Butcher & the Boar Returns With New Owners and an Indeterminate Location

Butcher and the Boar is coming back, in some form, some where different than the original location. Jester Concepts, the company behind Borough, Parlour, PS Steak, Monello, and more will take on the meat, smoke and bourbon fueled restaurant name and culture. The company is currently looking for a new location, and several dark restaurant addresses have been suggested by an eager public. But for now, all that is known is that some of the classic dishes will be back.

Butcher & the Boar opened to immediate acclaim in 2012 with a menu built by chef Jack Riebel. The chef later departed the restaurant after a split with his two businesses partners. The restaurant carried on for eight years with a popular year-round beer garden and smokey sausages that were also sold in area grocery stores.

The restaurant closed last year.

• Butcher & the Boar is Coming Back [MSPMag]

The Man Once Responsible for Distilling Jameson Has Left Ireland to Oversee a New Minneapolis Distillery

Brian Nation, an Irish master distiller who has worked for such famous brands as Jameson, is headed to Minneapolis to be a part of O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co.. The new distillery, under construction in Minneapolis’ Prospect Park neighborhood, is the work of cousins Patrick and Michael O’Shaughnessy who wooed Nation, according to Whisky Advocate, with the promise of building his own program from scratch.

In addition to the impressive promise of a world class distiller, O’Shaughnessy has also recruited Pip Hanson as its food and beverage director. Hanson is one of the most respected bartenders in Minneapolis, and the world. His revolutionary Marvel Bar program changed the way many approach the drink mixing craft in Minnesota, and inspired others around the world. He stepped away from that bar in 2018 to run a world-class bar program in London, before eventually finding his way back to Minneapolis.

The distillery has been in the works since the summer of 2019, is currently hiring staff with an expected opening some time this year.

• Ireland Just Lost Its Preeminent Whiskey Maker to a Minnesota Craft Distillery [WA]
• New Distillery Aims to Make Prospect Park a Drinking Destination [ETC]

Amazing Grace Duluth [Website]

Iconic Canal Cafe and Music Venue Shifts to Grocery Store During the Pandemic

Amazing Grace Cafe opened in 1995 in Duluth’s Canal Park just as the area that had been known for scrapyards and Club Saratoga, turned into a tourist destination. Twenty-six years later the cafe, that was still a reliable spot for a giant cappuccino and health-ish muffin has made the pivot to market.

The space has been remodeled, by its owner and a lean staff, to include shelves, new flooring, and a stage ready to welcome back acoustic musicians after the pandemic. Now, in addition to some grab and go items from the cafe, there are all kinds of food and necessities stocked.

In addition to the market, Amazing Grace has grown its wholesale market during the pandemic. Baked goods can be found at Duluth’s Whole Foods Co-op and Lake Avenue Cafe.

The market offers in person as well as online ordering for curbside pick up. If everything goes well, delivery and shipping could soon be added.

• Amazing Grace grocery transition complete; sit-down cafe service and music will return after pandemic [PDD]

Nordic Ware [Official]

Iconic Pan Factory Wants to Get Into the Cafe Business

Nordic Ware, the company famous for inventing the bundt pan, is seeking approval to expand its building and put in a cafe space and patio in St. Louis Park. The plan includes a 45,000-square-foot addition to the Nordic Ware warehouse and loading dock operations in addition to a small restaurant space and outdoor patio that would overlook the nearby trails.

Plans are still in the early stages.

• Nordic Ware St. Louis Park Building 9 [SLPGov]