Food has always been central to the experience of staying at Gunflint Lodge. In the early days, when Justine and Mae Spunner welcomed guests to the wilderness lodge, Mae handled most of the cooking, preparing hearty meals that fueled long days of fishing, canoeing, and exploring the Boundary Waters.

When the Spunner family moved to Gunflint Lodge full-time in 1933, living year-round on the remote Gunflint Trail required learning how to live from the land. Their Indigenous neighbors from across the lake shared their knowledge of hunting, fishing, and preserving food for the long winter months. The Lodge soon became a gathering place where families and friends, including the Cooks, the Plummers, and others from around the Trail, came together for festive holiday meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Until the Lodge was winterized in 1989, Mae and Justine, and later Sue Kerfoot, cooked for winter guests in their kitchen and served them in the dining room of their home. Even the ice used to keep food fresh was harvested by hand from Gunflint Lake each winter and stored through the summer, and insulated with sawdust in the Lodge icehouse.

Bruce would tell a story of walking on the lake as a child and falling into the water where the ice had already been harvested. He ran to Justine’s cabin, stripping off his wet clothes as he went, and his mother brought him in and warmed him up in front of the fireplace just before he succumbed to the cold on her front steps.

Bruce Kerfoot often laughed about the humble cooking of his childhood, recalling how his mother once boiled hamburger in the same pot as spaghetti, drained it, poured ketchup on top, and declared, “There’s your spaghetti.” But Bruce’s vision for Gunflint Lodge would eventually extend far beyond those early wilderness meals.

After studying hospitality at Cornell University, where field trips to New York City wine tastings opened his eyes to the wider world of cuisine, Bruce returned to the Gunflint Trail determined to build the Lodge’s reputation not only for comfortable wilderness accommodations, but also for exceptional dining.

That vision came to life when Executive Chef Ron Berg joined the Gunflint Lodge team. Ron developed many of the signature dishes that guests still enjoy today, including Walleye Chowder, Beer-Battered Walleye with Mango Chutney, and Chocolate Bread Pudding with Maker’s Mark Bourbon Sauce. By combining local ingredients with regional inspiration, Ron helped craft a distinctive Forest-to-Table Northwoods cuisine. Alongside Sue Kerfoot, he also helped preserve the lodge’s culinary traditions in the Gunflint Lodge Cookbook and Northwoods Fish Cookery.

Today, that tradition continues in our kitchen and around our tables. From classic lodge favorites to new seasonal menus, we remain committed to sharing the flavors of the Northwoods with our guests. We invite you to join us as we continue this tradition at Justine’s Dining Room in the Northern Lights Lounge (built on the land where Justine and Bill Kerfoot’s original log cabin stood), and during our special dinners and events.