So much is going on at the Travail Collective!
Remember how Travail moved a few years ago from the first location they occupied, into a new building down the street? And then they opened pizza spot Pig Ate My Pizza in their old digs? Well, starting now they're going to build a new new Travail, across the street from the old one. Slated to open in the spring of 2019, co-chef and co-owner Mike Brown says the new spot will have a rooftop patio, offer rooftop yoga, and aim for a two Michelin star experience, which is particularly ambitious as Michelin doesn't currently rate Minnesota restaurants. (The nearest ones are in Chicago, where Travail hero Schwa has one star.)
More interestingly, the old new Travail will become the new home of Pig Ate My Pizza, their rule-breaking, avant-garde, very fun pizza spot, and will gain a three-barrel brewery so they can make their own beer. I asked if Pig will continue to carry other breweries' beer. "We might continue to carry other people's beers, but not feature as many. Or we might not serve anybody else's beers, except collaborations with other breweries," Brown told me. "We think we can make enough beer to fill our own tap system, and we know we want to do a lot of that in our new space." Brown says the brewery was largely inspired because of two longtime Travail cooks, Chef de Cuisine Andy Goettsch and Nate Moser, who are avid and talented home brewers. Brown pictures people picking up crowlers, growlers, and take-out pizza from Pig across the street to the roof of the new Travail, or selling growler/pizza to-go specials, and so on.
(The current site of Pig will become an expansion of current neighbor Marna's, and will be a Costa Rican spot called Tiquicia, Brown says.)
Furthermore, Brown anticipates beginning construction on the long-awaited Travail spin-off MN BBQ Co. sometime this month, with an August opening. He says the entire build-out will take seven weeks, and they'll stream much of it live on Facebook.
By the way, all of this is being boosted not by Kickstarter, but by a new membership program with perks: YOU can be an official Travailian for $300–$2500.
Once Pig relocates, the spot should transform from the cozy, jerry-built spot we've gotten used to into something more professional, Brown told me. The menu will be drastically expanded, because the kitchen will be drastically expanded, and the brewery will encourage expanded Pig hours, so they'll be moving to six days a week with longer hours.
I can't help but notice that this seems like the next logical step in the war between breweries and restaurants—first Surly was a brewer, then it opened one of the busiest restaurants in the state. First Travail opened a terrifically popular little pizza spot, now they're opening a brewery. Will other popular restaurants do the same? Fine dining restaurants report only 3% or 5% margins on their food, while margins on beer you brew yourself can be many multiples higher. What will chef-driven breweries think to make that brewer-driven ones won't? The answers await us all in the spring of 2019.
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For the full details, read the many press releases we received about this exciting new expansion.
ROBBINSDALE, MN, June 20, 2018
TRAVAIL COLLECTIVE EXPANSION AND MEMBERSHIP
The team behind Travail Kitchen & Amusements in Robbinsdale, MN is again proposing breaking ground on new space and culinary concepts while reimagining the way they connect with their tribe. Known for their innovative approach to fine dining, ticketed reservations, and landmark Kickstarter campaign back in 2013, the expanding Travail Collective (including Pig Ate My Pizza and the upcoming Minnesota BBQ Company) has now launched a membership program offering unprecedented access to all their latest creations.
This unique way of converting their customers into “Travailians” coincides with plans for a newly-constructed Travail building at 4131-4135 W. Broadway across the street from their current home at 4124 W. Broadway, where their popular Pig Ate My Pizza restaurant will be moving and growing into while adding an exciting chef-driven microbrewery on-site. The highly anticipated Minnesota BBQ Company location opening this August in NE Minneapolis rounds out the updated Collective.
“It’s taken us eight years of experimentation, trial and error, and figuring out who we are as chefs and as people to further what Travail is and what it has the potential to be, and it’s all going to be reflected in these buildings.” said Mike Brown, chef, co-owner & co-founder of Travail Kitchen, Pig Ate My Pizza, and MN BBQ Co. “And now, our fans can literally join up with us and be first in line for everything we do with insane perks like their first beer free every time they walk through the door of our new brewpub!”
Three levels of Travailain membership have just been announced — Travailian, Plus, and Prime — with perks ranging from advance ticket sales, discounted party tickets, your first beer free at the expanded Pig Ate My Pizza, and your first rib free at MN BBQ Co. for all members, all the way up to cooking lessons from Travail’s founding chefs and full season tickets among other benefits at the higher levels. Complete membership details, including pricing and a special added bonus for Travail’s original Kickstarter backers, are now online at travailkitchen.com/travailians.
TRAVAIL KITCHEN BUILDS A NEW HOME
“The new Travail Kitchen concept plays with what a restaurant is and what a home is, and how you can blur those two ideas to throw the ultimate dinner party.” said Bob Gerken, chef, co-owner & co-founder of Travail Kitchen, Pig Ate My Pizza, and MN BBQ Co. Travail will continue to offer ticketed reservations but will move from two seatings per night to one seating of 40 per night, Wednesday through Saturday. As Gerken continued, “Our new home will be your home. Eat as much as you like, drink as much as you like, laugh as loud as you like, and stay as long as you like.“
Redevelopment plans for replacing the blighted buildings at 4131-4135 W. Broadway with Travail’s new home (for a full capacity of 150-200) include a rooftop patio overlooking the city for special community events like outdoor movie screenings and chef spotlights, artist collaborations, and a “playground” for all of the chefs’ wildest dreams.
Peterssen Keller Architects designed the new Travail building and construction is set to begin this summer with Gardner Builders, and Marsden Building & Remodeling with an anticipated opening in March 2019.
“Guided by the historic character of Robbinsdale, Peterssen/Keller Architecture used brick, glass and steel to bring a modern spirit to the neighborhood.” said Gabe Keller, Principal/Designer at Peterson Keller. “Inside, the designers took inspiration from Travail's playful culinary wizardry and created a sense of theatre with a mix of intimate and public dining experiences within the restaurant.”
During the last phase of construction, Travail will move out of their current home at 4124 W. Broadway and pop-up for a few months (location TBD) while Pig Ate My Pizza takes over their previous space.
TRAVAIL KITCHEN & AMUSEMENTS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Travailkitchen/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/travailkitchen
Twitter: http://twitter.com/travailkitchen
PIG ATE MY PIZZA BREWPUB
Having long outgrown its current location, Pig Ate My Pizza (or “PAMP”) is sliding down the block to the current Travail Kitchen building at 4124 W. Broadway where a complete remodel designed in conjunction with RoehrSchmitt Architecture will vastly expand the restaurant’s capabilities and make room for a new chef-driven microbrewery.
Or as Travail Collective chef, co-founder, & co-owner Mike Brown explains, “Take Pig Ate My Pizza, triple it in size, add a chef-driven brewpub and what do you get? The purest form of happiness.”
Pig’s brewery addition will be headed by three chefs; Andy Goettsch (current Chef de Cuisine at Travail who helped open the original Pig Ate My Pizza) and Nate Moser (currently co-running Pig Ate My Pizza, formerly at Butcher & the Boar). Both chefs have been avid homebrewers for the past five years, crafting award-winning beers and collaborating on a one-of-a-kind brew system. Now with years of experience as both brewers and chefs, they bring a fresh take on brewing with unmatched consideration for how beer can interact with food. The team will be rounded out by Josh Disher, a Pig Ate My Pizza original, and a current Chef de Cuisine at PAMP.
With a planned open date of February 2019, the newly-imagined space will feature a real Minnesotan “screen porch,” full bar with the current Travail cocktail program in addition to the brewery, and a reserved section for ticketed seatings to accommodate large parties. The chefs will also be reviving the PAMP tasting menus, beefing up to-go ordering including beer crowlers, expanding the small plate selection, and bringing back some favorite throwback ‘zas.
“At first I got really excited about the screened-in porch, then the next day I couldn’t stop thinking about the giant 50 foot bar program and brewery,” said Travail Collective chef, co-founder, & co-owner Bob Gerken. “But then i realized I’m probably most excited about the food we will be able to produce from this kitchen space.”
PIG ATE MY PIZZA BREWPUB
https://www.travailkitchen.com/pigatemypizza/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pigatemypizza
Instagram: http://instagram.com/pigatemyza
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pigatemypizza
MINNESOTA BBQ COMPANY
BBQ is one of those foods that looks simple but is not. The pursuit of Perfect BBQ is an art and Kale’s got it.” - Bob Gerken
The eagerly awaited Minnesota BBQ Company is set to open its brick-and-mortar space this August led by Chef Kale Thome, a native of Wichita, KS who has been cooking with Travail from day one in 2010. The building (located at 816 Lowry Ave in Northeast Minneapolis) is designed in collaboration with Joy Martin Architecturehttp://www.joyarchitecture.com/, and in true Travail style, most of the finishing and heavy lifting will be done by Thome, James Winberg, Mike Brown, and Bob Gerken.
All four have partnered on the approximately 750 square foot space, which will function as a take-out BBQ joint in the heart of NE brewery district with additional delivery to nearby breweries and lots of catering. Fitted with a custom designed and built proprietary smoker, meats will spend hours basking in white oak smoke. Thome’s uniquely regional approach to BBQ capitalizes on some of the greatest barbecue traditions while being influenced by Minnesota products and culture, hence the joint’s name.
“I joke that fresh barbecue is like crack, but truly if you’ve ever had fresh barbecue that is off the smoker and rested—oh, my God, it’s like nothing else,” said to Kale Thome, co-owner and executive chef at Minnesota BBQ Company.
Minnesota BBQ Company
https://www.travailkitchen.com/minnesota-bbq-co/
Facebook: MinnesotaBBQCo
Twitter: @MinnesotaBBQCo
Instagram: @MinnesotaBBQCo
