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People always ask me about my favorite places to eat in the Twin Cities. One that's always in my Top 5 is Tim McKee's restaurant, La Belle Vie. Mckee has brought much national (and international) attention to Twin Cities' food scene, and for good reason. We picked his brain about cooking, eating in the Midwest and what it's like to receive a Beard nomination.

Andrew Zimmern: What is your favorite thing about being a chef in Minnesota?

Tim McKee: Minnesota is my home. I've lived in the Twin Cities my entire life, and most of my family lives here. I really value the opportunity to build a successful career that I love, on my home turf. There are plenty of towns that would possibly be more conducive to the success of restaurants like Solera and La Belle Vie, but I love the excitement of being a part of a developing restaurant region like Minneapolis/ St. Paul. I love that the Cities still maintains an intimacy, a small-town feel and a sense of connection, which is somewhat unique in a metropolitan area of this size. The restaurant community in the Twin Cities is also an inspiration. There are so many people in the area that are very interested in food, and the chefs in town share a sense of camaraderie, a sense of shared mission, that isn't always evident in more celebrated "food towns".

AZ: Where did your passion for fine food spring from?

TM: From Jay Sparks, while we worked together at Azur. I had originally stumbled into a cooking job as a way to help pay my way through college. At Azur, Jay showed me what cooking could really be. He helped me understand the relationship between cuisine and the cultures that cooked them, about the products we used and the people who provided them to us and, most importantly, he taught me to be a voracious reader of cookbooks and culinary literature, which really helped me develop a depth and understanding that continue to inform my cooking to this day.

AZ: 2 part Q: What was the best thing about being nominated for a James Beard award? What was the worst?

TM: The best part was the recognition the nominations brought to the Twin Cities and Minnesota dining communities, with both Alex and I being nominated. Of course, it would have been nice if one of us had won. For me personally, I felt both honored and humbled in being recognized, on a national level, as someone who is making a difference on the culinary landscape. Yet it's odd realizing that—for a moment, at least—I am now mentioned in the company of some of the chefs that I've followed and been inspired by over the years. The worst part about the nomination was the stress—approaching abject terror—of winning and having to find something coherent to say in front of hundreds of chefs, restaurateurs, members of the press and other luminaries. I was probably as relieved as I was disappointed.

AZ: Word on the street is that you don’t hire cooks who went to culinary school—true or false or more complicated than that?

TM: Don't always believe what you hear on the street. At La Belle Vie, I am one of three cooks (out of fourteen) that did not go to culinary school. I think a good program can provide a structured introduction, good background and some necessary tools for a cooking career, but it's just a start. Unfortunately, some schools and reality T.V. shows (not yours, of course) encourage that idea that you can go to culinary school and emerge ready to run a kitchen soon after graduation, despite the fact that many graduates have little or no previous restaurant experience. The reality is that it takes a long time just to become a decent line cook, not to mention developing the culinary depth, managerial and organizational skills to run your own kitchen.

AZ: La Belle Vie moved locations from a less populated area on the outskirts of the Twin Cities to the urban digs of Loring Park—what would you say is the biggest difference between running a restaurant in the middle of the city or just outside of it

TM: The most obvious difference is that in Minneapolis the restaurant is more centrally located, and is therefore able to draw from a larger customer base on a more regular basis. In many ways, I've come to recognize that the Stillwater and Minneapolis La Belle Vies are really two different restaurants, each with distinct identities and with slightly different cuisines. In Stillwater, business was much more seasonal: busier in the summer months and quieter in the winter. We still drew a majority of diners from Minneapolis and St. Paul; a friend likened it to driving out to an inn in the French countryside. But both the storefront and the cooking—with the wood-fire grill—were a bit more rustic. In Minneapolis, La Belle Vie is part of the fabric of city life, and the space is both more classic and cosmopolitan. The feeling of the restaurant is more polished, elegant, while the lounge's identity is playful and festive. Naturally, my cooking has evolved over the years, but this is also a reflection of differences in location and expectation. I love what we are doing in Minneapolis, but I also miss having the restaurant in Stillwater.

AZ: Where do you think the future of luxury dining is headed?

TM: I think we will continue to see an increase in more casual restaurants along the lines of 112 eatery, Saffron and Café Levain, and fewer fine dining restaurants like La Belle Vie, D’Amico Cucina and Cosmos. I think there will always be a place for luxury dining, but I think the days of fine dining being the center of attention for the dining public are waning. Also, from a restaurateur’s perspective, it makes more financial sense to run a less ambitious restaurant. Restaurants like La Belle Vie are incredibly expensive to run, from the product to the table settings to the employees and physical atmosphere; a fine dining restaurant usually spends more money on the experience that they deliver than any other type of restaurant. While the prices that they charge are higher than other types of restaurants, the higher check averages usually can’t compensate for the smaller margins.

AZ: If you weren’t cooking, what would you be doing?

TM: I can’t imagine.

AZ: What's in your fridge?

TM: I almost always have a variety of artisan cheeses. Right now I have Petit Basque, Sancerre, a 3-milk Robiola and Roquefort Carles. I also have a few jars of mostarda, pear and quince as well as a variety of mustards, my current favorite being one flavored with violets and raisins. I try to keep a bottle of white wine and some sparkling wine on hand. There are also too many kinds of hot sauce in my refrigerator, I seem to buy a new one every time I come across one. Aside from that, most of the things in the refrigerator are staples for the kids. When I am not working, I usually cook, but like to go to the grocery store (or preferably the farmer’s market, in season) and buy what I need for that day’s meals.

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A 2007 James Beard Best Chef Nominee, Chef Tim McKee is one of the most recognized and respected chefs throughout the Upper Midwest. Like so many of the field’s most talented chefs, Tim McKee’s career in the food profession is the result of a fortunate detour.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in St. Paul, Minn, McKee initially began cooking professionally while attending the University of Minnesota and majoring in anthropology and geology. In 1990, during his last quarter at the University, he took a job working at Azur under the direction of Chef Jay Sparks. Up until 1997, McKee still considered himself just “taking time off until I started my career.” Then Food & Wine magazine named him one of the country’s “Best New Chefs,” and he realized that perhaps he could make a career out of his love of cooking.

Within a year, he’d opened his own restaurant. La Belle Vie received immediate critical acclaim. Food & Wine again praised McKee, this time for his “marvels of Mediterranean cuisine.” And since its opening in 1998, La Belle Vie has consistently topped ZAGAT® Restaurant Surveys for the highest-rated restaurant in Minnesota.
In 2003, McKee and his business partner, Josh Thoma, opened their second restaurant, Solera. Recently, he has also opened Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque and Pirate Bar in Stillwater, Minn. as well as Barrio in Minnepolis

Then in 2005, McKee and Thoma turned the spotlight back on La Belle Vie when they announced they would relocate the restaurant to Minneapolis in response to demands from their Twin Cities fans. La Belle Vie’s stately new home at 510 Groveland is an appropriate setting for McKee’s exquisite cuisine. Gourmet recently named La Belle Vie to its list of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants.”

Tim McKee’s “year off” in 1990 may have cost the world an anthropologist, but it applauds the discovery of this inspired, world-class chef.