Welcome to our collection of recipes, lore, and favorite stories from all of us at the Smokehaus. We hope you find something interesting and useful to add to your food journey.
One of our simplest offerings is also our most impressive. The Northern Bagel is a showcase of our "traditional" smoked Atlantic salmon. Our Haus-made scallion cream cheese is the perfect counterpoint for the sweet and slightly salty salmon, and the toasted bagel is a perfect delivery device. Our second best seller after the untouchable Cajun Finn. This is possibly the best way to experience our smoked salmon.
Traditional smoked salmon from the deli.
One of our earliest and still very popular sandwiches is the Sitka Sushi. Named after Sitka Alaska where Smokehaus co-owner Lynn was raised. For many years it featured our cured gravlax. Now it boasts our first ever cold-smoked, melt-in-your-mouth Nova lox (available in the deli case). Also includes pickled ginger, cilantro, cucumber, cabbage, sesame oil & vinegar, wasabi mayo, and Sriracha on a hero roll. It's one of the most perfectly balanced and refreshing sandwiches you're likely to find. A staff favorite and one we always recommend to newcomers. "The best sandwich on the menu" according to Eric, our fearless leader.
Our Summer wine list is live! Enjoy these tasting notes, introductions, and pairing suggestions for each selection, as put together by our buyer and resident wine-nerd, Taylor Kline. And make sure you check out our Wine & Jazz night: Each Thursday from 4-8pm wine is 25% off by the bottle, with specials by the glass, and from 5:30-7:30pm, our haus jazz quartet the Hounds (or another select jazz group when the Hounds are busy) performs exquisite live jazz—the perfect pairing for any wine.
Les Bulles Nordiques. Mousse Sparkling Wine Co. Jordan, MN. 2023.
Grapes: Itasca
$15 btg /$46 btb
Tasting Notes: pear, gooseberry, honeydew melon, bread
Haus-pairings: salamini, Cold Turkey, Gorilla, Sitka Sushi
2023 Itasca Pét-Nat is a delicious dry wine with beautiful notes of peaches and pineapple, made from 100% Itasca grapes, hand-harvested and gently whole-cluster pressed. The wine was bottled right from the tank during the first fermentation in order to capture the fresh, fruity flavors from the fruit and the natural bubbles from the fermentation.
Josie Boyle is the winemaker/owner of Mousse Sparkling Wine Co based in Jordan, Minnesota. She is the first in Minnesota to make a pét-nat style wine, short for the French term, Pétillant-Naturel, where secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle creating CO₂ (the bubbles.)
Big Salt. Ovum Wines. Willamette Valley, Oregon. 2023.
Grapes: White blend- Riesling, Muscat, & Gewurztraminer.
$12 btg / $38 btb
Tasting Notes: honeysuckle, white flowers, kumquat, sea salt
Haus-pairings: Great Summer Caper w/ Lox, Bánh Faux Mì, Cedar’s Secret, Spring Roll
2023 Big Salt is dry, aromatic and zippy. Oceanic, citrusy mandarin and pineapple leap out of the glass. Fully native fermentation, no subtractions or additions, except for SO₂: All of this is done in neutral barrels of acacia and oak, as well as cement egg and Austrian cask.
Established in 2011 by Ksenija and John House, Ovum was founded in hopes of producing Oregonian white wines that are honest reflections of time and place. Their low intervention production method is a commitment to letting the vintage and vineyard shine, not the vintner.
Lieu Dit. Santa Ynez Valley, CA. 2022
Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
$13 btg / $42 btb
Tasting Notes: lime zest, sage, minerals
Haus-pairings: Spring Roll, Big Dipper, Fuzzy Bunny, Italiensk
Founded by Eric Railsback and Justin Willett, Lieu Dit has rapidly risen to prominence in Santa Barbara County's vibrant low-intervention winemaking landscape. Their distinctive approach combines tank and neutral barrel fermentations. Their 2022 Sauv Blanc is sourced from the Happy Canyon Vineyard within the Santa Ynez Valley—their terroir boasts a rich diversity of soils, including sand, shale, gravel, clay, chert, and serpentine rocks.
Lieu Dit “Said Place” capitalizes on Santa Barbara County's micro-climates and marine-influenced soils, ideal for cultivating these grapes.
Adèle Blanc. Éric Texier. Rhône Valley, VDF. 2022.
Grapes: Clairette (90%) with a splash of Marsanne (10%).
$14 btg / $44 btb
Tasting Notes: green apple, white flowers, almonds
Haus-pairings: Slammin’ Gordon, NWS Salad, Cajun Finn, Clubhaus
An homage to the heroine of a French historical fantasy comic book, Adèle Blanc-Sec, this wine lives up to its namesake (the surname literally translating as White-Dry) and takes you on a whirlwind journey. This wine is fermented with native yeasts in a cement tank for 6-8 months.
Eric Texier made the unprecedented leap from nuclear engineer to winemaker in the early 1990s. In keeping with his rigorous academic background, he studied oenology in Bordeaux. While learning the ropes in the Mâcon at Verget by day, he burned the midnight oil reading handbooks and manuals from the 19th century to learn about long-lost styles and vinification techniques.
Mae Son “Vino Orange”. Matteo Furlani. Alto-Adige, Italy. 2022.
Grapes: Muller Thurgau
$13 btg / $42 btb
Tasting Notes: fresh apples, mountain flowers, dried apricot
Haus-pairings: Slammin’ Gordon, Squealy Dan, Club Mariner, Bánh Faux Mì
Furlani Mae Son Orange is a natural wine made from Muller Thurgau. The grapes are hand-harvested at the start of September, then de-stemmed by hand. They undergo a long period of skin contact for 20-25 days, after which they are left to spontaneously ferment in open-top steel vats.
Matteo Furlani, a fourth-generation winemaker, is the dedicated custodian of his family's vineyards above the alpine city of Trento in the Dolomites at over 700 meters. His approach to winemaking, honed not through formal study, but through the knowledge passed down from his father and grandfather, emphasizes a deep connection to the land and a commitment to natural methods.
Una Lou. Scribe Winery. Sonoma, CA. 2022.
Grapes: Rosé of Pinot Noir
$13 btg / $42 btb
Tasting Notes: watermelon, white peach, passion fruit
Haus-pairings: Cold Turkey, Sitka Sushi, Pork Loin D-Luxx
Una Lou is a rosé composed from family owned and sustainably farmed Pinot Noir in Sonoma, California. Husband & wife, Andrew Mariani and Lia Ives, of Scribe Winery have dedicated Una Lou to their daughter.
The winery–founded in 2007 on a property that pioneered pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley winemaking–is managed by fourth-generation California farmers and brothers, Andrew and Adam Mariani. Andrew and Adam believe that the best wines are a result of a healthy relationship between human and nature, and that a vineyard managed in harmony with the greater ecosystem results in more site-specific wines that represent a sense of time and place.
Gaspard. Loire Valley, FR. 2022.
Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
$12 btg / $38 btb
Tasting Notes: fresh dark berries, savory herbs, pepper
Haus-pairings : Hedonist, Silence of the Lambwich, Cold Turkey, Hardhat
“Gaspard,” a traditional French boy’s name that means “bringer of treasure,” is a private wine label made for NY natural wine importer, Jenny & Francois.
Pinot Noir grapes are sourced from growers who work sustainably or organically (no herbicide) across different vineyards in the Loire Valley, are fermented with native yeast, spend a couple of months on their fine lees and then undergo only light filtration and fining. Carefree and fruity! Gaspard is a compelling light red with delicate tannins and plenty of dark fruit flavors that’s perfect with a charcuterie plate, pâté, or lighter red meat dishes.
Vino da Sete. Tenuta iL Nespolo. Piedmont, IT. 2022.
Grapes: Red Blend- Barbera, Freisa, Sangiovese.
$12 / $48- 1L bottle
Tasting Notes: currant, ripe strawberries, fresh leather
Haus-parings: Squealy Dan w/ salami, Italiensk, Hardhat, Gorilla
“Vino da Sete,” translating to “wine of thirst,” this vibrant red wine exhibits a medium-ruby hue and offers a lively palate. A red blend comprising Barbera, Freisa, and Sangiovese, this wine embodies a harmonious blend, showcasing the unique terroir and winemaking techniques employed in its creation.
Luca Amerio is a youthful man whose quiet demeanor belies his inventive winemaking style. His family’s ancestral lands are situated in Moasca, a tiny village resting on the southern flank of the province of Asti, the heart of Piedmont.
Wiley Wines. Mendocino, CA. 2022.
Grapes: 100% Carignan.
$13 btg / $42 btb
Tasting Notes: dried cranberry, licorice, baking spices
Haus-pairings: Silence of the Lambwich, ‘06, Big Dipper, Clubhaus
100% Carignan organically farmed in Mendocino, CA. Planted in the 1940's in deep white sandy clay and loam, these dry farmed bush vines are self rooted. The grapes are farmed by the Graziano’s, once the oldest grape growing families in Mendocino. The grapes were fermented whole cluster in an open top fermenter then barrel aged in neutral French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Since 2019, Minnesota-man and Wiley’s founder/winemaker, Phineas Fittipaldi, has worked to marry ancient tradition and modern technology. Guided by their love of wine, nature and California surf culture, they use techniques from the earliest days of winemaking, fused with a 21st century approach, to create wines that are bright and fun to drink while maintaining depth of flavor, texture, and minerality. All of their wines are single vineyard, single varietal, and made with minimal intervention.
Get to know the folks who contributed to the production of our first-ever cookbook, “Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook” — All current or alumnus Smokehausers!
Mary K. Tennis
Mary K. Tennis is a Duluth writer, food lover, and Smokehaus expert and alumnus. She got her start in at least two of these categories in 2001, when she wandered into the deli and got a part-time job. During her time as general manager of Northern Waters Smokehaus, she greenlit the process of writing a definitive Smokehaus cookbook, and in addition to contributions throughout the body of the text and extensive recipe testing, she also crafted the beautiful introductions at the beginning of each chapter. Mary now (as of publication) serves as Director of the St. Louis County Depot & Extension Services.
Net Netzel
Ned Netzel writes for the blog and social media platforms of the Northern Waters Smokehaus. He creates experimental music under the moniker seym0ur glass. Ned began the cookbook writing process by digging through the Northern Waters Smokehaus and Northern Waters Restaurant kitchen binders, computer hard drives, email exchanges, and the mind of Eric Goerdt to compile, edit, and reduce recipes to home-chef volumes. Beyond his written contributions throughout the book, Ned poured his efforts into keeping the writing team on-task during occasionally long and delirious writing/testing sessions, and ensuring the clarity and accuracy of the text.
Nic Peloquin
Nic Peloquin has been cooking professionally since age fifteen for a range of food businesses, from fast to fine. He has cultivated a passion for preparing locally foraged, hunted, and fished ingredients with a scientific eye. He left food service for a brief career in stand-up comedy and quickly returned to the kitchen. Nic’s expertise in the kitchen and rigorous knowledge of the scientific underpinnings of food preparation were invaluable to the production of the cookbook, and his quips, impressions, and tangents kept the writing team in good spirits.
Eric Goerdt is the owner and founder of Northern Waters Smokehaus. Without Eric’s unique vision and excellence as both artisan and business owner, this cookbook would not exist. Eric wrote a ‘Welcome’ to the book, provided his wisdom and guidance throughout the process, and is responsible for the majority of the recipes found within.
Eric Goerdt
Greg Conley
Greg Conley is the human resources coordinator at Northern Waters Smokehaus. Before his time at NWS, he served as general manager of Northern Waters Restaurant. Greg’s voice is found throughout the book in a handful of in-depth essays on topics ranging from sourdough bread to barbecue smoking. During sessions when he was neither at band practice, nor actively writing or testing recipes (such as kippering Atlantic salmon on a modified Weber grill in the middle of a blizzard, just to prove it can be done), he nourished the rest of the writing team with exquisite meals.
Jacob Swanson is a visual artist, musician, and sandwich enthusiast from northern Wisconsin. He spent a handful of years on the Smokehaus’s deli front lines, and behind the scenes contributing to social media and marketing before continuing on to other adventures. Jacob’s eye for detail and composition is evident in his role behind the camera for many of the food shots found throughout the book.
Jacob Swanson
Flo
Flo is a Salvadoran multidisciplinary artist in Portland, Oregon, now tackling the wild, hilarious world of Montessori early education. Their artistic fingerprint is found throughout Northern Waters Smokehaus in the shape of hand-drawn fonts, illustrations, stickers, murals, menus, and more. You’ll find Flo’s illustrations on the end sheets of the book (those things that affix the covers of the book to the rest of the pages), and their eye for food design is present in many of the photographs found throughout.
Stephen Pestalozzi
Stephen Pestalozzi is a Minnesota artist who uses landscape as a primary source of inspiration to explore the intricacies of the modern world. Stephen’s photographic work from his tenure at the Smokehaus is present throughout in the book, as well as number of environmental and landscape shots of Duluth and Northern Minnesota from his independent work as a visual artist.
Zac Bentz
Zac Bentz is a graphic designer, auditory atmospherist, and dog-friend who has lived in and around Duluth his entire life. Zac designed and created the initial cookbook pitch chapter presented to the publisher, worked closely with the press’s design team to bring our vision to life, served as democratically elected project manager, and filled in photographic blanks on the back end of the project.
Order your copy of “Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook” through our online store!
