PRESS/MEDIA
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A selection of stories, lists, awards and general accolades:
51 Best Delis in the Country (Food Network, 2020)
The Best Mail-Order Food Gifts from Every State (Food & Wine 2020)
The 20 Best Duluth Restaurants & Breweries (Start Tribune, 2019)
The Best Food From Every State That Ships Nationwide (Thrillist, 2018)
The Ultimate Minnesota Gift Guide for Foodies (City Pages, 2018)
Best Restaurants Readers’ Poll Winners 2018 (Mpls St. Paul Magazine, 2018)
Road Trip: 4 Days on Minnesota’s North Shore (Condé Nast Traveler, 2018)
Northern Waters Going to the Bowl (Duluth News Tribune, 2018)
Smoke and No Mirrors (Growler Magazine, 2018)
6 Stunning Mail Order Food Gifts That Won’t Reveal You Can’t Cook (Bon Appétit, 2016)
“An Island of Food Weirdos” (City Pages, 2015)
11 Great Places to Eat and Drink in Duluth Right Now (Eater Twin Cities, 2015)
A (Very) Brief and (Quite) Incomplete History
Dan, the childhood (and ongoing) best friend of our fearless leader, Eric Goerdt, entered our stuff at a food contest out in Seattle and won the professional category for our dry-cured Salamini back in 2009 at the Festa Italiana in the “Salami Challenge.”
Back in 2010, Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives changed our little deli’s life!
We’ve always appreciate when the fans of the Smokehaus spread the word for us. Rick Nelson, food editor and all-around good guy from the Star Tribune has made us blush with several praises on our culinary endeavors. There’s the time he said the drive was worth it. Then he mentioned that our storefront may look like a modest sandwich shop, but appearances are deceiving. Three years later he wrote about us being a beacon to the fine arts of smoking and curing. Thanks, Rick!
The internet was warned by Andrew Zimmern about our Northern Bagel and the Silence of the Lambwich. The warning: eating Northern Waters Smokehaus “… sandwiches will probably ruin all future sandwich shop experiences in Minnesota.”
Jane and Michael Stern writers of ROADFOOD once only ate smoked salmon and white fish for breakfast, lunch and supper!
In 2013, we smoked all the competition in the category of “Perfect Lunch”. Locally loved website Perfect Duluth Day gave us a plaque for being the perfect lunch spot. And yes, PDD, we also think that the almighty Sandwich is king.
Reader Magazine in Duluth, MN has given us the “Best Sandwich” award for several years. In 2015 our Cajun Finn got a special mention. We think that’s pretty cool.
Whoever said print was dead has obviously never seen the food and entertainment magazine Bon Appétit. The Holiday issue hit the shelves on November 2016 and our Mail Order sales went through the roof that season. We cried; we laughed; we shipped 388 of our beautiful Berkshire Porkettas. Our All Season Salmon Fillet and our Berkshire Porketta were both featured on their website and they called us STUNNING! “6 Stunning Mail Order Food Gifts that Won’t Reveal You Can’t Cook.”
It was 8 years before the network cameras came to visit our Smokehaus again, and we were ready for the lights, baby. This time around we were happy to welcome the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food. Thanks to their presence we caught the attention of local news channels WDIO and Fox21. We called it “dueling cameras.”
In January 2020, FoodNetwork.com named us the Best Deli in Minnesota. We are honored to share the spotlight with so many other inspiring food pioneers and innovators in the country.