Wilde Roast Cafe (518 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls., www.wilderoastcafe.com) is moving. The seven-year-old, all-day cafe is staying in its Old St. Anthony neighborhood, but taking a much more glamorous address: 65 Main St. SE. in Riverplace. The roomy spot (three times larger than its current location) has been home to Picosa, Sophia and Yvette.
Co-owner Dean Schlaak said that a larger kitchen will translate into more menu options (a warm-weather burger bar, for starters), and riverfront walkers and bikers will be pleased to learn about the addition of house-made ice creams.
Dessert lovers, not to worry: The famous flourless chocolate cake -- once featured on the cover of Bon Appetit magazine -- will be making the move.
"We'll never be able to take it out of our case; people would be too angry," Schlaak said with a laugh, adding that he is planning on closing the cafe's current location during the last week of May and reopening on Main Street the following week.
Healthy eating, California-style When the Mill Valley Kitchen (3920 Excelsior Blvd.. St. Louis Park) opens early this summer in the new Ellipse on Excelsior apartment complex, chef Mike Rakun will feature "Northern California-inspired cuisine that's good for you but first and foremost tastes great."
That means, among other things, a commitment to locally and sustainably raised ingredients and full nutrition disclosure -- fats, calories, carbs and other data -- on the menu. The full-service restaurant, owned by former banker Craig Bentdahl, will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
Rakun, a veteran of Mission American Kitchen and Trulucks, a Florida-based seafood chain, is promising items such as a daily breakfast toast -- a grilled fruit-and-nut bread topped with mascarpone and fruit -- a lengthy array of salads, flatbreads built on a 10-grain dough, season-specific seafood and a heavy emphasis on California wines.
RICK NELSON
