• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Café Lurcat overlooks Minneapolis' Loring Park.   (Photo: Courtesy of Café Lurcat)

Take a break from the Walker Art Center at Café Lurcat and feed on miso-marinated sea bass. Listen to live music and order from a 200-bottle wine list at Bar Lurcat.

Chef Stewart Woodman, a Jean-Georges Vongerichten alum, calls the shots at Five Restaurant & Street Lounge with contemporary contortions like lobster shepherd's pie.

Art and antique mirrors deck the walls at Lucia's Wine Bar, a laid-back uptown spot. Lucia's also has a bakery, a takeaway shop, and an adjoining restaurant that serves a killer brunch. Reserve a table inside or vie for a coveted outdoor seat.

Grab a stool at the old-school (but newly renovated) haunt, the Town Talk Diner, for a cheddar-and-Gruyère grilled-cheese sandwich and frickles — lightly battered house pickles with mustard dill sauce.

Published on October 11, 2006 as a web exclusive.