lee zukor

I'm exhausted and full, and my throat hurts. And yet, somehow, Simple, Good, and Tasty's February local food event at Grand Cafe last night was just perfect.

Maybe it was the beautiful restaurant that made the night so special - wooden and warm, with strings of lights and lovely paintings on the walls. Maybe it was the food - an exceptional cassoulet prepared with locally raised duck from Au Bon Canard and house made sausage by Grand Cafe's chef Jon Radle; a delicious salad with beets, walnuts, and chevre; and an astoundingly good ginger bread pudding with orange compote and caramel cream. Maybe it was the fact that Simple, Good, and Tasty was celebrating a full year's worth of blog posts, directory listings, and events connecting Minnesotans to our food sources. But my guess is that it wasn't any of these things.

July is local food month at Live Green Twin Cities, a supercool blog that focuses on the “green lifestyle.” That’s good news for me, because I’m partnering with Molly Priesmeyer at Live Green to produce a bunch of new content throughout the month. Here’s what the site says:

We’ll introduce you to great local stores and shops that sell healthy and organic local food; local chefs focusing on sustainable practices; and local farmers producing healthy and organic produce, meats, and more.