“From foods that honor our Scandinavian, German, Dutch and Native American heritage to a nationally recognized culinary scene, South Dakota offers a variety of dining choices to please everyone’s palate,” says Vicky Engelhaupt, global travel and trade representative with South Dakota Tourism.
The state’s ever-growing culinary scene offers cubed red meat called chislic (a South Dakota specialty), artisan Italian pasta made on a family farm in Alcester and coffee roasted in Parker at Cherrybean Coffee Co.
“M.B. Haskett in Sioux Falls was named the best eco-friendly/farm to-table restaurant in South Dakota by Travel + Leisure, and Mount Rushmore Memorial serves up ice cream that’s made using the recipe President Thomas Jefferson brought back from France,” Engelhaupt says.
To get a taste of the culture, visitors can experience kuchen, a custard-topped sweet bread with German-Russian roots (unofficially the state dessert) that’s sold at several locations throughout the state, and tanka bars, which are cranberry-bison energy bars made by the Oglala Lakota tribe members on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
In addition to local-fare restaurants, Engelhaupt said they are gaining more wineries and brew pubs.
“Just as in the rest of the country, beer is booming here. South Dakota taps the tones of golden wheat beers, rosy pale ales and chocolaty stouts with more than a dozen craft breweries,” she says. “The same holds true for the dozen-plus wineries pouring familiar oak-aged reds like Merlot, newer Midwest-hardy varietals like Frontenac and St. Croix. Or they’re honoring their ancestors’ backyard harvests in black currant wine slushies or glasses of raspberry-rhubarb vino.”
Some breweries and wineries across the state include Fernson Brewing Company in Sioux Falls, Strawbale Winery in Renner and Firehouse Wine Cellars in Rapid City.
To learn more, email Engelhaupt or visit toursdakota.com.
Top photo: Stawbale Winery
Photo by toursdakota.com
