Counter Intelligence: Lyn 65 opening in Richfield; Travail goes 'pop'

Here's a trend we can all embrace: Another young, well-mentored chef is stepping out on his own.

After five-plus years of cooking at Restaurant Alma (528 University Av. SE., Mpls., www.restaurantalma.com), Ben Rients is launching a casual, 70-seat bar-restaurant he's calling Lyn 65 Kitchen & Bar.

As the name indicates, the project, nearly two years in the making, is at 65th St. and Lyndale Av. S., in a forgettable strip mall that's now part of a rapidly gentrifying Richfield commercial corridor.

"Richfield is a really underserved market," said Rients.

Yes, it is. As for the menu, "It's going to be bar food, although I don't want to pigeonhole it," he said. "Classic, approachable American fare, but refined. It's mine, and I'll be making the rules. But it will always be a bar. A bar where you can get a bowl of really great steamed mussels."

There will be a handful of constantly changing plates-for-two — fried chicken, a steak — with prices topping out at $15.

"We're going to show people that we're working hard to give them more, for less," he said. "Alex [Roberts, chef/owner of Restaurant Alma] does that so well. I definitely want to run the business the way Alex runs his business."

"I want people to come in and have a good time. Instead of going to Applebee's, we'll get people to come to Lyn 65."

A relatively open kitchen will anchor the long, skinny space. The bar will produce classic cocktails and feature reasonably priced beers and wines. Rients, a Lakeville native, is planning to serve a late-afternoon happy hour and dinner, and cooking to midnight weekdays and 1 a.m. weekends. A November opening is planned.

While their new home is under construction in Robbinsdale, the cooking collective behind Travail Kitchen and Amusements is planning a short-lived dining experience that will run from Sept. 11 through at least mid-October; the schedule will depend upon the progress at the Travail construction site.

The location? Minneapolis' restaurant-starved North Side, inside a recently rehabbed chain outlet near Broadway and Dupont. Av. N. The 45-seat operation will focus on Asian street food, "which really is the best food, ever," said co-owner Mike Brown.

No name yet. Rather than accepting reservations, the plan is to sell tickets to seatings, via Tempotickets.com, an online ticket service.