5 Things Volume 5

Volume 5 - Les Sgo!

#1 / Boot in the Barn was a success! The folks came, The cooks cooked and the staff worked really hard. We are really proud of everyone involved!

#2 / Beer in hand - Sandwich in Mouth The Cedar lounge is one of our favorites places to catch a drink and relax. Starting this week you will find ultra fancy, co-branded menus throughout the establishment! That’s right, you can order a sandwich straight to your bar stool at the Cedar Lounge. We think you’ll love the way our sandwiches taste with a cold one.

#3 / The Future Holds New… Photographs! Our creative crew (Stephen & Flo) took a trip to Mary’s (GM) house to scout locations for our new product photos. The abundance of trinkets, textures and materials was inspiring and we can’t wait to get cracking on this dream project.

#4 / Happy Mistakes Our restaurant (Northern Waters Restaurant) makes ice cream from scratch. But what do you get when you burn the base for this sweet treat? Cream Brûlée ice cream! It’s quickly becoming one of our favorite flavors, although the curry is pretty dang tasty…. Nothing like a good happy mistake!

#5 / Our Bread’s First Voyage Our Baker Jerry has been cranking out loaf after loaf of his delicious rye bread for our deli and we are loving it! Although the loaves are living the good life in Canal Park I could tell they were feeling a little antsy and longed for a bigger taste of the world. Low and behold they took the grand voyage to Woodland Ave. and became a permanent addition to our restaurant’s Reuben (The Thursday and sometimes Friday special). This sandwich is truly a legend in the making and now it’s one step closer.

5 Things Volume 3

Volume 3

It's the last official Friday of the summer! We've been honking right along, despite the competition (or welcome reprieve) of the State Fair, with catering, special events, and delivery.

1. We cranked out 67 BEAUTIFUL raviolo for our Boot in the Barn Feast on September 9th. Eric's special pasta recipe is stuffed with Bayfield sheep's milk ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, Minnesota sweet corn, leeks, and love. 

2. Stephen finished the Cedar Lounge menu - making this cozy Superior watering hole even more unique: it's the only place in Superior we will be providing regular delivery!

3. Northern Waters Restaurant has been offering a Burbot Po' Boy sandwich - based on the New Orleans original but adapted for the Northwoods, it's a must-try! 

4. Ken Hammerlund, mystical vegetable genius (aka our tomato guy), appeared with his own blend hot sauce. We've been working on our own recipe, and his zesty, veggie-infused concoction is a great inspiration.

5. Woody's brand new baby boy has robbed him from our basement! Jeremy has been holding down the prep room nonetheless, even as the sandwich cooler has been on the fritz, employees have called in sick, and delivery has exploded! Thanks, Jerbaby Boi.

6. BONUS: Boot in the Barn planning is revving up. We've selected a remarkable amount of crystal, travertine, bronze, and silver to make a Medici marvel. Ci vediamo li! 

Fish Week - Atlantic Salmon

Today's fish week post is going to highlight our Atlantic Salmon provider and describe a few dishes True North Atlantic Salmon is in.

A good finished product starts with an even better raw product. We are committed to serving high quality, sustainable, and ethically sound Atlantic salmon in our restaurant. Here is what our supplier 'True North' has to say about their product and practice.

"The True North Salmon Company has been providing fresh, naturally-raised, farmed Atlantic salmon to the U.S. and Canada for over 30 years. Our family-run company is the largest producer of fresh Atlantic salmon in North America, and we are a premier supplier of certified sustainable Atlantic salmon to leading supermarkets and restaurants across North America.

Our commitment to providing nutritious, sustainable salmon has led to constant improvement for our salmon, our environment and our communities, for which we have won numerous awards. 

Our Atlantic salmon is of the highest quality and we're very proud to offer 3-star salmon from our own BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) certified facilities! Today, we continue to lead the way by partnering with world-renowned university scientists to incorporate groundbreaking Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems into our operations. IMTA creates balanced eco-systems by growing mussels and seaweed alongside the salmon."

What is BAP and why do we buy from BAP certified suppliers?

• BAP standards encompass the entire aquaculture production chain, including farms, processing plants, hatcheries and feed mills.

• All standards address every key element of responsible aquaculture, including environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety, animal welfare and traceability.

• The seafood processing plant standards are benchmarked against the latest Global Food Safety Initiative food-safety requirements.

• A market development team actively promotes the BAP program to retailers and foodservice operators worldwide on behalf of BAP-certified facilities.

Lets dig a little deeper on farmed fish.

Atlantic salmon does not exist in the wild (or enough for commercial fishing interests on the Eastern seaboard, anyway), our Atlantic salmon is always farm-raised salmon. Farmed fish is a crucial aspect of our food supply because the consumption of fish has surpassed the supply of wild fish. There just isn't enough wild fish to go around. One issue about farmed fish is the abundance of misinformation published on fish farms. Yes, unfortunately there are farms not practicing sustainable farming and treating workers/communities unfairly, but this isn't the case for all farms,  and we've been on the lookout for sustainable farms for years.

We have dedicated so much time researching and supporting the environmentally and socially responsible farms like True North. It's ingrained in our business model. Not only do we feel good about the product we serve, but the quality of the fish is overwhelming. We love our BAP certified Salmon! 

Read about the five key areas that True North uses to measure sustainability here.

Featured Dishes

The Salmon Empire

East goes West, then heads North for this Japanese-inspired dish. BAP certified Atlantic Salmon is pan-seared and served with savory coconut rice and a lightly dressed wakame salad. Topped with crispy match-stick radishes and scallions. Fresh!

Salmon Satay

Strips of BAP certified Atlantic Salmon, soy, sambal, ginger and almonds. On a stick. Served with coconut rice and Haus slaw.

If you’re interested in learning more about our salmon supplier please visit True North's website. They have a ton of interesting information to dig through!

Attention Friends - Change is Happening!

Not all experiments work the first time — just ask Edison with his 1,000 attempts at inventing the light bulb. So while we’re grateful to our core of loyal customers who loved & supported our No Tipping policy as well as our employees who have embraced this model, it has become clear that many diners are not comfortable with it.  Out of the gate it’s also proven challenging to incorporate all of these personnel costs into the business model.

As a culture, we’ve been reading menus one way all our lives. When we rolled in the tip & tax into our competitive prices, it was easy to perceive that number as high.  So, as of January 12, 2017 Northern Waters will take on a typical tipping model.

What will change: You’ll see some lower priced items on the menu as well as the addition of some of our favorite sandwiches from our Smokehaus and Deli in Canal Park– like the Cajun Finn, Pastrami Mommy, Cold Turkey & Northern Bagel. We’re also going to make sure that our great daily specials and happy hour are out there on social media. Please tune in!

What WILL NOT change: We’re proud to continue with our paid sick and vacation time for employees — a rarity in our industry. And we assure you that will still have the same high quality, haus-made food you know and love. We’ll continue to use age-old methods to cure and smoke our own meats, support other local businesses by sourcing our ingredients, supporting our employees’ commitment to equity and create a beautiful dining environment.

Lastly, thanks for coming in to Northern Waters. We love making you some of the best food anywhere.

Best,

Eric, Lynn and our entire Northern Waters family