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Field-and-forest-to-table ingredients are the bread and butter of Chef Mike Rakun s scratch kitchen. 1:05 pm, Apr. 21, 2021 ×
Mike Rakun, Longtrees Woodfire Grill s owner and chef, talks with representatives from KIKV-FM, Terri Shatek (left) and Kim Juergens, last Friday, April 16, during a media night preview at the new Alexandria restaurant. (Celeste Edenloff / Echo Press)
At just 14 years of age, Mike Rakun found he loved to spend time in the kitchen. He often spent time cooking with his grandmother and was influenced by the likes of Julia Childs and Jacques Pépin.
And now at the ripe age of 40, the Twin Cities chef just opened his fifth restaurant – Longtrees Woodfire Grill in Alexandria. Rakun, who received his education from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, will be opening another restaurant – Mill Valley Kitchen – in downtown Alexandria inside The Rune. That restaurant is slated to open in the spring of 2022.