One Building, One Chef and Two Restaurants Are the Future of Former Hardware Store

It’s called the Maytag Building, but since 1960 the four-story brick building at 515 Washington Avenue North had been known as the home of Gardner’s Hardware. That business closed its doors for the last time in 2015 and now set to become two new eateries overseen by chef Peter Hoff.

Hoff was born and raised Duluth before moving first to the Twin Cities, working at several kitchens around town before launching to California where he was running kitchens. One would think, being a chef surrounded by year-long growing season and access to insanely fresh produce would be a hard to walk away from. Hoff might have been more tempted to stay, but came back to our chilly climate for one of the most common reason we end up with great talent in the Twin Cities: love of family. Plus, this is a chef born of the icy waters of Lake Superior and hardscrabble soil of the north shore. If that doesn’t breed love of challenge, I don’t know what does.

The challenge is two restaurants. Street-level will be more elegant with a design that makes great use of the exposed brick, pillars and old-world charm of the century-old building.

Downstairs in the basement will be a neighborhood hangout with room for live music, bubble hockey, and a counter-style food service.

Hoff is part owner and working with developers Saturday Properties out of Minneapolis and New York-based Vor Development, according to the Minneapolis /St. Paul Business Journal.

More details are expected to released very soon and we will be following this new project closely.

• Two Restaurant Concepts Coming to North Loop’s Maytag Building [MSPBJ]