Barrio and Brasa Restaurants Open St. Paul Locations

They say great things come in pairs, and what better way to prove it than to serve both of the Twin Cities? Shea projects Brasa Rotisserie and Barrio Tequila Bar both recently opened Saint Paul locations to complement their already successful Minneapolis sites. In the following, Foodie File’s Stephanie March discusses both restaurants:

Barrio in St. Paul opened this week in the Lowertown neighborhood, right by the Bulldog. Reports are of a swell build-out with much more space than its Minneapolis sibling, but the same Day of the Dead vibe and benchmarking cocktails.

Another Minneapolis-to-St. Paul expat opened up this week, Brasa on Grand Avenue in the old Italian Pie Shoppe building. Again, bigger digs at this location means you can finally grab your pals and gather for a large-scale braised beef party.

Brasa Rotisserie, 777 Grand Avenue; St. Paul, MN 55105; 651-224-1302 info / private parties; 651-224-1628 take out; www.brasa.us

Barrio Tequila Bar, 235 E. 6th Street; St. Paul, MN 55101; 651-222-3250 info / reservations ; www.barriotequila.com

Brasa Rotisserie opens second location on Grand Avenue

Shea has worked with dozens of restaurants and eateries in the Twin Cities area, and countless others across the country. The following is a press release on Brasa, one of Shea's recently opened restaurant projects:

By Andy McDermott

MINNEAPOLIS (June 18, 2009) - Chef Alex Roberts, owner of the highly acclaimed Restaurant Alma and its casual sibling, Brasa Rotisserie, opened a second Brasa location on Grand Avenue in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 17. The Brasa Rotisserie concept is inspired by traditional Creole home cooking found throughout North America, South America and the Caribbean, and the menu features rotisserie chicken, slow cooked pork shoulder, braised beef and a large selection of side dishes. Roberts collaborated with marketing and design firm Shea, Inc., and design and construction company, Site Assembly, Inc. on the design of the restaurant.

After two financially successful years since the debut of the Minneapolis Brasa, Roberts thought the Grand Avenue site, which has been vacant since The Italian Pie Shoppe moved to a new location in 2006, was a great fit for expansion. Roberts developed the Brasa concept after noticing a “big gaping hole in the market for a decent $15 meal.” The success of the first Brasa location, with price points averaging $10-15 a head, demonstrates that he’s on to something. He believes the second Brasa will thrive in an area where people “already go to eat, celebrate, stroll and shop.”

The design of the St. Paul location was modeled after the original, with bright colors and faux painting techniques used to create the feeling of a Caribbean shanty, juxtaposed with clean, modern fixtures and furnishings. Steel and glass garage doors open to an expansive patio and create an inviting, open-air atmosphere. At 3,500 square feet—nearly double the size of the first location—the space fits approximately 90 seats (with an additional 45 seats outside) but Roberts wanted to keep the feeling of the original and not get too big.

“Compression is a good thing,” explains Roberts. “You want to have good energy, but still have intimacy. Once you get more than 200 seats, it becomes a huge operation. I feel like it is hard to get really great food at really large volumes.” He feels like the original Brasa has captured the soul of the classic American diner where “people just drop by for a great plate of food.” By staying small, Roberts can remain involved in every aspect of the business, which, for now, is his preference. And at the end of the day, he says, “It’s all about the food.”

Brasa Rotisserie, 777 Grand Avenue; St. Paul, MN 55105; 651-224-1302 info / private parties; 651-224-1628 take out; www.brasa.us

Restaurants Take Trip to Store

Chains Tout Branded Products in Supermarket Aisles

Shea has worked with many clients to develop packaging for proprietary food products. The following is a great article from WSJ about how product sales can help the bottom line for restaurateurs:

By Julie Jargon
Wall Street Journal, June 10

Restaurant chains are reaching out to consumers in an unexpected place: supermarket aisles.
As the economy has soured, many consumers have ditched going out to eat for a trip to the grocery store, and restaurant chains are following.

Starbucks Corp., which has seen traffic to its stores decline, in April launched a line of coffee-flavored ice cream in supermarkets. Last month, the company began handing out coupon books to its coffee-shop patrons containing such grocery-store deals as $1 off ice cream and $1 off 10-ounce packages of Starbucks brand coffee.

"If consumers are coming in less frequently, they can still treat themselves at home," says Greg Price, vice president of global consumer products at Starbucks. By putting goods on store shelves, restaurants are able to expand their brands. Because of weakness in the restaurant industry, "any restaurant is going after additional revenues right now," says Morgan Stanley & Co. restaurant analyst John Glass.

Restaurants are responding to bleak times in their business. Moody's Investors Service issued a report late last month saying the restaurant industry is likely to remain weak for the next 12 to 18 months as declines in restaurant traffic coincide with greater affordability of eating at home.

Burger King Holdings Inc. plans to sell Apple Fries, a product originally developed for its restaurant kid meals, in 10,000 grocery stores nationwide this fall. The apples, skinned and sliced to look like fries and packaged in a French fry container, will be sold in the produce section of traditional supermarkets, along with a low-fat caramel dipping sauce in a ketchup-like pouch.

California Pizza Kitchen Inc. in March began shipping new microwaveable Flatbread Melts sandwiches to supermarkets through a licensing arrangement with Kraft Foods Inc. Dunkin' Brands Inc., meanwhile, has been selling its Dunkin' Donuts coffee in supermarkets nationwide in an effort to bolster its brand image.

For retailers, the well-known restaurant brands are a customer draw. "If people can save a few dollars and save some time by eating at home, these types of familiar brands ... make it easier and more cost-effective," says Meghan Glynn, spokeswoman for supermarket chain Kroger Co., which carries California Pizza Kitchen products, Dunkin' Donuts coffee and other restaurant brand goods.

Some restaurant chains began developing grocery items prior to the recession as a way to boost brand recognition, but now they are finding that packaged food helps them offset some of the loss in traffic to their restaurants.

"Our comparable restaurant sales are down," says California Pizza Kitchen co-chief executive Rick Rosenfield. "People are trading down to supermarkets and we're softening the blow by being there for them." The chain reported a 5.9% decline in comparable restaurant sales for the first quarter.

There are risks. Consumers already are bombarded by numerous varieties of cereal, soup, frozen dinners and other products in grocery stores, and some supermarket chains are culling products from shelves.

In addition, some restaurant-branded products are positioned as premium and so carry high prices. A 12-ounce bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee costs $8.99 in some stores, and California Pizza Kitchen's Flatbread Melts sandwiches, intended for one person, cost $3.49 each. That's still cheaper than eating out, but more expensive than items like soup and macaroni-and-cheese.
"Restaurants are thinking, 'If we can't capture those consumers in our own stores, we'll get them at home and, when the economy improves, they'll return to our stores,' " says Bill Cross, vice president of food licensing at Broad Street Licensing Group, a Montclair, N.J., company that has brokered licensing deals for restaurant chains.

California Pizza Kitchen has been selling its branded pizzas in supermarkets since 1998. Last year, as the economy worsened, grocery sales of frozen California Pizza Kitchen pizza increased 19.6% to $159 million. Kraft pockets the bulk of the revenue and pays California Pizza Kitchen an annual royalty, which last year amounted to $6.6 million.

That's just a fraction of the chain's $677 million in annual revenue, but it's pure profit, because Kraft underwrites all of the R&D and advertising, Mr. Rosenfield says.
Burger King's Apple Fries come on the heels of the branded salty and sweet chips the chain introduced to supermarkets and convenience stores in late 2007 -- right about the time the recession was starting.

"It gives our brand a lot of great new exposure to consumers who might not have Burger King top of mind," says John Schaufelberger, the company's senior vice president of global product marketing and innovation.

Critic Rick Nelson offers a first look at Pairings Food & Wine Market

In this week's Taste section, Star Tribune food writer Rick Nelson gives his first take on Pairings Food & Wine Market, one of the latest design concepts from Shea:



By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune
Last update: June 3, 2009 - 4:34 PM

When Hemisphere Restaurant Partners shuttered their Via Cafe & Bar and quickly rebooted the Southdale-area restaurant into the more downscale Tavern on France, was it because consumers confused it with nearby Crave? Or because upper-middle priced restaurants aren't cutting it in this economy? Or because everyone and his brother is getting into the burger business? Or none of the above?

It doesn't matter. What counts is that Via's jewel-toned, West Elm-showroom look is out, replaced by standard-issue browns and beiges accented by oversized black-and-white vintage photographs, a generic look that I'm guessing is aiming for a corner-bar vibe.

More important, the menu has done a complete 180-degree turn, re-issued as a novella-sized list of build-your-own burgers, salads and flatbreads made with a dizzying variety of ingredients. Prices over $12 are a rarity, portions are so hefty that Vogue editor Anna Wintour's comment about Minnesotans resembling "tiny houses" makes some sense, and someone in the kitchen is paying attention to quality control. The staff is eager to please, Sunday's buffet brunch is a $14 all-you-can affair and the restaurant's swell patio survived the makover. Smart decisions all the way around.

Tavern on France, 6740 France Av. S., Edina, 952-358-6100, http://www.tavernonfrance.com/. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.


A food-wine tag team

Fans of Yum! Kitchen and Bakery will find a lot to like at Pairings Food & Wine Market. Same counter-service setup, a similarly attractive setting and a large selection of uncomplicated, affordably priced (most fall in the $11-or-less category), crowd-pleasing fare. But there are plenty of differences.

Like Tavern on France, Pairings dives head-first into design-your-own pizzas and salads, but also offers a long list of cold and hot sandwiches and pastas. Pairings also focuses on home meal replacements, including turkey meatloaf, grilled salmon and roasted yellow beets with caramelized fennel; all are also available for dining on the premises. Other A-plus touches include daily cheese and cured-meats plates (including, yes, a build-your-own option) culled from a large stockpile, as well a cache of gourmet groceries that features many fine locally made products. Breakfast (quiche, egg sandwiches, omelets) is also on the menu, and the back-to-basics desserts include a divine fudge brownie the size of a passport.

The adjacent wine market keeps its eye on value -- I started counting $20-and-under bottles and stopped when I hit 200 -- and the staff will pour any and all purchases (there's an extensive beer selection as well) without a corkage fee. I don't know about you, but I smell a chain coming on.

Pairings Food & Wine Market, 6001 Shady Oak Rd., Minnetonka, 952-426-0522, http://www.pairingsfoodandwine.com/. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.