Mike Kempenich, also known as The Gentleman Forager, is opening the Shroom Room (4030 Central Av. in Columbia Heights) this spring. The music and food venue is located inside the Central Mix building and will host regular evenings of fine dining mixed with shows with local bands.

Most nights will kick off with a cocktail hour followed by a show, then a five-course dinner that includes the band sitting down with guests to share a meal made by a local chef incorporating foraged ingredients. (Chefs Taylor O'Brien and Ashley Estrada will start what will likely become a rotation.)

"The food will have a wild twist," said Kempenich, who also used to operate Forest to Fork at Keg and Case.

The idea for the Shroom Room formed during the pandemic summers when Kempenich worked with Keg and Case to curate outdoor music shows. "I really wanted to recreate that vibe" of families and people from the neighborhood gathering together, he said.

"I had a friend who introduced me to the building owner," Kempenich said of the Columbia Heights location. "When I got over there, all these ideas began coming together." The room was built to be an adult day facility, complete with a full-size commercial kitchen. (Some diners will remember it as the location of The Underground pop-up dinner series.)

There will be a full bar with plans to use ingredients brought in from foraging forays in the drinks. Attendance will likely be capped at around 100 people, but the facility could hold up to 250.

Provided, Star Tribune
Mike Kempenich will open the Shroom Room just as the growing season starts.

Plans are still unfurling like little fiddleheads poking through the forest floor. "The problem is keeping the ideas to a manageable amount," he said. But it's possible that the bar will transform into a coffee shop by day, serving mushroom teas, coffee and maybe a few retail items.

Look for an opening before the sap run ends.