Daniel del Prado is pulling from literary inspiration and Latin traditions for his newest restaurant, Macanda, which will open in the former Wayzata Brew Works in June.
The restaurant, at 294 Grove Lane E. in Wayzata, will feature 100 seats indoors and another 120 outside in a four-season patio on Lake Minnetonka that will open to the water in the warm months and be covered and cozy during all of the other weather months we get in Minnesota. In the kitchen will be chef Steve McMullen, who has worked with del Prado at Josefina, his other Wayzata restaurant, and at Bar La Grassa in Minneapolis. There also will be a vinyl record lounge where Aaron Switz, del Prado's partner in the project, will fill the room with music.
"The idea is that it isn't centered in one cuisine," del Prado said of Macanda. "It's the magic in Argentina [where del Prado grew up], Columbia — in Latin America it's the most important."
Del Prado said he identifies with Latin American artists and authors such as Julio Cortázar and Gabriel Garcia Márquez. It's the magical realism of Márquez's seminal "One Hundred Years of Solitude" that is, in part, the spiritual guide for Macanda.
The menu will feature global flavors, but won't be confined to one style of preparation. "It's based on Latin American cuisine with components of all types of cuisine — some French, some Italian and from all over the place," said del Prado. Ideas for dishes include fried oysters with a celery rémoulade — "kind of Cajun/French/New Orleans, but in the form of a taco," he said.
The culinary team will take advantage of a grill that's three times the size of the one at Martina, del Prado's Linden Hills restaurant. The fire will be cooking everything from short ribs to strawberries.
"The concept is all over the place," he said. "I like that."
Macanda is the latest in a string of lauded restaurants from the chef, who also owns Colita, Rosalia, Sanjusan and Cardamom in addition to Martina and Josefina.
