There is new splendor to be found every time I gaze out the window and study the vast shoreline and stop to explore at the little rest areas along the way. Spending a lazy Saturday afternoon skipping stones, hiking a short trail to see a beautiful waterfall and finding creatively painted rocks along the way is always at the top of my list, especially if I get to share it with my family. There’s something so special about Lake Superior, it just feels like home; always has and always will.

Once we reached Two Harbors, we decided it was time to grab a bite to eat, and my cousin suggested what turned out to be an incredible little gem, Madeira Bistro.

Being the Lake Superior historical enthusiast that I am, I knew I had heard the name Madeira before. Once I walked through the doors of this quaint little Bistro, the story behind the name “Madeira Bistro” quietly unfolded as it was tied into the decor of the restaurant itself.

Here we learn that the Madeira was one of 20+ ships that were shipwrecked during the terrible Mataafa Storm back in 1905. The Madeira was a schooner barge in ballast and undertow of the steamer ship, the William Edenborn.

After being separated during the storm, the Madeira struck ground and broke in two. One of the ship’s crew, Fred Benson, managed to grab onto a line, jump to the rocks and climb to the top of a 60-foot cliff, where he then pulled all but one of his crewmen to safety. With such a great loss of life and property, a campaign was launched to erect a lighthouse.

In 1910 this resulted in Split Rock Lighthouse being built within sight of the Madeira shipwreck, which currently lies off Gold Rock Cliff. I was so touched by this tragic narrative and costly legend of Lake Superior, what an incredible way to honor the memory of those lost in the storm and to carry on the history of this beautiful small town.

The Madeira Bistro opened its doors in June 2022 with a mission to share their love of food. And let me tell you…they know a thing or two about good food! Not only is the menu full of fresh and fun items, but it is also always evolving and changing.

Madeira Bistro takes pride in offering locally sourced produce, as well as house made soups and sauces. They also offer the freshest sliced meats and a variety of Minnesota made bakery breads. Because of their seasonal menu and innovative thinking, you can expect to see exciting new menu items often!

It’s important to Madeira Bistro’s mission to keep food waste low as a part of their sustainability goal. If ordering take out, you can expect to see paper and bamboo products being used, and if you’re fortunate enough to enjoy a meal at the Bistro engulfed in its playful atmosphere, you may enjoy your meal on dishes that were sourced secondhand. I love this so much as a statement of sustainability and also personally as an avid thrifter, and it certainly adds so much more character and whimsy to the experience.

This quaint, cozy and heavenly-smelling dining room features order-at-the-counter service. They serve a variety of beer, wine and house-made specialty drinks. They also offer call ahead service take out and encourage customers to pop across the street to enjoy their lunch with a delicious brew at Castle Danger Brewery’s beautiful taproom.

Upon entering the establishment, the foodie in me was awakened and I knew instantly that we were in for a true culinary treat. The air was filled with the scent of yeasty bread and an assortment of herbs and spices. The tables were filled with cheerful patrons who were lost in conversation, food and drink.

As we approached the counter and dove into the palate pleasing menu, which featured a delectable variety of sandwiches, bowls, soup, chili and of course a special section for the kiddos, we were quickly greeted by a lovely woman at the front counter. There is something so special about a small town; the charm, the quaint feel and the overwhelming friendliness.

We placed our orders at the counter, I personally went with the Knife River Roast Beef sandwich. I was instantly so thankful that I was there with a large group of family members, which allowed me to taste, smell and see so many incredible dishes! My beef sandwich was tender, juicy and smothered with gooey melty cheese and savory onions. The horseradish mayo added a splendid kick, and the bread was incredibly fresh. Some of the other reviews from our trip included:

The Harvest Grain Bowl at Madeira Bistro

A hearty grain bowl featuring MN wild rice, quinoa and maple-roasted sweet potatoes served warm over fresh arugula, shredded carrot and red cabbage. Topped with scallions, dried cranberries, pecans and slices of green apple. Served with our house made curry – spiced apple dressing.

“The curry sauce was incredible – I had to ask for extra because it was so delicious! All of the vegetables were very fresh and well balanced.”

Matt (a vegan) Son-in-law

Thai Peanut Bowl at Madeira Bistro

Warm jasmine rice, steamed broccoli, carrots and edamame served beside fresh shredded carrot, red cabbage and sliced bell peppers. Topped with cilantro, scallions, crushed peanuts, a lime wedge and a side of our Thai peanut sauce.

“This bowl was the perfect combination of ingredients and flavors. The Boylan root beer was a great addition to my meal!

Corey, Cousin

Pastrami Reuben

Freshly sliced pastrami, sauerkraut, swiss and 1000 island dressing served warm and melty on toasted pumpernickel.

“Hands down the best pastrami I have ever eaten!”

Jairo, Brother-in-Law

Hibiscus and Tea Lemonade at Madeira Bistro

“Wonderfully refreshing, just the right amount of sweetness!”

Briah, Daughter (also a vegan; shared the Harvest Grain Bowl with husband Matt)

Knife River Roast Beef Sandwich at Madeira Bistro

Warm roast beef, swiss and sauteed onions drizzled with horseradish mayo on a toasted baguette.

“Bread was so soft and the horseradish sauce gave the sandwich a tasty kick! The perfect sandwich!”

Laura, Sister

Where is Madeira Bistro Located?

Located in the lovely little town of Two Harbors, MN, Madeira Bistro is just across the street from Castle Danger Brewery and the The Tipsy Mosquito Wine And Spirit Room.

Madeira Bistro Address:

632 1st Ave, Two Harbors, MN 55616

Wrapping Up Our Visit to Madeira Bistro

If you’re looking for a quick bite to pick up for carry out on your travels along the North Shore, or you are looking for a deliciously balanced, locally sourced sustainable meal to enjoy in a playful wholesome atmosphere, add Madeira Bistro to the top of your list. My friend, you will not be disappointed!

The alarm rang at 4:30am. Luckily I went to sleep plenty early the night before and was wide awake as soon as I jumped out of bed. After a quick bite to eat I hopped in the truck and headed up highway 61.

The excitement of scooting up the north shore of Lake Superior and trying to capture a gorgeous sunrise helped the drive go nice & quick. It was pitch black when I left my house, but I had a vision for what the morning’s sunrise might be. Anyone who has spent time on Lake Superior knows the weather is predictably unpredictable, but let me give you a sneak preview — the clouds parted just enough to give us a wonderful sunrise that did not disappoint!

Instructors for the Lake Superior Sunrise Photography Workshop

Our two instructors for the day were photographer Nicholas Narog & photographer Hayes Scriven. Both gents have tremendous experience capturing images all along Minnesota’s north shore — from waterfalls to ships to the aurora borealis and so much more. In fact, Hayes is also the Site Manager at Split Rock Lighthouse so he’s got a daily front-row seat to the incredible wonders the north shore of Lake Superior has to offer.

Make sure you check out their work at the links below and follow them on their social media channels. They have some truly spectacular images that celebrate the majesty of Lake Superior that you’ll likely want to purchase and hang in your home.

Location of the Lake Superior Sunrise Photography Workshop

My home base was about 35 minutes south of the workshop’s location: Larsmont Cottages just south of Two Harbors, MN. The resort is set on 40 acres, including 1,300 feet of pristine Lake Superior shoreline. Our photography workshop took place in one of their conference spaces — a cozy, well-equipped room with the right mix of technology and a view of the lake right out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I didn’t get a chance to eat at the Ledge Rock Grille restaurant, but the same evening I was there they were having a multi-course Hygge-inspired dinner. The restaurant itself has a fantastic vibe and one of these days I’ll make it back up there to attend an event like the Hygge Dinner at Larsmont Cottages’ Ledge Rock Grille.

Larsmont Cottages
596 Larsmont Way
Two Harbors, MN 55616
Phone: (866) 687-5634

What we Learned at the Lake Superior Sunrise Photography Workshop

Our group of students for the day included both hobbyists and aspiring professional photographers. It was a great mix of people to get a wide variety of questions that helped us all learn a bit more. And during the class we focused on two areas: in-camera capturing of the sunset and editing our photos using the Adobe Lightroom software.

Capturing Lake Superior Sunrise Photos

Way back when in the good’ol days I used to shoot a lot of photos for a marketing & live events company. I was never a trained photographer, more of a point-and-shoot guy with a decent enough eye for composition to satisfy the clients. I always seemed to be too busy to really learn the fundamentals of photography beyond what I’d learned in my basic black & white photography class back in college.

So for this Lake Superior sunrise photography workshop I dusted off my old Canon 60D DSLR camera with its 18-200 kit lens to see what I could learn. In all honesty, I was seriously considering the purchase of a shiny new camera prior to taking this workshop but I’m really happy I held off. Both the instructors really helped me realize that learning how to use a DSLR (or mirrorless) camera in fully manual mode to capture photos of various subjects in a wide variety of lighting conditions is really fun no matter what model of camera you happen to have in your hand.

When we all walked down to the shore just as the light of day started breaking, our instructors gave us some hints as to what we might want to work on for the composition of our sunrise photos. Once we had all picked out or first locations, they came by and worked with us individually and gave each of us guidance catered to our level of experience.

For me the key points I took away from the sunrise shooting session were:

• Start with a higher ISO (around 800) and work your way down as the daylight increases
• Start with a shutter speed around 1/10 of a second (if on a tripod) and an f-stop of around 5.6 — the slower shutter speed helps smooth out the water and the f-stop of 5.6 helps with both light acquisition and depth of field
• Work your way up on the f-stops as the daylight increases, but max out the aperture around f-11

As I continued to shoot while the sunrise began to peek out (and with a few more helpful hints from the instructors) I found myself pulling the camera off the tripod, lowering the camera + my body closer to the ground, and gravitating toward settings more like this:

• ISO of 100 (the lowest my Canon 60D allows)
• Aperture between 5.6-11
• Shutter speed around 1/60
• PRO TIP: Capture darker vs lighter — if you blow out the whites/light areas you can’t get anything back, but there’s generally a lot of detail that can be pulled out of the shadows, which you’ll see in the Lightroom editing example in the next section

Here are a couple examples of the sunrise shots I was able to capture, along with their settings:

Editing Lake Superior Sunrise Photos Using Adobe Lightroom

As the sun continued to rise we all shot more photos along the shoreline. It was interesting to try and capture more of the sky colors reflecting off the clouds in the sky and the elements along the shore as the light conditions changed. Then, it was back inside for some hands-on lab work editing our morning’s captures.

We all brought our own laptops running Adobe Lightroom, and our instructors had their computer hooked up to the large monitor in the conference room. As they walked us through some of the images they had shot alongside us that morning, we got a good sense of their approach to editing photos in these lighting conditions.

Some key points for editing sunrise photos in Lightroom:

• Use the Edit panel’s “Auto” function to give yourself a good starting point based on what the software suggests for your image, then fine-tune those settings to your preferences
• The Lightroom masking tool allows you to easily isolate the sky from the foreground elements to make specific adjustments
• Duplicate and invert the sky mask to create a mask for the foreground, and you can pull details from shadows differently than you might for the sky
• The Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze tools in Lightroom’s Edit panel are powerful, but use them sparingly since they have rather distinct impacts on specific elements of your photographs
• The Heal and Content-Aware Remove functions on Lightroom’s Healing panel are solid methods to remove items that may be distracting from the primary focal area of your photo — it takes a little practice to use these effectively but the results can be impressive

Overall, the Lake Superior Sunrise Photography Workshop lead by Nicholas Narog & Hayes Scriven was a fantastic learning experience. The clouds continued to clear throughout the morning and I was inspired to continue shooting photos along the north shore as I drove home, stopping in various turnouts to meander down closer to the water. I’d definitely recommend attending their courses in the future so be sure to follow them on their social media channels listed above to hear about their next sessions.