Minnesota's ultimate farm-to-table restaurant opens in Minneapolis

Farmers Kitchen and Bar, the first restaurant entirely owned and operated by the Minnesota Farmers Union, opens today in downtown Minneapolis.

State of play: After pausing the project last year due to the pandemic, the restaurant is finally in business, albeit with limited hours until it can hire more staff.

• It sources meat, dairy, produce, grains and other ingredients from dozens of farms across the state, and sells local products from a small marketplace inside the restaurant.

What I ate: I tried the bison wild rice meatballs, walleye "tots" with tartar sauce and the Fern + Dale, a turkey sandwich with bacon and cranberry relish named after Ferndale Market turkey farm in Cannon Falls. The sandwich was my favorite.

• Check out photos of the food and interior on our Instagram page @axiostwincities.

Zoom out: Local farmers have faced crop shortages and other pitfalls as drought conditions remain across the state.

• Jerry and Sue Untiedt of Untiedt Farms in Waverly, which supplies fruits and vegetables to the restaurant and grocers across the state, said they've received less than half an inch of rain this year.
• "This place isn't about the money for us," Jerry Untiedt said about Farmers Kitchen. "It's about exposing the Twin Cities to fresh and local food, and educating them on the supply chain behind it."

If you go: Farmers Kitchen and Bar is open Wednesday through Sunday from 7:30am-4pm, with the full-service menu served from 10am-4pm.