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I first discovered Molly Yeh on Instagram before she was a Food Network star. She married a native of my area, farmer Nick Hagen. While she worked at the local food co-op, I followed her food blog and recipes. I enjoyed how she discovered local fare and then put her own twist on it.

Often I've seen city folk mock our farm food traditions. What I love about Molly Yeh is how she embraced the farm and food culture of the upper Midwest and made it her own while building her brand, business and notoriety.

Katie Pinke / Agweek

For the past year, I watched friends share about visiting Yeh and Hagen's restaurant, Bernie's, in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, just across the Red River, near my North Dakota home. Last month, I finally visited, twice.

Bernie's creates a culinary haven I adore having in our agriculturally rich region, combining farm connections to the food on the menu and served to each patron.

Katie Pinke / Agweek

My husband and I first visited Bernie's for a rare lunch date. Nathan ordered his childhood dream meal, hotdish.

Katie Pinke / Agweek

Nathan's parents tell of a story when they took him to a restaurant as a young boy and he asked the waitress if she had any hotdish, a staple food in their family home.

If you live in the upper Midwest, you understand the difference between hotdish and casserole. If you're not, a hotdish is a staple of rural, farm fare with protein, starch and often a vegetable as one meal. Don't confuse it with a side dish casserole.

The hotdish at Bernie's rotates monthly. Nathan had a chili hotdish with cornbread topping served with honey. His childhood desire to order hotdish at a restaurant came true finally in his mid-40s.

My grilled pickle, cheese and bacon sandwich with a side of local greens filled me but just to fill us both up even more, I ordered the cookie salad.

Katie Pinke / Agweek

Cookie salad isn't a salad, except it is in the Midwest.

Bernie's cookie salad is Molly Yeh's gourmet upgrade and the best cookie salad in all of the land. If you've eaten decades of cookie salads at church potlucks in our region like me, order the cookie salad at Bernie's for an upgrade.

I brought leftovers home to our daughters, and they laughed at my excitement. I am a middle-aged rural mom who gets excited about things such as cookie salad.

When two farmer friends came to visit me for a weekend later in October, I made an Open Table reservation at Bernie's.

Both friends actively raise livestock, farm and raise kids. I wanted them to feel like our visit was a getaway. They have both visited parts of Europe for different agricultural tours.

Read more of Katie Pinke's The Pinke Post:

1. Stay out of the future to see what life brings
2. Remembering the way it used to be but not returning to it
3. Why did a stranger gift me a subscription to a local newspaper?
4. Buying a 4-H beef heifer on your 16th birthday

At Bernie's the simple, clean decor and delightful food experience gave us a "European cafe" feel "without the eight-hour flight to get there!" said one of my friends.

Yeh and Hagen's choosing to open their signature restaurant in East Grand Forks, Minnesota is a nod to their commitment to the community and region and their respect for where food comes from and how it is raised. They are connecting new audiences to this region's agriculture and food with their base of followers and fans outside of the usual communities around us. Plus, the experience draws people like me in to return, for more than cookie salad.

Call me a farm foodie fan of Bernie's, and I'll be crossing the Red River of the North more often to bring more friends to experience the homey cuisine and cafe. Bernie's is open Tuesday through Sundays, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. My husband's favorite part is you can walk over to Cabela's when you're done eating at Bernie's.

Pinke is the publisher and general manager of Agweek. She can be reached at kpinke@agweek.com, or connect with her on Twitter @katpinke.