Owned and operated by Minnesota Farmers Union, the team behind Farmers Kitchen + Bar (FK+B) in Minneapolis believes every food grown and produced on Minnesota farms holds an important story.

From field-to-plate, relationships-to-recipes, FK+B aims to tell those stories and emphasize how supporting local foods positively impacts farmers’ livelihoods. A continuation of Minnesota Farmers Union’s work to protect and bolster farmers and rural communities, FK+B also aspires to strengthen urban-rural ties by connecting eaters with farmers. Executive Chef Kris Koch, who helped open FK+B in 2021, says, “I always wanted a farm of my own. What better way to live out that dream than to build relationships with farmers? That’s what spoke to me about this restaurant.” Working directly with farmers wasn’t new to Kris, but the scale at FK+B was. Sourcing from over two dozen farmers and producers is an impressive and demanding juggling act critical to the restaurant’s mission.

Minnesota is a great agricultural state, and the food we serve mirrors this greatness.

– Farmers Kitchen + Bar.

Kris’s relationship with Pat Ebnet of Wild Acres Processing began two decades ago. Kris explains, “I’ve used Wild Acres’ products at six restaurants I’ve worked at. Pat has the best poultry you’ll ever taste, and it’s all processed with love.” Family-owned Wild Acres has raised free-range poultry like chicken, duck, and turkey for over thirty years. On their farm in Pequot Lakes, now operated by second and third-generations Pat and son Joel, birds are bred, hatched, raised, and processed, and then delivered within twenty-four hours of being processed. That unrivaled freshness is prized by chefs throughout Minnesota and beyond. So is Pat’s knowledge. Thanks to decades of experience, Pat can quickly assess and predict with astounding accuracy how much poultry a restaurant will need on a weekly basis based on its menu, seating capacity, and hours. That superpower prevents waste, saves restaurants money, and keeps Wild Acres profitable. Pat summarizes, “It’s an interesting and rewarding business, seeing how many people we’re feeding.”

www.farmerskitchenandbar.com; Minneapolis

www.wildacresprocessing.com; Pequot Lakes