Yes, there is a waffle.
It’s not THE waffle, the legendary one that showed Minneapolis you could throw a bunch of veggies and grains into a breakfast staple and make it a savory triumph. That was farm-to-table pioneer Birchwood Cafe’s claim to fame, and the new Darling, though it inhabits the once-groundbreaking Minneapolis cafe’s former home, is not Birchwood.
There are some similarities, if you squint hard enough. The bones of the space, of course, and even some of the blond-wood furniture and slatted benches. A menu of brunch heavyweights and dishes packed with locally grown veggies that almost make you forget there was a time when knowing your farmer was revolutionary.
And even a familiar face in Marshall Paulsen, the former Birchwood chef who’s now a behind-the-scenes contributor on the business side of things.
But Darling is more than a tribute to the past, thanks to the bubbly creativity and enthusiasm of husband-and-wife team Juell and Ray Roberts, the former personal chefs to Prince. They still run the food program at Paisley Park, as well as their other business, Peoples Organic Cafe. With partners Mike Smith (Hi-Lo Diner) and Jeff Zajac, they bought the 4,144-square-foot building earlier this year for $1.15 million, and opened Darling in mid-June for breakfast and lunch. (Dinner, and a full liquor license, are still to come.)
The cafe is already starting to feel like an original Seward neighborhood fixture, thanks to some fresh green paint, an inviting bar, Mickey D’s-inspired sandwiches, Prince playing on the sound system and, yes, their own spin on the sweet-and-savory waffle.

Healthy comfort food
When the Robertses were contemplating taking over the old Birchwood, they struck up a conversation with a food-world acquaintance who had intimate knowledge of the former cafe: Paulsen. He had recently left Union Hmong Kitchen as operations director and had just started his own restaurant consulting business. He joined the Darling team temporarily to help with the business of running a restaurant. “The first time that I came in, it was really surreal,” Paulsen said of his return.
There were some ghosts of Birchwood to exorcise. And not only because the 25-year-old cafe had closed abruptly in 2021, after what the owner called a “labor dispute,” in which three-quarters of the staff was laid off.