With Lake Superior and the Poplar River just a stone’s throw away, the Lutsen dining room has always provided not only fine dining but some of the best views to be found anywhere, and now, after undergoing a total renovation, a place that was always top notch got even better. Photo courtesy of Katie Krantz
Combining a newly restored dining room and a creative menu with the largest selection of wine on the North Shore, Lutsen Resort is aiming to define North Shore cuisine.
Lutsen Resort, founded in 1885, sold on August 15, 2018 to Bryce and Sheila Campbell of Campbell Hospitality Group. Within four months of the sale, the dining room restoration was under way. The restaurant is now re-named The Strand Waterfront Dining & Wine. “Strand” means shore in Swedish. This highlights one of the dining room’s best assets – the incredible view of Lake Superior and the Poplar River.
Bryce Campbell, owner, says “The Strand’s restoration included new walls, flooring, tables, chairs, lighting and more – all while keeping and preserving the iconic Edwin Lundie hand-hewn beams in a commitment to maintain the historic integrity of the dining room.”
Furthermore, the food and beverage team at The Strand are utilizing Scandinavian influences with a wider selection of freshwater fish and local ingredients to define what it means to offer true North Shore cuisine.
Creative, innovative menu items combined with a wide selection of wine are setting a new standard for fine dining between Duluth and the Canadian border. This summer, The Strand will feature elegant dishes from elk and pheasant to arctic char & trout.
As the highlight of the restoration, The Strand added a 16-bottle wine dispensing station as well as a 1200-bottle enclosed temperature-controlled wine cellar. The new wine cellar is made of glass walls with a birch bark backdrop. The birch bark is a tribute to the historic
“birch dining room” that once graced the presence of Lutsen Resort.
According to food and beverage director Mark Lindsey, “The Strand Waterfront dining room now carries nearly 200 different bottles of wine, including 20 wines from the Wine Spectator Top 100 list, including the No. 1 wine, Tenuta San Guido.”
In addition to the wine cellar and dispensing station, The Strand has made changes to enhance the overall dining experience. They swapped out the formerly yellow hued lighting in favor of Scandinavian designed white drum shades with lighting that maximizes the “wow” factor of the dishes.
Added were custom built wingback chairs reminiscent of a turn of the century grand style as well as new tables crafted from reclaimed wood sourced from a dismantled cigar factory dating back to the 1800s.
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