The Lager Queen of Minnesota

By J. Ryan Stradal

Pamela Dorman Books     2019

349 pages     Literary

Another great book this month! I can’t believe my good fortune. The Lager Queen of Minnesota is the second book by Stradal I have read and reviewed. The other was Kitchens of the Great Midwest. As much good luck as a Minnesota girl could ask. The first book was about Minnesota cuisine while The Lager Queen is about beer—Midwest traditional breweries, and how they morphed into the craft beer culture. But if you are saying, “Why would I read that? I don’t want to read about beer,” have no fear; it is as much about women’s fortitude and women’s audacity as it is about beer.

You need to know that I know very little about beer, so I was very impressed by the women that form the main characters in the book. Helen is a farmer’s daughter who as a 15-year-old has her first sip of beer and discovers that she wants to learn how to brew beer. She sets out to become a brewer, majors in Chemistry in college, and then marries into a brewing family. Her sister, Edith, chooses a more traditional path and becomes estranged from Helen when their father dies and Helen inherits the farm. Edith’s life is full of challenges, but that woman can bake pies—the third best pies in Minnesota, by the way--and discovers late in life that she can also brew beer. Diana is Edith’s granddaughter, and without knowing Helen, discovers her own passion for beer and becomes a brew master at age 19. How she got to that point is one of the serendipitous moments in the novel.

I was impressed by how much Stradal knew about beer making. And how quickly Edith and her other friends learned how to make beer. This subplot was one of my favorites of the book. This group of grandmas learned to produce several varieties of beer, which are named for them and became popular across the region. One of the more endearing aspects of the book.

I, of course, was thrilled with all the Minnesota references. On page three, when describing the three best pie makers in Minnesota, the author mentions Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors as first on the list. It was at that point I knew I would love this book as much as I loved Kitchens of the Great Midwest. We have eaten at Betty’s Pies many times, and by the way, they also make great pasties (another Minnesota treat). In a list of Minnesota breweries, he lists Fitgers, which was owned by the Beerhalter family in Duluth. (One of my childhood friends was Barbara Beerhalter.) Surprisingly, the list also mentioned Bell’s, the biggest brewery in Kalamazoo. I found myself underlining all the references I knew, and when I pass the book along to my sister, she will love those references as well.

However, you don’t have to be from Minnesota to love The Lager Queen of Minnesota. It is the perfect summer read for this pandemic summer. It is good-spirited and funny, light but meaningful reading. The Washington Post reviewer says, “The zingers don’t disguise Stradal’s fundamentally optimistic view of human nature, a belief that people can change and virtue can be rewarded, at least sometimes.”

The New York Times reviewer had this to say, “Serendipity may not bubble up in real life as often as it does in Stradal’s world, but who cares? Other readers can nitpick all they want about what’s realistic and what’s not. I willingly suspended disbelief, shotgunning the whole optimistic, meticulously researched story in one satisfying gulp. And when I arrived at my destination, you better believe I had a cold beer. Or two.”

When our book club met last night, we had the great good fortune to Zoom in with J. Ryan Stradal, the author of The Lager Queen. It was without a doubt one of the best meetings we could possibly have had. Stradal is a charming man—“Minnesota nice,” one of the book club members said. We had an in depth discussion about the book, the characters, the influence of his mother, his writing philosophy, and his future endeavors. We learned a bit about the women brewers that he met when doing his research, about his baby son, and about what he was cooking for supper. He indicated that he likes having his books reflect a Midwestern voice and a Midwestern consciousness.

I know you will love The Lager Queen of Minnesota as much as I did. Be sure to have your favorite brew with you as your read. It will be on my list of the best of 2020.

J. Ryan Stradal’s website

Kitchens of the Great Midwest

by J. Ryan Stradal

Pamela Dorman Books     2015

320 pages     Fiction

From the moment I saw the title, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, I knew I had to read it. Then, in the very first chapter, we meet Lars Thorvald who works at the family bakery, Gustaf's and Sons in Duluth, Minnesota. Now, you must know that I grew up in Duluth and went to Duluth East High School with two cousins, Gail and Gretchen Gustafson, whose fathers owned Gustafson's Bakery. When I read Gustaf's and Sons bakery—I was hooked. This author knew my life story!

Lars marries a woman named Cynthia and they have a baby daughter named Eva. Lars wants to make Eva appreciate the best in food, so the first chapter is devoted to the types of food he plans to feed this much wanted child—wanted by him, at any rate. Cynthia soon finds that she is not cut out to be a mother, and leaves Lars and baby Eva for a career as a sommelier. The novel, then is the story of Eva's life and the people who are connected to her—sometimes only peripherally. Eva carries on her father's fascination with food, moving quickly from lutefisk to hot peppers to world class cuisine. Each chapter is almost a stand-alone story. Sometimes Eva plays a large role in the story; sometimes she hardly appears at all. The New York Times reviewer calls this an "impressive feat of narrative jujitsu".

This s just the bare bones description  of a novel that almost defies description. The format is so unique, both poignant and hilariously funny on the same page. Eva and food are the links that hold the entire enterprise together. The food is wondrous. From Lars making the lutefisk in the first chapter to walleye, casseroles, and the wine and food culture that is invading even the Upper Midwest. My favorite chapter concerns devoutly religious Pat and the Lutheran ladies who take their bar cookies to a competition judged by Eva, by now a famous chef. This is one story line that you almost have to be a Lutheran from Minnesota to appreciate fully. Pat is a character right out of Prairie Home Companion. 

Nothing that I can say can truly do Kitchens of the Great Midwest justice. It is just a great send up of the Midwest, of foodie culture, and of bar cookies made of peanut butter, caramels, and chocolate chips. The characters are wonderful creations, the plot contorted, and the landscape totally unique. Stradal knows these people.  Be prepared to laugh and love!

The review in the New York Times.

J. Ryan Stradal's website.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

 By J. Ryan Stradal

Viking     2023

335 pages     Literary

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is the third J. Ryan Stradal novel that I have read, and I have loved all three. Is it because they are all based in Minnesota, my home state? Is it because some of the topics are about food? Is it because many of the protagonists are women? All of the above!

Stradal’s third novel is about a supper club and the family members who have owned it over three generations. Natalie Rinn wrote a terrific article about supper clubs on the Taste website. What I did not know is that supper clubs are an Upper Midwest phenomenon. It almost feels like Stradal read this article before he began writing his book, because there are several similarities. (I do have to insert that Matt Rodbard who runs the Taste website is the son of my dear friend Cheryl, and knows Stradal. Just had to put in that connection.)

The plot involves four generations of Minnesota women, Betty, Florence, Mariel, and Julia, one restaurant called The Lakeside Supper Club, one Big Boy-style diner chain called Jorby’s, food and drink, and love, loss, grief, and persistence. The book is epic in nature spanning about 85 years, from the early 1930s to the present. During that time frame, the one consistent element is the restaurant, who runs it, who works there, and who is going to inherit it.

Stradal is a genius at getting into the heads of women protagonists. They are identifiable, loveable, annoying, and totally spot-on. One of my favorite sub-plots concerns Florence, who is not interested in the restaurant and becomes estranged from her daughter Mariel, who with her husband Ned, is running  the restaurant. Florence wants to reconnect with Mariel following a major tragedy, but Mariel is not ready for that. So, Florence begins a sit-down strike at the local church when Mariel doesn’t come to pick her up after Sunday church.  The community members rise to the occasion and help Florence survive three months of waiting. It becomes the “unofficial, unverified record for public passive-aggressive waiting.”  

All the book’s characters are memorable. The only difficulty I experienced was remembering which generation I was in. However, I discovered that when I read the chapter headings, Stradal has identified which generation we are talking about during which years. Once I figured that out, the pages flew by. I recently read an article about how Stradal writes to please his long-deceased mother. By doing that, Stradal enters the minds of the women he celebrates.

I also liked how Stradal celebrates the people who work at restaurants, the cooks, the servers, and the other staff. I think they tend to be ignored. Additionally, I appreciated the opportunities that restaurants offer to people. Betty, Florence, and Mariel all took their turns serving customers at the Lakeside Supper Club. All learned how to be gracious hosts to locals, tourists, and the cottage residents. (Only in Minnesota, cottages are called “cabins”.)

My first thought when I began the book was about a supper club that we drive by in Northern Wisconsin on our many, many trips to Duluth. When I looked it up, I remembered that it is Kincaid’s Country Inn—Prime Rib and Steak in Rice Lake. The website says that it is “an iconic restaurant, built on a historic location that hungry customers in the Midwestern Northwoods have been visiting for generations.” This could definitely be the Lakeside Supper Club, just in a different location.

Here are my reviews of Stradal’s two other books: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, which is about a famous Minnesota chef, and The Lager Queen of Minnesota, about women developing a brewery. The Minneapolis Star Tribune review says that Stradal “is a genius at world-building.” I would definitely agree. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club is a world all its own. Come and have some steak or prime rib. 

Lunch in Paris

by Elizabeth Bard

Back Bay Books     2010

326 pages     Memoir

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard is subtitled "A Love Story with Recipes." And that is what it is—a cross cultural love story with absolutely delicious recipes. I had two strikes against me when I began Lunch in Paris for our September book group: I had already read Bard's second memoir, Picnic in Provence, so I pretty much already knew the story; and I had just finished the very quirky and delightful, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a novel with recipes. 

At the same time, I found Lunch in Paris to be delightful, most especially because of Bard's unique voice. She is a strong, independent American woman finding her way around Paris culture; a culture much different than she anticipated. Gwendal, the boyfriend, is a delightful PhD with aspirations to make movies. The reader has extremely warm feelings toward him; he is adaptable and loving. 

Bard is adaptable as well. Although acclimatizing herself to Paris culture is daunting, she manages quite well. And ahhh the recipes. At book club, our hostess made a heavy yogurt cake with canned apricots which was delicious. I made a summer ratatouille that we enjoyed a lot. Then, today, as i was looking over the book one more time, I found a couple of delightful recipes to use the lamb that my Saudi student butchered for Eid last week and shared with me.

This is a "nice" read. It isn't heavy, too romantic, or too Parisian. The women in my book club really enjoyed it. Our hostess is planning a Paris vacation next summer, and most of us have been to Paris at least once. We spent a lot of time discussing the challenges of living in a different culture. But frankly, I enjoyed Picnic in Provence more—not sure why. The reviewer in Kirkus says the book starts out vanilla, "but the author's charming narrative and penetrating insights quickly add a subtle complexity that will captivate readers." 

The Kirkus review.

Elizabeth Bard's website.