Exciting New Restaurants, Other Food-Related News, and a few Mini-reviews

 

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE

Openings and closings.

Du Nord Cocktail Room and Lagniappe opened about a month apart in the newly renovated Coliseum Building at Lake and 27th. Du Nord co-owners Chris and Shanelle Montana were a big part of the project to renovate and open The Coliseum, so this was anticipated. I hope to do a mini-review soon.
Bichota Coffee Shop in George Floyd Square opened. This is the third post-COVID-outbreak, post-George-Floyd-uprising, BIPOC-owned coffeeshop to try to make a go in this pivotal location. I did visit it last week; more below.
PinKU omakase in Eat Street Crossing, which I mentioned last month as the coming replacement for Sushi Dori, has opened. Chilango, a fast-casual spot on the ground floor of a Bde Maka Ska apartment building, opened in Spring 2024. This newish place, the latest offering from Petite Leon’s Jorge Guzman, made the Eater Twin Cities Heatmap for best new places. Torsk, the new Scandinavian-inspired resident kitchen at Bar Brava, opened in July and also appeared on the Heatmap.

In closings, the only notable news I have heard is that a popular Uptown ice cream spot La La Ice Cream, which had recently rebranded as a snack cafe Sugar and Salt, closed rather abruptly in early October. There is also a buzz about the possible impending collapse of the Wuollet Bakery conglomerate, which has already closed three locations – Hastings, Wayzata, and downtown Minneapolis skyway – and which also includes A Baker’s Wife and Hans’ Bakery. We’ll keep an eye out for further news on this.

Moving, pop-ups, coming soon, and other changes.

RMY Patisserie is a pop-up start-up that Stacy Brooks, writing for Racketmn.com (Food & Drink, Oct. 3), figures as a contender for best croissant. RMY stands for Robal Matewos Yebyo, the founder’s name; he is a Minnesota native with family roots in Eritrea. RMY is building a wholesale business and uses pop-ups and farmer’s market booths to gain brand recognition. Yebyo has an impressive background including Marc Heu, Brasa, Cafe Latte, Gigi’s Cafe (where he met his life and business partner, Amber Anderson), Patisserie 46 and more. You can currently find RMY’s amazing croissants at Misfit Coffee.
Wholesale coffee company Mill City Roasters has outgrown its SE Minneapolis roastery – and will move its currently China-based fabrication plant onshore – and so will be moving into a new, much larger space in NE Minneapolis.
Bubble Line Brewing is a new brewery coming to the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul. Founder Brittney Mikell is currently crowdfunding through Indiegogo.com (search for Bubble Line) and when it opens, planned for early 2025, it will be the first Black woman-owned brewery in Minnesota.

Minnesota Monthly’s Jason DeRusha reports that several local favorites will be on the upcoming season of Guy Fieri’s show ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’. STEPCHLD and Hai Hai episodes have already aired, and coming up soon are features on Union Hmong Kitchen, Guacaya Bistreaux, and Oro by Nixta.
Could Minneapolis be the next city to get a Michelin Guide? The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal (see archive.ph/kCrNk) reports that the Minneapolis Downtown Council has listed “getting a Michelin guide by 2035” as one of its bullet points on the plan to revitalize downtown. Personally, I think there would be a better chance of success if they partnered with St. Paul and went for “Twin Cities” guide, rather than an isolated single city which, let’s be honest, is not big enough to be “metropolitan” on its own.

Exciting and serious food news.

Delta Dirt Distillery is featured in a section of Eater.com called The Eater Guide to the Heartland. This is a great story about a family descended from slavery and sharecropping, all on the same land, now operating a unique distillery on part of that same land and building generational wealth. Find it here: eater.com/24253624/
delta-dirt-distillery-arkansas
Racketmn.com mentioned a Star Tribune piece on the free breakfast for school kids program in Minnesota public schools (Em Cassel in Oct. 24 “Flyover.”) With the breakfast program growing by nearly 14 million statewide in 2023-24, a 40 percent increase, schools have used technology like barcodes on backpacks, or time-saving strategies like delivering breakfast on a cart to classrooms so kids can eat at their desks.
Equal Exchange Co-op’s website has an update on the slave chocolate situation, and like so much else in this world, it’s getting worse. See “Chocolate: A Bittersweet Luxury” under info.equalexchange.coop/articles.

Mini-review #1 – Caspian’s.

In early October, I had a late lunch at Caspian’s, an eclectic Persian cafe and market which has been on University Ave. SE Minneapolis for decades. (So once again, I was wrong to say the Twin Cities has no Persian restaurants.) I just had a standard vegetarian sampler, a massive house salad and a mint iced tea, delicious and with a whole extra meal to take home. I spent a blissful, almost overwhelmed half hour perusing the market. At the time, I was on the LRT, so I didn’t buy anything but now that I have a car, I may go shopping!

Mini-review #2 – Canaan, Palestinian products online.

Another great online food shop I have been using is Canaan (canaanpalestine.com) which specializes in olive oils and related products. They also sell a small selection of spices, sauces, and traditional grains, including maftoul, a couscous like wholegrain product that is pretty hard to find in the US. Their olive oil is awe-inspiringly delicious.

Mini-review #3 – Bichota Coffeeshop, George Floyd Square.

I was able to visit Bichota Coffeeshop, as mentioned above in Openings. It turns out, before it went brick and mortar, Bichota was (and is) a roastery, with a great selection of coffees and an online store. Check out their wares at bichotacoffee.com.