McKee and Thoma add a fourth

Right now Tim McKee and Josh Thoma are the forces behind two restaurants, La Belle Vie (510 Groveland Av., Minneapolis, www.labellevie.us) and Solera (900 Hennepin Av. S., Minneapolis, www.solera-restaurant.com). By July, they'll have added two more to that list.

The third is the previously reported Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque (423 S. Main St., Stillwater), scheduled to open May 20. The fourth is Barrio (925 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis), a tequila bar going into a former Dunn Bros. coffeehouse. It will open in mid-July.

They're not kidding when they say tequila bar: The bar will stock more than 100 labels. The kitchen will specialize in Latin street foods, with a focus on Mexican and Cuban influences: "Tacos and enchiladas in the $3.50 price range, lots of small and larger plates to share and entrees in the $20-and-under range," said Thoma. Bill Fairbanks, currently sous chef at La Belle Vie, will be Barrio's operating chef.

Thoma is sold on the Nicollet Mall, once native territory to department stores, now lined with restaurants. "It's a great location," he said. "We're right next to the Local, which is such a successful pub restaurant. Downtown has that lunch business, which will be good for us, and then happy hour, then dinner, then late-night. We'll get every segment."

The restaurant, a partnership with Tim Rooney and Ryan Burnet, takes its name from the Spanish word for neighborhood. "It's the direction that successful places are going," said Thoma. "Smaller in size, more accessible pricing. It's really going to be a neighborhood place, because downtown is a neighborhood in and of itself."

Michelle Gayer is getting back into the bakery business. She has a space -- the Midtown Global market (920 E. Lake St., Minneapolis), she has a memorable name -- the Salty Tart -- and she has a tentative opening date -- Memorial Day weekend.

"We'll do a huge variety of fresh daily," she said. "Croissants, scones, Danishes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, cakes, anything pastry." A few breads, too, and, true to the Salty Tart name, Gayer will offer savory items. "Caramelized onion brioche, turnovers, sandwiches, all the savory things that I love to do," she said. Can't make it to the MGM? Gayer plans on selling to coffeehouses and other wholesale accounts.

The pastry whiz gave up a much-lauded gig at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago to open the retail counter at the Franklin Street Bakery (1020 E. Franklin Av., www. franklinstreetbakery. com) in 2004. She left after two years, and went on to teach at le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Last year she also signed on as pastry chef at La Belle Vie, a job she plans to keep while she runs the Salty Tart. "I adore that gig," she said. "If anyone tries to take it from me, I'm going to hunt them down like a dog."

There's another newbie at the MGM. It's Jade Asian Restaurant, located in the former Chang Bang space. Chef/owner Carl Wong is cooking a Cantonese and Szechuan-style menu, and his restaurant also features a sushi bar and a lunch buffet; a full bar will debut in a few weeks.

RICK NELSON