It would be hard, if not impossible to argue that these two restaurants don't deserve this recognition. Both serve delicious, unique cuisine. The chefs behind the successful restaurants are being recognized as some of the best in Minnesota.

Youness Casablanca
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We start with the incredibly talented and humble, Youness Boji at Casablanca. When I heard about this honor, I stopped at the restaurant to congratulate Youness, and he was outside serving FREE soup. Yes, the owner/chef was outside on a nasty winter day serving soup to anyone and everyone that wanted it.

He is on the very front page of Food Service News as one of the Top Chefs in Minnesota. It was the first time the Twin Cities magazine included anyone from outside the metro area. Every year, they hand pick local chefs, test out the food, and conduct an interview before including them in their publication.

Casablanca Facebook
Casablanca Facebook
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In the article, Youness talks about his start in the restaurant world and his original hole in the wall location. He has since moved over to a much larger location in the Hy-Vee Barlow Plaza. Casablanca is an upscale restaurant serving creative, worldly cuisine for lunch and dinner, with a live pianist, and a table that is "the ticket to Paris" with a front row view of the chefs in action.

Credit: Forager via Facebook
Credit: Forager via Facebook
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Youness was not the only amazing Rochester chef recognized. Kari Davi, co-head chef at Forager Brewery is also named one of the top chefs in Minnesota. While I've never had the opportunity of meeting Kari, I'm a huge fan of the Forager and everything on the menu. The Forager is known for their "all local, farm-to-table, made from scratch" grub.

They have yet to publish the article about Kari at Forager, but you can read Youness' story now on Food Service News.

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