Counter Intelligence: Down but not out on Loring Park

Two-year-old Nick and Eddie (1612 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, www.nickandeddie.com) has pushed its reset button.

"We thought about closing, but we got together and said, 'Screw it, we'll get the job done,'" said manager Doug Anderson. "We have too much invested emotionally in this place to let it go."

Co-owner and chef Steve Vranian has left the building -- a major loss for this diner -- and he's been replaced by Derik Moran, who was most recently part of Steven Brown's former crew at Porter & Frye. (Brown, who had been cooking at Nick and Eddie, is also gone. "That was a temporary arrangement from the start," said Anderson.)

Moran's menu currently features a half-dozen entrees (confit of chicken leg with gnocchi, steak frites) and sandwiches, and he's busy curing his own bacon, making his own hot dogs and andouille sausage, and is starting to produce what Anderson calls "adventurous" charcuterie. "You'll see some headcheese," he said. "We're going to be about solid, inexpensive food -- a bar with good food."

That business plan requires the ability to purchase liquor. Customers have noticed that the bar's stock is very nearly depleted, the result of a delinquency in paying liquor sales taxes. No check written out to the state of Minnesota, no access to booze wholesalers. "It's something that never should have happened," said Anderson. "We are inches away from getting it all cleared up."

Good. Other changes? Despite the skeleton staff -- the payroll has been trimmed considerably -- lunch is back, the kitchen's mesquite grill is going away and co-owner and pastry chef Jessica Anderson's work space is moving to a more prominent space, meaning that customers will be able to watch her do her thing. Is she still making her amazing butterscotch pudding? "Oh, yeah," said Anderson, sounding like an admiring husband.

"We've been working like hillbillies, but you know what? It's not that bad," he said. "I've discovered that dishwashing is my favorite job in the restaurant."

Kieran Folliard, possibly the region's most charming restaurateur -- it's that Irish accent, so it is -- never stays still for too long. The owner of the Local, Kieran's Irish Pub and the Liffey is getting set to open Cooper (1607 Park Place, St. Louis Park, www.cooperpub.com) on Wednesday.

The pub will be doing the whole enchilada: lunch, dinner and late-night daily, plus Saturday and Sunday brunch. "We're excited but a bit nervous, given the economy, or the lack thereof," said Folliard. He describes the menu as "value-driven," with a new "female-friendly" emphasis (translation: salads) plus a variety of fish and chips options, not just cod but shrimp, walleye and trout.

The pub, located in the West End development along with a branch of Crave (which opened Monday), is roughly half the size of the Local and features the same elaborate Irish-built millwork as its downtown cousin. "But there's a lot more glass," said Folliard. "It's like a family. They have a resemblance, but they don't all look the same; they have their own personality."

As for the name, it's not the Cooper, just plain-old Cooper. "Of course it's a nod to the old Cooper Theatre [which stood nearby], but the real reason is that a barrelmaker is a cooper," said Folliard. "But I loved that theater. I see on Facebook that former employees of the Cooper are having a reunion at Cooper. They never got a chance to say goodbye."

RICK NELSON