Inside the warm and wonderfully fragrant greenhouses at the busy Tangletown Gardens farm in Plato, Minn., thousands of tiny strawberry plants, budding peppers and just-sprouting herbs are not only a harbinger of spring's impending arrival, but also the birth of a restaurant.
When Tangletown co-owners Dean Engelmann and Scott Endres invoke the phrase "farm-to-table," they're not exaggerating. Their Wise Acre Eatery (5401 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls.), located across the street from their nine-year-old garden store, will be the state's first restaurant designed to be a direct conduit from farmer to diner.
"We're going to offer a complete local experience," said Engelmann.
The farm, about 20 minutes west of Chaska in McLeod County, is Engelmann's family property (Endres grew up on a similar family farm in Hampton) and a model of sustainable, biodiverse practices. Raising food is a relatively new part of their business. Two summers ago, the duo started selling farm-fresh produce at their store. Last year, they launched a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program, and quickly enlisted 320 subscribers.
Starting in late May, diners will get a taste of the farm's wide-ranging output -- including grass-fed Scottish Highland beef, pasture-raised Berkshire pork, free-range poultry and a dizzying array of vegetables, raised on nearly 30 acres, with another acre of year-round cultivation inside the farm's greenhouses.
"We want to give people the absolute freshest food that we can, cooked with care," said Endres. "The restaurant is going to be a nod to what our dads and grandpas raised on their farms, and all the incredible things that our moms and grandmas cooked and baked."
The casual, counter-service restaurant, going into the former Liberty Frozen Custard, will be operated by a pair of Twin Cities restaurant and catering veterans: chef Beth Fisher and wine-and-service guru Caroline Glawe, co-owners of TWO Food Wine Design.
"It's an amazing opportunity that awaits us, with everything that they're going to be growing and harvesting at the farm," said Fisher.