Top Chef Continues His Restaurant Empire Refresh with Yet Another Eatery Makeover

Justin Sutherland, the Saint Paul chef that charmed fans on last season’s of Top Chef continues his makeover-happy breeze through of the Madison restaurant group’s properties with the closing of Public today. The Mears Park facing restaurant has undergone several chef iterations since first opening (under different leadership) in the summer of 2014. Now, Sutherland has shuttered the American eatery and will re-open with an entirely new food and drink menus starting tomorrow, August 21.

Public’s kitchen overhaul is being lead by Brandon Randolph, the chef who opened Pearl & the Thief in downtown Stillwater with Sutherland while he was away, secretly competing on the show.

After returning from his run on the television series, Sutherland took over operations of the Madison Restaurant group, which includes his flagship eatery, The Handsome Hog. Since taking on that leadership roll in late 2018, Sutherland has shuttered Pearl & the Thief, that’s heading to a new downtown Minneapolis location, remade Fitzgerald’s into the pizza serving the Fitz, opened a Wisconsin steakhouse, and transformed Ox Cart Alehouse into a jamming 90s-themed arcade.

• Pearl & the Thief Closes to Relocate [ETC]
• Revamped Lowertown Bar Leveling Up with 90s Jams and Boozy Snowcones [ETC]
• Cathedral Hill Bar Closing to Reopen As a Bar with Pizza [ETC]
• St. Paul Chef Crushes Iron Chef’s Battle Lamb [ETC]
• All Public Coverage [ETC]