Heavy Table

heavytable.substack.comVideo: Berracas de la 13 in Medellín, ColombiaA restaurant/women’s shelter in Medellin feeds guests and fights human trafficking

Video contributor Nathan Wold kicks off a series of profiles filed from Colombia with a story about a women's shelter that opened a restaurant in the once notoriously violent Comuna 13 in Medellín. heavytable.substack.com/p/video-berr...

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Visit Lake Street

@visitlakestreet.com

3 Sept

Taco Tour on Lake Street 🌮 Join us, Saturday September 19th, for a day full of music, food, fun, & tacos 🌮🌮🌮 🕛12pm - 4pm at Mercado central, 1515 E Lake St 🕓4pm - 8pm at El Nuevo Campo, 2709 E Lake St www.lakestreettacotour.com #TacoTouronLakeStreet2026 #TacoTour2026 #VisitLakeStreet

29 Aug

After 16 years of covering the Minnesota State Fair's food, drink, and hospitality, we've decided… that we're not done with it yet. What makes the Fair so compelling, entertaining, infuriating, and ultimately important? We dig into the details: heavytable.substack.com/p/alls-fair

27 Aug

Well, we survived DAY ONE of hardcore State Fair food eating and the results will be yours to savor first thing tomorrow morning. Our view was fixed relentlessly on value, and we found some gems, a lot of eye-watering high prices, and some amusing "not exactly as depicted" foods (see below.)

heavytable.substack.comThe Heavy Table | James Norton | SubstackThe Heavy Table is a team of writers, photographers, and illustrators telling the stories of food and drink in the Upper Midwest. We publish weekly. Click to read The Heavy Table, by James Norton, a S...

27 Aug

If you're not subscribing to the newsletter, hop on board - we have tons of great Upper Midwestern food news and reviews beyond the Fair, and we have a hell of a lot of fun with it, too. heavytable.substack.com

26 Aug

We've gathered a thick stack of twenties, a pile of tickets, a sheaf of maps and checklists, and we're ready to rock the Fair tomorrow so that we can bring you a fearlessly critical Friday morning roundup of cheers and jeers. See you at the Fair!

26 Aug

Check us out and subscribe! Your $5/month supports independent food journalism and gets you a tremendous firehose of information about food and drink in the Upper Midwest. Plus! You'll see our Fair picks about five days before everyone else. heavytable.substack.com

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Visit Lake Street

@visitlakestreet.com

16 July

Last year's Taco Tour was so much fun!🌮 with everyone enjoying the music, tacos, corn, and hot sauce tasting🌶️ This year, it's gonna be even bigger and better! Join us, Saturday September 19, and stay tuned for more info to be released soon!🌮🌮 #VisitLakeStreet #TacoTouronLakeStreet #MinnesotaEvents

13 Aug

Tomorrow's edition: We check out Bill's Bait Shop, the place where northwoods supper club meets influencer culture meets Pirates of the Caribbean-level subtlety. Featuring: One of the most poorly constructed burgers we've eaten in years!

13 Aug

Subscribe and put yourself on the receiving end of a weekly newsletter-based firehose of Upper Midwestern food news, reviews, and recipes. Heavy Table is written by serious food people and accountable only to our subscribers, so the info is always good. heavytable.substack.com

Tomorrow in the Tulip and Schooner newsletter! Cocktail columnist John Garland goes deep on the Chi Chi's marg and a gallon of colonoscopy prep. It's a broad mandate!

And in the Tap, an interview with Ali Mohamed. He's the creator of Ramadan's, an Egyptian cafe in Minneapolis that is setting out to change the way Minnesotans experience coffee.

All this and so, so, so much more from our contributing writers and photographers, available for $5/month (Churn + Hearth + Tulip) or $10/month (all of the above + the Tap). We're out there documenting the food and drink and people who make this scene shine - never AI, always human beings.

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Chris

@chris-hhh.bsky.social

racketmn.comRacket’s Year in Review: August 2025-July 2026 - RacketLet’s dig into the facts and figures from Racket’s fifth year of operation.

I have no $ because of our endless daycare bills but if I did id give @racketmn.com and @southwestvoices.bsky.social and @heavytable.com all my $$

em cassel@biketrouble.bsky.social

racket is five years old!!! i find that fact very hard to swallow and yet it’s true. here’s our fifth annual report to prove it. i feel very, very lucky that this is my job and my life!!!

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madi mcvan

@madisonmcvan.bsky.social

30 July

pearson's in st. paul is closing and laying off all its workers

heavytable.substack.com2026 Minnesota State Fair New FoodsFirst thoughts (and some perennial warnings) about the list of new Fair treats.

9 July

Just posted some initial thoughts on the 2026 new Fair foods. This year we'll be out at the Fair in force (as always!), with a ruthless eye on value as prices spiral ever upwards.

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James Norton

@jrnorton.bsky.social

2 July

Just attempted a two-day, 70 bay leaf / 1/4 cup of whole allspice jerk chicken + banana ketchup + coconut beans + rice recipe that was so catastrophically successful that I might have to open a food truck.

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Wes Burdine

@wesburdine.bsky.social

9 June

Groundswell is dead. Long live Bewick Cafe. Our neighborhood’s long nightmare without a coffee shop is almost over www.facebook.com/share/17gGXD...

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Stacey Burns

@wentrogue.bsky.social

8 June

Step 1: Become a go-to community diner serving breakfast & lunch Step 2: Develop a pay-what-you-can business model Step 3: Profit 🎁

nytimes.comThis Restaurant Stopped Charging for Food. And Profits Are Up.

3 June

Coming this Friday morning: Reviews of three remarkably(!) good restaurants in our closing edition of the Green Line Checklist. And an OK one. And a pretty bad one. All in all, a good way to wrap a great food tour.

3 June

If you're not yet a subscriber, join us! Your subscription pays writers, editors, photographers, and illustrators to explore food and drink in the Upper Midwest and report - human-to-human, with lively voices - on things actually happening in our beautiful shared world. heavytable.substack.com

heavytable.substack.comVideo: Kunrath Lam of Cheng Heng RestaurantThe roots of a Saint Paul restaurant contain a remarkable story of struggle, starvation, fear, and - ultimately - survival

22 Apr

Video contributor Nathan Wold has captured a story of genocide, survival, and a new start in Minnesota from Kunrath Lam, owner of Saint Paul's Cheng Heng restaurant. heavytable.substack.com/p/video-kunr...

@maxhailperin.bsky.social

21 Apr

The Afro-Caribbean-inspired Arch and River will replace Owamni at the Water Works Pavilion. Here's our 2022 profile of Arch and River's founders and their pop-up patisserie, B'beri: heavytable.com/the-globe-tr...

Heavy Table reposted

Max Hailperin

17 Apr

Their "newsletter tomorrow" is now their newsletter today, and I can report that the lead column does indeed have something to add about the seemingly straightforward topic. I've never regretted subscribing.

Heavy Table@heavytable.com

Our newsletter tomorrow is headed by a column about the (often) false economy of firing servers or hiking menu prices. Cardamom was a case in point; now it's a case in point with an underline drawn beneath it.

racketmn.comAfter QR Code Fiasco, Walker Cuts Ties With Daniel del Prado's Cardamom - RacketPlus Boundary Waters mining ban overturned, Georgia Fort speaks out after arrest, and national accolades for Le Burger in today's Flyover news roundup.

16 Apr

Racket@racketmn.com

"The change in Cardamom’s approach does not align with the Walker’s vision for a dining experience at the museum."

16 Apr

New on the website: April's Arab American heritage flavor collection at Milkjam in Minneapolis. heavytable.com/arab-america...

16 Apr

And in tomorrow's edition of the Tap newsletter: the longform story at Chef Baaska's journey from dish washer to master of artful omakase sushi, written by @mikenorton.org

minneapolis.orgMinneapolis included in new MICHELIN Guide edition: American Great LakesThe multi-city Guide will cover six cities across the Great Lakes region; inaugural restaurant selection will be revealed in 2027

8 Apr

So: Minneapolis will be part of a new 2027 Michelin American Great Lakes guide, along with Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh. This is per a MeetMinneapolis press release: www.minneapolis.org/media/news-r...

Don't love the (apparent) exclusion of the greater metro area, which misses the point - for dining purposes, we're a metro of 3.5 million people, not a city of 428K. Also don't love the eclectic company we're keeping, no offense to Indianapolis, etc.

8 Apr

But overall, it's a cool development and if Michelin keeps up the typically strong work, it'll be good news for the scene here - something to strive for. (Almost) anything that gets people fired up about improved standards tends to be good for everyone. -JN

I've personally (James Norton) found Michelin ratings to be super useful in massive cities like New York. Two and three star places are almost guaranteed to be hyper competent, very expensive and typically extremely samey and generically cosmopolitan. But the one stars are the secret sauce.

8 Apr

If you want to find a place that's doing terrific food with a lively atmosphere, usually firing on all thrusters and sometimes offering a great value, the one star spots are the thing. So, it'll be cool to see where Michelin thinks those spots are, locally.

Some instantly mixed feelings on this one. Where is Saint Paul and the greater metro area in all this? And why is Minneapolis mixed in with five cities that are sort of or EXTREMELY different in terms of location / people? Feels arbitrary in that regard.

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James Norton

@jrnorton.bsky.social

20 Mar

Burning midnight-proximate oil on two barnburner newsletters for tomorrow: A heart-rending story about beer, trauma, and survival by @louisgarcia12.bsky.social and a tremendously interesting piece on innovative indoor agriculture by @jeannelakso.bsky.social

25 Feb

Great week to subscribe to the newsletter if you don't already: We've got an in-depth (and mixed) review of Daniel del Prado's new French restaurant, Thérèse. heavytable.substack.com

25 Feb

Plus, hit the website to check out the latest video project from Nathan Wold, a profile of Cafe Racer Kitchen in Minneapolis. We've got a teaser promo below:

25 Feb

If you don't know us: We're all about human beings talking to other human beings. We're all about good food and great storytelling. We're all about being defiantly grounded in our community and making things from scratch, with human hands, eyes, and minds. Join us: heavytable.substack.com

28 Jan

This Friday morning in the newsletter: Five new reviews from the Green Line in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Thai! Chinese! African! Caribbean! University/Washington is one of the great immigrant cultural corridors and the restaurants there are fighting to survive.

28 Jan

Back us and get an all-new newsletter every Friday morning. (Get six a month at the $10/month premium level.) We'll spend a good chunk of your subscription dues at local restaurants, have no fear. heavytable.substack.com

heavytable.substack.comA Storm on East Lake StreetThe Tap for January 23, 2026

23 Jan

Today's newsletter is free for everyone. Read "A Storm on East Lake Street" by @tangledupinfood.bsky.social , and more: heavytable.substack.com/p/a-storm-on...

Heavy Table reposted

Minnesota Star Tribune

@startribune.com

13 Jan

Faced with staffing shortages and safety concerns, Minneapolis restaurants are holding food drives, fundraisers and serve up hot cocoa to create community.

bit.lyMinneapolis restaurants step up to help amid ICE presenceFaced with staffing shortages and safety concerns, restaurants hold food drives, fundraisers and serve up hot cocoa to create community.

heavytable.substack.comHot Five: Call for Community SubmissionsWe're looking for our readers to help us tell stories of food, drink, and immigration this week.

13 Jan

This week we're calling for reader-submitted Hot Five briefs about food and drink from immigrant-run restaurants, food trucks, and markets. We're casting a wide net to support these cornerstone businesses. heavytable.substack.com/p/hot-five-c...

6 Jan

Meritage is opening a stand-alone steak frites restaurant in the to-be-announced future - in the meantime, the restaurant is offering a series of steak frites prix-fixe nights Jan. 14, 21, and 27.