Jamie Malone’s Award-Winning Grand Cafe Will Not Return

Jamie Malone’s award-winning Grand Cafe will not reopen at its address at 3804 Grand Avenue in Minneapolis. The restaurant known for classic French fare with a dose of whimsy will not continue inside the historic building.

“We will, as we have been for the last 8 months be operating as Grand Café at Home, creating our meal kits and other take home experiences. We use our second restaurant Eastside as a ghost kitchen, because it is a large space and allows us to cook and package in a safe and spread out manner,” said Malone.

“The pandemic has created opportunities to rethink and reimagine restaurants, take stock of what works and what doesn’t. There are so many things that have been status quo in the past, that just didn’t not serve the business or its employees well. Now is our chance to do that and create a better world for restaurant workers. I believe a smaller space with more dynamic revenue streams is the best way for our team to move forward. We are still going strong, doing what we love, and busy planning our next iteration.”

Malone first came on as a chef for the historic restaurant space under the Hunters, before taking it on as her own. She first opened Grand Cafe as a reborn French bistro along with Erik Anderson in March 2017. Anderson exited the Twin Cities for other opportunities, while Malone continued to evolve Grand Cafe into a blush-colored diners paradise along with a talented team that included Nikki Klocker, running hospitality, Britt St. Clair in the kitchen, and Scarlett Carrasco Polanco pouring an impressive wine list.

During the pandemic, when restaurants first shut down, the eatery turned to recreating the Grand Cafe dining experience at home with boxed kits that continue to be available for purchase.

Isabel Subtil/Grand Cafe

The restaurant slowly re-opened for in-dining service with strict COVID-19 protocols including masks and drastically reduced seats available.

Malone has a second restaurant at the edge of downtown Minneapolis, Eastside. That restaurant will continue to operate and is currently serving pizza and small plates takeout.

The restaurant’s final dinner service was November 14. Grand Cafe’s owners are currently looking for new tenants.

• Grand Cafe [Official]
• How Jamie Malone’s French Obsession Became Minneapolis’ Restaurant of the Year [ETC]
• All Grand Cafe Coverage [ETC]