The inaugural Charlie Awards event promises to be a terrific afternoon of celebrating the Twin Cities food and restaurant industry. The centerpiece of the celebration is the main show beginning at 2 pm and sponsored by Minnesota Monthly. Held at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, the show will be 90 minutes packed with live entertainment, awards, local restaurant personalities and comedy. The show is hosted by local media and artist personality Robyne Robinson. Presenters at the show range from national food personalities Lynne Rosetto Kasper and Andrew Zimmern to local bartenders Pip Hansen and Johnny Michaels.  Tickets for the main show and after-party are $35.


Host: Robyne Robinson

Kicking off the day is a brunch held at The Walker Room (directly above the Capitol Grille in LaSalle Plaza), sponsored by Mpls.St.Paul magazine, featuring the best talent from our area culinary schools. Staff and students from The Art Institute International, Hennepin Technical College, Le Cordon Bleu, St. Paul College will be preparing great-tasting brunch items using products from local farms and businesses. Tickets for the brunch are $65, with part of the proceeds benefiting Second Harvest Heartland. The ticket price includes take-home gifts and preferred seating at the Pantages Theatre show.

Because the Charlie’s intends to celebrate the entire food and restaurant community, the event wouldn’t be complete without an opportunity for an after-show schmooze-fest. Everyone attending the main show is invited to the IDS Center Crystal Court, where everyone gets to mingle with their favorite chef, wait-person, foodie and customer!  The after-party is sponsored by Metro Magazine, Warners’ Stellian, U.S. Foods, and Hormel.

The following honors will be awarded at the Charlie Awards event on November 20. Each restaurant that participates in the Charlie Awards receives one vote, and the individual or organization with the most votes wins.

Community Hero
Lifetime Achievement
Outstanding Chef
Emerging Chef
Outstanding ‘Green’ Initiative
Outstanding Wait Staff
Outstanding Restaurant
Outstanding Restaurateur
Outstanding Restaurant Design

In addition to the above awards, awards will also be given to the food item in each of five following Twin Cities neighborhoods that is determined to represent the best of the Twin Cities restaurant community.

Minneapolis Downtown
Minneapolis South
Minneapolis Northeast
Twin Cities West
St. Paul Area

All residents of the Minneapolis / St. Paul nine-county metropolitan area can vote once each day for the food item in each neighborhood they believe is the best of that neighborhood. At the conclusion of voting on October 31, the two food items from each neighborhood with the most votes will be finalists, and a panel of individuals will choose one winner from each neighborhood as well as one over-all winner. The panelists are:

Tracy Bachal
Mecca Bos
Andrea Kopfmann
Stephanie March
Ann Stuart
Eric Yusefzadeh

Sponsors are General Mills, Land O’ Lakes, Walser Foundation, Bombay Sapphire, U.S. Food Service, Sun Country Airlines, Hormel, Open Table, Twin Cities Food Finds, Sun Country Airlines, Warners’ Stellian, Ispiri, Joia, Metro Magazine, Minnesota Monthly, Mpls,St. Paul Magazine, Second Harvest Heartland, Cities 97, myTalk107.1, and WCCO Radio.

The Charlie Awards are named for the legendary Charlie’s Café Exceptionale, which was one of the first fine dining restaurants located in the Minneapolis – St. Paul community.

Charlies Application