Michelle Gayer

La Belle Vie throws fabulous birthday fête

La Belle Vie, widely recognized as the pinnacle of Minnesota fine-dining threw itself a birthday party to celebrate its 15 years, inviting the well-to-do to mix with the well-known chefs both present and past who have contributed to the success of this storied restaurant.  The Hot Dish was luck ... More >>

James Beard Award finalists announced

The award finalists were announced today for America's top culinary honors. We'd like to extend our congratulations to our locals chefs who will be attending the awards ceremony this May in New York City. Our finalists are:

Cakewalk brings out top chefs to benefit Share Our Strength

It was an evening of elegance and pastries. Share Our Strength, whose goal is to end childhood hunger, gathered many of the finest chefs in the cities to put on their annual benefit. The gala was presented by Michelle Gayer, James Beard Award nominee and owner of the acclaimed Salty Tart Bakery, in ... More >>

La Belle Vie turns 15: An interview with Tim McKee

The most lauded restaurant in Minnesota is turning 15 years old this year. In honor of the event, La Belle Vie's James Beard Award-winning chef Tim McKee is hosting a party on Sunday, March 24. A collection of chefs who have passed through the kitchen in both its current and the original Stillwater ... More >>

Michelle Gayer possible judge for new baking competition show

As American television networks are wont to do, CBS announced it is developing its own version of the popular UK series The Great British Bake Off, a competition show that pits the country's best amateur bakers against one another over the course of several weeks. Contestants must display proficienc ... More >>

James Beard Award semi-finalists announced

Today the James Beard Award semi-finalists were announced. The food world's annual answer to the Oscars recognizes the best in the business. Winners carry the proud title throughout their career. Past local honorees include the likes of Isaac Becker, Alex Roberts, and Tim McKee. This year's list inc ... More >>

Share Our Strength's Cakewalk brings out the star chefs

Late on the Valentine's gift? Suddenly realizing that Russell Stover chocolate might be a bit of a raspberry creme let down? Trust us, if your V-Day present involves any item that could be picked up at the local Super America, it's time to double down. The moment is here, and this event is a one-sto ... More >>

Top 15 places to eat with kids in the Twin Cities

For parents who love good food, finding a restaurant that they and their kids will enjoy is like finding gold. The criteria can be formidable: The atmosphere should be fairly casual and noise-tolerant, so kids and adults can relax; the menu should offer simple and familiar food for kids but sophis ... More >>

Charlie Awards: Who won big

The second-annual Charlie Awards, an event honoring the Twin Cities and metro area restaurants and key individuals who contribute to our exceptional, ever-expanding food scene, were held yesterday afternoon at the Pantages Theater. Hearty congratulations to all the finalists and winners, but perhaps ... More >>

James Beard benefit dinner brings out the star chefs

Last night, on the bluffs in Mendota Heights, the James Beard Foundation, in conjunction with Le Cordon Bleu and Mpls/St.Paul magazine, hosted a benefit dinner in which eight of the Twin Cities most regarded chefs prepared a multiple-course, roaming tasting menu. Guests could nibble their way from k ... More >>

Bread Festival

Salty Tart celebrates 4 years with cookies

Michelle Gayer, the James Beard Award-nominated chef, has been running her bakery, the Salty Tart, for four years today. That is four tasty years of macaroons, cakes, breads, and her unmistakable brand of salty sass. It's hard to imagine a world without those tasty milk buns that have popped up on s ... More >>

Gastro Non Grata: Pre Earth Day Confection Carousel

Gastro Non Grata and CSA selections this Week in Food

We're inching toward farmer's market season, and the proof is in this week's events: from a CSA fair at Seward Co-op to the opening of Mill City Museum's new "Growing Strong: How Farmers Markets Nourish People, Communities and the Planet" exhibit, the veggies are in the air this Week in Food. 4/17 ... More >>

Butcher & the Boar makes impressive debut

Floor covered in pennies, but food is worth much more

Gastro Non Grata's next event: dessert extravaganza Confection Carousel

If you have a sweet tooth, mark your calendars for Friday, April 20. Gastro Non Grata, the collective "chef-driven labor of love" headed by organizers Craig Drehmel and Jeff Mitchell has announced its next event, and it features a killer lineup of pastry talent.Tunes will be provided by the Cactus B ... More >>

The Munchies food awards include several local nominees

The recipe-swap, dinner-inspiration, and food-porn website Tablespoon, recently announced nominees for the Munchies, their first ever People's Choice-style food and restaurant awards. They're  judged by an expert panel that includes hometown star Andrew Zimmern, and the nominees include well-kn ... More >>

Cake Walk was a sweet success

​What began as a simple cake walk soon transformed into a sort of sweet vision quest for WCCO newsman Jason DeRusha. "I just don't know how I'm going to get this thing home," he remarked as the cake he'd won from event organizer and James Beard Award-nominated pastry chef Michelle Gayer loomed beh ... More >>

Share Our Strength's Minneapolis Cakewalk

Time for charity and a leap beer this Week in Food

$2.50 pints at Town Hall on Wednesday​There's an extra day this month to cram in some more eating, so we recommend a few charitable dining enterprises or the well-timed "leap beer" at Town Hall on Wednesday to make the most of it. 2/28 Don't wait for takeout to get your Thai fix. Hit up the ... More >>

Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart: Chef Chat

When the James Beard Award semifinalists were announced this week, it was no surprise that Michelle Gayer was listed among nods for Outstanding Pastry Chef. We've recognized her Salty Tart as our Best Bakery and the Beard Awards have nominated her in the past.   Her career began as a dish ... More >>

Win tickets to Share Our Strength's Cakewalk

Cake, tunes and booze--what's not to love?On March 1, James Beard Award nominee and Best Bakery owner Michelle Gayer will be hosting a cakewalk at the Fine Line. The proceeds will benefit Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending childhood hunger.In addition to the Salty Tart, a few ot ... More >>

James Beard Award finalists include Twin Cities names - Updated

​The James Beard award semifinalist list was announced today, and on the list were some familiar names. The awards were established in 1990 and named for chef, food writer, and celebrated lover of life, James Beard. The awards are the highest honor available to food professionals. Part of why the ... More >>

Cake Walk benefits Share Our Strength

​The Taste of the Nation Minneapolis is holding a cake walk with James Beard Award-nominated chef Michelle Gayer. Gayer's Salty Tart bakery in the heart of Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis churns out delicious confections, beautiful breads, and stacks of buttery cookies every day. The chef beg ... More >>

Andrew Zimmern Chef Chat with the Bizarre Foods czar, Part 2

​Local chef turned big-time TV star Andrew Zimmern is bringing his wildly successful Bizarre Foods home to Minneapolis. The premiere episode of this all-American season, premiering Monday on the Travel Channel at 9 p.m., features Minnesota foods.  (It's the second episode he's filmed in his h ... More >>

Good deeds, a beer dinner, and afternoon tea this week in food

Food Day arrives at Coffman Union​In the lead-up to everyone's favorite candy-laden holiday it can't hurt to embrace some healthier activities before you go full-on gut-rot. Thankfully this week in food brings both the first Food Day at Coffman Union and a great charitable opportunity at Soler ... More >>

Meritage hosts Oysterfest

​An unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon welcomed attendees to the first ever Oysterfest at Meritage restaurant in downtown St. Paul. Saint Peter Street in front of the restaurant was closed in honor of the occasion. Inside they moved out the usual bistro tables and chairs and set up shucking statio ... More >>

Mill City Bread Festival this weekend

Mill City Farmers Market and the Mill City Museum are joining forces to celebrate the Bread Festival, sponsored by Gold Medal Flour. This will be the first of an annual event celebrating the traditions of American bread-baking. The festival will include demonstrations and a bread-baking contest. He ... More >>

Oktoberfest has arrived this week in food

Everyone is German at the Black Forest Inn​Fans of all things German and sausagey will be pleased with this week's offerings, which skew heavily toward a meat-and-beer theme thanks to Oktoberfest activities. 9/25 If you made it through the weekend without attending the Black Forest Inn's Okt ... More >>

Delta teams with top local chefs for 12 new restaurants at MSP

The skies might not be friendlier, but things on the ground are tastier​What began with Ike's and Surdyk's has expanded into a dramatically upgraded foodie experience at MSP International, with new restaurants from a veritable who's who of local star chefs popping up on Concourse G at the Lindberg ... More >>

RetroRama: Underneath it All

The best local baguettes

Anne RuckerFive noteworthy baguettes baked right here in the Twin Cities.​Ah, the perfect baguette. What may seem to some a simple loaf, the baguette is deceptively complex, with its flaky, crispy outer crust and tender, slightly sweet interior. The Twin Cities are ripe with artisan bakeries scrat ... More >>

Ten tips from chefs to help you cook more in 2011

dane brian via Flickr.com​If you've resolved to cook more in 2011, you're in luck: The Twin Cities boasts a wealth of chefs with advice at the ready, and they have more to say than just, "Eat out." (Though they wouldn't mind if you did, of course.)The Hot Dish took chefs' tips for home cooks f ... More >>

Best of Hot Dish: September 20-24, 2010

Have a nice trip, see you next fall.​It's officially fall, the time for scarfs and sweaters, pots of soup, whole chickens roasting with lemons and garlic--this is the season that many consider the best time of the year. The Hot Dish brings you the recipes, food events, and news to help you enjoy t ... More >>

Salty Tart's Michelle Gayer: chef chat, part 3

At the Salty Tart, chef-owner Michelle Gayer runs a kitchen that's "mostly girls," an anomaly in the restaurant world. Today, in the third part of our interview with her (here are parts 1 and 2), she talks about what it's like to "hang with the boys," why she thinks women are better at cooking, and ... More >>

Salty Tart's Michelle Gayer: Chef Chat, part 2

Lisa GulyaMichelle Gayer of the Salty Tart bakery​ Today we bring you part 2 of our interview with Michelle Gayer, chef-owner at the Salty Tart bakery in Minneapolis's Midtown Global Market. (Here's part 1.) Today Gayer talks about why she likes making pastries more than bread and her favorite dis ... More >>

Salty Tart's Michelle Gayer: Chef Chat, part 1

Lisa GulyaMichelle Gayer of the Salty Tart bakery​Michelle Gayer, owner and head chef at the two-year-old Minneapolis bakery Salty Tart, has been busy the last six months. Last spring she was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. After attending the awards c ... More >>

Tour de Farm in Tangletown, Gastro non Grata in the Main Room: The Week in Food

​ There's a lot on tap this week: swig on Shakespeare, get in a food fight, and see our own Gastro non Grata at First Ave. Enjoy your Week in Food. Monday 6/21 A Midsummer Swig: sounds like our kind of culture. Enjoy music, local food, and drinks at CodeSpace while raising money for Tales of ... More >>

Taste of the Nation HOTList has a hot list of chefs

​The annual Taste of the Nation HOTList takes place at the Guthrie on June 24 and features the cooking/shaking of 15 favorite Twin Cities chefs and mixologists. The lineup reads like a Who's Who of the local dining scene, so if you have yet to dine at, say, Bar La Grassa, Cafe Maude, or the Strip ... More >>

Best of Hot Dish: March 22-26

Drink some wine or drive to taste some wine and then store it using a crazy new gadget. Check out what we learned reading this week's Hot Dish.

James Beard names finalists, Minnesotans among them

Minnesota represents among the 2010 finalists for James Beard Foundation awards.

Salty Tart ups the ante with a Surly cupcake

Michelle Gayer of the Salty Tart knows how to make a mean cupcake. Thanks to a little help from Twin Cities' own Surly Brewing, she knows how to make a Furious one too.

Coming soon: Fresh Taste Festival

The Fresh Taste Festival will celebrate the local, the sustainable, the organic, and the biodynamic.

Tour de Farm adds Walker Art Center date

The outdoor dinners are selling out fast--here's your chance to celebrate local foods with a five-course meal overlooking the sculpture garden.

Sweet Spot: Salty Tart's sugar buns

Dining prix fixe leads to the best deal, great meal

Leaving decisions to the chef takes away the pressure

Readers respond to "Strike Anywhere"

Sweet Spot: Salty Tart's take-and-bake cookies