If 2022 was contending with the fallout of the pandemic and the toll it took on the hospitality industry, 2023 was phoenix mode. Chefs and hospitality professionals are shaking off fear and kicking heavy comfort food aside, making way for a fresh wave of creativity.
Looking ahead to 2024, the year appears to be filled with something we've been short on for quite some time: optimism. There are a slew of exciting openings happening in the first quarter, with French-lumberjack finery, more Hmong sausages in a restaurant setting, top-shelf pastas and the promise of a long-lost burger making a comeback. Here are 10 restaurants we can't wait to get into in 2024.
Bûcheron
Bûcheron will be an elegant neighborhood restaurant from hospitality veterans Adam Ritter and Jeanie Janas-Ritter. Opening Jan. 9 in Minneapolis' Kingfield neighborhood, it is inspired by the Parisian "bistronomy" movement: Restaurants elevate simple bistro dishes with high-level gastronomic technique, allowing chefs to get a little less fancy, a little less fussy, and a little more in touch with the ingredients.
Ritter has cooked at prestigious restaurants the world over, but most recently worked as the chef de cuisine at Gavin Kaysen's celebrated tasting menu restaurant, Demi. Janas-Ritter also worked for Kaysen at Wayzata's Bellecour, and quickly became known for her deft hospitality and extensive wine knowledge.
Reservations are already open for the transformed former Revival/Corner Table location. A sleek makeover has made it an ideal neighborhood dining destination and added a few more seats to the cozy room.
4257 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., bucheronrestaurant.com
Diane's Place
For her entire career, chef Diane Moua has created beautiful things we want to eat. In early 2024, for the first time she'll do that and more under the mantle of her very own restaurant. Moua rose to acclaim as the pastry chef at the celebrated fine dining restaurant La Belle Vie. From there she moved to Gavin Kaysen's Spoon and Stable, where she not only led the pastry department, but made impressive breads and gave Minneapolis a new iconic brunch dish: the crêpe cake. Then came Bellecour, which began as a French fine-dining restaurant but became a French bakery for the ages.
What we haven't had yet, notably, is access to the chef's savory side. That's about to change with the opening of Diane's Place inside the Food Building in Minneapolis. The new location affords Moua access to the butchers at Lowry Hill Provisions, who are already making a Hmong sausage to her specifications, and an event space that's already throwing private parties.
The rest of us will have to wait for the all-day eatery she's building, but the wait won't last much longer.
117 14th Av. NE., Mpls., dianesplacemn.com
Dario
Chef Joe Rolle and bartender Stephen Rowe will open Dario in the former Dalton and Wade restaurant in Minneapolis' North Loop in January 2024. The menu will center on pastas made with imported Italian flours, star-worthy vegetables, several a la carte proteins, and beverages to complement them all.
Opening in the North Loop neighborhood — arguably the city's most restaurant-rich area — wasn't the original plan. But when they brought in designer Aaron Wittkamper to talk about how the room and kitchen could be reimagined, everything clicked.
Rolle already has a reputation for making memorable pastas, juicy roast chicken and famous smashburgers in notable eateries around town. But it all started in the kitchen at the Dakota. At the time, Rolle had just finished a few months of culinary school and landed in the kitchen with the Jack Riebel, who would become a Twin Cities culinary legend. It was also where he and Rowe met 18 years ago.
323 Washington Av. N., Mpls., dariorestaurant.com
Chilango
Jorge Guzmán, the chef/owner behind the three-star Minneapolis restaurant Petite León, is ready to launch his next restaurant. In February 2024, Guzmán and Zach Sussman's Chilango will offer "elevated Mex-Tex" with a menu — and name — inspired by Guzmán's birthplace: Chilango is the word for someone born in Mexico City.
He is still developing the menu, but promises sheet pan brisket nachos will be among the offerings. The bar program will highlight tequila, frozen drinks and Mexican beers. Chilango replaces the former Urban Eatery in the historic Beach Club Residences (formerly the Calhoun Beach Club) on Bde Maka Ska.
2730 W. Lake St., Mpls., chilangomextex.com
Gia
Gia is moving into the city sometime in early 2024. Co-owners and chefs Jo Seddon and Lisa Wengler will open Gia inside the former Cave Vin space in Minneapolis. Gia had popped up at the restaurant earlier this year, and the setting suited the modern Italian eatery.
Seddon, originally from London, walked away from a career as a doctor and into the kitchen as a professional chef. She cooked locally at Bellecour before launching Gia as an outdoor eatery.
Gia first debuted with a run as a seasonal pop-up at the Winery at Sovereign Estate overlooking Lake Waconia. Like that iteration, the new permanent address will focus on fresh, seasonal cooking inspired by travels in Italy and southern France.
5555 Xerxes Av. S., Mpls., giampls.com
A Bar of Their Own
Some of the best ideas are born out of frustration. Jillian Hiscock was with a group of friends and wanted to watch the Gophers' softball team play in the NCAA tournament. Out of the more than 20 televisions in the bar — some playing cornhole and reruns — not one was tuned to the game. The idea of a bar that focuses on women's sports is one whose time has come. With the success of the Sports Bra in Portland, Ore., and the announcement that Minnesota will have a team in the new Professional Women's Hockey League, we're ready for A Bar of Their Own.
When a major lender turned down A Bar of Their Own for a small business loan, Hiscock took to crowdfunding and raised more than $200,000. Now, the former Tracy's Saloon is undergoing renovations and Hiscock and her wife will open a place where no one is going to have to ask for the channel to be changed to watch the Lynx dominate another game. We'll be cheering along in March 2024.
2207 E. Franklin Av., Mpls., abaroftheirown.com
Lynette
Two legends of the much-missed Lyn 65 (and its much-missed burger) are teaming up to open an homage to the restaurant. Lynette is in the works for the former Riverview Cafe & Wine Bar. The new neighborhood restaurant is the work of beverage maestro Travis Serbus and chef/hospitalitarian Ben Siers-Rients and their partners, Billie White and Melissa Siers-Rients. Construction is underway and Lynette expects to open in spring 2024. In the meantime, the culinary team has been warming up by hosting a recent pop-up at the other restaurant they're a part of, Petite León.
3753 42nd Av. S., Mpls., instagram.com/lynettempls
Vinai
It's been years in the making, but the excitement surrounding Yia Vang's next restaurant has never waned. Vinai, named for the refugee camp in Thailand where he was born, will finally open next year in northeast Minneapolis.
Yang, who also owns Union Hmong Kitchen, first shared news of Vinai all the way back in January 2020. Between the pandemic shutdown and the original planned location not working out, it's been a journey, and Vinai only existed as pop-ups and home experiences. Now the restaurant is finally going to happen. The former Dangerous Man taproom is undergoing a remodel and the feasting will commence by late spring.
Yang has hardly stood still while the restaurant develops, between hosting television shows "Relish" on TPT and "Feral" on the Outdoor Channel, he's held pop-ups, opened a second Union Hmong Kitchen on Lake Street and built a can't-miss stand at the Minnesota State Fair.
1300 NE. 2nd St., Mpls., vinaimn.com
Animales
Chef Jon Wipfli has built a barbecue institution with his seasonal businesses at Bauhaus Brew Labs. The tender smoked meats, lively vegetable sides and exceptional burgers have built a legion of followers, but the warm-weather days are somewhat fleeting. That, combined with a tumultuous year that brought issues with city ordinances and clarity on how mobile businesses could operate outdoor smokers, nudged the chef/owner into a new plan: finding a permanent restaurant for the tasty goods.
Partnering with Billy Tserenbat (of Billy Sushi), Wipfli hopes to secure a northeast Minneapolis location and expand the business into something we can enjoy inside the dead of winter.
Dahlia
Every pop-up menu the Dahlia team has released has had us falling all over each other for another bite of the gold leaf-adorned doughnuts, flaky pain Suisse and savory Danishes.
These Travail alums have been building anticipation ever since they announced they were branching out on their own. Sarah Julson, Nat Moser and Alex Althoff left the Robbinsdale restaurant group in 2022. Althoff was executive pastry chef and Moser (Althoff's husband) was head chef at Nouvelle Brewing (and Pig Ate My Pizza before that). Julson served as creative director.
Dahlia will one day be a full-service daytime cafe with an emphasis on the food we like to eat in the morning — and all day long. They haven't found an address yet, but they're actively on the hunt and we're ready to follow wherever they lead.
What's missing from this list of restaurants? One notable address: St. Paul. While 2023 saw the high-profile opening of Wrestaurant and the brief, but lovely, tenure of Kalsada, news is light on great east metro restaurants on the horizon next year. But we are optimistic that new restaurants will be coming, and the second we know, you will, too.
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