Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine's Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl brings her extensive knowledge of the Midwest dining scene to Eating and Drinking.

This week, Dara stops by The Current's Morning Show to talk about some of the new restaurants that are popping up around the Twin Cities metro area.

"We are in the middle of a trend, and the trend is everything is going to be very, very high, or very, very low," Dara says. "We're going for fancy and not fancy at all."

High-end Italian restaurants

Monello — at the base of the Ivy Hotel in downtown Minneapolis; includes a crudo bar, which is Italian way of serving raw seafood (think "Italian sushi")

Parella — coming to Uptown in the former Figlio space;

Il Foro — going into the old Goodfellows space, with all the Art Deco details of the old Forum diner

Fried Chicken and Diners

Revival — second restaurant from Corner Table; it will feature fried chicken and be located in south Minneapolis

Four Bells - in the former Joe's Garage space on Loring Park

Nighthawks - coming from Landon Schoenfeld at Hot Dish

Saint Dinette -- second restaurant from the Strip Club people, coming to Lowertown in St. Paul

Hot Dogs

Prairie Dogs - on Lake Street in Minneapolis

Cafe Racer - now open in Seward (in addition to food truck)

Half Time Rec - the St. Paul watering hole now features a hot dog menu

Kyatchi - Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis now with a hot dog menu

Food trucks to go bricks-and-mortar

Gogi Brothers - opening as Gogi Brothers House

Cafe Racer (q.v.)

Sassy Spoon - gluten-free eats in south Minneapolis

Red Wagon Pizza - formerly a truck, now a restaurant in southwest Minneapolis

Big River Pizza - coming to St. Paul

Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl, veteran Twin Cities food and dining authority, is a five-time James Beard Award-Winning food writer who is also at Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine and author of Drink This: Wine Made Simple.