The irony of eating in the farm belt is that the farther you get into the agricultural areas, the harder it is to eat locally. Nowhere has this been more true than in Bismarck, North Dakota, a city that seemed until quite recently to be in active denial of their spectacular ranchlands. Thankfully, chef Stuart Tracy has stepped into the breach, and now North Dakota diners can sample the remarkable grass-fed beef, bison, and lamb that their great state is capable of producing.
Tracy's restaurant, the Pirogue Grill, opened eighteen months ago, and has already developed a loyal following among the big players in Bismarck. (Yes, there are big players in Bismarck—mostly legislators working on projects in the nearby state capitol building, and medical folks working at the local hospitals, which serve much of the state.)
One of the biggest draws at the Pirogue is the grass-pastured, North Dakota beef. "Most ranchers here raise their cattle to yearlings and then send them off to Colorado to be finished in the big feed lots," chef Tracy told me. "So when I heard a local rancher was going to start selling beef born, raised, and processed in the state, I knocked on their door and said I'd take all the strips and fillets we can. They process and dry age them, and you can almost smell the sweet pasture it was raised in. North Dakota is the sort of place where you definitely have to have meat and potatoes on your menu, and you're going to get a certain number of people who need to have that meat cooked medium-well, or well-done. With the grass-fed beef, every once in a while we get someone who says: 'This steak is tough, I need another one.' Well okay, we'll get you another one. But then we cut off the part they hacked into, and taste the part they didn't, and we're like: 'What are you, nuts?'"
Bismarck may become a major tourist draw anytime soon, but with a few more stubborn chefs like Tracy, the people in America's farm belt might finally be able to enjoy the same food they raise for the nation.
The Pirogue Grill 121
North 4th Street
Bismarck, ND 701-223-3770
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