restaurant and patio
After riding out the pandemic by adapting with an array of slick permutations, Eastside has officially become EaTo. So long to Woodfired at Eastside, thanks for the sandwiches of Between Two Slices, and long live the memories of a Minneapolis walk-up seafood and ham bar called La Pistola. And we'll have to cuddle up to the memories of the pre-pandemic Eastside in which Jamie Malone saw the potential for a lady-spiked downtown eatery with a booze filled golden swan. Bygones.
The Washington Avenue space will still carry some of the flavor of the past year, but with an evolved intent. EaTo will be: a take-out window and patio, a bottle shop, a meat counter, a market, a bar, a ticketed pop-up dining space and a fast-casual eatery with Italian influences all in one. Jamie Malone is not an owner of this property, but she is part of the creative development of the concept, and the owners are partners with her on her Grand Cafe evolution. EaTo is owned by Monroe Enterprises, which is Dennis Monroe and his son Matt Monroe. Dennis is a long-time restaurant veteran on the ownership and management side, I knew him from a shared time at the Parasole Corporate Office, and he's written a column for industry pub FoodService News. His son Matt, who recently moved home from the east coast, will be handling most of the operations.
the takeout window
The takeout window facing Washington Ave.
It's coming in phases. The first phase will start on Friday, Aug 6. That's when the takeout window and patio will open. It will be first-come-first-serve for the 30 some patio seats, but you can order ahead and just grab and go if you want. "We'll do pizzas, those incredible pizza puffs, plus a couple of sandwiches and salads," Matt told me today. "We have an abbreviated menu to start, but we'll see how it goes." Hello, one of those sandwiches is mortadella and fried chicken, and another is steak and Velveeta. And gelato, there's gelato (pro-tip: get a side of fried shokupan dough with it).
Drinks too. The cocktail program is being designed by 3res Leches (the Marco Zappia, Adam Witherspoon, and Dustin Nguyen liquorati consortium) to be laced with Italian notes: peach bellini, mandarin negroni, along with some N/A charmers like a bitter rosso and chinotto. Wines are curated by Grand Cafe's somm Scarlett Carrasco, and sipping some now might be a sneak peek into phase two.
Construction on the inside of the building will move the main entrance door to the corner, so that you can walk into a totally transformed space. A small bottle shop will feature the wines that Carrasco brings in, a meat counter will feature about seven cuts which will be ready to take home for cooking. If you need an olive oil, some other ingredients, even a recipe kit to inspire you, it will be in the market space. The pizzas and drinks from the patio will move inside to the bar and the dinning tables, and the menu will expand to add more items (like Schnitzel). "It's all about bringing the neighborhood in. Either for a quick snack or to help build a meal at home," Matt said. Look for the dining room and market to roll open first, likely in October, with the bottle shop and meat counter following in November.
Phase three will be the conversion of the back private dining room into a pop-up space where they'll hold ticketed events and dinners. "Essentially, we'll do some Italian steakhouse dinners, our chef Matt Hendrickson will get to take what we're doing here and offer something even more special."
The GM is Amy Dumas, who is a veteran of the neighborhood, and she believes that downtown is coming back, "We see people popping by every day asking if we're open again. There's a lot of foot traffic and people are just going about their day again."
That can be you. Starting this Friday. EaTo will be open starting at 3pm, Wed-Sat.
