Fall Flavors Worth Seeking Out (Beyond the Pumpkin Spice)
Whether you’re walking around one of its major shopping malls (Southdale Center, Galleria Edina) or a lively neighborhood like 50th and France, Edina is full of noteworthy food and stores that’ll keep your kitchen stocked. Here is a hit list of local spots worth seeking out this fall, broken down by area so you can divide and conquer its culinary delights over the course of several days.
50th and France
Coccinella
The Turkish family (Suayip and Seher Kaplan, and their sons Umut and Cosku) behind this beautiful store bottles their own award-winning olive oil and specializes in elegant towels, throws and wraps you’d need to fly to Istanbul to find.
France 44
This stellar bottle shop doesn’t just sell well-curated wine, beer and spirits. It also has a deli that dishes out dynamite sandwiches, salads, and meat and cheese boards that’ll make a magnificent picnic spread.
Mothership Pizza Paradise
Mr. Paul’s Supper Club owners Tommy Begnaud and Carrie Erickson shift from New Orleans-inspired knockouts to family-friendly, wood-fired pizza at this hopping restaurant that looks like a time capsule taken from the ‘80s or ‘90s.
While you’re in the area, home cooks should head over to the knife sharpening/repair shop Vivront, which excels at dealing with delicate pieces from Japan and Germany.
Galleria Edina
Good Earth
Locally sourced, organic ingredients star in an ever-evolving, morning-to-evening menu that’s hearty and healthy, whether you kick off your day with 10-grain pancakes or cap it with seasonal specials like creamy poblano chicken and lemon dill walleye.
Sweet Paris Crêperie
A taste of France touches down at the Galleria this fall, offering savory (ham & gruyère, smoked salmon with dill sour cream, capers, scallions, pickled red onions and lemon) and sweet (apple cinnamon crème brûlée, dulche de leche) options for the whole family.
Williams-Sonoma
Dine, cook and host like a pro with some of the best kitchen tools, appliances, and brands in the business at this beloved staple. Journey beyond familiar pumpkin spice fare with a gourd-eous enameled cast iron cocotte from Staub, a cast aluminum cakelet pan cut in the shapes of leaves, acorns and pumpkins from Minnesota’s own Nordic Ware, or pick up a porcelain set from Williams-Sonoma’s seasonal Plymouth Collection. Bakers should also look out for the store’s quick bread mixes, which include such popular fall flavors as spiced pecan pumpkin, pumpkin cinnamon streusel, and a particularly decadent pumpkin chocolate chunk.
Southdale Center
RH Rooftop Restaurant
People named Restoration Hardware’s “ultra-glam indoor-outdoor space” Minnesota’s most beautiful restaurant in 2024, declaring it a “stunning showcase for RH’s luxury furnishings, with a soaring atrium and manicured grounds.” The food is also fantastic, including a French dip made with shaved ribeye, roasted chicken rounded out by garlic confit and potato purée, and splashy caviar spreads with blinis, mini lobster rolls, or housemade chips and dip.
Interior design insights can also be found at TS Home Studio, a shop that hand-pours toxin-free candles with scents inspired by crisp fall leaves, fresh cotton, pumpkin pecan pies, restorative spa days, and more.
Rustica
Rustica’s Edina location reflects the refined tastes of its founder (James Beard Award semifinalist Steve Horton) and current executive pastry chef (Shawn McKenzie, another Beard nominee) with patisserie favs like kouign amann, apricot pistachio and peach thyme danishes, bacon gouda and blackberry scones, and croissants stuffed with chocolate batons or ham and cheese.
Other casual yet contemporary eateries at Southdale Center include the jumping burger joint Shake Shack, the tricked-out taqueria Cielito Lindo, and the Taiwanese-style bubble tea shop Niko Niko Boba.
Elsewhere in Edina
Cahill Bistro
A trio of entrepreneurial brothers (Carlos, Alberto and Christian Pinos) opened Cahill Bistro in 2017, bringing their bold spin on Ecuadorian food to a neighborhood near the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail that also includes Edina Coffee Roasters and Wooden Hill Brewing Company. Look out for such essential entrees as sauteed beef tips with red onions, tomatoes and bell peppers (lomo saltado), grilled beef tenderloin with toasted chimichurri, fried yuca, and a poblano pepper black bean puree (filet de lomo), and pan-seared, achiote-marinated chicken.
Starling
The critically acclaimed restaurant group behind Rustica (Jester Concepts) also has a lunch, dinner and brunch spot that serves creative dishes inspired by the iconic food of Japan (savory scallion pancakes, chicken and mushroom yakisoba), Indonesia (Balinese fried rice), Vietnam (banh mi benedict), Turkey (poached eggs with aleppo butter, roasted garlic, greek yogurt and mint), and India (butter chicken tacos, sweet potato and chickpea curry).
Check out more food and drink picks here, as well as our fall shopping guide.
