Minnesota chefs are a patient bunch. Year after frigid year, they wait out the long winter, counting the days until the earth once again produces its bounty. Well, the wait is finally over. Meet three chefs—each a nominee for a James Beard Award, the industry’s highest honor—who are as happy about that fact as you are. We asked each to let us in on the summer vegetable they’re most excited about now that the wretched sleet is gone, and how they plan to use it.

Alex Roberts, Restaurant Alma/Brasa:

Minnesota Muskmelon

“I know everyone else is going to say tomatoes, so I’m not even going to go there,” says Alex Roberts, the thoughtful chef in the midst of opening restaurant number three (Brasa in St. Paul). When Roberts advocates for his choice of summer fruit, Minnesota muskmelon, he becomes delightfully poetic. “There’s so much waiting—they don’t come in until late August—that the drama of it just blows you away when they come. They just explode, juicy, full and ready.”

People know to associate certain produce with certain places, says Roberts, using Ohio peaches as an example. He thinks muskmelon should be associated with Minnesota. These days, he’s getting his from Riverbend Farms in Delano, but he fell in love as a child in his father’s garden. “My dad had a 30-by-60-foot garden, and he was passionate.” A produce purist, Roberts likes his melon plain or in the chilled soup that follows. Consider pairing it with halibut or prawn.

Chilled Muskmelon & Cucumber Soup (Serves 8-10)
    2 quarts     ripe muskmelon juice (muskmelon pureed  in blender, strained through fine mesh strainer)
   
    3/4 C     cucumber juice, juiced
    1/3 C     ginger juice, juiced
    4 t     raspberry vinegar
    salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve chilled. Add more vinegar if needed to balance sweetness. Add a touch of simple syrup if melons are not sweet enough. Add more ginger juice if flavor does not come through.

From the chef: “This recipe is good as a small starter in a shot glass or demitasse, or as a first course on a hot summer day. It can be served as is with diced melon and cucumber or fresh raspberries to garnish, or made more substantial with the addition of avocado and crabor shrimp.”

What to do when the season is over: Bide your time. “The drama really is in the waiting,” says Roberts. “I might consider occasionally getting something organic from Mexico for myself, but never for the restaurant.”