Photographs by Josh Grubbs and styling by Lisa Evidon
couple in kitchen with big white dog
Restaurant owners (and husband and wife) Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem get chopping in their newly renovated Linden Hills kitchen, a project they tackled themselves during the pandemic.
It's probably not an ideal situation to move into a new house and then be told you basically can’t leave it. But that’s what happened to Minneapolis restaurant owners Christina Nguyen and Birk Grudem when the lockdown was first mandated.
The married couple owns Hola Arepa in the Kingfield neighborhood and Hai Hai in Northeast Minneapolis, which were ordered to close at the start of the pandemic. Having just moved into their 1947 bungalow in Linden Hills, the two were planning to renovate the dated kitchen over time. But without businesses to run and with nowhere to go, they were suddenly staring time in the face.
The couple had already designed and built two restaurants from the ground up. Hola Arepa started as a bright blue food truck before it blossomed in what was an old fast food space. And Hai Hai, the lush Vietnamese restaurant with plates from Christina’s past, was created out of a strip club. “We’d done this kind of work before, and we knew all the right people who could help us were also bored,” Christina says.
It became obvious to Christina and Birk that their nontraditional house with its 1990s lofted back addition also needed a nontraditional kitchen renovation, one that made it the center of attention. The couple blended the old and the new with a look that also blurs the lines between their restaurants and home. From the jungle of plants and splashy colors to the chef-driven functionality, this light-filled kitchen is open for business.
“I wanted a kitchen that was bright, welcoming, and functional.”
—Christina Nguyen
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dining room
LIGHT SHOW: Natural light pours in from the windows, unobscured by upper cabinets. “No uppers is great for me since I’m only five feet tall, so I can reach everything now,” Christina says. The dining room was part of an addition the previous owners added during the ’90s. “It makes the house what we call a mullet,” Christina says. “The addition makes it super nontraditional and unique.”
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kitchen sink
COLOR SPLASH: Christina splurged on the bright turquoise glazed terra-cotta Clé Tile, so she strategically placed it partway up the walls to wrap around to define the open kitchen’s footprint. The couple fit the fronts of the IKEA cabinets with Supermatte Light Grey Shaker by Semihandmade.
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kitchen drawer
STORE MORE IN DRAWERS: “I wanted to have drawers that were very functional and good for organization, so we have some drawers within drawers,” Christina says. “We also wanted a separate beverage cooler that goes very low in temp so our beer and sparkling is extremely chilled, just how I like it!”
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man at home bar
Birk shakes up the cocktail scene at the couple’s restaurants and at home. The Nadeau cabinet’s cubbies and pull-out boards are perfect for storing all the bartending accoutrements. (The framed watercolor is by Minneapolis artist Suyao Tian.)
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spices
SPICE OF LIFE: Christina and Birk’s zest for living comes in a jar, too! Hai Hai’s Coconut Chili Crisp is a tropical flavor of spicy allium-filled dried chili, crispy garlic and onion, and spices in coconut-chili oil. Hola Arepa’s Nut and Seed Salsa Macha is a spicy and slightly sweet mix.
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Quirky wallpaper
BOTANICAL BLISS: Quirky wallpapers are a signature look at Hai Hai, something Christina wanted to bring home to her newly remodeled main-level bath, which the couple renovated along with the kitchen.
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bathtub with plants in it
So far, overwintering plants are the only ones to have taken a dip in the tub. The wallpaper is Queen Palm by Milton and King, while most of the tile and the AllModern vanity are from Wayfair.
