Pairings Food & Wine Market now open

On Monday, May 18, co-owners Holly Damiani and Mark Peregory opened the doors to Pairings Food & Wine Market in Minnetonka. The duo worked with Shea on the design of the new retail space located in the Minnetonka Crossings shopping center. This brand new concept features a high-end food market adjoined to a full service wine and spirits shop.

The pairing of the two retail locations under one roof is just one iteration of the "pairings" theme. The wine store offers over 1000 labels, including an impressive selection of half bottles of wine, a full line of spirits and one of the region’s largest selections of bottled beers (where you can mix-and-match your own custom six-packs.) Every bottle of wine in the store includes suggestions for food pairings, many of which can be purchased in the adjacent all-fresh, made-on-site food market. The market is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and features made-to-order salads, pizzas, and sandwiches from the grill, and prepared foods for sale by the pound for take out, including meatloaf, crab cakes and chicken wings. It also features cured meats, fresh pasta-by-the-pound, a large variety of olives, and cheeses selected by a full-time cheese monger. Items from the market also come with suggested pairings of wine or beverages sold by the glass in the market or by the bottle in the wine shop. A purchase in the wine shop can be uncorked for no charge in the market and enjoyed in the dining area or on the expansive outdoor patio.

Damiani stresses that Pairings is not a restaurant but more of a total meal concept. "We are foodies and we want more people to become interested in food. At the same time, we are Minnesotans that want good comfort food. We want to have offerings that are accessible, economical and fun. Exploring shouldn’t be intimidating; it should be a celebration."

After working in the hotel industry together for 10 years, Damiani and Peregory developed the Pairings concept based on several visits overseas.
Damiani notes, "In Europe, you don’t shop with a list. You see what’s available and shape your meals around the best, freshest finds at the market. Then, you really savor the food and wine with your friends and loved ones. We’re hoping to help people here in Minnesota to take the time to savor what they eat and drink."

Education is a big part of the business. "It begins with a well-organized, well-trained staff," explains Damiani who has a serious desire to educate the guest and expose them to new products and ways to enjoy them. "We help you learn about beer, wine and food. Whether it is through a class with one of our on-site experts, a seminar with a local chef or farmer, or just a conversation with a member of our staff, we tell you how to put it all together. We want you to enjoy the entire experience and can show you how to carve a turkey or layout a cheese platter. We can help you select items for a fabulous picnic basket. And then we can even provide you with fresh
flowers that will help to make your table—and your celebration—complete."

The concept includes a serious commitment to the freshest offerings available. This includes supporting local farmers and vendors. Damiani states, "We’re big on seasonality. If it’s not available locally, we probably won’t carry it." With the help of chef Mike Broughten in the kitchen, these fresh ingredients are used in creative ways, including made-from-scratch four-cheese ravioli and butternut squash and goat cheese pizza.

For the décor, Shea’s designers incorporated elements influenced by the markets of Europe and integrated warm earth tones, including red and gold plaster and exposed brick walls which are enhanced with custom iron lighting fixtures and antique European furniture. A striking glass wine tasting room at the entrance visually unites the two environments and the design of the space combines clean, contemporary lines with iconic traditional elements.

The owners are striving to create a true neighborhood market that is comfortable and accessible. And they want to be flexible. They have a real desire for customer suggestions and feedback so that they can continue to serve their guests in the best way possible.
Pairings Food & Wine Market, 6001 Shady Oak Road, Minnetonka, MN 55343; http://www.blogger.com/www.pairingsfoodandwine.com

Shea, Inc. Wins Preservation Award

Shea Inc. was awarded today at an AIA luncheon on behalf of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission, The Minneapolis Chapter of AIA, adn Preserve Minneapolis for:

J.B. Hudson Jewelers

901 Nicollet Mall

Adaptive Reuse Project

2009 Heritage Preservation Awards

Congratulations to the Shea team, J.B. Hudson, and all those who helped to make this happen.

Frontera Fresco named Top Fast-Food Restaurant

Travel & Leisure's Website lists the "World's Top Fast-Food Restaurants." Among those listed is Frontera Fresco. Shea worked with Bayless to design the Frontera Fresco concept in Macy's.

"Frontera Fresco, several U.S. outlets
The Chef: Rick Bayless is often credited with introducing Americans to more refined south-of-the-border cooking at his Chicago restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobampo (a favorite of the Obamas).
Fast Food 411: Ablaze in poppy colors, Frontera Fresco specializes in gringo-friendly Mexican street food: tortas, tacos, huaraches, small-batch salsas, and Mexican beer.
Where to Find It: Macy’s in Chicago; San Francisco; Costa Mesa, CA; Skokie, IL.
What to Order: Sweet corn and green chile tamale; chorizo quesadilla; mango limeade."

Tim McKee in the news

Shea's client Tim McKee was in todays paper discussing his winning of the James Beard Best Chef Award.

Beard best chef, says city wins too
Star Tribune

When Tim McKee was named the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef for the Midwest last week in New York City, it marked the first time a Minnesotan had won the accolade that is widely referred to as the Oscars of the food world. McKee's win is, in a way, a salute to the human side of the locavore movement, in that he's a total product of the region: He grew up here, trained here and has spent his career here, producing memorable food and creating standard-setting restaurants.

Armed with a degree in anthropology, McKee started cooking for the D'Amico empire in the early 1990s, thinking it was a temporary job. Wrong. By 1997, he was the top toque at D'Amico Cucina and gracing the cover of Food & Wine as one of the magazine's best new chefs. A year later, McKee and fellow D'Amican Josh Thoma struck out on their own, launching their Mediterranean-inspired La Belle Vie in a downtown Stillwater storefront.

They've been food-scene leaders ever since. Tapas-focused Solera lit up downtown Minneapolis in 2004. La Belle Vie relocated to Lowry Hill's swank 510 Groveland building a year later, where it blossomed into the region's pinnacle of contemporary elegance. Last year, the pair took on Jamaican-style barbecue with Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque and Pirate Bar in Stillwater and then launched Barrio, a tequila bar/small plates phenom in downtown Minneapolis; a second Barrio is set to open in St. Paul's Lowertown on June 12.

There's more: Earlier this year, McKee was tapped to remake Cue, the Guthrie Theater's high-profile restaurant and bar, and his changes will come online in July.

Oh, yeah, there's also the small matter of winning the highest accolade in his industry, after three consecutive nominations (sharing all three with Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma and the last two with Isaac Becker of 112 Eatery). In a recent phone conversation, McKee discussed nervousness, speechmaking and the wider meaning of his win.

Q How did you celebrate?

A I had a hard time relaxing, because the phone was ringing off the hook. Alex and Isaac and I and our wives went to Bar Boulud [across the street from Lincoln Center] for the industry after-party. It was a madhouse. It was crazy. All of these people that I've always been inspired by and have worked to emulate, and there they were, shaking my hand, saying "Congratulations." It was insane.

I've always loved Daniel Boulud. He's my absolute favorite, and he shook my hand and we clinked medals [Daniel, one of Boulud's New York City restaurants, won the evening's Outstanding Service award]. José Andrés was really nice, so was David Burke, Paul Kahan, you name it. I had to succumb to a little celebrity geekiness. I had my picture taken with Alain Ducasse. My wife got a picture with Tom Colicchio, for the kids. That's how much that show ["Top Chef"] is a phenomenon, that my kids know who he is. I've not watched it much; it's kind of contrived. I never realized just how interesting my profession must be [laughs].

Q In your acceptance speech you said that "this is great for Minneapolis." What did you mean?

A Having one of us from Minneapolis win, it brings to light that this is an important center of culinary activity. It's not recognized nationally as such. I'm always getting questions like, "Are there good restaurants in Minneapolis?," which are usually followed by, "Can you get good seafood there?" That's when I have to explain the advent of the airplane.

Q Were you nervous?

A I was absolutely sick to my stomach for most of that day, and it got worse once I got into the building. It didn't settle down until about a half-hour after the awards, when I got a couple of cocktails in me.

Q What was your reaction when you heard your name?

A It's just craziness. You feel like, "Yeah, maybe I'm the guy," but to hear it is unbelievable. It's exciting, and then I realized that I had to make the walk.

Q You're not really one to make speeches, are you?

A That speech was the worst, because I'm pretty sure that that's the most terrified that I have ever been in my life. I don't think I said half of what I wanted to say because I was so paralyzed. I just hope they never post it [online]. Then it will remain in people's memories and disappear [laughs]. I'm sure if the Internet was like a newspaper, I'd be trying to buy up every last copy.

Q I was a little surprised that presenter Todd English mangled your name. How hard is it to pronounce "McKee"?

A Ultimately, it doesn't bother me at all. But I mean, you're sitting there, and I can't imagine that that moment isn't everyone's single most important event in their career, and to mispronounce that person's name is in really poor taste.

Q English took one look at nominee Arun Sampanthavivat's name and said he wasn't even going to try. Time for a new presenter?

A If you don't know how to pronounce the name, you might care enough to give him a call. That would go a long way. Isn't that what you're up onstage for? They don't have you up there just because you're good-looking [laughs].

Q What does it mean, winning the James Beard Foundation award?

A I'm still trying to figure that out. There's been a lot of common wisdom that says that it really helps your restaurants, and that would be great. It's recognition. Honestly, I think it's more important for the city and for dining here than it is necessarily for me personally. Sure, it's really important. But is my career going to benefit? My career is going the right way anyway, so it certainly won't hurt it. But the real benefit is the acknowledgment of what we've been doing in the Twin Cities throughout our careers -- what the D'Amicos have been doing, what the Schuttes were doing -- and that's raising the bar in the Twin Cities. It's really great that Alex and Isaac and I were all there at the same time, and it's really great that we brought one home.

Q Someone told me there was a full house at La Belle Vie that night, waiting to hear the results. True?

A I guess there were a lot of shrieks waking up the neighbors.

Q Any chance we'll see a James Beard-inspired cocktail or menu item anytime soon?

A I was talking to Isaac and Alex about doing a dinner. It would be nice to have the guys from Missouri [fellow nominees Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City and Gerard Craft in St. Louis] come in and cook, as well. I'd love to pull something like that together, although I'm still just trying to take it all in.

Q What are you going to do with the medallion?

A We're going to keep it at La Belle Vie. I'll wear it cooking on the line, mowing the lawn, that kind of thing [laughs].

Rick Nelson • 612-673-4757

Wine Bars in the news

The Joys of Wine Bars

By DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

The Wall Street Journal

On one of our first trips to California together in the 1970s, we dropped into the London Wine Bar in San Francisco and thought we'd found Nirvana. Behind the bar and sitting at tables were wine-obsessed folks like us. We loved the camaraderie and the wines. But the unthinkable happened. It closed a year ago. We have watched wine bars open and close with disturbing regularity, too many chasing too few dollars. And although we seem to be enjoying a renaissance of them right now, it's wonderful when one celebrates a decade of popped corks.
When we were in Chicago recently during our celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary, we visited Bin 36, a mini-conglomerate downtown that includes a wine bar, a cheese bar, a downstairs restaurant called A Mano and a wine store that has 250 bottles, including some with its own label, all in one location. Oh yeah, and it also offers wine classes. At another site, there's a wine café.

Bin 36 A lively crowd at Chicago's Bin 36.

Rue de France Makes the news!

Ooh la la: France Ave. retail center to get a makeover
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Chris Newmarker Staff Writer

In Edina, it’s good-bye to Leisure Lane and hello to Rue de France.
The France Avenue retail center at 7101 France Ave., first built in the 1970s, is getting a face-lift and a new name.
Construction started a few weeks ago and is expected to finish in August, said Gregory Houck, an architect with Minneapolis-based Shea Inc., which is handling the design and rebranding of the 50,000-square-foot property.
Houck, who declined to disclose the cost of the project, said the firm decided to play with the France Avenue name in the redesign, which is changing the facade and eliminating the centers interior walkway area to make the center less mall-like.
The European flair in the design will be subtle: no chateau-like features or statues of French World War I soldiers. But there will be fleur-de-lis patterns around the parapets.
“It was just an idea of talking about France and linking it to the French,” Houck said.
The center’s tenants — Ethan Allen, Pella Windows & Doors, Calico Corners, National Camera Exchange, Caribou Coffee and Brueggers Bagel Bakery — will stay the same.
Minneapolis-based Rich Brothers Construction is the general contractor.
Bloomington-based NorthMarq handles the leasing and management of the property.
cnewmarker@bizjournals.com (612) 288-2107
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Shea turns Leisure Lane into Rue de France

Overhaul of Edina's ‘Leisure Lane’ retail center includes name change

by Burl Gilyard Staff Writer Finance and Commerce

Goodbye, Leisure Lane -- hello, Rue de France. Construction is under way on an overhaul of Edina’s Leisure Lane retail center, so named when the project was first built in the 1970s. Plans call for spiffing up the center and giving it a new name with a little European flair: Rue de France.

Minneapolis-based Shea, Inc., is doing the design and rebranding of the approximately 50,000-square-foot property at 7101 France Ave. S.

“If I were to say, ‘Meet me at Leisure Lane,’ most people in the Twin Cities would say, ‘What’?” said Gregory Houck, an architect with Shea.

The middle section of the mall features an interior walkway space in front of retail spaces – most of them now vacant. Houck said that the plan calls for “de-malling” the mall’s south facade.

“They did a lot of that in the ’70s and early ’80s. Basically, all of those storefronts in there are hidden. What we’re doing is taking that [walkway] off and bringing the storefronts forward,” Houck said.

“De-malling” has become something of a retail trend in recent years as owners look for ways to revive and update older shopping centers. At the much larger Rosedale Shopping Center in Roseville, the mall tuneup included razing a vacant Mervyn’s store and adding a new “lifestyle center” section to the mall.

Tenants at either end of the Leisure Lane center – Ethan Allen, Pella Windows & Doors, Calico Corners, National Camera Exchange, Caribou Coffee and Brueggers Bagel Bakery – are staying put.

Leisure Lane sits near Southdale Shopping Center, the Galleria, SuperTarget along the busy France Avenue retail corridor. The center sits at the northeast corner of France Avenue South and Hazelton Road.

“It’s overdue for a refresh, certainly. It’s the right time; they need to be able to keep up to get some good tenants there,” Houck said.

Bloomington-based NorthMarq handles the leasing and management of the property.

The Boston-area Sun Life Financial bought the center in May 2004 for $12 million.

Minneapolis-based Rich Brothers Construction is the general contractor for the project, slated to be finished by late summer. “It should be a nice little project, particularly when there’s not too much going on with retail right now,” Houck said.

Crave now open in Mall of America

Shea is proud to announce that Crave in the Mall of America is now open and has already received its first review! Below is the Star Tribune's Rick Nelson's first take on Crave.

How nice to encounter a restaurant for grown-ups at the Mall of America.

Owners Kam and Keyvan Talebi know how to do shopping-mall dining, and Crave, a megamall clone of their popular Galleria restaurant (a third is on its way later this year in St. Louis Park's massive Shops at the West End development) hits plenty of the right notes. The former California Cafe has been given an Earth-toned makeover, with lots of envy-producing copper, an eye-catching swath of backlit onyx that frames the sushi bar and a wide-open dining room that offers views into the bustling exhibition kitchen. The former tenant's unique terrace -- which overlooks the shenanigans at Nickelodeon Universe -- is still there, along with a new "sidewalk" cafe that parallels one of the mall's drearily generic corridors.

The menus are designed to appeal to a wide swath of shopper demographics. Pastas, flatbreads, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, a long list of grilled meats and fish and a huge sushi selection, all made from scratch (another mall rarity), medium-priced (although a 14-oz. New York strip tops out at $35, it's rare to see a price over $20) and served with a sincere smile by a small battalion of black-clad servers. Seriously. At lunch last week, I started counting the staff buzzing around the premises and stopped, exhausted, when I hit 45. The bar shakes up all manner of colorful cocktails and there's a decent wine list, which includes a number of affordable half-glass options, a swell touch.



Thanks, Talebi brothers. Maybe other restaurateurs in the neighborhood will follow your lead.
Mall of America (third floor, near Macy's), Bloomington, 952-854-5000, cravemn.com. Hours: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Brunch served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tim McKee Wins James Beard Award!

Tim McKee of La Belle Vie, Solera, Barrio, Smalleys Caribbean BBQ, and the yet to be named restaurant at the Guthrie Theater won the "Best Chef: Midwest" award from the James Beard Foundation Monday night in New York.
This award is often called "the Oscars of food" and is a great honor.


We at Shea are so very proud of Tim and have been honored to work with him and his team to bring great food to the people of Minnesota. We look forward to continuing this great relationship and hope that great things keep coming for Tim and the foodies of Minnesota.

McKee was not the only Minneapolis restaurateur vying for the Midwest honors. He was competing with Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma and the Shea-designed Brasa (and Brasa's second location in St. Paul) and Isaac Becker of 112 Eatery, among others.

City Pages names Barrio Best New Restaurant

Tequila has a reputation for creating evenings that don't end well. (By the way, we're not discussing the assless chaps incident. Ever.) But in the hands of a couple of noted real estate developers (including Ryan Burnet, who worked on the Chambers and W hotels) and restaurateurs Tim McKee and Josh Thoma (the guys behind La Belle Vie, Solera, and Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque), the much-maligned spirit feels like a class act. Shea Design transformed a tiny Nicollet Mall coffee shop into a Latin-goth tequila bar with red-and-black walls, Che posters, and dripping candelabras; it looks like a hipster decorated the place for Día de los Muertos. While the 100-plus-bottle tequila list is as impressive as the margaritas, the real star is the menu of small plates based on Latin American street food. Downtowners can chow on a Tecate-battered fried mahi-mahi taco or a red chile enchilada with fried egg and chorizo for lunch, happy hour, dinner, or after-bar. Whether the dish is as homey as barbecue pork sopes with avocado and pickled onions, or as delicate as a citrus-dressed diver scallop ceviche, everything reflects the deft touch of a chef. We'll even drink tequila to that.

925 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
612.333.9953
www.barriotequila.com