Edina’s ode to New Orleans opened in December with a Cajun-leaning lineup of steaks, chops, soups, seafood, and homemade beignets to go along with theatrical takes on Sazeracs and Hurricanes. Louisiana lover and local chef Tommy Begnaud sends out comfort classics like oysters, crawfish gratin, boudin balls, crawfish etouffee, andouille mussels, and short rib stroganoff. A next-door sandwich shop called Mr. Paul’s Po’Boys and Jams also recently opened with to-go po’boys and snacks like pimento cheese and deviled eggs.

Tibetan and Japanese cuisine collide at Ama, which replaces the 50th and France space that formerly housed Hana Bistro. At Ama, Tibetan brothers Sonam Nyorie and Rinpo Yak build upon the same fusion theme at Momo Sushi, the Northeast Minneapolis sister spot where Nyorie is a head sushi chef. Offerings at Ama swing from Tibetan momos (steamed dumplings) to offbeat rolls like the Lungta, which plays up colors in a Tibetan prayer flag via spicy salmon, tuna, yellowtail, avocado and tobiko. There’s sake flights available, too.

Chef Ann Ahmed’s latest restaurant is an enchanting homage to Laotian and Southeast Asian cooking. After opening Lemongrass in Brooklyn Park and Lat14 in Golden Valley, Ahmed’s debut of Khâluna on Lyndale Avenue is perhaps her most ambitious yet — and another step down the path she’s paving for Southeast Asian food in the Twin Cities. Try the mieng paa — a small plate made with puffed rice, banana blossoms, and peanuts — the duck laab, or the whole fried red snapper with mango tamarind slaw. Ahmed’s rainbow rice, when sprinkled with lime, turns from delicate blue to lavender. Trish Gavin’s bar menu offers cocktails with flavors of passionfruit, persimmon, and makrut lime.

Midtown Global Market has a new stall for fried chicken sandwiches, all-day breakfast, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and baked goods. The Kitchen comes from south Minneapolis native Destinee Shelby, whose Baked Brand empire also includes Got the Juice, Got the Tea, and Homebody Candle Co. Her proprietary Budda Sauce enhances dishes like turkey legs stuffed with baked mac and cheese — also on the menu are steak birria tacos and a Fruity Pebbles hangover sandwich, plus vegan options like cauliflower wings. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Ties is the work of three Gen-Z entrepreneurs — Gene Sanguma, Tommy Joyce, and Stevie Moman — who linked up with investor Levi Strowder to open a four-story nightclub on Nicollet Avenue. The founders’ mission is much bigger than drinks and music, though: after the unrest and isolation that characterized 2020, they want to help revitalize Minneapolis by creating a welcoming, inclusive social experience in their space. Joey Meatballs, a fast-casual Italian venture by chef Joshua Headquist, is Ties’ resident food vendor: step in for gnocchi with garlic butter and a mammoth, solitary meatball, or carbonara made with bacon and black pepper. Desserts from Nothing Bundt Cakes are available for “premium experience” guests, and New Haven-style pizza from OG ZaZa will open along with Ties’ rooftop in summer 2022.

Taking over the two former Peace Coffee locations at the Capella Tower, Mother Dough brings a little bit of Paris to the skyways of downtown Minneapolis. Father-son duo David and Eli Fhima offer the same food menu at both locations: look for baguette, challah and brioche sandwiches, plus Danish pastries, croissants, and éclairs from the onsite bakery. The ground-level counter set-up serves beer and wine. Chef David Fhima famously uses his great-grandmother’s 130-year-old starter dough, which he brought with him from Casablanca, Morocco to the Twin Cities.

A historic building in Downtown Minneapolis just welcomed a new Indian restaurant from a tenured local chef. Situated in a prime location near U.S. Bank Stadium, Spice & Tonic serves North Indian staples like samosas, lamb shahi korma, and chicken tikka masala. Chef and owner Joginder Cheema has sprinkled 15 Indian restaurants across the Twin Cities since 1993. He came out of retirement to open Spice & Tonic with his former business partner Manjit Singh and his son, Shan Cheema. With a liquor license newly approved, Cheema has a full bar menu in the works: look for cocktails like a masala chai martini to go along with imported Indian beers and wines.

Lush is back. After closing abruptly during Pride weekend in 2020, Northeast Minneapolis’s popular LBGTQ bar Lush has returned under new ownership: drag queens Andrew Rausch (Crystal Belle) and Jared Lawrence (Nikki Vixxen), and the team behind biscuit kitchen Betty and Earl’s, Jennifer Lueck and Jason Matheson. What hasn’t changed is the art — Lush is still a go-to for drag brunch, burlesque, and live music. But Betty and Earl’s, which has its own devoted Twin Cities fan base, brings a new culinary edge with breakfast poutine, blueberry lemon shortcake, and egg sandwiches on its classic biscuits.

In March, chef Kevin Manley and Anna Morgan transformed the former Stewart’s space on Cleveland Avenue into Gus Gus, an intimate, subterranean restaurant and bar with a menu that’s by turns quirky, elegant, and exceptionally fun. Start with the venison cheddarwurst with apple slaw and mustard, add the sea bass with white bean ragu, and finish with the squash pudding, garnished with garam masala and graham cracker. From the drinks menu, Gus Gus’s trademark is Jell-O shots made with Aperol and Tattersall bitter orange, served as shimmery cubes on a plate. Morgan and Manley installed violet-colored lanterns and painted the walls and ceiling a deep, glossy teal, giving the space an almost submarine feel.

In April, owners Jason Hansen and Peter Sebastian (also of southern European restaurant Estelle) opened Mario’s, a ‘70-style pizzeria on Cleveland Avenue. Come for Sicilian-style pan pizza — everything from simple pepperoni and red sauce arrangements to standouts like the “Supreme,” a sausage, poblano pepper, and oyster mushroom combo — plus East Coast-style hero sandwiches and frosted Oreo zeppole doughnuts. Mario’s opening is a boon for the Cities’ somewhat sparse sandwich scene: According to Racket, chef Evan Vranian is baking Italian sesame seed loaves for the hero sandwiches.

Chef Leah Raymundo and John Occhiato, who also own Cafe Astoria and Stella Belle, have opened Kalsada, a modern Filipino restaurant, in the former Augustine’s space in St. Paul. Kalsada will feature separate day and night menus: Pastries, breakfast items, and coffee from Cafe Astoria are served between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., and a full menu of modern Filipino fare is available beginning at 4 p.m. For dinner, try starters like roasted carrots ginataan, and entrees like truffled chicken adobo, or munngo made with pan-roasted Lake Superior whitefish, garlic kale, shrimp, and mungbean sauce.