It's one of the hottest emerging new cuisines in Minnesota, but many already consider a classic. Italian-American food. That's according to Appetites regular, James Norton, the editor of The Heavy Table — the online journal of food and drink. Italian cuisine developed a somewhat deserved bad reputation over the past few decades, Norton said.

"On the mass market, it's often either expensive, sometimes dramatically overpriced fine dining, or the restaurant equivalent of SpaghettiOs," he said. But that's starting to change, with restaurants focusing on simple, soulful, southern Italian-inspired food, "with good ingredients, careful attention to detail, and scratch-made techniques."