There goes, and here comes, the neighborhood

Writing about St. Cloud as a destination for dining (I also covered another interesting St. Cloud eatery, Val’s Rapid Serv in March 2006) made me think about recent hits my hometown, St. Paul, has taken in recent months. Notable downtown restaurants Fhima’s, A Rebours and Margaux closed within four months of each other. I dined at each one during their lifespans, and each provided a unique experience.

Each owner remarked that in downtown St. Paul, it’s difficult for a restaurant to survive, largely because no one ventures there in the evening unless there an Ordway or Xcel Center event. It seemed St. Paul was doing the right things—namely, converting vacant, historic office space into condominiums and apartments. However, either not enough of those homes are filled or the residents aren’t prone to eating out regularly. It’s a puzzle to figure out, and, when one looks at other thriving areas of the city, it’s a wonder that some of the same development lessons couldn’t be applied to increase foot traffic.

One challenge for downtown St. Paul is, that it is, literally, downtown. For Crocus Hill residents within walking distance, many, simply, do not want to walk back up that hill, wrestle for street parking or pay for the lot.

For those downtown residents, did these restaurants model themselves as a neighborhood bistro to draw them in with menu, atmosphere or price point? Perhaps Margaux. All eyes will certainly watch Russell Klein, the former W.A. Frost executive chef who will soon open Meritage in the former A Rebours.

While downtown shrugs off its hiccup, another area of St. Paul tries to mimic the success stories of the Selby-Dale, Grand Avenue, and the upswinging West Seventh areas. What’s known by St. Paulites as the Swede Hollow or Dayton’s Bluff area is showing revival signs. Some of the old, grand houses are being purchased and refurbished, and business activity percolates.

Joining in the excitement is the Town Talk Diner team of Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson, who plan to open their latest venture in the former Pop’s Family Café location on Maria Avenue.

The duo is calling their new restaurant the Strip Club, and hope to open in November. “This deal is not done,” Niver said, “but it is close, and we’re not trying to hide the fact we’re trying to make a deal.”

(On a side note, the Town Talk Diner and the Strip Club are concepts that fall under Niver and Johnson’s relatively new consulting arm, New World Consulting. “It’s a different kind of arm for us, (including) banquets and consulting, … that will be positive to have around,” Niver said.)

The restaurant’s name, obviously, grabs one’s attention for a reason unrelated to food, but it does state exactly what the menu will deliver. “There will be meat there,” Niver said. “And there will be fish there,…and (we won’t) be afraid of fried or raw food, and I wouldn’t be afraid to say that there’ll be something on the menu for everyone—that’s something we try to do here at the Town Talk.”

Vegetarians will not be ignored, he added, and they’ll bring similar appetizer ideas over from the Town Talk. “There’ll be mayonnaise, so you’ll be dipping things into other things—there’ll definitely be some interactive saucing,” he said, laughing.

What attracted Niver to the spot was its historic character. “It’s an old building, built in 1880, I believe, and it’s got a little bit of that charm left,” he said. “You walk into a space like that and it feels a certain way. We base a lot of things on how they feel, and the Town Talk definitely has some genuine feeling when you walk in. And so does the space in St. Paul.”

The reviving neighborhood, like the neighborhood in which the Town Talk is located, also appealed to Niver and Johnson. “This Longfellow neighborhood has gone through a remarkable change and we’ve been a part of it,” Niver said. “We hope to affect change everywhere we go, a little bit.”

The Town Talk gang: Agents of urban renewal? “I’ve thought about this a little bit, and it’s one of those things like, ‘Am I really?’” he said. “There’s rumors now of a Caribou coming in on the corner here next to us (at the Town Talk), and I was like, ‘What? You serious?’ Now they can come. Well, thank God we bushwacked for you.”

Niver said he was told people wouldn’t come down to the Town Talk when they opened. The key was keeping up an image, personality and, obviously, food quality and people did—and still do—pack the place. And the Town Talk’s history certainly helped out also, he added.

It’s that historic character in St. Paul that they hope will add to the Strip Club’s appeal. “I think it will be real easy for people to understand what we’re trying to create,” Niver said. “It’s just an extension of what we feel to be something that works for neighborhoods that are on the turn.”