Counter Intelligence: Bar La Grassa team opening steakhouse

The landmark Burch Pharmacy building at Franklin and Hennepin Avenues on Lowry Hill in Minneapolis has landed a shiny new tenant: A restaurant by spouses Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre and their business partner Ryan Burnet, three of the forces behind the insanely popular Bar La Grassa (800 Washington Av. N., Mpls., www.barlagrassa.com).

They're calling it Burch, and it's going to be a steakhouse.

"But it won't be your average steakhouse," Becker said. "It sounds weird when I call it that, but I just can't think of any other way to describe it without using that label."

Yes, there will be beef. All kinds of it. Becker is promising a variety of cuts in a range of sizes and prices.

"And we'll have prime, grass-fed and grass-fed with a corn finish," he said. "My goal is to find the best beef in the country. I can't commit to just locally sourced beef, there isn't enough variety, and I don't know that local producers can keep up. But there is a lot of great beef out there, and the goal is, if you want grass-fed, we'll have it, and if you want prime, we'll have it. It's kind of like how you want your eggs done. People are specific. They want what they like. I know I do."

But he's also pledging to cater to diners who aren't interested in a medium-rare porterhouse.

"We're not going to offer a token piece of halibut," said Becker. "We're going to offer a lot of vegetables. We want it to be a destination for people who don't like beef."

"Having him coming here and doing this was a big victory for me," said Becker. "With Danny signed on, I'm not as nervous or as scared about it."

Becker and St. Pierre also own 112 Eatery (112 N. 3rd St., Mpls., www.112eatery.com), and Burnet is co-owner, along with Tim Rooney, of the Barrio empire (three Twin Cities locations, www.barriotequila.com).

Julie Snow Architects of Minneapolis is designing the project, which will open in late 2012 or early 2013. The restaurant will cover most of the drugstore's street-level footprint, with a 100-seat dining room and bar and an open kitchen.

The limestone-lined basement will house a small kitchen equipped with a wood-burning oven ("All of the food that we serve in the basement will come out of that oven," Becker said.) for a 50-seat casual, neighborhood cafe-style bar and dining room.

And yes, the name is Burch, as in the former Burch Pharmacy, which closed in 2010 after an 80-year run.

"I mean, this is my intersection," he said with a laugh. "I've been driving past that place for the last two years thinking, 'What a great space.'"