jason discuss the multiple trips he took to Detroit to dial in the flavor, as well as discussing accountability, the Vikings new quarterback, the stress that caused his facial hair to fall out, and how he prioritizes things with so many different jobs.

What Is Great Hmong Food? These Chefs Have the Answer" wrote New York Times food reporter Brett Anderson. So what got Anderson interested in Minneapolis chefs Yia Vang and Diane Moua, and their restaurants Vinai and Diane's Place? He was born in Minnesota, has family here, and spent 5 years talking to these chefs about "an extremely rare occurrence in American culinary arts: the emergence of a cuisine virtually unknown outside its own immigrant community, stewarded by chefs trained in Western-style restaurant kitchens - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/dining/hmong-minnesota-food.html

The road to Minnesota's most recognized Vietnamese restaurant started with a St. Cloud family sponsoring a refugee couple and their 7 children. Lung Tran escaped Vietnam during the War with her husband Quang Truong. Her daughter Heather Mandanas and her grandson Andrew Truong share their family's story through food and through our conversation. Quang opened with just a few tables in 1989, today it's busy, it's successful, and it's legacy.

Keep Moving Forward Together: advice from Yia Vang's father's experience fleeing war-torn Laos that he uses to run his restaurant, Vinai in Minneapolis. Yia talks with Jason just days after his TPT show "Relish" won a James Beard Foundation Media Award in the lifestyle visual media category. We talk about awards, about inspiration, about his restaurant - and how the Minnesota is now a center of global cuisine.

How a Chicago man went from making wine in his dad's basement to living the Sonoma County dream: Justin Harmon gives us the lowdown on his Argot Winery, and find out why his most famous wine is named "Bastard Tongue." Justin is in Minnesota for a fundraiser for M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital, and man-about-town and University of Minnesota Foundation Sr. Director of Development - Strategic Partnerships and Signature Philanthropy Nick Engbloom explains how WineFest is critical to support research in a time when federal funding is threatened. Nick and Jason also discuss the state of wine when it comes to new Minnesota wine bars and a younger generation with different tastes.

What is American Wagyu beef? Fellers Ranch, based in southern Minnesota, is trying to elevate American beef and sell premium cuts directly to restaurants and consumers. Troy Kopischke grew up on a farm and partnered with Conger Meats butcher shop owner Jeremy Johnson to help Fellers grow. Minnesota ranchers raise American Wagyu beef, and it's processed in Conger and sent all over the upper midwest. Troy and Jeremy talk with Jason about Wagyu, beef in Minnesota, the trade and tariff environment, and the future of farming in small town Minnesota

A conversation with Minnesota-based and nationally known chef Gavin Kaysen. The chef and owner of Spoon and Stable, Demi, Bellecour and Mara is sharing stories about mentoring in his new book “The Synergy Series.” 25 chefs who came to Minneapolis to cook talking about their stories, their philosophies and sharing recipes. Gavin talks about his own journey, as well as looks at the state of dining right now.

You know William H. Macy as an actor. But he's also in the whiskey business. He's in Minnesota on behalf of the Woody Creek Distiller and joins Jason for DeRusha Eats!

The Food Dolls are two Minnesota sisters who loved creating cooking videos. Alia and Radwa Elkaffas started on Facebook in 2005 and now have more than 4 million followers. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube versions of Food Dolls make up another 5 million followers. Now the Elkaffas sisters have their own cookbook: Pretty Delicious: Simple, Modern Mediterranean, Served With Style. The Food Dolls talk with Jason DeRusha about the journey, about imposter syndrome, and about being women and moms building an empire on social media.

From young felon to successful owner of Minnesota pizza chain OG ZAZA - Joshua Hedquist's life story is astonishing and inspiring. How he went from in prison and a 9th grade dropout, to fine dining kitchens in Florida and Minnesota, to opening the most buzzed about pizza restaurant in the Twin Cities. He talks about addiction and what made him quit alcohol and get sober. And is his pizza burned? Hedquist explains the New Haven style of pizza and the surprising way he landed on that in a frank, no-holds-barred conversation.

St. Paul chef Karyn Tomlinson has been named one of the Best New Chefs of 2024 by Food and Wine magazine. It's the latest national honor for the Minnesota-native who took a winding path towards owning her own restaurant nestled into a small neighborhood, Myriel. She joins Jason to talk about her intense way of connecting with farms and ranches, even being included in one farmer's will. She calls her style "Grandma Chic" and talks about creating a culture of fine dining, femininity and her future ambitions.

Alex Roberts and Margo Roberts, Restaurant Alma The most awarded restaurant currently operating in Minneapolis, Minnesota: Restaurant Alma celebrates 25 years in November 2024. Alex recalls the early days with 7 reservations on the books pre-social media; spotting his now-wife in a nearby coffee shop; Margo talks about growing into a co-owner and leadership role in this New American restaurant. We talk leadership, creativity, and family.

On this DeRusha Eats, Jason asks you what food you're afraid of.

DeRusha Eats is on the road in Aspen, Colorado at the 41st annual FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen. Hear from the three finalists in Bravo's Top Chef TV Culinary competition:  Milwaukee’s Dan Jacobs, North Carolina's Savannah Miller and New York City's Danny Garcia. Plus, are restaurants taking themselves too seriously? Maybe we all are. Chef Kwame Onwuachi reminds us: "It's just dinner." Minnesota's Gavin Kaysen talks about fine dining and the culture of rating restaurants instead of being restored within. And Luke Shimp from Red Cow / Red Rabbit tells me why he keeps coming back to Food & Wine every year.

Sameh Wadi was a culinary prodigy in his low 20’s.Competed on Food Network’s Iron Chef at age 24. Had his own fine dining Mediterranean restaurant, Saffron at age 23. But after a decade, he was burned out and closed it. In the interim, his fast-casual World Street Kitchen and ice cream shop Milkjam have taken his energy. But now, post-COVID, he’s returning to his roots and rebooting his first love. Why now and what role his identity as a Palestinian-Minnesotan has in his food in this extended conversation.

What is Minnesota barbeque? Is it a thing? We have seen more and more success in the upper midwest as pitmasters try to create their own flavors and businesses. In the North Metro, both Smokey’s BBQ and Jellybean and Julia’s have found large audiences and more than a decade of success. Chris Leibel talks about Smokey’s Pub & Grill in the East Bethel area. Koli and Cory Swap run Jellybean and Julia’s - they share their love story and how they are moving locations and hoping to move their audience with them.

Two of my favorite restaurants in the 651 of St Paul Minnesota share their stories of Refining St. Paul food in DeRusha Eats. Jason Hansen and Peter Sebastian talk about their Spanish-inspired bar and restaurant Estelle and their sandwich and pizza shop Mario’s. Meanwhile on the East Side, Tongue In Cheek has been getting it done for a decade. Leonard Anderson, his wife, Ashleigh Newman, and Ryan Huseby own and run a neighborhood spot with a regional reputation.

Let’s talk coffee. From the biggest coffee company in Minnesota… innovating around the world. To one of the smallest roasters, growing throughout our cities. Sam Kjellberg is a third wave coffee roaster at SK Coffee. How does he go about crafting flavors- and how did he start SK Coffee? We’ll get into it. PLUS Gretchen Hashemi-Rad runs the Caribou Coffee Beverage Category. How does she and her team create new and hot-selling drinks?

Chefs Mateo Mackbee and Erin Lucas left Minneapolis for St. Joseph, a small central Minnesota college town, where they’re bringing New Orleans cuisine, racial diversity, and a lot of love to their restaurant Krewe. Josh Petzel spent his career running restaurants in the Twin Cities, and left for a Wisconsin River town to raise his family and open the Great River Roadhouse. What’s it like to leave the big city? Regrets? Benefits? 

Maple Grove. Minnetonka. Eagan. Suburbs of the Twin Cities with restaurant owners who are there to sponsor the football and basketball and volleyball teams. The owners of Malone’s, Scoreboard Grill, Jimmy’s Food, and Brianno’s share what it takes to make it work and make it last in the suburbs.

Jumping into small business ownership can mean taking a big risk. Karl Benson and Marie Dwyer teamed up with chef Gavin Kaysen to build a bakery into their home goods and kitchen store. Vanessa Drews credits an encounter with Prince for helping her leap into owning her own cheesecake business, Cheesecake Funk.

They are legends! Two family-owned restaurants, one with 50 years in the Twin Cities, the other with 90. It’s hard to imagine our food scene without Keys Cafe - Barbara Hunn is now on 4 generations of family working at these spots, with legendary breakfast. And think of anniversaries, proms, any special occasion in town without being able to go to Northeast Minneapolis and Jax Cafe. The Kozlak family has been making steaks for more than 90 years!! Barbara brought the whole family together to share memories! Bill is a powerhouse of a personality all himself.

Hop in the car and get out of the Twin Cities Metro with two iconic stops: King’s Bar and Grill in Miesville in known for 100+ burgers on the menu. Located across from a corn-flanked baseball field, people travel from all over to King’s. And on the banks of the St. Croix River in Wisconsin, Pete Foster has built a little empire with three restaurants in Hudson. They explain what’s different about running businesses outside the city center.

Both Ann Kim and Justin Sutherland were high school speech competitors, both at Apple Valley High School, in the Minneapolis suburbs. That foundation of storytelling has served both well as they’ve become celebrity chefs. Ann Kim was featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table, she’s just opened her first restaurant focusing on her Korean-American cuisine. Justin Sutherland is the host of “Taste The Culture,” he’s also been featured on “Fast Foodies.”

Two entrepreneurs building their restaurant empires. Randy Stanley has two high-end modern steakhouses in the Twin Cities suburbs. Mark Toth is building a fast-casual chain of restaurants called Urban Wok. How do they find inspiration? What challenges have they overcome?

Two farmers for this episode of DeRusha Eats: One is a cheesemaker, Alise Sjostrom, her cheese company Red Head Creamery wins awards all over the world. What’s life like in the central minnesota town of Brooton? Trisha Zachman’s farm, Feathered Acres, isn’t that far from Brooton- Stearns County, Minnesota. Trisha and her husband practice regenerative hog farming - what’s that about? We can’t enjoy great food, without great farming - and that’s in the spotlight in this episode of DeRusha Eats.

She’s a woman who owns a butcher shop! An unusual combination, but Teena Matson joins us to talk about why she thinks women have an advantage in this traditionally male-business. She owns Anoka Meats in the north suburbs of Minneapolis. Plus Jill Holter, talks about how one of the oldest co-ops in the country, the Wedge in Minneapolis, has adjusted with the times and with the increased competition in the grocery space.

Two of our most awarded chefs, both James Beard Award winners, talk about the challenges in their businesses. Sean Sherman’s Indigenous-focused restaurant Owamni was named Best New Restaurant in America by the Beard Foundation. What is Indigenous cuisine? Why has it been so hard for Native Chefs to get started? And Alex Roberts won Best Chef: Midwest in 2010, how he’s achieved more than 20 years with Restaurant Alma, and his plans for his fast-casual restaurant Brasa.

A national bartending competitor, a CEO driving innovation in CBD, THC, seltzers, sodas and beer, and a founder who's started multiple drinks companies. What's new, what's hot, what's coming? GUESTS: Jessi Pollak, Bar Manager, Spoon and Stable; Janet Johanson, CEO of Bev Source and The Lab; Joe Heron, founder of Bar Diver, Crispin Cider

Since 1950. Al’s breakfast has been part of the fabric of the minnesota food scene. What are we without our icons and classics. The spots that have been a part of life since before we were around. The spots we take our kids so they understand that they’re part of something bigger. Al’s Breakfast is that to Minnesota. It’s won most awards out there, and a former server, Alison Kirwin, is now the owner. She tells how it’s surviving. And Zorbaz! Around since 1969, now 11 locations all along Minnesota lakes. An essential part of the summer cabin trip, the weird, mexican-pizza combo works. The original owners son Cole Hanson is now running it, and he joins us on this edition of DeRusha Eats.

Two risk-takers. Innovators. Building an audience for great food in unexpected locations. Justin Ahlstrom and his wife opened Margie’s in a North Suburb of Andover. Craft cocktails. Food from scratch. Live music. Just a great scene. And Mik German - a master of the burger… who’s carved out a niche of terrific, creative bar food inside an American Legion Hall in St. Paul Park, the 328 grill. 

Two men who both should be in the mix for the next cycle of the James Beard Awards: Jorge Guzman has been there, Gustavo Romero should be there. Jorge Guzman  has been a beard award nominee for his work as the executive chef at Surly Brewing’s A Brewers Table… an awesome restaurant. He’s been at Solera, a distillery in LaCrosse, and now at Petite Leon in Minneapolis - we talk about expectations of a Latino Mexican chef, when it comes to the types of food that he cooks. Very interesting. Plus Gustavo Romero brought his love for heritage corn into a tortillas like the twin cities have never seen. Nixta changed the game with nixtamalized tortillas that taste like corn, instead of nothing. Now he’s opened a restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis. We talk about his work bringing together a group of Latino chefs and bartenders as K’ooben- raising their profiles, and drawing attention to some incredible talents in Minnesota. 

Three powerhouse women making a real difference in St. Paul, Minnesota. One - the daughter of a founder, Milissa Silva is running her family’s business, El Burrito Mercado. We talk grocery, we talk the pain that comes with change, as she is mixing up the way her store does food service. Plus, two women who met in Chicago working at Girl and the Goat, have come back to St. Paul to open a modern clubhouse with incredible food. Tara Coleman started with Hot Hands Pie and expanded next door with Gina Mangiameli to open one of my favorites, Chip’s Clubhouse. Let’s have some 651 love in DeRusha Eats.

I’m fascinated by the creative process in restaurants. How do you avoid the regular. The boring. The road oft traveled. Two real creative people here… Steve Schussler is the creative genius behind Rainforest Cafe. He’s created dozens of interactive restaurant concepts - including the incredibly successful Boathouse in Downtown Disney in Orlando Florida. His lab is based in suburban Minneapolis - he talks about what drives his creativity today, what diners want, and the difference between Minnesota diners and Disney diners. Plus, Jami Olson. The former bartender became a restaurant owner with Centro and a high-end mexican restaurant. Then the pandemic hit, she shifted, and also has come up with a new ghost kitchen concept called Hippo Pockets. Two creative people… getting it done. 

An East Coast businesswoman left a lucrative career in investment banking to follow her husband to the Twin Cities - but food kept calling Lindsay Pohlad. She attended culinary school and opened a restaurant in her adopted home of Wayzata right as the pandemic began. The Grocers Table was named MInnesota Monthly’s restaurant of the year - she shares the story of her number one seller, THE Chocolate Chip Cookie. Plus Anne Andrus left a career in nonprofits to go to culinary school in San Francisco. She came home as a baker and opened Honey & Rye Bakery in St. Louis Park. How she finds inspiration in the routine and repetition of baking.

An emotional episode: featuring Jamie Yoo, a Korean immigrant who lost his job when his high end restaurant Bellecour shut down during the pandemic. Yoo felt like a failure, considered quitting the field, until he ended up at a food hall in Minneapolis. Abang Yoli has been a huge hit with it’s flavorful Korean Fried Chicken among other treats. Plus, John Ng and Lina Goh came to the Twin Cities from San Francisco because a friend suggested it would be a good place to launch a ramen shop. Zen Box Izakaya became the leader in the midwest, now this couple has launched a food hall called Eat Street Crossing.

The runaway hit new food at Target Field is a combination of high tech and high culinary. Is there anywhere else in the country you can get a 4-piece of chicken? Jared Brewington talks about being a black businessman and bringing broasted chicken to Twins fans. And hopefully beyond. Plus Khalid Ansari is a restaurant baby - growing up with his sister in his dad’s suburban Mediterranean restaurant. They launched a hummus called Baba’s in local grocery stores, exploded in popularity with a last-minute booth at the Minnesota State Fair, and are now opening a restaurant in Minneapolis. 

Two Minnesota women leaders talk about inspiration, creativity and their top-notch restaurants. Sarah Botcher is the chef/owner of Black Walnut Bakery - she finds inspiration in the routine of baking. Her croissants and cakes are among Minnesota’s finest. Karyn Tomlinson has cooked around the world, her St. Paul restaurant Myriel is taking fresh, local ingredients and bringing them to new heights. We talk about innovating and femininity in the feel of her restaurant.

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 and advantages of working in a hotel, and why a great hotel restaurant is often overlooked in Minnesota.

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 - how he went from prison to a business owner of the Pizza Man in suburban Columbia Heights, Minnesota.