Three Southwest Businesses Nominated For Silver Whisks

In the geographic sense, Southwest Minneapolis is tiny in comparison to the Upper Midwest. Infinitesimal. Dinky.

But size, as they say, isn’t everything, and in the foodie world our neighborhood looms large. The Heavy Table—the premier foodie journal for this slice of the USA—has nominated three local businesses for their prestigious “Silver Whisk” awards, one for each category of “Best New Establishment”—Linden Hills’ Tilia— “Best Purveyor”—Harriet Brewing—and “Best Chef”—Pizzeria Lola’s Ann Kim.

For Kim, being nominated only a little over a year after launching Lola is reward enough.

“I was shocked, actually,” she said in an interview on Friday. “My priority was to create a great neighborhood pizzeria. I was spoiled from living in New York City, and so I though ‘if I can’t get it, I’ll make it.’”
The nomination criteria, Kim said, stipulated “amazing consistency” in a chef’s work.

“That means a lot; it’s a huge compliment,” she said. “It’s also a compliment to my staff. I wouldn’t have gotten here without my team, both the back- and the front-of-house.”