Bayport Cookery - Fine Dining... Culinary Delights

Found this on City Pages. I searched for the recommended restaraunts outside the metro. This one looks the nicest and is in Bayport just south of Stillwater. There are 7 more listed that are in Stillwater and Forest Lake. Notes on them below.

Bayport Cookery - Fine Dining... Culinary Delights


Bayport Cookery
Restaurants
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Another jewel in the crown of St. Croix valley restaurants, this place is a foodie's dream come true. Every night chef/owner Jim Kyndberg--renowned for cooking for the thin and mighty at the Aveda Spa--fills up his restaurant for one 7:00 p.m. seating and showers guests with five courses of edible treasures along a theme. Results have included a Chocolate Lover's Dinner, a Garlic Festival, variations of American regional cuisine, and springtime's legendary Morel Fest. Menus change nightly during the (usually several-weeks-long) run of a given theme and feature a preponderance of food from local farmers. The wine list, however, is global in scope, and there's a full bar. The prix-fixe dinners tend to be a little over $30, and reservations are an utter must--feasts like this are only for those appreciative enough to call first. American Posh. $$$-$$$$, Notable Wine List, Romantic. (Link to this Review)
328 5th Ave N, Bayport; 651.430.1066


Big Apple Bagels
Restaurants
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Forgive them their cheesy lingo, and their mini-cheesecake "My Favorite Muffin Muffins" (You mean your favorite muffins, or my favorite muffins?! Break for hilarious laughter, hazelnut coffee, those special moments only best friends share; add more muffins; repeat.) If you can get past that, please note that this chain makes its bagels on site, all day, and the results are quite impressive: garlic-slathered garlic bagels with the lid of crisp chunks that garlic lovers crave, egg bagels as yellow as sunshine, and even chocolate-chip bagels for the little squirmers. Coffee and Confections. $, Breakfast / Brunch, Kid Friendly, Vegetarian Spoken Here. (Link to this Review)
508 S. Lake St, Forest Lake; 651.464.4997


Brookside Bar & Grill
Marine on St. Croix is a town on the St. Croix River, which is to picture-postcard scenes what Las Vegas is to sins, or what New York is to dreams. Every tulip, every finial, every sparrow in Marine seems to cock its head to you and say: If you only had your camera, buddy, you and me could make a beautiful fundraising calendar here. This is not the only reason to come here. The main tavern in town, the Brookside, makes some of the best burgers in the state. Homemade cheese curds, darn good chili, imported German beers on tap, and the chance to wander off after dinner and gaze at the St Croix from a picture-postcard perfect viewing platform round out the experience. Just don't forget to pack your camera. American Casual. $, Kid Friendly. (Link to this Review)
140 Judd, Marine-on-St. Croix; 651.433.5132


Cesare's Wine Bar
Restaurants
Full Article
12/10/03
The most ambitious and accomplished wine-bar between Chicago and Seattle, Cesaré's makes up for in wine what it lacks in location. Why do you have to be way the heck out in Stillwater, dear? Oh well. Imagine any kind of alliterative wine phrase and Cesaré’s is likely to have a wine to match it. American Albariños? Sure. Budget Barbera blends? Natch. Chocolatey and concentrated Chilean Carmenere? Why bother asking? Of course they have that. Spectacular stemware, sweet service, and artisanal snacks with a slow-food accent and a very simple, very little bit of chef-driven cuisine round out the Cesaré’s experience. American Casual. $$$, Great Bar, Notable Wine List, Outdoor Seating, Romantic, Vegetarian Spoken Here. (Link to this Review)
102 S 2nd St, Stillwater; 651.439.1352


Famous Dave's BBQ
Restaurants
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From the noise of the "El" train rumbling overhead to the Disneyish, chic-shack décor, there's a lot for barbecue snobs to get their panties up in a bunch about at Famous Dave's. (Don't get us started about all those feel-good business stories that make it sound like it's a civic duty to support this place.) Still, it must be admitted that this home-grown monster chain has a good heart--live music at some locations, decent prices, a friendly bar, a cheap kid's menu. Plus, it's one of the better places to dine with a big group or with tots. As far as the barbecue, the chopped pork is the best stuff on the menu, and if you get it with the ham-a-rific "Wilbur" beans and coleslaw, you're eating well by snob or nonsnob standards. All the other favorites are also in attendance--ribs, chicken, burgers, brisket--and you should see the fireworks that arrive in the happy-birthday brownie. Lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch. American Casual. $-$$, Barbecue, Kid Friendly. (Link to this Review)
43 19th St SW, Forest Lake; 651.464.4400
14200 60th St N, Stillwater; 651.439.5200


Marx Wine Bar & Grill
Restaurants
Full Article
7/17/02

Marx Wine Bar & Grill is a jewel-bright cheapie of a can-do, super-friendly bistro in the middle of Stillwater's main drag. Chef and owner Mark Hansen does a great job with aggressively flavored twists on Italian-American classics: He makes his own pasta, mozzarella, and one of the simplest and best marinara sauces around. Frankly, with all the intense, big-value, high-energy food and good, inexpensive wine, the place seems more like it fits into the big picture of New York Italian diaspora (Florida, Long Island) than Stillwater antiques-village, but hey, who's complaining? American Casual. $$, Great Bar, Notable Wine List, Pizza, Vegetarian Spoken Here. (Link to this Review)
241 S Main St S, Stillwater; 651.439.8333