J. Ryan Stradal

A time capsule of a story about restaurateurs in Minnesota and the upper midwest. Ned comes from a family who founded a chain of restaurants that spread across the country in post WWII US. Mariel comes from a family who owns a small family supper club in rural Minnesota. Their story is intertwined with loss, grief, and changing tastes of the dining public that occured from the Great Depression through the turn of the century.

Stradal creates sympathetic characters and captures family dynamics through the generations. All of his books so far are embedded in food and beverage culture.… (more)