Artful Living Magazine | Spring 2016

Page 279

State of the Union Rudy Maxa asks: Is fine dining in the Twin Cities dead?

F

or gourmands, the news came as a one-two punch: Last fall, La Belle Vie, Tim McKee’s bastion of fine dining, announced its impending closing. Not long after, Vincent Francoual said his eponymous French eatery would shutter the last day of 2015. In discussions with Artful Living, both restauranteurs revealed several reasons for their decisions but admitted it came down to the times: They are a-changin’. “What has changed is people’s interest in what was formerly fine dining,” says McKee. “People are looking for a more casual dining experience across all spectrums.” And casual is the word du jour. Not only do McKee and Francoual use the term — “It seems,” Francoual says, “that the trend is now ‘casual fine dining’” — so does Meritage co-owner and chef Russell Klein, whose Central European–focused Brasserie Zentral closed down in early 2016 after 23 months in business. Chef Lenny Russo, whose highly regarded Heartland remains open, echoes the sentiment: “People are just more casual.” There’s more to the story, of course, including restaurateurs’ displeasure with new requirements around employees’ pay and schedules. And some establishments faced road construction that impeded traffic. But it should be noted that more than 200 new eateries opened in the Twin Cities last year, including the much-anticipated Spoon and Stable. For most chefs in town, however, La Belle Vie was the beacon of fine dining, with its hushed dining room, its impressive wine list, and its impeccable cuisine, presentation and service. “I think the pinnacle was La Belle Vie,” says Francoual. “La Belle Vie was the last one of them,” agrees Russo. Running a fine-dining restaurant, or at least the traditional version of one, is expensive. A fork cost La Belle Vie $5, a wine glass $10. Margins at most high-end establishments are thin. Then in 2014 came new rules regarding pay: Even tipped employees had to receive a minimum wage. That was followed by an unpopular move by the city of Minneapolis requiring restauranteurs to set schedules ahead of time and compensate workers if that schedule changed because of, say, a playoff game or a major snowstorm that might signal a sharp uptick or downturn in business.

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| Spring 2016

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