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

"We had so many Italian restaurants open," Dara says. "Bizarrely, all of them specialized in raw fish called crudo." Crudo is an Italian-style raw fish that Dara says can be best found at Minneapolis' Monello. However, some of it is expensive. "I spent $19 on a single red prawn flown in from the Mediterranean," Dara said, "and it was delicious."

Another big trend from 2015 – tiny burgers. No longer is it the time for burgers the size of couch cushions, Dara says. "We're going to the old-school, thin, griddle, crispy burgers – smash 'em down." One of the best places to get these kind of burgers, she says, is Saint Dinette in St. Paul's Lowertown, along with Il Foro and Nighthawks of Minneapolis.

Moving to the other side of the industry, Dara says the death of tipping is upon us. "There was a big minimum wage boost last year and then as part of that, servers got a big raise and there's been a bunch of income inequality inside of restaurants where cooks and people in the back of the house are not making as much money," she said. New restaurants such as Co-op Creamery in Minneapolis and Heirloom in St. Paul have done away with tipping. Instead, customers can see service charges or tip money built right into the price.

"I don't know if (tipping) will die entirely," Dara says, "but this is the year it started to die."

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.