Best Lunch - Fika - 2013 Best of MN

Can't make it to Stockholm this year? Then why not spend a few noon hours at Fika, the casual, just-about-perfect-in-every-way cafe inside the equally remarkable Nelson Cultural Center at the American Swedish Institute. Along with Nordic basics such as expertly rendered meatballs, chef Michael Fitzgerald routinely wows his clientele with such nuanced stunners as a smoked sturgeon salad with tangy pickled beets and spicy watercress and an open-face sandwich of crisp-seared salmon drizzled in a sweet mustard sauce and presented on a sturdy house-baked rye-flax bread. The simple desserts are similarly impressive, prices rarely exceed $9, and the sunny, contemporary setting — its warm-weather patio is without peer for architectural swagger — is another major draw. 2600 Park Av. S., Mpls.; 612-871-4907, asimn.org