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.

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.

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.

The latest venture by the Travail Collective, the Dream Creamery is Northeast Minneapolis’s newest ice cream shop, equal parts simplicity and whimsy. Milkjam veteran Nate Mickelson is heading ice cream operations — the nostalgia-tinged slate of flavors runs from cereal milk to Grandma Jean’s oatmeal cookies. Dream Creamery also serves lobster rolls and an indulgently messy cheeseburger that’s making its own mark on the local scene.

Guacaya Bistreaux, a Latin-Caribbean tapas bar and restaurant by chef and owner Pedro Wolcott, opened in the North Loop in May. Enjoy a tap cocktail like the Leche de Tigre, made with orange, lime, ginger, and chili, or the Mula Mula — a tamarind and Prairie vodka elixir — on the spacious patio. The tapas menu highlights dishes like sour orange-marinated skirt steak skewers, ceviche, and Louisiana-style house boudin sausage, all in the $12 to $18 range. The restaurant’s interior is tropical-mod — there are plenty of bar stools to grab a seat at the rum bar.

Mara is acclaimed chef Gavin Kaysen’s new restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The interiors alone here are enchanting: curved booths nestled into shimmery alcoves, green glass lamps dangling from the ceiling, elegant curved features in the bar and a tiled fireplace tucked into the corner. Kaysen’s main menu centers Mediterranean influences from his time traveling in the region — look for dishes like cured ocean trout, salt-baked branzino with tzatziki, and olive oil cake with labneh sorbet. The cocktails run fruity and aromatic, like the “Aquarian Delights,” made with peach, cherry bar, mahlab spice, and brandy. Reservations are not required for the bar.

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.

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.

Revival Smoked Meats started as an immensely popular but short-lived stand at Keg & Case Market in St. Paul — unfortunately, the pandemic shut down operations there in 2020. But the barbecue restaurant was resurrected this May in the former Corner Table space on Nicollet Avenue, with a full-service menu. Revival does Southern barbecue and leans toward Carolina-style. The menu ranges from classic like brisket and smoked hot links to cumin crusted pork belly and char-grilled whole chickens. Save room for the sweet corn and jalapeno pudding.

The owners of south Minneapolis’s  Parkway Theater have opened a neighboring supper club inspired by the northwoods establishments of the upper Midwest. (Some may argue these are of an exclusively Wisconsin genre, and Creekside’s brandy Old Fashioneds and relish trays make a solid case.) Here you’ll find classics like Vidalia onion rings, roasted corn chowder, prime rib sandwiches, a fish fry, or a wedge salad, best enjoyed with an ice-cold martini in hand. The nostalgic, cozy interiors (designed by Anna Lundberg, who also designed the Parkway) are a love letter to northern Wisco’: all wood paneling, plushy carpet, and choice taxidermy.