Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Justin Sutherland of Handsome Hog
We've been in a bit of a post-Super Bowl slump here in Twin Cities chef news, but here's something big and thrilling: Guess who is the majority partner and chef-owner in forthcoming Stillwater oyster-and-whiskey destination Pearl & the Thief?
It's rising star Justin Sutherland! Sutherland, of course, is the phenom behind St. Paul barbecue standout Handsome Hog. Watching his growth as a chef has been one of the keener joys in Minnesota food life the last few years—as he scrambled up the ladder from line-cook (Meritage) to sous (Brasserie Zentral) to head chef of his first restaurant Handsome Hog. (He'll be executive chef now of both.)
Pearl & the Thief, Sutherland tells me, is going to be his most personal and most original restaurant in this market to date. "The concept is based on dichotomies," says Sutherland, of the spot he's opening with his longtime business partner at Handsome Hog, Joseph Pirri, as well as minority partners from Stillwater's LOLO, Joe Ehlenz and Brad Nordeen. "Think Savannah, Georgia—that big stark, glossy white plantation look—but ultra-modern, with a seafood focus, not a pork focus, which is obviously what people know me for. I want to do shrimp and rice, étouffé, sturgeon—that classic southern food that stretches in that band from New Orleans to the low country in the Carolinas. My grandma was a big old black lady from Mississippi that did big Sunday dinners, and everyone called her Big Mama. I feel such a deep connection to that food—but of course I want to do it the way I do things." That is, served with a list of 100 whiskies, cooked in a kitchen tricked out with a state-of-the-art smoker and immersion circulators, using the good Gulf shrimp and top-shelf oysters that are best gotten by a well-networked St. Paul chef who used to work at Meritage—one of the highest profile oyster bars around. (Meat lovers: Sutherland tells me there will be a big old beef ribeye, too.)
Will this be the Husk of the north, so to speak? A good way to find out will be to book the private upstairs lounge, where Sutherland tells me he'll exclusively be serving family-style tasting menus.
This is such good news. It's good news for Stillwater, which hasn't had much lately in terms of a serious food destination. It's good news for the Chipotle line cooks of America, which Sutherland was himself, in Mankato, only 15 years ago. It's good news for Minnesota—I love it when we keep and celebrate our home-grown talents. I guess I bring that up particularly because Sutherland is so good he gives you a nervous feeling, like coastal deep-pockets are going to come spirit him away.
"It's been fun to do this all at home," Sutherland told me. "We have an amazing culinary scene here, and I get to keep seeing, eating with, studying with my mentors, and it really inspires you to want to do your best. I'm super content here."
Good! I'm putting this on my list of most-anticipated openings of the year—and please note that the gods of cliché have always told us not to cast pearls before swine, but Sutherland is doing it in just the right order, first the swine, in Handsome Hog, and now the Pearl & the Thief, opening May 2018.
Sign up for our newsletter to get inside access to the latest local food and dining buzz.
