Stand-alone status
By Mike Mitchelson

Girvan Grille strives to make a name for itself beyond its well-known home.

“Are you man enough?” Uriah Malinowski, the kitchen manager at Girvan Grille in Brooklyn Park, asked me.

Man enough? Moi?

What a question. He had just set before me a sample of the restaurant’s Dragon Wings, the sauce made with, among other things, the “ghost pepper,” one of the hottest on planet Earth.

Of course I am. So I ate. Unique about the pepper is it’s full-mouth experience. Rich in flavor, with a slow, building heat that, while you feel the perspiration pierce your scalp, doesn’t overwhelm the flavor.

“You want some milk?”

I sensed the beginnings of nasal drip. Sure.

I kept chewing away, helpless to stop. Great flavor, good heat. And I had a few other items to cool the palate somewhat: a sampling of smoked brisket sliders and bison chili.

Those appetizers were a small piece of the menu at Girvan Grille, which opened its doors with a soft opening last fall within the Scottish-style brick clubhouse of the Edinburgh USA golf club in Brooklyn Park. Edinburgh opened in 1987 as a private club, but later turned public, earning a consistent rank as one of the top public golf courses in America. Lancer Catering, which also manages the foodservice operations at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, the Minnesota Zoo and the Science Museum of Minnesota, runs the club’s foodservice operations and Girvan Grille.

The food was also a clue to the more refined parts of the menu. I ate under the watchful eye of Jim Malinowski, Uriah’s father and the executive chef of Edinburgh U.S.A. and Girvan Grille. Sure, many restaurants boast from-scratch cooking, and Girvan Grille is no exception. But Malinowski is also dedicated to the details (the bison chili is “a riff on Cincinnati chili,” he explained, adding that the region uses more sweet spices—“but I love heat, so there’s a little of that”) and those slow, time-consuming methods to prepare the proteins—brining, braising, smoking and roasting—on which he hopes to build the restaurant’s reputation.

Everything—the steaks, chops, fish and wood roasted chicken gets the same sure-handed treatment (even the corned-beef for the Reuben sandwich is cured in-house), he said, and the touch of Asian spices brings the Grille’s rubs and sauces some unique pep. All desserts and soups are made in-house, from scratch. “It’s not from Sysco in a box,” Malinowski said. “Those touches make a big difference.”

He’s also quite proud of his son’s developing reputation as a chef. “He’s been here almost as long as me,” he said. “He started in banquet and pantry and took to it. Now he’s the kitchen manager for the restaurant. He knows he can yell at me as his dad, but not as his chef.”

Sitting with us was Jon Fehrmann, the restaurant’s general manager. He jumped to Girvan Grille three years ago from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, where he was the foodservice diplomat between the three difficult tribes: the Metropolitan Airport Commission, the restaurant brands and the management company.

The immediate goal for Girvan Grille is to get the word out, he said. Media announcements from Lancer corporate help, but spreading the word also means in-house advertising to attract new customers, he said. Edinburgh itself has an extensive banquet schedule (including about 150 weddings per year) in the clubhouse. “If we have 300 people for a wedding (in a banquet room), with in-building advertising, there’s the (potential) growth from Anoka and Rogers,” Fehrmann said.


Opportunity

With Girvan Grille, Lancer Catering saw an opportunity to take its business in a new direction. “We’ve been in the catering industry for many years, and seems like a natural extension to move also to the restaurant world,” said Lancer co-founder Glenn Baron. “We’re looking at a couple other restaurant opportunities right now, actually. I’m sure it’s something we’ll probably do more of as the years move on.”

Lancer renovated the entire space for Girvan Grille, and Malinowski created a menu that was unique to the area, but still a draw for the locals—a trickier balance than one might imagine. Malinowski has noticed regulars’ flavor palates have broadened as the years have gone by. “It used to be you couldn’t sell a piece of fresh fish unless it was breaded and fried,” he said. “More of a meat-and-potato crowd. Even now, you can’t get too weird; you have to stay within a comfort level. But there’s still a lot you can do. And within that, you can ease them in (to other things).”

Malinowski appears to be a man with the patience to ease apprehensive diners toward new flavors. Outwardly calm and shaped like a former lineman, he’s the type of guy that can have an easy-going authority: You do something—or taste something—because it’s conceivable he could make you.

But he’s also a guy whose authority is well-earned. Malinowski came to cooking (as a career) later than most. Prior to becoming a professional chef, he operated a window cleaning business for about 15 years. He enrolled in culinary school at age 30, and following graduation “took a huge pay cut” to join the profession, he said. “I say to people, if you don’t love this, don’t do it. There are too many (potential) downsides.”

He worked at the Carlson Towers and the White Bear Yacht Club before joining Lancer and Edinburgh 12 years ago. The restaurant has been through several incarnations in the club’s history, most recently MacTavish’s, which was “a little stuffy,” Malinowski said. “Linens on the tables, that sort of thing.”

Conversely, Girvan Grille’s menu “has the most of my personality,” he said.

Since Girvan Grille opened, the marketing efforts from corporate have been steady and effective, taking into account the current economy, Malinowski said. “There’s no major growth; we’re staying level (compared to last year),” he said. “It’s tough out there right now.”

The focus is polishing service, Fehrmann said, and Malinowski has added events during the year, from a pig roast to wine dinners to a recent Crown Royale multi-course meal. Malinowski also wants to plan a summer barbecue event and invite other restaurants to join. “That would be cool, all the smokers and grills going in the parking lot,” he said, staring off as if the vision were before him.

It’s those events, plus the care with ingredients that will establish the Girvan Grille’s identity, and help it “become a destination place rather then just an occasion,” Fehrmann said. “It’s not a stuffy golf course here.”

Girvan Grille, 8700 Edinbrook Crossing, Brooklyn Park. 763-315-8550. www.girvangrille.com.