Spacecrafting Photography
via Mara
Four Seasons Hotel - 245 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401 - Private Dining Room
During an early tour of the unfinished Mara space in the Four Seasons, I noticed the tiniest slip of a potential patio that was accessible only through some back rooms off the bar that were marked for storage. Gavin Kaysen noted that he wasn't sure what might happen with it, it could be something, or it could be nothing. During the official media tour, those rooms indeed were labeled as Storage and, in fact, held boxes and overflow chairs, so. I believed that function had won over form and that was that.
Happy to say, form has triumphed and sneaky rooms and tiny spaces for intimate gatherings are now on the menu.
Marin is the name that they have given to this private dining experience. It is named after the warm, southeasterly wind of the same name blowing onshore from the Mediterranean to France. On the North side of the bar in Mara, there's a little hallway that leads to two rooms, the ones that briefly held chairs and boxes and are still labeled as storage. Newly scrubbed and decorated in a way that compliments Mara in tone, but adds a lot of homey comfort, these rooms are bookable for a family style dinner experience. We got a sneak peek during a practice dinner and were allowed to do a test drive of the rooms.
Glasses await the house vermouth.
Six of us landed and were brought down the red hallway to the first room. Six chairs fit neatly into the red space, circling an elegant cocktail table with glasses. In this greeting room, we were served a special house vermouth to launch the evening. “The secco vermouth is made on property and has been developed over the last decade," noted Adam Witherspoon who leads the beverage team at Mara. "We’re serving it as the opening to the guest experience into Marin.” Of course we had a straggler, so it was nice to have a space to gather and wait for her to arrive.
We were told that the night would be run by the bar team. As close as it is to the bar, it made sense to have them run the show. Nate Beske and Ben Kippley were our service team for the evening, and once we were all assembled they led us to the dining room. It's still labeled as Storage.
The space is just one table, banked on one side by chairs and a long L-shaped banquette on the other. There are prairie style notes to the room, which might feel like it clashes with glammy Mara, but the same emerald and ruby jewel tones tie it all together. Plus: this is family style.
Once we scooted into our places, we realized that this really is a six person adventure. You really can't fit more people around this table. Nate brought a pitcher of aperitif and explained how the night would go. The menu is set, there will be multiple courses that come when you're ready, paired with wine and drinks if you have chosen that route. There are upgrades available, say if you want to add shaved truffles to your dishes or have little pots of caviar on the table to add to whatever you'd like. (Those are not small in price, but they are large in impact so decide for yourself.)
Let's take a moment to talk about the style of dining in this setting. This type of dinner experience (coursed, private, small) has been, in the past many years, typically formatted by chefs as a tasting menu: Creative and brief bites on many plates that land and disappear from your table with a reverence and flourish. Four hours and 19 small plates is fun too, I do love a good tasting menu, but this is not that.
This is three courses and many big platters which must be passed amongst your dining companions, or dished out as someone plays mom for the serving. Not that there aren't plenty of plates, the first course landed as lavash and labneh, hummus with pita and crudités, focaccia with lardo, delicate birch smoked hiramasa crudo with charred grapefruit, olives, and a simple meat board with Mangalica ham and Idiazabal cheese. It is a snacker's heaven and we found ourselves tipping each other off—put that ham on the focaccia but then hit it with the labneh or put an olive in the pita before you dip in the hummus. You don't really get that chance with a tasting menu.
The main course had two big platters. One filled with za'atar crusted Peterson Farms strip loin, already sliced and ready for the passing. And a stunner pan of Fideo, which is like a paella with toasted pasta instead of rice. Chef Thony Yang, who brought ours in, explains, “This dish reflects the family style environment we’ve created, and it’s a showstopper when we present it to the table.” Studded with blue prawns, Spanish octopus, and mussels, this one is best scooped by someone in the middle of the table, onto your passed plates. Crispy potatoes also show up, as do fried Brussels as sides.
Third course is dessert, which landed as a long board full of chocolate cake, mascarpone manzari sorbet, dots, swooshes, and Maraklava, a baklava that should be forked with some of the saffron ice cream. It's important to note, that at my table we had one gluten free eater and one vegetarian, and neither felt left out or ignored.
Most of the food we ate in Marin is also available in the main dining room, but not in this format. This experience runs $165 per person, plus wine pairings which have two tiers, at $55 or $95 per person. When I think of some tasting menu prices (or what some people paid for the Vikings seats on Sunday), this feels like a deal. If this is an evolution of fine dining, I'm in. The room, the attention, the communal vibe, the quality of cooking that you can't get around your own kitchen table could make this storage room a hot ticket. Bookings are open as of today!
