November 17th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
As someone who’s written a lot of feature stories and press releases, it’s tempting to write something cheesy as a lead for this month’s column. But, instead, this column will actually feature cheese and many of the dairy distributors you need to know about in the area.
If you’re interested in exploring the maturing dairy options here in Fargo-Moorhead, there are four locally owned mongers you definitely need to be familiar with.
Known as Fargo’s…
October 20th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
You’ve probably heard about some of the brewery and winery tours happening around here. But in this column, we’re going to take a tour of many of the locally owned butcher shops.
Let’s start in Dilworth at Butcher Block Meats. This market opened last summer and is located in Dilworth’s hip new area on the east side of town.
Butcher Block offers a variety of freshly cut items including many favorite cuts of beef and pork. They have a large meat case to…
September 14th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
In this land of hotdish and ham, it used to be a real pain to find something satisfyingly spicy in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Thankfully, there’s a much different menu here these days. So give a muchas gracias to the following establishments for greatly improving the scene.
Let’s start with El Vaqueros, which is a restaurant that opened for business a short…
August 17th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
It’s Mick’s Office vs. Vic’s Lounge for best beef over in spud town. How will these fierce competitors stack up, and which will come out on top?
Because it’s legendary, let’s start with Mick’s. On weekends, this college bar is home to many Concordia and Minnesota State University Moorhead students. I’d guess that the amount of burgers…
July 20th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
While the Fargo-Moorhead area offers many great things to dine on these days, there are some hopeful establishments that would make for big improvements to the local food scene here.
The first restaurant on my wish list is a full-on Korean restaurant. You may have heard of some of the Korean barbeque places around town, and that’s all fine and dandy. I do love good bulgogi and kalbi. It’s delicious.
What I’m talking about is a restaurant where meals are…
June 16th, 2022
By Rick Gion
Photos by Rick Gion
Some people say that a pizza tastes better if you cut it in squares. And, the main event in this food battle features Fargo-Moorhead’s favorite thin-crust squared circles.
Judging a competition between Duane’s House of Pizza and Sammy’s Pizza and Restaurant is not easy. It’s a high-level affair. Did you know that both places are favorites of former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan?
The good senator likes his thin-crust pies well done with…
May 18th, 2022
By Rick Gion
Photo by Rick Gion
As you may have read, the Hotel Donaldson and the Hodo Lounge are transitioning to the ownership group that runs the Blarney Stone Irish Pubs in North Dakota. Although feelings seem to be mixed about this move, it’ll be good to see the iconic Downtown Fargo building alive again.
I’m not going to share any overly strong opinions in this column regarding the sale. I’m just going to write about some history, reflect on personal…
April 21st, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
Egg bake is about as North Dakota as knoephla soup. You betcha! Two local breakfast bests serve different versions of this dish. Let’s taste which restaurant’s bake is the most eggcellent.
Bernbaum’s
On the menu, it’s labeled as the “daily egg bake” here, and to regulars, it’s called “egg of the day.”
Bernbaum’s egg bake is similar to a crustless quiche. It has a custardy texture that’s achieved by adding cream to the eggs and cooked at…
March 16th, 2022
By Olivia Slyter
A movement is currently circulating around North Dakota to provide locally-raised beef in ND school lunches.
The movement was initiated by the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota (I-BAND) wondering how to go about donating and/or selling local beef to ND public schools. The main purpose of the movement is to create a sense of community pride. Deborah Egeland, Assistant Director of the Child Nutrition Programs in the North Dakota Department of…
March 16th, 2022
By Rick Gion
rickgion@gmail.com
They’re slinging skillets at just about every diner around here these days. Let’s take a mosey around town and taste how a few of the local breakfast big guns match up.
First, visit Fargo's Main Avenue Fryn’ Pan. Their new location is very close to the old location. However, the new space doesn’t quite have the feel of the old space. If you’re looking for the classic Fryn’ Pan ambience, you’ll want to head to the Moorhead location off of…
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