Pengilly is so small it doesn’t show up on most maps. But this town of about 400 on Minnesota’s Iron Range just got an unusual addition. Sarah Master, a Minneapolis-area chef who was a semifinalist on “The Taste,” on ABC, has moved back to her hometown and bought one of its two restaurants.

Now, she and Dan Beckwith, co-owner, are bringing surprising new flavors to this old lakeside resort. In its last incarnation, Mr. Roberts was an affordable place for people to grab a burger after a day out fishing. The resort still has the rusty beer sign, the dirt driveway and a garage full of odds and ends. But between the R. V.s and the fishing boats, a bright red little bistro hints at something a little fresher.

“It’s super fun for me to be able to take this food that I ate as a kid, take those kinds of elements and modernize them,” Ms. Master said. “I just wanted to do something different.”

That means the Buffalo wings are now spiked with Szechuan peppercorns and ras el hanout, and Buffalo cauliflower has a crisp thin crust and a sprinkling of slivered celery hearts. Entrees skew meat-heavy (this is still northern Minnesota) but with flourishes that take them far beyond their church potluck roots.