The blogosphere was abuzz when Mike Phillips left the Craftsman to start his own charcuterie company, but Minneapolis foodies paid little attention to who was taking over the Craftsman kitchen. That would be the "brunch guy," Ben Jacoby, who is taking on the head chef job after five years at the restaurant and three years running its popular Sunday morning brunch.

"When I found out Mike was leaving, I decided to give Ben a try," Craftsman owner Mike Dooley says. "I think he deserves a chance to show what he could do.

Jacoby is excited for the opportunity, his first time as a head chef in a cooking career that he began also under Mike Phillips at Chet's Taverna, where Jacoby went from dishwasher to sous chef in a handful of years.

"We do a seasonal menu here. That's not going to change," Jacoby says. "we're still going to do the local and organic."