5 Things Volume 4

Volume 4

The backpack kids are back in town. School is back in session and with a new season comes its ups and downs.

1. Our co-workers have less time for us! Some of our really hilarious and youthful souls are back in the world of academia. Study hard: Cedar, Asher, Keira, Jake, Cy, Cal, Ian, Kjell, Lucy and Thomas. On a very, very exciting note- Penti (our summer spunky basement daredevil) is studying abroad in India and we wish him all the luck and encouragement on his grand adventure overseas.

Pictured is the Mr. Deli Manager TK -- not going back to school -- who's been keeping his nose in books while researching more and more about fermentation but that's for another 5 things.

2. We have been joined by a local jean-vest-wearing-rockstar Jacob. When he's not slaying sandwiches, Jacob's a multi-media working artist in Duluth. He makes short films, shoots video and plays in several bands in town. Welcome to the island of food weirdos!

Ok... So if you add the look, the knife and the t-shirt... You might get the wrong impression of him. He's actually an incredible sweetheart. We just wanted him to be fierce for the internet. 

3. Earlier this summer our assistant manager JT (read: Coach) took a leap of faith and moved across the country to Montana. We were heartbroken to lose him as he brought in a stellar sense of humor to the workplace, but we knew that he had a different scenery calling his name. So since we're in the middle of testing our new sandwich kit, we sent JT the first four person Cajun Finn Kit! Reports say it arrived safely and made for a sentimental meal with a piece of home. We miss you, JT!!!

This could be you. Stay tuned as we will announce the Cajun Finn Kit this fall!!

Barn dinner. Barn dinner. Barn dinner. Those two words have been on everyone's mind for the last month here at the Smokehaus! So we are happy that tomorrow is finally the day that we will be sharing and making a wonderful experience with 50 guests and co-workers. Eric Goerdt sure knows how to throw a damn party!

4. Stephen and Mary made Mozzarella from scratch for our antipasto platters that we are serving at "Boot in the Barn" this Saturday at Hemlock Preserve. To make Mozzarella you have to bring up your curd mixture to 105 F. There was talk about double gloves, hot hands and other phrases that confirms that love and labor went into the making of the Mozzarella. 

5. Three large Porchettas will be smoked, roasted and fire licked as the main event for our "Boot in the Barn" dinner. This week Eric and TK rolled Berkshire pork loin and bellies together. Each Porchetta was massaged and slathered with white wine, lemon, rosemary, sage, garlic and olive oil and will be cooked until tender-perfection. Each Porchetta weighs about 20 lbs!!!! That's a lot of mouth-watering Berkshire pork.

Excuse our raw image, processing isn't always glamorous but the outcomes are worth the mess. 

Northern Comfort - A Barn Dinner with Northern Waters Smokehaus

On July 22, 2017, we welcome you to another Smokehaus/Hemlock Preserve collaboration at the barn in Esko.

We can't help but reminisce.

It's August 2015, a heady day amid a heady summer, and I am slogging through piles of prep in the Smokehouse. There are smokers, dishwashers, managers, prep people, and miscellaneous fishermen who need their fish custom-smoked endlessly pouring in and out of the long oblong space, slipping on the moist bricks of the kitchen floor and talking as loud as they can in order to be heard above the clamber of our industrial fans and Daft Punk. Fresh smoke is in the air from a recent truck (a large, rolling cart that has little shelves to load perforated racks for smoking) of smoked pork shoulder, which is cooling magnificently in the center of the room, a white-handled Dexter knife placed on the top rack beside a chunk that has been hacked off and savored. I'm "supervising" cornbread: Eric's recipe, which includes lovely fresh corn off the cob and lovelier butter and cream, needs to be backed in batches and served while still warm to guests 45 miles and 2 hours away. We have heirloom tomatoes to delicately dismantle, Octo-Vin (fresh and unashamedly from the pages of the Momofuku cookbook) to make, herbs to pick, pasta salad to season, servers to wrangle, and the almighty "gather" list to attend to. I've got an empty stomach, a torn t-shirt and filthy apron, and it's about time to load up.

On the way to Esko, just as we crest Thompson Hill, I get a frantic call from my partner in crime, April. She can't account for the Octo-Vin - and neither can I, so I scramble to the back of my Volvo as my husband continues speeding towards our destination, and I'm digging through towels and warm (read:hot) cast iron skillets of cornbread and adorable menu cards that Flo magically whipped up and I touch a mystery Cambro, extract it from its nesting place - and voila! - our not-so-secret sauce. "Good news," I tell April over the Volvo's failing muffler, "I found the Octo-Vin." "We need ice!" April laughs. We're pretty used to these situations - we kind of live for them.

There's a little cloud of dust as we turn down the dirt road toward Hemlock Preserve, obscuring the brambly ditch weeds and meandering path for a few minutes, but we make the turn toward Sue Watt's estate and everything becomes clear. Two straight rows of pale pebbles guides our tire, a manicured strip of hyperactive green grass down the center. Our kitchen - a ten-by-ten foot tent that we use during farmers markets along with a propane-powered set of turkey fryers and a few folding tables smartly lined with Epicurean cutting boards - is pretty much ready for action and we pull up to unload. I leave the Volvo empty handed in order to get the lay of the land and walk toward the barn.

The barn - white, stately, adorned with Rhododendrons - I haven't seen it for a few months, when it was closed off for the season. Now it is in full blossom. It is elegant and country, mismatched and perfectly appointed, it is the Henri Matisse of barns - it is natural but it is secretly, expertly organized. Every nook and cranny is a still life. The sunlight is somehow captured in the vaulted holiness of the barn's wooden ceiling arches, and I get the feeling I am smelling hay from pre-war Minnesota. There is twinkling from the silverware and creaking from the floorboards. Ned has started to tune up his guitar and starts playing a Pavement song gently to himself. This is perfect. I think this to myself, but I'm saying it out loud, and everyone else is saying it too.

The food that follows has no choice - it is also perfect, as are the guests, the drinks, the wacky chauffeur, the soft ice cream, the distant lightening. This place is like that - inexplicably, effortlessly glorious. The day's preparations, anxieties, arguments and oversights have vanished into the evening, drifting down the meadow into the St. Louis River Valley with the embers of our bonfire, soaked up and overturned by our guests and their laughter.

We invite you to join us once again to Hemlock Preserve. Dinner will be served - fried chicken and fixings - as well as drinks and dessert. We figure we all deserve a little Northern Comfort.

Hemlock Preserve barn with table by Sue Watt, dinner by Northern Waters Smokehaus, and menu cards by Flo.

Barn

Ned Netzel

Northern Bagel Sandwich Kit

Creamy whipped scallion cream cheese, perfectly smoked, flakey Traditional Salmon and a golden (with a slight hint of sweetness) Lake Superior Bakehouse Bagel.

Can you remember the anticipation while waiting in line?

Can you remember the list of to-dos and must-sees while visiting the western tip of Lake Superior?

Do you remember avoiding making eye contact with the Seagulls (or lake birds)? 

This May, we will help transport you to the unsalted sea. You can bring a friend along and share a Northern Bagel anywhere in the United States.

No luggage required. 

Coming Soon

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