One restaurant that does an admirable job of emphasizes the farm-to-table connection is Common Roots Cafe in Minneapolis. Not only does owner Danny Schwartzman make every effort to source his ingredients locally (an interactive map on the restaurant’s website highlights more than 50 farms in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa that supply the Common Roots kitchen), but he also invites farmers to his casual, year-old restaurant for meet-and-greets.

Schwartzman’s next event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21st at 6 p.m., when his guest will be Winona LaDuke. She will be addressing the subjects of locally raised foods, the genetic modification of manoomin (wild rice) and the push to retain its production and traditional harvest in the hands of the Anishinaabeg people. Tickets are $20 ($10 will be donated to LaDuke’s White Earth Land Recovery Project) and the cost includes a three-course dinner made with White Earth products: hominy-ramp soup, bison meat loaf with wild rice (or a nettle souffle with greens and wild rice) and dessert; a vegan option is also available. RSVP by Monday, May 19th to info@commonrootscafe.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am and is filed under Farm-focused restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.