In a somewhat backhanded way,
Thrillist recently listed the Twin Cities as one of seven most underrated food cities in the United States.
"What makes a great food city isn't necessarily Michelin stars or food trucks per capita," the article states. " While NYC, LA, and Chicago have always shined brightest, and upstarts like Austin and Portland might be the kings of meals on wheels, there are a ton of cities out there where tradition and innovation mix into unique melting pots... full of melting food."
Our own Dara Grumdal, food writer extraordinaire, enthusiastically fired back in the article that "Minneapolis is underrated because everywhere in the Midwest is underrated! Oklahoma City, Omaha, Madison... We're underrated because the coasts have all the people and all the media outlets, but we have all the farms. Duh."
She also went on to praise our bread, pork, dairy...and beer, of course. "We drink beer so good you would die, like America's only real farmhouse ale, Olvalde. What does farmhouse ale mean? It means we can grow and malt barley here, on black-dirt-rich land, just like Europeans did 200 yrs ago. Here's why Minneapolis and St. Paul are the most underrated American food cities: we have the good stuff, we enjoy and support it so much we don't let our artisans export it, so you don't even know about it... and we have the time to kick back and relish it."