More vegan options coming to St. Paul

Colin Anderson, the entrepreneur who staged a vegan pop-up bakery in April, has landed a brick-and-mortar home for his Eureka Vegan Compass Food.

Opportunity knocked when Eden Pizza (629 Aldine St., St. Paul) quietly closed. Now Anderson is readying the 12-seat space for a series of vegan-focused dining options.

"I'm really inspired by Japanese sushi counters, where there's one chef behind the counter, and he's doing all the food preparation, and talking to the guests," Anderson said. "That's what I'm looking to do here."

In the mornings, the place will operate as a bakery counter, showcasing Anderson's vegan croissants, scones, muffins and other goodies. A limited-menu lunch could include a few entrees and salads, and the kitchen's pizza oven will probably lead to slice-and-a-soda events.

For Monday and Tuesday dinners, Anderson is using a ticketed model to sell prepaid reservations for $40, five-course, family-style suppers. (He's just posted tickets for the first two dinners, on June 19 and 20, at eventbrite.com.)

Anderson is holding a preview pop-up at his new place, offering pain au chocolat and croissants filled with raspberry preserves and cashew-based cream cheese, at $4 a pop.

"Hot, right out of the oven," he said. He's got two dates lined up: 3 to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The 16-seat operation will feature made-to-order, seasonally focused sandwiches, supplemented by a small array of soups and salads. Kochlin and Lilja have been a couple for 14 years, and the Original marks the first time they've collaborated professionally.

Bradstreet Neighborhood Craftshouse (1930 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.) has called it quits. Sort of. The craft cocktail pioneer abruptly closed last week, but owner Graves Hospitality is pledging to reopen the bar in the InterContinental Hotel, which the company has under construction outside Terminal 1 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Look for a summer 2018 opening.

Yes, that's chef Sameh Wadi of World Street Kitchen (2743 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., eatwsk.com) running the kitchen at Seven (700 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 7mpls.com). "I love steakhouses; that idea has always excited me," he said.

Tullibee (300 Washington Av. N., Mpls., hewinghotel.com) made an abrupt switch at the top of its food chain last month, when opening chef Grae Nonas was replaced by Bradley Day, a veteran of a dozen high-end New York City restaurants.

Day's first dinner and breakfast menus recently debuted, and one alteration is that they offer more options than their predecessors. The restaurant's Nordic focus has been de-emphasized, while its seasonal, farm-to-table mind-set is being accentuated.

New dishes include lamb tartare with pickled radishes, a smoked smelt Caesar salad and a whole Lake Superior trout, seasoned with a lemon-dill oil and baked in the kitchen's wood-burning oven.

"For me, it's going back to why you get into this business in the first place," Day said. "Which is working with fresh ingredients from local farmers."