Surly's Brewer's Table named Food & Wine top restaurant

Food & Wine magazine has named Brewer's Table in Minneapolis to its second-annual Restaurants of the Year list.

The magazine describes the list as the "10 most exciting places to eat in America right now." The restaurant is located on the second floor of Surly Brewing Co.'s destination brewery in Minneapolis' Prospect Park neighborhood.

Chef Jorge Guzman — the Star Tribune's 2015 Chef of the Year — has known the news since last Wednesday, and was sworn to secrecy.

"That's been very difficult," he said with a laugh. "Really, really difficult. When they called, I wanted to run upstairs and hug my team and say, 'Look what we did.' It was a tough one to keep quiet."

How's he feeling? "I'm in a good place now, because I've had a whole week to digest it," he said. "The team upstairs? They're ecstatic."

The news spread like wildfire.

"The tweets have really been coming through today," said Guzman. "Gavin Kaysen [chef/owner of Spoon and Stable] was the first to congratulate me over Twitter, and that's so huge. That means a lot to have the support of fellow chefs, not just here but in other cities. I've heard from Gerard Craft [of Niche in St. Louis] and Justin Carlisle [of Milwaukee's Ardent]."

As for celebrating, Guzman's hasn't gotten that far.

"We had a Champagne toast a few hours ago," he said. "I'll probably take the team out, so we can hang out, and spend time together. It's such a big accomplishment for our team."

Here's what the magazine said: "Across the country, people are eating better food and drinking better beer every day. I can't imagine a more satisfying place to do both than Brewer's Table. Upstairs from the vast Surly beer hall is this 70-seat dining room, where chef Jorge Guzman oversees a deceptively simple-sounding menu. The four-course tasting is a bargain at $70, especially since it includes beer pairings. Guzman serves sopa de lima as an ode to his Yucatán heritage, preparing the tortilla soup with avocado-leaf-infused chicken broth. His steak frites comes with bone marrow gel and a brilliant powdered béarnaise sauce, plus a glass of Surly's barrel-aged Pentagram beer — destination-worthy on its own."

Rick Nelson • 612-673-4757

@RickNelsonStrib