Nils Hoyum is a contributor to St. Paul Media's internet publications. He attended Bemidji State University where he studied everything from art history to zoology. He was a student senator and enjoyed working in the theater department. While attending university he worked as a cook at Concordia Language Villages. While working there he worked with many talented chefs and cooks from around the world. Nils also worked with a few very talented bakers who taught him to make perfect baguette.

Never really finding a major he was passionate about, he left university to pursue a career in the kitchen. Nils continued to work in kitchens for the next three years, until he finally achieved the best position he could find in Bemidji. He had been in Argentina studying food and wine when he decided he wanted more for himself. The next year he moved away from Bemidji to find a new place to start over. Along the way he ran into some friends he hadn't seen for a while. Realizing that he missed his friends terribly, he began discussing his future with them and eventually Nils found his way to St. Paul where he lives now.

Nils likes to go to baseball games, roller derby bouts and the zoo. He enjoys spending time in nature and fishing for trout. He also enjoys great food, hoppy beer, red wine, jazz, opera, cooking meat and feeding his friends. One of his earliest memories is Garrison Keillor's voice on Minnesota Public Radio.