Photo by Caitlin Abrams
The bar at Il Foro in downtown Minneapolis
What's up with one of America's greatest surviving Art Deco interiors, our old Forum Cafeteria, which was later Goodfellow's, and Il Foro, and a dozen other things? That's what I asked legendary Minnesota restaurateur David Fhima, who has the space's lease. The answer might just surprise you.
I'm sure you knew that Fhima has been preparing all the foods eaten by the Timberwolves and Lynx, right? That food is made under the direction of team coaches and trainers, to be served in the teams' cafeteria in the Mayo Center, across from the Target Center. Fhima also makes all the bread and other baked goods served in the Target Center to folks watching the Timberwolves, or going to Disney on Ice, or whatever else is going on there. He also supplies all the breads to the Life Cafés at the Lifetime Fitness Centers. That's a lot of bread. When Fhima took the lease of the old Forum Cafeteria last summer, he invested in higher-power commercial baking equipment for the space, and now uses the kitchen as a commissary for all his baking projects. Stand in the skyway over Hennepin between the old Forum and the Target Center and you will eventually see carts of bread roll by.
So, now we know that the old Forum space is currently being used, for baking, and for private Timberwolves, Lynx, Vikings, and other sports team events. I learned about this because there are still tickets left for this incredible Taste of the NFL event at the old Forum January 18—hosted by Andrew Zimmern, cooked by Thomas Boemer, Tim McKee, Gavin Kaysen, and David Fhima, and attended by very famous Vikings. This I thought would be an incredible chance to raise money for a good cause, and also get a sneak peek at the restaurant. And when I talked to Fhima, I learned it would be an incredible chance to raise money for a good cause and get a last glimpse of the restaurant before the renovations, because after the Super Bowl they'll start construction on his next big thing:
Fhima's La Belle Epoque! Targeted for a summer 2018 open, Fhima's La Belle Epoque will be a traditional French bistro with "French Moroccan Jewish Catholic" elements, Fhima told me, and food that comes from the clean-living, organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised, minimally processed guidelines he's been using as caterer to the sports stars. Local countertop superpower Cambria is coming in to redo the bar, with a white and gold theme. It will stay in the same location, but there's some way the back bar is going to be cantilevered from the ceiling to allow sightlines across the entirety of the glorious space. The floor is going to be redone in black and gold. The business model will be: Private events for the various sports teams, a commercial kitchen making all the bread for the Target Center, the teams, and the Life Cafés, and a restaurant basically for fun.
And who do we have to thank for all this? Maybe David Fhima's mom. "All our breads are made from a mother dough I got from my mom when I came to this country in the early 1980s, with a little jar of her starter dough and $100 bucks in my pocket," Fhima told me. "I was kind of stressing out it was going to die on the plane!" But that little jar of dough didn't die, and now feeds Lindsay Whalen, Jimmy Butler, and maybe you in our greatest historical restaurant space next summer.
