Between two Sunsets: Dennis Palma

By Mike Mitchelson

The accusation that Twin Cities suburbs do not have many independent dining options has taken a beating in recent years, with quality, destination restaurants opening in communities from Excelsior to Stillwater, ranging from casual to fine dining.

Like any area, however, when recent additions get the press, the stalwarts get taken for granted. Sunsets, for example. The original Wayzata location opened in 1991, serving American fare in a casual dining atmosphere. Owners Brian Prose and Paul Svenssen opened a second Sunsets in Woodbury in 1997, on the cusp of that community’s enormous growth.

“We met out here (in Woodbury) on two bricks, before this was built,” said Dennis Palma, who was hired then in 1997 to be the budding restaurant company’s executive chef, and oversaw the construction of the new kitchen. “This was a new area, not much out here.”

Which is definitely not the case today. In 12 years, Woodbury has transformed into a commuters’ community, and Sunsets a busy mainstay. That makes life busy for Palma, commuting between the far east and west points of the Twin Cities. He splits time between the two restaurants, 25 hours a piece each week, he estimates, plus tackling the owners’ recent project, a management contract with Rockwoods Grill and event center near Elk River.

Catching Palma with time on his hands does not happen often. At the Woodbury restaurant for our morning meeting, he was held up in his office. Not a beat was missed in the kitchen, however. Palma’s executive sous chef prowled the floor, cooks deep into prep work with various cuts of meat, vegetables and fruit being readied for the day. Soup burbled in a cauldron-sized stockpot on the range, servers roamed through on their errands, a dishwasher hosed down kitchenware and loaded the washer.

Palma was on a conference call with his chefs at the Wayzata Sunsets. “When the sun shines, they get crushed out there,” he said when he emerged. Being one of the first short-sleeved weather days, that was about to happen—the restaurant overlooks the picturesque Wayzata Bay on Lake Minnetonka.

Palma has the varied work experience one might expect in an executive chef, from corporate dining working for Bon Apetit, to the Decathlon Club to the New Prague Hotel. “I learned everything from (New Prague Hotel chef and owner) John Schumacher,” Palma said.

Tenures at the beloved Nikki’s in Minneapolis  and the unmistakable Camelot (“Where else could you go to eat food out of Sterling silver bowls?” he joked), Forepaugh’s as a sous chef, the Dakota as sous chef with Ken Goff for five years helped round the education. And, as many kitchen jobs do, they tended to overlap and create long days and nights. “I learned from my family, you’re going to be working all your life, so enjoy what you do,” Palma said.


Creative comfort

The hectic resumé building gave way to the Sunsets opportunity, where Palma settled comfortably into his own style of Midwest cuisine, one that he said should be based firmly on the seasons. “Buy local,” he said, bluntly, suggesting it’s something he’s done before it became a declaration highlighted on a menu. “I buy from Star Prairie Trout Farm and the Silver Bison Ranch (both in western Wisconsin).”

Palma also led a tour of the restaurants vast kitchen in prep mode. Here, clearly,  “from scratch” cooking is not a recent phenomenon. Two floors of space allow for breaking down large meat cuts—and space for the smoker. “We smoke everything in-house,” Palma said, leading the way to a Smart Car-sized box, which he opened to reveal a few chickens slow-cooking in sweet applewood smoke.

The result is, for a suburban restaurant offering many standards such as steaks and chops, pastas and a broad range of salads; fresh and deep flavors associated with an upscale urban eatery. For example: Palma uses smoked chicken mixed with ricotta and fresh basil to make ravioli, served with a toasted hazelnut cream sauce. Other specials have included wild boar and venison dishes.

A Midwest theme doesn’t mean avoiding influences, particularly those within one’s own kitchen. A number of Palma’s cooks are from Ecuador, and a pork rib dish on a recent specials menu was heavily influenced with the spices and sauces from their region of the world. The challenge then is to place a Midwest twist to the central-American dish. In that case, “instead of a corn tortilla, (we’ll do) a wild rice cake or wild mushrooms from the region,” Palma said.

All that experience and influences in the kitchen works to accommodate a clientele with ever-expanding tastes, Palma said.

It’s an interesting balance. Despite a current trend toward “comfort” foods (the economy has people reaching back, subconsciously or otherwise, to meals from their younger days), there is a desire for different flavors, Palma has observed. “Take a traditional dish such as meatloaf, we’ll infuse it with garlic, onion and other spices, roast it and serve it with a Marsala sauce,” he said. “We go through 30 pounds a week here, and 50 pounds a week in Wayzata.”

Food memories and demands continue to branch out. “We have 3M right here,” Palma said, motioning to the west. “They’re world travelers. People call me and ask me to do a dish they had in Alsace.”

Then there are the salad eaters. Palma’s kitchens embrace that opportunity as they do anything else. “We have 14 specialty salads,” he said. “We take pride in those, and every station in the kitchen contributes to them.”


Time management

Managing the kitchens at two restaurants means less time cooking, but it’s an activity that remains important. “I am here everyday on the line cooking—I am a cook first,” he said. “You teach the commitment, the philosophy. I’m on the line, doing it—it sticks in.”

The lessons appeared to have stuck—Palma has staff retention that would make most restaurateurs envious. “We take great care of staff here,” he said. “On average, my cooks stay six to eight years. Of my first 17 guys, 10 of them worked for eight years. Not many places can say that.”

The key to retention? “Let the guys cook, let them do their job—I’m here to guide and get in their face once in a while,” he said. “Plus, give them input (in the menu). …“We make the product first, try it, and vote on it. If it passes, it goes out as a special.”

On top of the restaurants, Palma has operated a successful catering operation for about 20 years for various special events. Business was built word-of-mouth, and is distinct in that the client provides the facility from which to do the cooking, whether it’s a home or event center. Throw a family life with five kids in the mix, and it appears a busy life, indeed. “It’s called being organized,” Palma said, “and that you can only learn over time.”