NISSWA — Kristen Kish, newly appointed host of Top Chef, says, “Justin Sutherland offers the food of his heart: comforting, soulful and full of story.”
Chef Justin Sutherland joined the KAXE Morning Show to talk food memories, pickling, his distaste for mayonnaise and his new restaurant at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.
Food memories
“I think food is definitely one of those things that transcends so many different feelings and can bring up memories and, you know, smells and sounds,” Sutherland said. “And recipes can, you know — they bring back a lot of generally positive memories.”
He talked about his memory of his old blue Fisher Price table, pulling it up to the TV to watch Eureka’s Castle at lunchtime.
“My mom worked in the summers,” he said. “Every day it was two hot dogs with American cheese melted on top, Lowry’s seasoned salt and green onions.”
The food brought him back to that living room, in the summertime with this grandmother.
Writing a cookbook
Being approachable was important to Sutherland in writing his cookbook Northern Soul – Southern-Inspired Home Cooking from a Northern Kitchen.
“I wanted it to be very approachable and easy for any home cooker — anybody who’s never cooked,” Sutherland said. “Even as a chef, sometimes you buy those fancy cookbooks written by all these great chefs, and I’ll bring them home and be like, I can’t find that ingredient. I don’t have that piece of equipment. I don’t speak French.”
Pickles, deviled eggs, cole slaw and the ‘hot brown’
The new cookbook has a wide variety of recipes, including “Hot Brown,” the signature dish of one of Sutherland’s restaurants in Minneapolis, Handsome Hog.
“That is the state sandwich of Kentucky,” he said.
The open face sandwich is covered in mornay sauce (a bechamel sauce enriched with Gruyere), cheese, bacon, fried eggs and roasted tomatoes.
Northern Soul in Nisswa
Growing up in Minnesota, Sutherland frequented the Brainerd lakes area and Grand View Lodge, so a partnership seemed natural to him. The Nisswa location is different than his Uptown Minneapolis restaurant, he said.
“It’s one of the first times they’re actually able to do like, real true, true, smoked barbecue,” Sutherland said. “They bought a huge smoker that runs 24/7.”
Slow-cooked brisket, ribs, burnt ends, and pork shoulder are featured on the menu.
Northern Soul is now open at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.
