Irma's Kitchen is a farm-to-table specialty restaurant focused on bringing fresh, local, and organic produce to the Brainerd Lakes Area.
Irma’s Kitchen, Gull Lakes freshest new restaurant opened June 16 and will be open into the fall months. Located in the former home of the Hungry Gull Restaurant the building dates back to 1926. Irma’s Kitchen will be open for lunch and dinner, Monday-Saturday. All food items are made in house using many of Irma’s recipes and the freshest local ingredients.
Located at the south end of Cragun’s Resort, the former Island View Lodge was originally developed by Walter and Lena Frampton in 1926. Lena cooked and served three hearty meals a day, lumberjack style. In 1946, Ben and Eleanor Curry became the new owners of this Brainerd MN restaurant. They added the dining room’s north wing with timbers coming from the Pine Beach Peninsula. They expanded the resort and operated it until the early 1960’s. Thereafter, the Thiel, Yoho and Bearson families owned and operated the resort.
In 1988, Dutch and Irma Cragun purchased Island View and connected it to the Cragun Complex. The Lodge was opened a year later after kitchen enlargement and redecorating as the Hungry Gull Restaurant & Bar. When you come to dine, take notice of the Pastry Cooks cupboard which was salvaged from the kitchen by Irma and refinished to retain part of the buildings tradition of good cooking. The name for Gull Lakes freshest new restaurant, “Irma’s Kitchen”, was chosen to acknowledge the important role that Irma Cragun played in the food service at Cragun’s Resort over the years.
Irma’s Kitchen opened June 16 and will serve lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday. As for the food, the menu is divided into sections titled Social Plates, Garden, Between Bread, Steaks and Supper. Chef Brian Diumenti will showcase local products and ingredients and will serve dishes like Artisanal Cheese & Charcuterie, Deconstructed Cobb Salad, Pan-Seared Scallops, and Grass Fed Filet Mignon for dinner. For lunch and snacks, the menu will include a sunfish sandwich, drunken ox burger, and fun items to snack on. The menu will be updated frequently to take advantage of the local growing season.
