A Tiny Neighborhoody Tasting Menu Is Coming to South Minneapolis

Cameron Cecchini and Grisha Hammes are used to working shoulder to shoulder inside a kitchen. The duo first met when working on the opening kitchen team at Borough, currently are cooking away at Piccolo and soon will work together to open their own restaurant, Tenant at this address after Piccolo closes this March.

“After the close, we expect a four week build-out and then we’ll open,” Cecchini said.

Photo courtesy Piccolo

The already small restaurant will be getting even cozier as they close off the back room, open up the kitchen and add an eight seat diner bar. There will be still be some table seats and the entire menu will be a likely five course tasting menu with a simple dessert served in a relaxed style. “It will be unique to the Minneapolis food scene, but harmonious,” he explained.

What it will not be is precious, it’s a show up any Tuesday through Saturday and graze at a reasonable price sort of situation.

Cecchini grew up in the south suburbs and has been working inside restaurant kitchens since he was 14. After finishing school, he jumped in full time at Borough before taking off to Chicago and then bouncing around in New York City. “it’s an idea I’ve been working on for a long time.”

Tenant will run on a tiny crew: Cecchini and Hammes and maybe a third guy with all of them cooking and serving. There will be a modest beer and wine list, plus a standing invitation to cork anything you’d like to BYO.

There are many more details to get in place, but first these two have to work hard at the certainly packed Piccolo as the Essential Minneapolis restaurant winds down its era. Tenant expects to open spring of 2017.

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