Russell Klein branches out to Minneapolis; Lenny Russo goes to D.C.

Russell and Desta Klein, the couple behind Meritage (410 St. Peter St., St. Paul, www.meritage-stpaul.com), are launching an exciting new venture in downtown Minneapolis. But here's what it isn't: a second Meritage.

"There's only one Meritage, and it's in downtown St. Paul, and that's where it belongs," said Russell Klein.

Instead, the couple (he cooks, she's the face up front) plan to tap into Russell's Austro-Hungarian heritage with a Central European-flavored restaurant they're calling Brasserie Zentral. Yes, that's "Central," with a Z, the German spelling.

"I love brasseries," said Russell Klein. "They're sophisticated without being stuffy. That's what we do, and that's what the space calls for."

The site is the ground floor of the historic Soo Line Building at 5th Street and Marquette Avenue S., currently undergoing a conversion from offices into luxury apartments.

When it opens next spring, the restaurant's menu will concentrate on what Klein calls "continental cuisine with a real focus on central Europe." It's familiar territory for Klein, who worked in the kitchen at the former Danube, chef David Bouley's sumptuous New York City homage to Austrian cooking.

"I'm really excited to do a great schnitzel," he said, adding that other menu anchors will be tafelspitz (the classic Austrian boiled beef preparation), Belgian frites double-fried in beef fat and a whole roasted chicken for two, stuffed with brioche and foie gras.

The bar will be synonymous with schnapps, and wines will be under the watchful eye of Meritage sommelier Nicolas Giraud. Klein is also promising an "all-star" pastry chef who he's hired but isn't naming yet. Let the speculation begin.

Ambitious, right? But there's more. In another corner of the Soo Line, the Kleins plan to launch a wine bar they're calling Foreign Legion, which will also feature a destination cheese selection, cured meats, grilled cheese sandwiches and desserts.

In addition, the couple are teaming up with Giraud to open an as-yet unnamed retail wine and spirits shop. And upstairs, Klein is venturing where no four-star chef has gone before — the culinary trail of mediocrity known as the skyway —with Cafe Zentral, a casual breakfast-and-lunch outlet.

As for that whole crossing-the-river thing. "Our customers are proud that we're a St. Paul restaurant that draws people from Minneapolis, and we're not abandoning St. Paul at all," said Klein. "Our biggest concern in this whole process is that Meritage remains excellent. Well, that and finding 100 really good employees."

RICK NELSON

"There was no politics," said Russo after the event. "All I heard was food and wine. The camaraderie was exceptional.

"A person could be from the other side of the world and yet we had a common bond. We give sustenance, and that's how we relate to people," he said.