Guthrie action: Best of the Best, Cue wine flights and makin’ way for McKee, Culinaire team
A TOAST TO BEST OF THE BEST at the GUTHRIE…One of my favorite annual events kicked off at the Guthrie last month when Mpls/St. Paul Magazine rolled out their Best of the Best party to showcase the winners in their March “Best Restaurants” issue. It was a sparkling repast as well as a déjà vu for me because this rotating-venue party (hosted at the Walker Art Center last year) was staged at the Guthrie space in 2007. It was such a popular spot they gave us second run at this riverside setting this year, bringing out 1,000 food and wine fans. They were milling about the fourth and fifth level among food and wine sampling tables with a great Grey Goose martini station alongside the popular “endless” bridge. Samples ranged from hot new spots like Barrio, Red Stag, Spasso, Smalley’s and Seven Steakhouse to 30-year classics like Lord Fletcher’s. And cleanup service to prevent any dirty plates or glasses piling up was swift and efficient thanks to dozens of volunteers from Second Harvest Heartland, the charity that benefits from the event. At just $30 per ticket, it’s one of the best buys in town for a good cause, and according to Editor Brian Anderson—they raised $7,000 for Second Harvest.
For more than 20 years, the magazine has saluted the Restaurateur of the Year and the winners of their readers’ poll of “Bests” in dozens and dozens of categories such as best view, pizza, wine list and more. Since 1987, the awards party has grown with the public eventually invited for a small fee and the proceeds earmarked for charity. As it outgrew their early restaurant settings it was moved into party venues like the MacNamara Center and the Metropolitan, and last year the Walker.
This year’s top honors went to the talented restaurateur duo of Josh Thoma (38) and Tim McKee (41) who now can boast four popular properties under their belts and super operating teams to balance the load. All four concepts were represented with sample tables: Solera, famous for their tapas and dozens of Spanish sherries with new chef J.P. Samuelson on board; La Belle Vie has the support of Mike DeCamp in the kitchen with McKee at his side, and two new hotspots that opened in 2008, Smalley’s Caribbean Barbeque & Pirate Bar, with it’s walls full of rum in Stillwater, (the restaurant is named after Chef Shawn Smalley) and their newest baby, Barrio, Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, loaded with over 50 tequilas. Chef Bill Fairbanks from Solera now heads up the Barrio kitchen. All in all, the “Restaurateur of the Year” title is perfect timing for this duo and their team—and well deserved recognition for their past decade of growth and success.
The Mpls/St. Paul magazine feature details their interesting history and shares some plans for the future including more venues on the drawing board including a new Barrio in St. Paul’s Lowertown that will make 2009 look even bigger and better for this duo. And with McKee, having been twice nominated in the Best Chef Midwest category for the James Beard Awards, I wouldn’t be surprised if 2009 is the year he takes that title, too. The frosting on the cake was McKee being tapped by the Dallas-based Culinaire Hospitality Management Team, (who will be taking over F&B management at the Guthrie in mid-April) to re-concept the current Cue restaurant at the Guthrie. More on that transition below.
RAISE A WINE GLASS AT CUE COUNTER…Speaking of the Guthrie and the Cue Restaurant, their counter has been a hot spot on Saturdays the last few months with one of the best deals in town. Although the Bon Appetit three-year management contract will be finished in mid-April, Wine Manager & Sommelier Jessica Neilsen and Kirk Monpas and the chef team headed up of Michael Delcambre and Alan Shook are still in the midst of their three-month Saturday wine series, which began in January and runs through March 28. It may be the last chance to sample some of the great labels from their well-known wine cellar that has made news during its short history. Every Saturday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. five wine selections are poured at the counter seating (limited to 18 people) during a one-hour wine flight, just before the dinner hour.
Each wine is also paired with five chef sampling plates as well, all priced to steal at $25 per person. On the afternoon I stopped in we sampled wines from France, Italy & Spain to California & South Australia with bottle prices ranging from $33 to $100. Cue offers another reward to the flight goers at theses events, with an even greater incentive to stay and enjoy their wine and hospitality. If you reserve for dinner after the flights, the wines served during the event are available by the bottle for your dinner at 50 percent off. Plus, they will cut the price of the flight event in half for dinner goers to just $12.50 per person. It’s a real stimulus package to stay for dinner if you ask me, and perhaps we’ll see other wine specials before their April closing. I heard they’ve been very busy on Saturdays, with their biggest Valentine dinner crowd in their three-year history. As the weather warms, the river setting is even more appealing. So check out your Saturdays in March—it’s a nice way to toast bon voyage to Cue and the Bon Appetit team and welcome the new the transition and makeover coming for spring.
SPEAKING OF THE CUE TRANSITION…You no doubt have heard all the changes earmarked at the Guthrie coming in April when the soup, ladle and apron are passed on to the new F&B management team coming from Dallas, Texas, Culinaire Hospitality Management.
The Midwest division of Bon Appetit (BAMCO.com) had been handling Cue, Level Five and the full breadth of the Guthrie beverage and catering since the grand opening under Area Manager David Ramlow and Regional Vice President David Toay. They have had a history of specialty venues before the Guthrie, from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, to the famous Getty Museum in New York and other art venues—and corporate dining rooms, including Best Buy, Target and Yahoo to schools and universities like St. Olaf and Macalaster. Ever eaten at the Minnesota History Center? That’s their account, too.
Culinaire also brings art venue expertise to the job with clients such as the Myerson Symphony Center, Majestic Theater and the Music Hall in Dallas and a Symphony Center in Nashville. They also manage restaurant operations in Texas and the Omaha SteakHouse restaurants located in Phoenix, Houston, Nashville, North and South Carolina and Florida.
To our delight, and because they are new to our market, Dave Wood, the senior vice president of sales and marketing, explained the company hired our Tim McKee to put on yet another hat and head up the Cue Restaurant portion of the Guthrie operation and develop a new concept, menu, recipes, etcetera: “He will establish the DNA of the new dining destination.”
Wood also said they will redesign the vast room into some smaller dining spaces with warmer colors, some specially designed millwork, add panels, furnishings and lighting with the help of the David Shea Design firm and his team. The great thrust counter will remain and plans call for a raw bar to be featured, too. Best of all I learned that while some Cue executives may move to other Bon Appetit settings, the many servers, kitchen helpers and bar folks will be invited to remain with McKee and Culinaire during the transition, retraining and remodeling. Bravo! Let’s hope that means Sommelier Jessica Nielsen will still be pouring some of her great wine choices there next summer—along with guidance from McKee partner and wine expert Bill Summerville.
NEWS AT NATE’S…Stop the presses! It’s official! The century-old Nate’s Men’s Clothing building at the corner of North Fourth Street and First Avenue North will open this spring as a two-level restaurant. The name will be Om (pronounced OOHHMM) makes me thing of meditating or maybe like saying yummmm for the tasty food planned. The menu is still in the works. Partners behind the new concept are old friend and restaurateur Randy Norman and businessman Vik Uppal. Norman, previously with Capital Grill, Bellanote and his namesake R.Norman’s Steakhouse (now Seven) brings his restaurant expertise while Uppal is the owner of Uppal Enterprises, and has been active in residential real estate prior to this new venture. Watch for an opening in Spring 2009.
