A Twin Cities restaurant revolution has elevated the local food scene

For what feels like forever, Twin Citians have boasted — with justification — about the region's quality of life.

The envied parks. The internationally influential arts institutions. The Fortune 500-heavy business climate. The healthy, well-educated and civically engaged populace.

To this we can finally add another bragging point: a dynamic and diverse food scene.

The evolution of the Twin Cities' dining landscape is nothing short of revolutionary. But it didn't happen overnight.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Taste — the section debuted in the Minneapolis Star on Oct. 1, 1969 — we are occasionally digging into its 2,500-plus past issues

That takes us back to 2003, when we scrutinized the Twin Cities food scene for a story called "Two-Star Town."

Sixteen years later, we're back at it, enthusiastically raising that assessment to three stars. According to our rating system, that figure translates to "highly recommended," and it represents a giant leap forward.

"The dining scene has greatly improved in the Twin Cities for many reasons," said Jamie Malone, chef/owner of Grand Cafe and Eastside. "Chefs and cooks celebrate a more collaborative spirit and happily share techniques and sources. But I think a lot of credit can go to our diners who put their trust in us and are happy to try the things we are excited about."

True, Minnesota doesn't exist in a vacuum.

"On a macro level, it's changed nationwide," said Russell Klein, chef/co-owner of Meritage. "You can now eat well in almost any major city in the country."

But let's face it: Milwaukee, Kansas City, Denver, St. Louis? They would kill to be us.

This exciting metamorphosis didn't materialize out of thin air. The ground was laid, years ago, by visionary pioneers, including brothers Larry and Richard D'Amico (D'Amico Cucina, Campiello, Azur) and founders Phil Roberts and Pete Mijajlov of Parasole Restaurant Holdings (Manny's Steakhouse, Pronto Ristorante, Figlio, Oceanaire Seafood Room).

The next generation took a different approach, propelling the food landscape forward in a big way.

"When Doug [Flicker] and I were starting out with our own restaurants, restaurants weren't owned by chefs," said Tim McKee, chef/owner of Octo Fishbar. "Chefs didn't have access to capital, they didn't have investors. We got the idea going in this market that chefs owned restaurants, and now, when you look at the restaurants that are making a difference in the culinary scene, they're all chef-driven."

At the same time, chefs were doubling down on crafting a cuisine that reflects the ingredients and traditions of this place, a farm-to-table movement fostered by Lucia Watson of Lucia's Restaurant, Brenda Langton of Cafe Brenda (and now Spoonriver), Ken Goff of the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant and Lenny Russo of Heartland. Their traditions are being carried forward at the Birchwood Cafe, Wise Acre Eatery, the Bachelor Farmer, Restaurant Alma, Ngon Bistro, Town Talk Diner and Gastropub, and many others.

It helps that the metro area is surrounded by some of the nation's most productive and progressive farmlands, a supply chain that's the envy of chefs from coast to coast.

That proximity to quality — and quantity — certainly helps drive consumer's local-foods gusto. Ten short years ago, there were 42 crop-sharing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs in Minnesota; today, there are nearly 100.

Farmers markets have also taken root across the state, growing from 86 in 2007 to more than 190 today. In the metro area, farmers markets have become fertile breeding grounds for a long list of entrepreneurs who matriculated their outdoor outposts into brick-and-mortar operations, including the folks behind Sun Street Breads, Bogart's Doughnut Co., Gorkha Palace and Foxy Falafel.

Do we even know how fortunate we are? For example, as Southeast Asians began to migrate here in the 1970s and 1980s, pho, bánh mì and other unfamiliar fare became as ubiquitous as wild rice, walleye and other taken-for-granted favorites.

Restaurants have always been on the front lines of the melting pot in this country. Twin Cities diners can circumnavigate the globe several times over and never leave the seven-county metro area. Culinary traditions spanning every continent — Indonesia to India, Morocco to Mexico, Somalia to Singapore — are represented here in restaurants and markets, a breadth and depth unimaginable 20 years ago. It's an impressive feat, especially when considering the region's relatively homogenous racial and cultural climate.

Thanks to television and a food-obsessed segment of social media, diners have also become more engaged, and more discerning.

"Our strong economy, well-traveled public and a genuine curiosity for something other than meat and potatoes launched us to the next level over the course of the last decade," said Jack Riebel, chef/co-owner of the Lexington.

Those rising expectations have led to improvements across the board. Look at our professional sports stadiums, our airport and even our parks. All are national food-and-drink role models. Even the Minnesota State Fair, that reliable barometer of populist tastes and the state's largest open-air food court, has been experiencing a pronounced uptick in quality and ingenuity.

Our hotels, too. There was a time when the St. Paul Grill was the region's only well-regarded hotel restaurant. Today, more-than-decent restaurants are requisite components of any self-respecting Twin Cities hotel, including Tullibee at the Hewing Hotel, Giulia at the Emery Hotel, Mercy at Le Méridien Chambers and Lela at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel. Even Restaurant Alma, one of the city's top-rated restaurants, got into the act and now operates its own (small) hotel.

But think about it: It's all better here food- and drink-wise compared with 15 or 20 years ago. Better coffee. Better ice cream. Better bread. Better beer. Better vegetarian and vegan fare.

Even better restaurant-centric neighborhoods, where dining has transformed our urban geography.

Witness the North Loop, arguably the Twin Cities' dining epicenter. Fifteen years ago, the area was starting to make the transition from industrial to commercial/residential. Today, the neighborhood's thousands of residents can walk to four four-star restaurants — Demi, Spoon and Stable, the Bachelor Farmer and Bar La Grassa — as well as a bevy of talked-about dining destinations, from Smack Shack and Sweet Chow to Kado No Mise, Red Rabbit and Freehouse.

Another contributing factor: There are more restaurants than ever before, but there are also more people living in the Twin Cities than at any other time.

The metro area's population grew by 265,000 since 2010, according to the Metropolitan Council. If those quarter-million new residents are dining out once a week, they're pumping the demand for 14 million additional restaurant meals into the dining economy each year.

In the end, this exciting transformation is driven by people.

Chefs. Restaurateurs. Bartenders. Bakers. Cooks. Servers. Sommeliers. Managers. Farmers. Entrepreneurs. And consumers, supporting this ever-growing, ever-improving culinary ecosystem.

Rick Nelson • @RickNelsonStrib