"I can't believe we get to look out at that gorgeous building all day," said Kim Bartmann as she gazed outside the giant windows of her new restaurant, Star Bar & Bistro, which opens this week.
Across 7th Street, the Baker Building is a stoic relic of a long-ago era in downtown Minneapolis, a time when buildings were grand finery, statements to Midwestern ingenuity and big-city opulence.
Today, those aren't always the sentiments that come to mind when most people think of downtown Minneapolis.
But Star Bar & Bistro, a new day-to-night restaurant and swanky bar inside the Hotel Indigo, is poised to be a part of the city's next chapter — and it goes a little against the grain. Which might just be Bartmann's sweet spot.
Her Placemaker Hospitality Group began when she was on her way to brunch with a friend and soon-to-be business partner. They decided to open a coffee shop in Uptown, and Cafe Wyrd was born months later, right at the cusp of the early '90s coffee culture boom and at a time when Uptown was a place for creative types to gather.
Fast forward decades later, after many more restaurants (Wyrd begot the French Bohemian Cafe Barbette that still operates at the same address) and a fair share of controversies later, Bartmann is again bubbling with creativity and the ambition to do something that few have done before.
"This used to be a Burger King," Bartmann said, walking through Star Bar's sun-dappled dining room while a worker was welding behind the bar, sparks flying. The fast-food restaurant closed more than 20 years ago. This edge of the Northstar Building stood vacant, and largely forgotten, despite being next to a hotel and surrounded by businesses.
Plus, downtown Minneapolis hasn't been known for its street culture, with most people using the skyways. Chef Serge Kogan aims to lure everyone down from those lofted mazes with familiar dishes done with a little verve.