In this week’s Tap, we look at 2014’s most notable openings and closings.
The Tap is a biweekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm. “We raise 100 percent grass-fed lambs & goats traditionally, humanely, and sustainably.”
The Tap is the metro area’s comprehensive restaurant buzz roundup, so if you see a new or newly shuttered restaurant, or anything that’s “coming soon,” email Tap editor James Norton at editor@heavytable.com.
2014: Top Five Openings
The designation of “opening of the year” for 2014 goes not to a single establishment, but to a bubbling aggregate. Spurred by the liberalization of state and local laws, the growth of taprooms and distilleries has been meteoric, and it shows no sign of slowing down. There has been a slew of both: everything from the grand new Surly facility to Northgate, Urban Growler, Tin Whiskers, Bauhaus, EastLake, Du Nord Craft Spirits, 11 Wells Spirits, Millers and Saints, Fair State, and more. Cocktail-room openings will be enlivening the early part of 2015, as will discussions of whether all the new beer and spirits flooding the market truly deserve the designation “craft.”
The general vicinity of Nicollet and 38th was white hot in 2014. The post-fire Blackbird pioneered the new wave a few years ago; Five Watt Coffee, Kyatchi (above), and (soon) Nighthawks comprise the strong second wave. Up the street, the opening of Hola Arepa is part and parcel of the boom. Everything opening is smart, vibrant, and fiercely interested in good flavor, making Nicollet and 38th one of the area’s most interesting intersections.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs and north of downtown St. Paul, all hell is breaking loose. The Travail reopening and Rookery opening has electrified the west, Lyn65 brought chic bar food and mixological heat to the south, and in Payne Phalen the opening of Tongue in Cheek and Cook St. Paul has built on the already considerable buzz of Ward 6 and Strip Club Meat and Fish.
Lovers of classical dining and great wine can’t have missed the signal high-end opening of the year: Austro-Hungarian-inspired Brasserie Zentral, Foreign Legion Wine Bar, and Cafe Zentral. Brasserie Zentral was one of the culinary highpoints in 2014. Equally significant and endlessly celebrated was the debut of Spoon and Stable in the North Loop.
There seems to be more that changed than stayed the same in the Seward neighborhood in 2014. The Birchwood and Tracy’s both went through major overhauls and reboots. Verdant Tea began producing and bottling root beer and kombucha, added dinner service, and then promptly decamped for new digs. Seward Co-op will be opening a second location (as will the Wedge. Times are good for co-ops.) And this just in: The Himalayan is moving down to the old Kong’s spot at 2910 E Lake St.
2014: Top Five Closings
The closing of the year award must go to Nye’s Polonaise Room, despite the lack of a specific death date. A palace of kitsch, good cheer, live music, and somewhat overpriced Eastern European food, Nye’s has been a perennial fixture of national lists celebrating the country’s best bars.
The Stock & Badge restaurant group (Victory 44, Rustica, and Dogwood Coffee) woke up to a reasonably harsh reality this year as Victory 44 pulled out, and its projects closed down: Parka in Longfellow (above) became a Dogwood coffee bar; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts saw Grain Stack and Half Pint change over to outposts of the Agra Culture chain.
It’s always sad to see a plucky chef-driven place go down, but The Gray House was able to squeeze a couple of good years out of its Uptown location. Chef Ian Gray landed on his feet — his Curious Goat food truck can often be found at Sociable Cider Werks, dispensing lamb nachos and goat cheese curds with aplomb. The shuttering of The Lynn on Bryant was similarly dispiriting. We enjoyed some memorable meals there, including one of the best desserts (a rustic fruit tart, above) we’ve had in the area.
BoneYard, Kaskaid’s attempted mash-up of southern food and grating electronic dance music for the Uptown in-crowd, is biting the dust and will leave few mourners behind. For the record: as forced as the concept felt, we liked some of the food. A short way up Hennepin Avenue, the now-closed Rye served delicatessen food rather than BBQ, but it had similar problems trying to straddle genre food with general purpose trendiness.
Visitors to Hibbing don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to places serving modern food that reflects the surroundings, and with the closing this year of the Bob-Dylan-themed Zimmy’s, we put the number at zero, although we’d welcome a correction on that front. We recall a Fraboni’s porketta sandwich that we ate at Zimmy’s (above) with a great deal of unvarnished pleasure.
NOW OPEN
- Black Sheep Coal-Fired Pizza (new location), 2550 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis
- Pub 819 (replacing Hopkins Tavern), 819 Main St, Hopkins
- Salt Cellar, 173 Western Ave N, St. Paul
- Pilgrimage Cafe, 2403 E 38th St, Minneapolis
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table - Surly Destination Brewery, 520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis | Our guide to the beers
- Minnesota Wild restaurant at Humphrey Terminal, MSP Airport
- GYST Fermentation Bar, 25 E 26th St, Minneapolis | November 2014 | Our interview
Isabel Subtil / Heavy Table - Spoon and Stable, 211 N 1st St, Minneapolis | Our cocktail story
- Victor’s on Water, 205 Water St, Excelsior
- Red Wagon Pizza, 5416 Penn Ave S, Minneapolis
- Insight Brewing Taproom, 2821 E Hennepin, Minneapolis
- Junkyard Brewing, 1416 1st Ave N, Moorhead
- The Meet Market, 1971 Whitaker St, White Bear Lake
- Bonefish Grill, Shops at West End, St. Louis Park
- Bistro LaRoux, 9372 Lexington Ave N, Circle Pines, MN
Katie Cannon / Heavy Table - Vikre Distillery Cocktail Room, 525 Lake Ave S, Suite 102, Duluth | Our local spirits cocktail lab
- Paleos Cuisine and Cocktails, 566 Lilac Dr, Lino Lakes, MN
- Paddy Shack at Half Time Rec, 1013 Front Ave, St. Paul
- Eastlake Brewery, Midtown Global Market, Minneapolis | Our visit
CLOSED / CLOSING:
- BoneYard | Our review
- Heartland Market (closing New Year’s Day, reopening April 2015)
- Nye’s Polanaise Room (closing 2015)
- Friar Tuck’s in Forest Lake
- Sontes in Rochester (closing New Year’s Day)
- Michael’s restaurant in Rochester (closing New Year’s Day)
- Citizen Cafe
- Lynden’s Soda Fountain (closed until April 21, 2015)
- Terra Waconia (closing end of February 2015)
COMING UP:
Minneapolis
- Salsa a La Salsa, 2481 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis | 2015
Katie Cannon / Heavy Table - Peace Coffee, Capella Tower | January 2015
- Il Foro, City Center, Minneapolis | Spring 2015
Katie Cannon / Heavy Table - Du Nord Craft Spirits sample room, 2610 E 32nd St, Minneapolis | January 2015
- The Wedge Table, 2412 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis | Jan. 19, 2015
- Nighthawks, 3753 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis | Early 2015
- Seward Co-op Friendship Store, 317 38th St E | Summer 2015
- Erick Harcey project TBD, 4312 Upton Ave, Minneapolis | Feb. 2015
- 56 Brewing, 3134 California St NE, Minneapolis | Spring 2015
- Prairie Dogs, 610 West Lake St, Minneapolis | Early 2015
- Urban Forage Winery and Cider House, East Lake St, Minneapolis | Fall 2015
- Lost Falls Distillery, 1915 E 22nd St, Minneapolis | Early 2015
- Bradstreet Neighborhood Crafthouse, 1930 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis | Early 2015
- The Herbivorous Butcher, Minneapolis | 2015
- Pizzeria Lola concept TBD, 165 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis | 2015
- Vellee Deli, Baker Center at 30 S 7th St, Minneapolis | Early 2015
- Sassy Spoon, 5011 34th Ave S, Minneapolis | January 2015
- Corner Table project: Revival mid-South / fried chicken restaurant | 2015
Jeremy Banks - Betty Danger’s Country Club, 2501 Marshall St, Minneapolis | Dec. 26, 2014
- The Bachelor Farmer Cafe Project To Be Named, 200 N 1st St, Minneapolis | 2015
St. Paul
- Emmett’s Public House, 695 Grand Ave, St. Paul (former Dixie’s on Grand party room) | Early 2015
- Sidhe Brewing Company, 990 Payne Ave, St. Paul | Spring 2015
- Wabasha Brewing Company, 429 Wabasha St, St. Paul | Spring 2015
Katie Cannon / Heavy Table - 11 Wells Cocktail Room, Historic Hamm Building, St. Paul | Spring 2015
- Lexington (new ownership), 1096 Grand Ave, St. Paul | Spring 2015
- Saint Dinette, 280 E 5th St, St. Paul | Early 2015
Greater Twin Cities Area and Beyond
- The King and I Thai (reopening), 760 Highway 110, Mendota Heights | 2015
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table - New Bohemia, 8040 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley | 2015
- Grand Rounds Brewing Company, 4 Third Street SW, Rochester | 2015
- Wicked Wort Brewing Co., 4165-4175 W Broadway, Robbinsdale | Fall 2015
- Belle Vinez Winery, River Falls, WI | 2015
- Skaalvenn, 8601 73rd Ave N, Suite 28, Brooklyn Park | Awaiting licensing approvals
- Voyageur Brewing Co., 233 W Hwy 61, Grand Marais | Early 2015
The Tap is the Heavy Table’s guide to area restaurant openings, closings, and other major events. The Tap is compiled and published biweekly by the Heavy Table. If you have tips for The Tap, please email James Norton at editor@heavytable.com.