Gray Duck Tavern

"Around here, it’s “duck, duck, gray duck.” This downtown restaurant recently doubled down on its Minnesota dedication with a new menu that includes all kinds of nods to the state’s cuisine including a chicken wrap served in lefse, a turkey leg like a self-contained Thanksgiving dinner, and what is currently ranked as the best restaurant hotdish around." - Joy Summers

"Gray Duck, the downtown St. Paul restaurant with the most Minnesotan restaurant name of all time, is switching its menu focus from global comfort food to zero in on Minnesota fare. Part of the Madison group of restaurants, led by Top Chef contestant Justin Sutherland, Gray Duck first opened with comfort foods from around the world, including a legendary burger. Before getting too worked up about that burger know, the saucy Animal is saying put, but much of the menu now reads like a greatest hits of regional dishes. There will be hotdish, served as mom intended, with tater tots on top. A wrap is folded together with fresh lefse, as opposed to the standard flour tortilla. There’s a supperclub style Prime Rib French Dip and Swedish meatballs with creamy mashed potatoes, among others. As with many Madison projects, Sutherland is working with chef Donald Gonzalez, who also oversaw Gray Duck when it first launched. The experience between the two chefs, one a culinary celebrity on the rise and the other a French Laundry trained award winner in his own rite, means that these Minnesota dishes are getting a bit more elevated than grandma’s hotdish and the whole cream-of-something situation." - Joy Summers

"Sutherland noted that the commute out to Stillwater, while he also oversees Saint Paul’s Handsome Hog, Public Kitchen + Bar, Ox Cart Alehouse, Fitzgerald’s and Gray Duck Tavern was a bit much." - Joy Summers

"Gray Duck, opened by Donald Gonzalez, part of Madison Restaurant Group." - Joy Summers