The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant is a jazz club in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The club opened in 1985 at Bandana Square in St. Paul, Minnesota[1] as a restaurant with local jazz in the bar. In 1988, the programming expanded to national artists with performances by McCoy Tyner and Ahmad Jamal.[1] In 2003, the Dakota moved to downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall.[2]
Acts
Opening in 1985 with owner Lowell Pickett and chef Ken Goff as Dakota Bar and Grill, a 1986 review called the food as "nouvelle bar-and-grill cuisine at its best ...".[3] By 1988, local newspaper The Star Tribune noted that Dakota chef Ken Goff stylized the food as "upper Mississippi cuisine" using "local ingredients ... with European techniques."[4] Although music has become what it is now most widely known for, food has continued to be a significant part of the Dakota. The Dakota was one of the first Minnesota restaurants featuring "farm-to-table," working closely with Minnesota growers and developing a new "Midwestern Cuisine" under original Chef Ken Goff.
The Dakota was one of three midwestern restaurants (along with Prairie in Chicago) to be featured in a major New York Times article about the emergence of a regional cuisine in the Midwest. Since then, the Dakota has continued to emphasize fresh ingredients from sustainable sources and continues its creative culinary approach.
