Chef David Fhima is the latest chef to take over the glittering, mirrored, art deco restaurant space at the base of Minneapolis’ City Center, a location that has been home to several eateries over the years. He will call the restaurant Fhima’s Minneapolis.
When Fhima announced that he would try to make the room at 40 South 7th Street rise again, he said the menu would have a “French Moroccan Jewish Catholic” feel and that the place would be known as La Belle Epoque and before that the plan was for Bistro 373.
Fhima has made his mark on the Twin Cities dining scene with several restaurants over the years: Mpls. Cafe in downtown Minneapolis, Fhima’s in downtown St. Paul, LoTo in Lowertown, Louis XIII in Southdale, and the most recent Faces on Mears Park. All of which have long-since shuttered. He’s still been serving diners through partnerships with Life Time Fitness, with cafes in their clubs and oversees concessions at the revamped Target Center.
We are getting close to our restaurant grand opening( this summer) we have collectively decided to name it Fhima’s Minneapolis , unfortunately Facebook is not allowing a name change so we created a new Facebook page that we will be launching ASAP, please join us on the new page. pic.twitter.com/7Isb1A74HY
— Chef David Fhima (@david_fhima) February 22, 2018
His influence on the tapestry of Twin Cities dining pairs well with that of the address he is reviving. The restaurant began as the Forum Cafeteria at 36 South 7th Street in downtown Minneapolis in 1914. The grandiose art deco interior was added to the register of Historic Places and all 3,500 pieces of glass, black onyx and crystal chandeliers were relocated to the current space on the ground level of City Center.
Since then, there has been a steady parade of restaurant tenants in the beautiful room: Scottie’s on Seventh, The Paramount Cafe, Mick’s, Goodfellow’s, The Forum, and most recently Il Foro which opened in June 2015 and closed in May 2016.
Now, it will be Fhima’s Minneapolis and once again serve customers starting in the early summer of 2018.
- Fhima’s Minneapoils [WEB]
- Fhima’s History, 2009 [CP]
- Finding the Forum, a history [STRIB]
- Forum, Minneapolis [Wikipedia]