Gavin Kaysen, chef and owner of Spoon and Stable
Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Big news, Minneapolis. Gavin Kaysen, hometown hero of Spoon & Stable and Bellecour, has announced he's putting a tiny, 20-seat counter-seating restaurant right behind Spoon & Stable in the North Loop. It is to be called Demi, and already has a snazzy new website, if you want to watch a slick video: demimpls.com.
But if you want the details, I just got off the phone with Kaysen: "I've known the developer for a while," Kaysen told me. "If we walk out the back door, it's two steps [to Demi's back door.] It's this tiny space, 1,200 square feet, and so the developer and I were talking for a while. I'd been trying to think of something that will excite the team, to allow the talent we have to grow, and the enthusiasm around the Synergy series made me think some guests are really wanting that next-level experience." The actual address of the space will be 212 N. 2nd Street.
So they're doing it. It will be something like Nashville's Catbird Seat, Kaysen told me, the restaurant designed around a U-shaped counter with seven seats on one side, seven on the other, and six in the front, for a grand total of 20. They will offer maybe two seatings a night of a multi-course, seasonally driven menu, led by chef de cuisine Adam Ritter, currently at Spoon, and overseen by Christopher Nye, currently executive chef at Spoon. Diane Yang, pastry chef, will likely hire someone to work solely at Demi, says Kaysen. "It's a step up for everyone, we hope." In the video Kaysen says it will focus on "Northern local cuisine, on hospitality, on warmth, on comfortable dining."
Kaysen says the menu will be designed to go with a sequence of wine-pairings, and, as I pushed him on price point, we came to something like $150 a head, though he didn't want to be quoted on that, so consider it very provisional. It will have a separate entrance from Spoon, and also a separate cocktail lounge, though it is reportedly very, very small, and will only be available to guests before or after they dine. Hours will be dinner only, five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Target opening? Late winter, perhaps February.
Congrats all! Just when you thought February in Minneapolis was a dark month, it got brighter.
Demi, North Loop Minneapolis, demimpls.com
