french culinary institute

Alex Roberts Photo by Kate NG SommersChef Alex Roberts is a low-key kind of guy. He doesn’t yell or throw temper tantrums, a la Gordon Ramsay. He doesn't have the legendary ego of a rock star chef ("I don't feel that I'm the best at anything," he recently told the Star Tribune's Rick Nelson).

For a city its size, Minneapolis is home to an impressive number of great restaurants, with amazing chefs focused on providing seasonal, local, sustainable Minnesota-and-Wisconsin-grown food. Add in St. Paul (which you really should, especially given the existence of Heartland, named St. Paul's best restaurant in the City Pages 2009 poll), and the number becomes almost shocking. Restaurant Alma has been quietly delighting fans of local food since 1999.