Anne Rucker

Get a Bender at the Brooklyn Center brewery

Back in April, Surly Brewing confirmed Prospect Park as the location of its new destination brewery, complete with onsite bar, restaurant, beer garden, and event center. But you won't have to wait until building is complete to enjoy a Surly brew on Surly grounds. Following in the footsteps of other popular local breweries like Fulton, Indeed, and 612Brew, Surly announced it will open a taproom in its Brooklyn Center facility, reports the Star Tribune.More »

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Croissant, wine, cheese, and all things French at the south end of Nicollet Mall

Bonjour, downtown diners. The old Dahl Pharmacy space on 12th Street & Nicollet Mall has been transformed into a 40-seat cafe, complete with wine and beer service, called French Corner Bakery. The bakery is open now, owned by Vladimir and Nadia Storchak and Chrystel Klein, reports the Downtown Journal.
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Courtesy French Meadow Facebook page

Bluestem Bar & Table: Opening soon

French Meadow has been generating a lot of news of late. The bakery and cafe recently announced plans to open a new outpost of their store in the former Coffee News space on Grand Avenue and purchased the CC Club parking lot as part of an expansion plan for their Uptown location. In addition to putting in 80 extra seats in the restaurant's old baking area, French Meadow also started constructing a wine bar on the side of the cafe building called Bluestem Bar & Table. Next week, that wine bar will open its doors, despite their original estimate of a January opening date.
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Marin, the new restaurant in the Le Méridien Chambers hotel in downtown Minneapolis has announced its opening date. Named for Marin County in California, the restaurant will have a menu marrying Northern California cuisine with local Minnesota ingredients. The food will be, above all else, healthy.More »

Courtesy Heyday Twitter account

Raw, gutted, and ready for buildout: Heyday coming soon to Lyndale Ave.

A few weeks ago news broke that Jim Christiansen was leaving his post as the executive chef of Union, the multi-level see-and-be-scenery in downtown Minneapolis, to open a new restaurant with Loren Zinter, former general manager of La Belle Vie. That new restaurant is Heyday, a still-evolving concept that will occupy the old Sunnyside Up Cafe space (as well as the adjoining laundromat) that's set to open in December.More »

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I scream, you scream, we all scream for Lake & Irving, moving into Blue Sky Creamery space

Brothers Chris and Andrew Ikeda have returned from stints cooking in Hawaii and Napa Valley and are working together on opening a new restaurant called Lake & Irving in the old Blue Sky Creamery building at 1513 W. Lake Street, reports the Southwest Journal.

The brothers are Minnesota natives who attended the University of St. Thomas before going their separate ways, both in pursuit of culinary training. The pair say their restaurant will be chef-driven and that they'll prepare dishes using French techniques. 

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There's a new little bakery and breakfast spot headed for Lowertown in St. Paul. The endeavor comes from Alicia Hinze, a pastry chef who has competed on and won Cupcake Wars, and Jen Lueck, a marketing and PR professional who specializes in working with restaurants. The two are St. Paul natives, so there was no question where they would want to build their new destination for eats and sweets.
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Courtesy Black Walnut Facebook page

A new venture from Sarah Botcher, popping up all around town

Though bourbon, big portions, and beer gardens may be the most talked-about attractions at Jack Riebel's Butcher & the Boar, a recent James Beard Award semi-finalist in the Best New Restaurant category, early on we also recognized there's something special going on in the pastry station. Southern-inspired desserts with retro flair -- like grasshopper pie, molten s'mores, and banana pie with gingersnap cookie crust, playfully presented -- are the sweet and simplistic finish diners so desire after a meal of big grilled meats.More »

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Fresh, cold-pressed craft juices now served in Uptown

If you've been in a deli or high-end grocery store on the east or west coast recently, you might have noticed more raw blended fruit and vegetable juices nestled in with all the coconut water and chia seed teas. Bottled cold-pressed juices - like the ones from the popular BluePrint Cleanse line - are cropping up everywhere, slowly replacing the Odwalla smoothies and Naked juices that introduced the healthy juice movement to the masses years ago, only to be usurped by less sugary, more raw, and fresh-pressed products that are becoming the new standard. 
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After remarkably short time away from the scene, the creative crew of cooks behind the nationally lauded Travail Kitchen and Amusements have announced that they're about to unleash Phase One of their ambitious expansion upon the world.More »