the clover bar in lights
Just in time for celebrations green, The Clover will open next week at the busy intersection of County Rd. 42 and Hwy. 3 in Rosemount. It's a fresh re-do of the former Rudy's Red Eye Grill, which closed last year for COVID and never re-opened, and the first project launch from Tyge Nelson and Stephan Hesse (of Pajarito), and Charlie Burrows who recently banded together to form Eclectic Culinary Concepts, which took control of 11 restaurants.
Since that big revelation at the end of January, Hesse and Nelson have been driving in between all the restaurants, checking in and fixing what could be fixed in the immediate, "I put more miles on my car in two weeks than I had over the last two years," Hesse told me. "But we wanted to meet everyone and make sure they knew our faces, so that we could all start to work together. Some of the places have managers that have been there for years, so working with their knowledge was super important to us. We fixed what we could right away, like patio furniture needs and equipment, but after we launch this, we'll be able to spend more time on each individual spot and look at menus and ideas that could refresh them."
sheep head at the clover
Rudy's was one of Burrow's concepts, and he owns the building, but he mentioned that it was time for a change anyway, "It was doing fine before the shutdown, but we realized we wanted something more casual in the area. Something that could be an everyday kind of place."
As a team, they decided on The Clover: An American pub with Irish hospitality. There are light Irish touches in the decor, a healthy whiskey list, and fish 'n' chips on the menu for sure, but they wanted to keep the flexibility to play creatively from there.
sweet potato fries
And playful it is. In fact, there are some things that might trigger a Pajarito memory or two. These sweet potato fries are an homage to that killer Pajarito sweet potato dish, decked with salsa negra, queso fresco, sour cream, and all the cilantro.
shishito peppers
And the shishito peppers are boosted by house made peanut chili crisp, which is a prep that has been used on Brussels sprouts before. Speaking of Brussels, they are on the menu, but Hesse says they will be different here, "we don't want to take everything from Pajarito and just transplant it. This place has to have its own vibe, but we are going to be playing with the flavors we know. Even the fried fish, we're doing crispy smelt for the starters, and sunnies for the entree. We just want to give a little lift to some of the dishes we know people love."
beef sandwich with peppers
To that end, they have decided not to make this a burger-centric menu. There's a still a luxe burger if you want one, but they're really excited about the roast beef sandwiches. House-smoked for around 6-8 hours, then sliced and dipped, the beef sandwiches are offered up with creative toppings and different breads, like burgers would be. The Nord'East with horseradish cream and banana peppers on a caraway salted bun is a bit of an homage to beef on weck, the unofficial sandwich of Buffalo, NY.
roast beef with arugula
The Angelino with brie, roasted garlic aioli, and arugula comes on an Italian roll. And yes, there is a Chicago beef sandwich you can get dipped OR soaked, your pref. There's a kimchi Reuben and a Philly wid wiz, and they all come in two sizes, classic for $12 or clover for $15.
rice pudding
One of the sleeper hits with the new staff is the rice pudding with coconut and pickled mango. Two separate people told me, "I don't even like rice pudding, but I can't stop eating that." It's an all day menu, starting at 11am and serving until 11pm. Brunch will probably roll out in April. The space will seat about 135 right now, and the patio is being tented as we speak.
tap handles at the clover
The chefs understand that this area will have its own pace for food, and they hope that people will come out and give them a chance. They are planning to go big on happy hour (M-F 2-6pm, all day Su), with a dedicated tap tower for beers that will be offered as the Clover Cup. It's a $2 beer that starts at 2pm, and they are mostly easy drinking lagers, along the lines of local Able Brewing's Old Trusty. HH snacks like Chex mix with harissa, pork belly carnitas tacos, and smoked beef sliders range from $3-$7.
Monday is the day of opening. I reminded Hesse and Nelson that my last served meal before the first shutdown, was the March 14 lunch I had at Pajarito Edina as it was about to open. I remember not knowing how close to talk and feeling sheepish about the hand sanitizer I had brought to the table. I'm feeling much better about their odds this time.
