Apple Valley restaurant group switches gears to open food hall

The suburban restaurant group that operates Bourbon Butcher, the Volstead House, Minnesota Burger Co. and more is changing its name and mission.

In a recent Facebook post, founder and self-described visionary Tony Donatell reflected on his company’s journey and laid out plans for its future as Wondrous Collective, shedding the name Eyes Wide Hospitality.

Along with the name change, Donatell is switching concepts at the Apple Valley restaurant that first opened as the Misfits Collective food hall (14889 Florence Trail). Currently operating as Pizzeria Social and Curiouser Coffee & Conservatory, the space will once again lean into the food hall concept. Now called Revolve Hall, Curiouser will expand its menu, and Square Cut Pizza will serve Detroit-style pan pizzas and thin-crust tavern pizzas. Also in the mix: Ice Cold Tacos, with rolled ice cream shaped into taco shells, Mean Miner’s Smoked Street Tacos and Whiskey Inferno steakhouse and barbecue.

The company has also taken over the Outpost gas station in Lakeville and will open another Farmer’s Grandson Eatery all-day restaurant while still selling gas. The original location is in Eagan.

Feast Buffet will open in the former Cowboy Jack’s (1690 Woodlane Dr., Woodbury) with a menu that’s expected to include dim sum, hibachi, Cajun seafood boils and more.

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reports that Sushi Train owners Ze Gui Qiu and Kevin Ni are working on plans for a destination eatery with a “Las Vegas-style buffet,” noting that buffets are making a post-pandemic comeback.

The first to bring conveyor-belt sushi to the metro area, the business partners operate other on-trend restaurants like Captain Crab in Brooklyn Center and Mochinut locations on W. Lake Street and the Mall of America.

Look for a spring 2025 opening.

The latest from the Duluth Grill restaurant group will be the fast-casual fried chicken eatery Chicken and Whaaat, located in the KornerStore (231 Central Av. N., Duluth) in what used to be Charleys Cheesesteaks.

Perfect Duluth Day first reported that owner Tom Hanson’s new project is inspired by the popularity of other fried chicken chains, like Raising Cane’s. The menu will be entirely quick-service: buttermilk-marinated chicken fried in beef tallow, with Nashville hot seasoning options, coleslaw on the side and more.

Chicken and Whaaat’s Facebook page teases that the opening is just a couple of weeks away.

In addition to the Duluth Grill and Chicken and Whaaat, the company also operates Burger Paradox, Corktown Eatery & Bar and OMC Smokehouse.

One of the major players in local distilling has closed its original distillery cocktail room in northeast Minneapolis. Nov. 30 was the last day for Tattersall Distilling’s Minnesota location; all operations are now officially housed in their much-larger facility in River Falls, Wis.

Childhood friends Jon Kreidler and bar expert Dan Oskey opened Tattersall in 2015. The distillery had an innovative cocktail menu and an impressive array of spirits, even on day one. It has continued to expand with a lineup of products, from ready-to-drink cocktails and special bottles alongside gin, whiskey, rum and cordials.

By 2021, the company had outgrown the Minneapolis space and moved most operations to a converted Shopko in River Falls. Earlier this year, it was announced they would leave the Minneapolis location at the end of its current lease.

Tattersall River Falls continues to book private events, operate a restaurant and offer a full retail outpost for the company’s products.

On Dec. 10, a buffet of Black and Indigenous foods will be available at Union Hmong Kitchen for anyone in need of a meal, regardless of their ability to pay. Hosted by the BIPOC Foodways Alliance, the Community Feast for Unity promises dishes from special guests in the BIPOC food community as a way to “press pause on holiday pressures, the news cycle and division.”

Tickets are available online at no cost; guests are invited to pay what they can for the meal. The evening is open house-style from 6 to 9 p.m. with a cash bar. Union Hmong Kitchen is at 901 W. Lake St., Mpls.

Esquire magazine has joined the chorus of national praise for Vinai, naming it one of the Best New Restaurants in America in its latest issue. It also named chef/owner Yia Vang as chef of the year under its “Names to Know” sidebar. The story isn’t available online, but in a screenshot Vang shared to Instagram, the story underscores Vang’s dedication to the Hmong language and cuisine at Vinai that isn’t elevated, but “finally getting the respect it’s due.”

Vinai has also received nods from the New York Times and Eater as one of the best new restaurants of 2024.