Edina Magazine - March 2023

GATHERING AROUND THE TABLE

IN HIS RESTAURANTS, CHEF GAVIN KAYSE N BRINGS TO LIFE HIS VALUES OF CONNECTION AND RESTORATION

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MARCH 2023

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun!”

—Julia Child, American chef and author

DEPARTMENTS

12 — Inclusive Ingredients, Always Couple’s vegan pizza company, Clo-Clo Vegan Foods, is grounded on their daughter’s dietary needs.

14 — A Family Affair

Paul Abdo, a second-generation entrepreneur, shares his love of food with the Twin Cities.

16 — Living off the Land

Jerry’s Enterprises sources grass-fed beef directly from its ranch in Montana, prioritizing traceability and sustainability.

FEATURES

20 — Family Business

Enters a New Era

France 44 expands, opening event space to old friends and new customers.

28 — Gathering Around the Table

In his restaurants, chef Gavin Kaysen brings to life his values of connection and restoration.

TASTEMAKERS

42 — Women, Business and a Good Glass of Red

With a little help from her friends, Lyndsey Jacques gave her favorite neighborhood wine bar a new lease on life.

Photo: Chris Emeott

s a kid, I wasn’t a very adventurous eater. Like many children, I loved the simple things, like macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. I’m happy to report that my palate has expanded since then. Today, some of my favorite foods are those I wouldn’t have dreamed of touching as a child: Thai coconut curry, chicken tinga tacos, seared lamb and oh-so-much kale.

As my palate has expanded, I’ve also grown a love and appreciation for learning about food—how to cook on the fly and what flavors go together, yes, but also where different dishes originate and the cultural traditions surrounding food. All of this has made putting together our spring food-themed issue quite a delight.

Through the pages of this issue, I’ve learned more about how to pair food and wine (page 10) and where to shop locally for high-quality, grass-fed beef (page 16). But I also got to meet some of the people (and cattle) behind local food brands and restaurants—the Hinnenkamps of Clo-Clo Vegan Foods (page 12) and Lyndsey Jacques of Bojae’s (page 42), to name just a few. Oh, and did I mention the iconic Gavin Kaysen (page 28), who just so happens to be an Edina resident?

It’s a delicious issue that you might just devour in one sitting—while also creating a menu of what to eat and drink over the next month. Bon appétit!

Photo: Chris Emeott

publisher

Susan Isay editor

Amy Overgaard

managing creative director

Renée Stewart-Hester

managing editor

Hailey Almsted

digital editor

Madeline Kopiecki

copy editors

Kellie Doherty

Sherri Hildebrandt

staff writers

Zoe Deal

Mollee Francisco

Emily Gedde

Susie Eaton Hopper

Daniel Huss

Malena Larsen

Hanna McDaniels

Josie Smith

Kristie Smith

contributing writers

Tina Bohrer

Tim Borowski

Jasmine Brett Stringer

Sarah Davis

Taylor Ellingson

Megan Maynor

Maureen Millea Smith

Alison Perrier Briggs

Kira Schukar

Laura Westlund

editorial interns

Nicole Berglund

Megan Hegenbarth

editorial advisory board

Jasmine Brett Stringer, Carpe Diem with Jasmine

Dick Crockett, Edina Community Foundation

Shelly Loberg, Edina Chamber of Commerce

Erin Zosel, Sloane’s Beauty Bar and Zosel & Coleman Real Estate Group

senior managing art director

Sarah Dovolos

art director

Allison Nolden

junior designer

Jamie Klang

lead staff photographer

Chris Emeott

production director

Brittni Dye

production manager

Lisa Stone

production coordinator

Mimi Coz

senior account executives

Brooke Beise

Cynthia Hamre

Sara Johnson

Kathie Smith president

Pete Burgeson

TASTE

A DELICIOUS DAY IN EDINA

OUR FOOD ISSUE INSPIRES

ME to imagine my ideal day of dining in and around Edina, with newer favorites that have all opened since 2020.

My day begins at Rustica, the bright café at Southdale Center. I’m always hesitant to take that first sip of my latte and disturb the artistic design created in its foam, but I know how wonderful the coffee is underneath (and how much I need it to start my day). A flaky almond Danish is the ideal accompaniment to the rich, creamy coffee. And if I work from the café (a much tastier alternative to work from home), I’ll order a Kouign Amann, the crunchy sweet pastry from Brittany, France, with my second latte.

Lunch on a gray day in March needs a boost of color, so I’m off to Mr. Paul’s Po’ Boys and Jams in Nolan Mains for its party of NOLA food amid circus colors. The fuchsia and cobalt of the dining bar warm me up, and the gumbo brings tears of spicy joy to my eyes. The walleye sandwich is the perfect combo of New Orleans fun and a Minnesota classic, a melt-in-your-mouth filet of our favorite fish jazzed up Louisiana style.

After a few laps around Braemar Field to work off the day’s amazing meals, I’m ready for—and convenient to—one of Edina’s best pizza. The one word to describe the fresh and carefully crafted pies at Olive’s, located in the Londonderry Shops, is chunky, with generous portions of ingredients on each slice. After the flavorful Caprese salad, I’m blessed with the celestial Chevrenth Heaven, a savory delight with mounds of goat cheese, bacon and tangy sauce on the light, golden crust.

What a day, traveling from France to New Orleans to Italy, but all right here at home!

Photo: Chris Emeott

Contributed by Edina resident Laura Westlund, a tour guide at the Weisman Art Museum and an art hound for Minnesota Public Radio.

Mr. Paul’s Supper Club

Pairing Wine with Food

Selecting a wine that complements a particular dish can be intimidating. Here’s a cheat sheet if you need a little help.

Location: Cuisine styles from a region often match with the wine that originated in that general area. Italian dishes and recipes, like Bolognese sauce, for example, pair well with Italian wines, such as barbera. Seafood dishes often party well with wines from regions by the ocean, such as Muscadet and Picpoul.

Try: Vietti Barbera ($20), Felines Jourdan Picpoul ($12), Cognettes Muscadet ($14)

Fat with Acid: You figured out this concept as a child with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Meaty and fatty dishes pair well with a wine that has some acid or tannin. There is a reason big steak houses have pages and pages of cabernet sauvignon options, as the tannin and acid complement the fat in the meat.

Try: Bonanza Cabernet Savignon ($23), Alexander Valley

Vineyards Cabernet Savignon ($23), Klinker Brick Zinfandel ($19), Shannon Ridge Cabernet Savignon ($14)

Fried and Bubbles: Elaborating on the concept above, there is a reason a particular fast-food restaurant calibrates its soda

fountains to infuse the maximum number of bubbles into drinks. Those zippy little bubbles help to cut through all the fried goodness. Sparkling wine with french fries, fried chicken, potato chips or deep-fried Asian dishes are a match made in culinary heaven.

Try: 49M Crémant de Loire Brut ($16), Chandon Brut Rosé ($24), Piazza Grande Rosato Brut ($13), Fritz Müller Trocken ($19)

Sweet and Heat: Sometimes opposites do attract. Even if you are not usually a sweet wine fan, a spicy dish with a slightly sweet wine harmonizes perfectly. Pair spicy Thai food or curry with a slightly sweet white blend or off-dry sparkling.

Try: Schramsberg Crémant Demi-Sec ($42), Hugel Gentil Alsace White Blend ($15), Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Blend ($14)

Wines recommended are available at Edina Liquor, France 44 and Perrier Wines & Liquors in Bloomington. Prices are approximate, and availability can vary.

Contributed by Alison Perrier Briggs, a level two sommelier and Edina resident. She grew up in the wine industry, has worked vintages on three continents and has hosted over 200 wine classes and events.

The Good Grocer

Kurt Vickman is an innovative social entrepreneur who is compelled to make a difference in the lives of others. He harnesses a volunteer network and provides accessible and affordable food in his one-of-a-kind grocery store, Good Grocer, located in Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood. Yet, what is most remarkable is how it serves as a “place of empowerment” for those who feel overlooked.

Good Grocer is a neighborhood store powered by 500 volunteers, who qualify for a 20 percent discount if they regularly volunteer 2.5 hours a month. Shoppers experiencing food insecurity are eligible to shop the food outlet, the 800-square-foot store-within-a-store where goods are deeply discounted.

The Good Grocer concept launched from an Edina church, Upper Room Community, where Vickman served as pastor after its founding 14 years ago. An experiential worship service was the engine for the founding of a food club that has grown, guided by Vickman, to today’s store.

What makes Good Grocer stand apart is the people: a worker with Asperger syndrome who struggled cashiering at another store but found a home at Good Grocer; a volunteer who is legally blind but volunteers as a stocker; a man who said, “I can’t read. Can I still volunteer?” Good Grocer attracts a large contingent of retirees and welcomes volunteers from a Richfield nonprofit serving young adults with learning differences and a Minnetonka charter school serving those with autism.

“People are the heartbeat of the ‘good’ in Good Grocer,” Vickman says. “The fact that they are seen here makes this place special.”

Good Grocer recently celebrated its two-year anniversary in its current location. Next, Vickman plans to open Good Eatery, a food hall inside the store that will serve as a neighborhood gathering place. Discover more at goodgrocer.org.

READ FAMILY SECRETS

The novel Love Marriage by Booker Award–finalist Monica Ali opens in the London bedroom of 26-year-old Dr. Yasmin Ghorami. The delicious scents of her ma’s cooking—pans of curries and deep-fried savories—waft through her parents’ townhouse. Ma’s food will be packed into Tupperware containers to be taken to the home of Harriet Sangster.

Harriet is a feminist and a writer of great renown. She is also the mother of Joe, Yasmin’s fiancé. This dinner will be the first meeting between Harriet and Yasmin’s parents, Dr. Shaokat Ghorami and Anisah. There they will begin the plans for their children’s wedding. Yasmin is anxious about first impressions on both sides, to say the least.

Joe, like Yasmin, is a doctor. His profession makes up for the fact that Joe is not from India and is not Muslim. Yasmin’s marriage will be a love marriage, as was her parents’. Her father was poor and orphaned.

He worked his way through school. Her mother was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, who paid for his son-in-law’s medical training. The young couple moved to London, where Yasmin’s father finished training and found employment.

Both Yasmin and her younger brother, Arif, were born in England. Their experience of the country is dramatically different from their parents’ situation. They feel the slights—and often outright racism— accorded to brown-skinned people, something that their parents ignore or do not notice.

As the plans for Yasmin and Joe’s marriage get underway, family secrets long suppressed come to the fore. Cultures clash. Like episodic TV, this novel both surprises and satisfies in all the best ways.

Photo: Kurt Vickman

Contributed by Tina Bohrer on behalf of the Edina Community Foundation.

Contributed by Maureen Millea Smith, a retired Edina librarian and a Minnesota Book Award–winning novelist. You can find her books at maureenmilleasmith.com.

CITIZEN OF EDINA

Inclusive

Ingredients, Always Couple’s vegan pizza company, Clo-Clo Vegan Foods, is grounded on their daughter’s dietary needs.

By Hanna McDaniels

IN 2020 , Edina residents Augie and Wendy Hinnenkamp launched Clo-Clo Vegan Foods, an allergen-free vegan food company focused on frozen pizzas. Their goal? Making delicious, allergen-free meals with ingredients that are accessible to all, no matter a person’s dietary restrictions.

The reasoning behind their goal is a personal one. The Hinnenkamps have three children, and their middle child, Chloe (whose nickname is Clo Clo), is both the namesake and inspiration for the company.

From the time she was a baby, Chloe experienced severe allergic reactions to certain ingredients, starting with those typically found in formula. At 15 months old, a pediatric gastroenterologist diagnosed her with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an autoimmune disease which triggers food allergies, often resulting in asthma and an allergic inflammation of the esophagus when exposed to allergens (often food proteins). Due to EoE, Chloe used a feeding tube to help her get calories and nutrients from the time she was 15 months old until she was 8 years old.

At different times throughout her childhood, Chloe was on elimination diets and has seen allergy specialists, nutritionists and food therapists to determine what foods she can tolerate. Today, at 13, she and her parents have a solid grasp on what she can safely eat, which results in adhering to a primarily plant-based diet. “She’s thriving on a plant-based diet,” Augie says.

But even after knowing Chloe’s allergies, it remained challenging to find any prepared food at the grocery store that

Photos: Chris Emeott

The Hinnenkamp family (from left to right: Wendy, Roman, Skylar, Chloe and Augie) pictured with chef Robert Velarde, who developed the proprietary cheese for Clo-Clo Vegan Foods' plant-based frozen pizzas.

was free from allergens. “Every time I came home from grocery shopping, the food I bought had an ingredient that she couldn’t have,” Augie says.

Augie’s epiphany to start his own food company to fill this hole in the market hit him after meeting chef Robert Velarde.

At the time, Velarde worked at Concord Elementary School in Edina and was approached by a school nurse regarding a child in kindergarten with a food disorder. When the nurse asked Velarde to work on a unique menu item, he decided to create a plant-based meal that was similar to a Lunchable.

“The day I brought out the ‘Lunchable’ for the child in the Concord lunchroom, I ran into Wendy and Augie Hinnenkamp, who [had] a child in the same grade as my special-diet child,” Velarde says.

Wendy asked Velarde if it was possible to create a vegan pizza. Because of Chloe’s sensitivities, they often found their daughter missing out on pizza nights and birthday parties. “I told Wendy I could get it done after hearing the passion and mission in Wendy’s story and background with Chloe,” Velarde says.

After many attempts and renditions (over 1,000), Velarde perfected a vegan cheese recipe to top plant-based pizzas— giving Clo-Clo Vegan Foods a launching point and solid foundation. The company was started with Chloe’s allergies in mind, and Augie says, “We decided to launch this brand in honor of Chloe and all of the ‘Chloes’ out there [who] suffer through the same thing.”

He adds, “We pride ourselves on true innovation. We make everything locally, including our proteins and cheeses. We are allergen-free friendly and are completely free from the top 15 [most] common allergens.” This includes peanuts, wheat, dairy, egg, gluten, shellfish and soy. “We take pride in being inclusive to everyone,” Augie says.

Clo-Clo Vegan Foods is available locally at all Cub Foods stores, as well as several co-ops around the Twin Cities. Products include a variety of vegan cauliflower-crust and sweet potato-crust frozen pizzas and vegan shredded cheese, with additional products in the pipeline for release later this year.

Clo-Clo Vegan Foods; clocloveganfods.com

Clo-Clo Vegan Foods

@clocloveganfoods

leaks, sparks, clogs, or just starts making one of those weird noises…

A Family Affair

By Josie Smith

ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAY AFTERNOON , you can find Edina resident Paul Abdo alongside his wife and three kids, carving out precious family time.

When the weather cooperates, Abdo, his wife, Kristen, and children, Lillie (14), Oliver (11) and Mac (8), love biking around the neighborhood. “We love to ride our bikes—or we’re on the sports

field. And if not, we’re out eating. We’re always out eating,” Abdo says.

Edina has been their home since 2010. At one time, both Abdo’s and his wife’s grandparents lived in Edina, with one set of grandparents living on Cahill Lane and the other along Tracy Avenue. Family ties to the area, plus Edina’s reputation for good schools, and its central location

within the Metro, made it an easy choice for the Abdo family.

Chowen Park, on the city’s northeast side, is one of the family’s favorite places. There, they enjoy engaging in family bets and throwing free throws at the basketball court. Later, the five of them can be seen heading down to 50th & France for a few scoops of cookies-and-cream ice cream in a waffle cone from Edina Creamery.

During the work week, Abdo often enjoys taking his laptop over to Jerry’s Foods on Vernon Avenue, where he can sit down, have a bite to eat and spend time with fellow Edina residents he’s gotten to know over the years.

But community and food aren’t just part of Abdo’s personal life—he’s made a career out of it. He’s the vice president of My Burger, a Minneapolis-based fastcasual burger chain. Established in 2004, it offers handmade, fresh, never-frozen hamburgers and old-fashioned malts and milkshakes. There are eight My Burger locations around the Metro, including three stores in Minneapolis, plus stores in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Richfield and St. Paul.

“When it comes to food, I love to eat,” Abdo says. “I love to take friends out to dinner. I love to cook.” He comes by it honestly, too. Abdo’s father’s side (Larry Abdo) is Lebanese; his great-grandfather moved to the U.S. from Lebanon in his early 20s. On his mother’s side (Caryl Abdo), the family is Russian-Jewish and Norwegian. With these cultural backgrounds, Abdo says everything revolves around food.

But entrepreneurship also runs in his blood. His parents have a rich history in the Twin Cities, which includes ties to the Minnesota State Fair. Their connection to the Great Minnesota GetTogether started nearly 50 years ago, when Larry worked in the ice business and had a small contract with the fair. Today, his three sons (Paul, John and Corey Abdo) run Gopher State Ice and provide ice to the entire fairgrounds during the 12-day run at the fair.

At one time, the Abdos also sold pita bread sandwiches at the fair. However, fairgoers’ desire for healthy foods eventually waned, and it was replaced by the consumption of rich, fatty, sugar-filled foods. Abdo’s father and sister, Mandy Abdo Sheahan, got to work on a few new ideas,

Photo: Paul Abdo

Paul Abdo, a second-generation entrepreneur, shares his love of food with the Twin Cities.

but they kept circling back to bacon.

Finally, Sheahan said, “Why don’t we just do a quarter pound of bacon on a stick?” And that’s when Big Fat Bacon was born, a Minnesota State Fair food stand near the corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.

If you ask Abdo what it’s like growing up in an entrepreneurial family, where everyone rides the ups and downs of success, he’ll describe it to you in food terms. “One day, you’re eating steaks, the next day, you’re eating macaroni and cheese,” he says. And, as you probably could have guessed, both go well with bacon.

My Burger, 601 Marquette Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.436.0330; myburgerusa.com

My Burger @myburgerusa @myburgerusa

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Top: Paul Abdo, his wife, Kristen, and children, Lillie, Oliver and Mac

Bottom: Mac, Larry and Oliver Abdo

Living off the Land

Jerry’s Enterprises sources grass-fed beef directly from its ranch in Montana, prioritizing traceability and sustainability.

By Zoe Deal

IN THE FAR OFF EXPANSE

of Jefferson County, Montana, nestled amid the snow-capped Elkhorn Mountains, a herd of Black Angus cattle grazes peacefully. As days become weeks, workers on horseback guide the cattle through the valley to new pastures and elevations, where the animals will find new grass varieties to sample. Their hooves till and their droppings nourish as they move through the fields, encouraging soil regeneration and further grass production.

“It’s a very symbiotic relationship,” says Roger Nunn, manager of meat operations for Jerry’s Enterprises’ Mulvey Gulch Ranch project. (The ranch is owned by the same family that owns Jerry’s Enterprises Inc.) “Without good soil, we can’t have good grass. Without grass we can’t raise cattle,” Nunn says.

It’s not often that people can trace where their meat came from—not to mention how it was raised and what it was fed. But for shoppers of Jerry’s Enterprises grocery stores—including Jerry’s Foods, select Cub Foods locations and County Market stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin—accessing quality meat from happy cows is as easy as finding a package of Mulvey Gulch Ranch beef.

It’s an operation decades in the making, built upon the grass-fed meat movement and an interest in producing antibioticfree, 100 percent grass-fed and rangeraised beef without added hormones for Jerry’s Enterprises customers. Though the company has only been direct-sourcing its own grass-fed beef from Mulvey Gulch Ranch since 2018, it’s worked with the same herd of Black Angus cattle since purchasing the property in 1998.

“Our meat comes from our ranch,” Nunn says. “We don’t import cattle. We don’t buy cattle. We raise our own cattle on the ranch … So, if we send a box of our meat to Minnesota, or we sell it in Montana, we will always know where that animal came from. And we can look at

Photos: Mulvey Gulch Ranch

the box and tell you what week it was harvested, and we can tell you out of which lot of nine to 15 animals it came from.

Our traceability is very important to us.”

Now, Mulvey Gulch Ranch is home to approximately 70 bulls and 4,000 cattle that graze the ranch’s 92,000 acres yearround. When the cattle reach their full weight (about 1,350 lbs.) at 26 months (as opposed to the general industry standard of 12–14 months), they’re loaded into trailers and harvested at a processing facility just 40 miles from the farm. That final trip is the first time in their lives that the pasture-raised cattle will see equipment; day-to-day, the ranch uses cowboys, horses and herding dogs to move the cattle around the land.

“We want that animal to be treated

well. We want it to be appreciated on the dinner table, because it’s gone through a lot to get where it is,” Nunn says. Every decision that Jerry’s and Mulvey Gulch Ranch make is for the wellness of the land and the animals that call it home.

And the cattle aren’t the only concern for the ranch. Each year brings new triumphs and challenges, with field experiments, observation and research on grass production, meat yield and cattle nutrition. The ranch works with food scientists at Montana State University and is a certified member of the American Grass Fed Association and Western Sustainability Exchange, all in an effort to keep the cattle and soil environment as healthy as possible.

“In the last five-plus years, we’ve …

[made] continuous improvements in our animal husbandry and land and grass management,” Nunn says. “That’s our future ... making sure that land and soil is renewable and sustainable.”

Recently, that’s involved a small-scale experiment of feeding hay to cattle in “dead” areas with poor soil, Nunn says. The cattle stir up the soil as they move around and fertilize it with manure, making it more receptive to natural seeding.

And then there’s learning how long is best to leave the cattle in certain areas. Too long, and they’ll eat the grass too far down, pulling out the roots. Plus, rotating the type of grass they consume has benefits for the cattle.

“We raise the animals to be healthy, and we want that animal to provide a

healthy experience for our consumers who more and more are looking for better diets,” Nunn says.

The resulting Mulvey Gulch Ranch beef is significantly higher in Omega 3, CLAs and essential vitamins and lower in calories and saturated fats. “It’s great tasting and healthier for you,” Nunn says.

It can be found at Jerry’s Foods in Edina in a variety of cuts and styles, including ground beef, rib-eye, tenderloin summer sausage, jerky, hot dogs and more.

France 44 expands, opening event space to old friends and new customers.

FAMILY BUSINESS ENTERS A NEW ERA

In the ’90s, Minneapolis native Rick Anderson worked out of Philadelphia as a management consultant, traveling multiple times per week and meeting with leaders from Fortune 500 companies across the U.S. Then, in the early 2000s, he left his job to run his family’s liquor business.

Recently married and expecting his first child, Anderson says, “The timing was right to stop the jet-set lifestyle and be at home.” And what better place to settle down than his native Minneapolis? “[It] was the best career move I ever made in my life,” Anderson says, in part, because the decision allowed him to spend more time with his family and because it helped him expand his family’s 60-plus-year-old business.

Originally located in downtown Minneapolis, France 44 Wine & Spirits opened as Red Anderson’s Liquors— named after Rick Anderson’s grandfather—in the late 1950s.

In the 1970s, Rick’s dad bought the land on the corner of France Avenue South and West 44th Street and moved the business to Minneapolis’ Linden Hills neighborhood. As a teenager, Anderson worked in the new location—by then named France 44—doing mostly what he calls “drudgery jobs” like dusting bottles, stocking shelves and filling bags of ice.

Since he returned to the business in the early 2000s and eventually took over in 2010, Anderson has expanded his grandparents’ small liquor store, both physically and in terms of product offerings. This larger business not only offers wine, liquor and beer but also sandwiches and salads, cheese, deli items and meat. Besides the Minneapolis location, France 44 also operates two sister stores, the St. Paul Cheese Shop and the St. Paul Meat Shop.

Now, the business is entering another new era: Anderson recently completed a 9,000-square-foot addition to the Minneapolis store, which includes over 4,000 square feet for a new event space and another 5,000 square feet for business operations, including a new loading and receiving area.

The team unveiled the new space in November and has begun welcoming

customers into it. With a rooftop patio, classroom, demonstration kitchen and fireplace lounge, the remodeled space is built for flexibility and comfort, says Karina Roe, a certified sommelier and France 44’s general events manager and wine specialist. Sliding doors separate the classroom and kitchen areas from the patio and fireplace lounge, adding a fluidity to the addition.

With this expansion, France 44 is offering an expanded array of courses on wine, beer, cheese and other delicacies, and has partnered with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust to offer professional wine courses in its new classrooms.

In January, France 44 kicked off a robust class and event schedule, with 20–30 classes being offered in the first three months of the year. Roe says these classes will primarily be taught by France 44 staff, but they’ll also occasionally bring in partners from small businesses and wineries.

Clients can also rent the space for a wide range of private events—birthdays, company outings, team-building events and holiday parties. “But we also want to make it just really, really accessible for a lot of different groups of people,” Roe says, including nonprofits and community groups in the area.

With this new space at its fingertips, the team is also envisioning ways to spontaneously welcome the surrounding community into the new space on nights when there aren’t any other events booked. Pop-ups will be announced on social media and will include food offerings from the cheese shop.

“The number one function of the new space is to be event-specific, but there will definitely be [designated] times where we’ll run ‘open hours,’ so people can come up with their glass of wine and sandwich from the cheese shop,” Roe says.

“It’s definitely the sort of thing [for] people who live in the neighborhood or who are friends of ours,” Anderson says. “There will be opportunities for them to come and be a part of what we’ve built here.”

Roe says the space is designed “to be so welcoming … Like you’re stepping into someone’s home but with a slightly more elevated touch to it.”

Written by Kira Schukar

Photos by Chris Emeott

UPCOMING CLASSES AND EVENTS

Want to check out the new space by attending a class? Here’s a selection of classes being offered throughout March. To register for classes, visit france44events.com.

Cider 101 | March 2

Dive into the world of cider, and learn all of the important basics, from apple varieties to production methods, along with discovering great local cideries.

Wines of France Part 3: Northern France | March 7

Take a tour through some of the subregions and wines of northern France. You’ll discover the wide array of grapes cultivated there and the many different styles of wine this region produces—and learn about some of the world's best food-pairing wines!

Transumando: Transhumance

Cheeses of the World | March 9

Discover the ancient practice of transhumance as you follow shepherds and their flocks to and from the highlands, tasting the cheeses they make along the way. Throughout the class, you’ll enjoy a range of cheeses with carefully selected beverage pairings.

Homemade Vermouth: A Step-by-Step Guide | March 14

Explore the history behind vermouth and learn the classic components and steps for batching your own aromatized, fortified wine. You’ll be supplied with ingredients and leave with a small batch of a hand-crafted vermouth of your own.

Wine 101 | March 16

Learn all the important basics for appreciating wine—from how to read a wine label and what glasses to use, to wine storage, food pairing basics and tips on how to taste like a professional.

Wines of California Part 2: Napa and Sonoma | March 21

This class will focus on two of the most prominent and influential wine regions in the U.S.: Napa and Sonoma. You’ll explore the history, winemaking styles and the dichotomy between these unique regions.

More than anything else, the addition reinforces France 44’s core values— to welcome its customers and empower its employees.

Anderson developed this ethos partially from his consulting work—that is, from the hotels and restaurants he passed through on business trips. “The hotels I liked best were the ones that remembered me,” he says. If he had a flight delay, Anderson could trust that he wouldn’t lose his room because the front desk staff knew him personally. He notes that, while many employees in the hospitality and service industries are very transitory, “The places [I frequented] where the employees felt empowered and where they had a strong culture, those are the places that gave the best hospitality …

It became clear to me like—gosh, if I was ever going to have a hotel, this is what I would do,” he says. So, when Anderson took over France 44, he prioritized building a strong relationship with customers.

Hailey White, France 44’s events and hospitality director, cites the business’s community as one of the reasons she joined the team. “[It’s] the way that every customer walks through the door and remembers people’s names and knows what’s going on in each other’s life,” she says.

Beyond his customers, Anderson has established an ironclad trust with his staff. “When I got into this business, I [wanted] to make a place that I myself would want to shop at and that I myself would want to work at,” he says. “My whole philosophy has been [to] hire smart

people who are excited about what they’re doing, and then trust them to do the job.”

Anderson wants to ensure that his employees have agency in their work at the business. “He truly does listen to his employees, and he values his staff […] and we feel really respected because of that,” Roe says. “That’s what allows all these big lofty dreams to actually come to life.”

That trust is what led to this recent expansion. In the last five years, Roe, White and the education staff have built up France 44’s programming, offering popular classes in mozzarella making and courses on regional wines, among others. For most of that time, they used a small classroom space on the upper floor of the building to house events, in addition to offering virtual

ARCHITECT:

Kris Thielen at Thielen & Greene

DESIGNER:

Karl Peltier at Habitation

Furnishing + Design

CONTRACTOR:

Andrew Harvala

CONSTRUCTION:

Heritage Construction

and hybrid classes. But after a while, the space started to feel cramped.

“You get to this point where you can either stay where you’re at, and the ceiling is really low in terms of what you’re able to accomplish [there],” Roe says. “Or you can start thinking and look outside of what you’re doing.” At first, the team thought about renting a space for events, but none of the spaces they explored felt right.

Then in 2020, Anderson and a few team members walked onto the roof of the building to plan some routine repairs. “And one of the people on my team was like, ‘Wow, the view up here is amazing. We should totally have an event space up here.’”

By August 2021, Anderson had drawn up blueprints of the new addition—including the rooftop patio— and contacted his builder to begin construction. “The hard part was done,” Anderson says. “The team was in place—all I needed was the building.”

With the building completed, France 44 is poised to usher in new guests and old friends. Roe says the addition is only the beginning of France 44’s next phase, adding: “We’re ready for anything.”

France 44 Wines & Spirits, 4351 France Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.925.3252; france44events.com

France 44 Wines & Spirits @f44events

Interior Design: MartinPatrick3 | Photos: SpaceCrafting

Written by Amy Overgaard

Photos by Chris Emeott

GATHERING AROUND THE TABLE

rants, chefGavi n

From the age of 16, Gavin Kaysen knew he wanted to be a chef. However, it was actually cooking and baking with his grandmother Dorothy at the age of 7 that first sparked a love for being in the kitchen.

“It was the first time I recognized the power of food and how it could bring people together,” Kaysen says.

“As a young kid, I saw just how busy everyone’s life was. But when people would go to have dinner, everybody would kind of stop and go to the table. And so that was really kind of a pivotal experience for me.”

Kaysen’s grandmother was the first person to teach him how to cook; that time with her in the kitchen was foundational, as Kaysen discusses in his 2022 cookbook, At Home. And that value of pausing in the midst of life’s busyness and gathering people around a table has continued to be a driving force in Kaysen’s life.

Kaysen grew up in Bloomington and now resides in Edina, but in between he lived everywhere from Vermont (while at the New England Culinary Institute) and Napa Valley to Lausanne, Switzerland; London; San

Diego and Manhattan. He was 20 when he left the states and headed to Switzerland for an internship at Auberge de Lavaux, working under chef Jackie Vuillet.

While in Switzerland, Kaysen’s schedule was grueling and all-consuming. He worked five days a week, from 7 a.m. to at least midnight each day, with just a two-hour break each afternoon. Yet, he looks back with so much fondness on the six months he spent at Auberge de Lavaux—another pivotal, foundational experience.

Part of what made this season of life so significant, other than the obvious skills he gained in the kitchen (and the fact that he met his wife, Linda, while taking French classes at the university), is that on his two days off each week, Kaysen traveled all over Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean. He not only discovered new landscapes and languages, but also new foods, flavors and cultural practices.

Something that stands out in all the stories he tells from that time in his life? The way he witnessed people coming together over food—dropping everything and

his r e s t a u

a y s e n sgnirb ot efil sih v a l u se fo noitcennoc a n d r e s t o ration.

truly pausing, sometimes for hours, to enjoy the flavors and the time with each other.

Kaysen recalls the handful of times he went to the French Alps, to the family home of a co-worker. He says he would enjoy lunches with his co-worker’s family that lasted all afternoon. “Literally, we [would] eat lunch for six hours,” he says. “And it was just so beautiful to see that mentality of stopping what you’re doing and allowing yourself to just be with each other, right? It’s quite beautiful.”

But it’s also something he experienced among his own team at the restaurant. At the end of their afternoon break, the whole staff sat down for a meal before dinner service began, encouraged to sit together and take their time.

After his six-month internship ended, Kaysen went to London, where he briefly worked for a chef who was then a rising star in the culinary world: Gordon Ramsey (heard of him?), followed by about six months at L’Escargot in London’s Soho neighborhood. Upon returning to the states, Kaysen and his wife moved to San Diego; he landed a job as a line cook at El Bizcocho at Rancho Bernardo Inn. After a year, he became the chef de cuisine.

In that role, Kaysen brought that value of gathering around a table to his cooking staff. “I [had] my crew of cooks; there were six of us, and, you know, we all had the same kind of goal, which was, ‘Let’s just be the best we can be. Let’s be super creative, and let’s have fun.’ We would eat dinner every day together, because that’s what we did in all my restaurants in Europe,” he says. “We would sit down for 30 to 45 minutes, and we would sit at a table and we’d eat. And everybody was like, ‘You guys can’t take that much time.’ But it was like, ‘No, we can. We will.’ It was great. And I look back now, and all those cooks that I cooked with, they’re all so successful.”

Being in San Diego, the gathering they did wasn’t always around a table, however. Sometimes, it was on the beach. “I would print the [day’s] schedule, and then I would print the surf report under the schedule. Because if the surf is good in San Diego, you [have] to go surfing,” Kaysen says. “If the swell is good, you … stop what you’re doing and hit the waves for an hour.”

If the swell was going to be good in the middle of a prep shift, well, they’d all get in a little earlier to prep “and then we’d all leave and go to the beach and surf for an hour, and we’d come back and finish prepping to get ready for dinner service,” Kaysen says, noting how that helped build camaraderie among his team and “gave us so much

Top: The open kitchen space in Mara.

Bottom: Hummus Crispy Chickpeas, Tehina, Pita

freedom to not be too stressed about what it is we do … It was a really good lesson—don’t forget to have fun.”

Since then, Kaysen has had a multitude of amazing experiences. He competed in the Bocuse d’Or international culinary competition (what he likens to the Olympics for the culinary world) in 2007 and now serves as president for Team USA. He won a James Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year 2008; in 2018, he received the James Beard award for Best Chef: Midwest; and he was a semifinalist for Outsanding Chef 2020. He worked for eight years at Café Boulud in New York City under chef Daniel Boulud, as the executive chef and director of culinary operations. And, of course, there are his own restaurants. He opened Spoon and Stable in 2014, Bellecour in 2017, Demi in 2019, Bellecour Bakery at Cooks of Crocus Hill in 2020, and Mara and Socca Cafe at the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis in 2022.

But through all this—the press, the awards, the fame, the success—what is still at the heart of so much of what Kaysen does is facilitating people gathering together. In fact, this idea was central in his concept for Mara, a restaurant whose menu is inspired by the 22 countries that

touch the Mediterranean Sea. (“The term I hate more than anything: ‘the concept,’” he says.)

“I journal a lot … Mara comes from a lot of my journaling,” Kaysen says. When working on the restaurant concept, he says, “I just started to read through my journals [from my time in Europe], and it was kind of inspiring to see how a 21-year-old kid would take a train from somewhere in Switzerland down to Nice, France, and be in the Mediterranean Sea and get inspired by … these garbanzo beans and hummus and pita and all of this food. And what I kept going back to in my journal was I kept writing about how these people were all together as a group and how it was this gathering. And I kept using the word gathering a lot. So I thought to myself, ‘Well, maybe we should build a Mediterranean restaurant that has that sense of gathering and that sense of place.’” Mara was born out of that idea.

Part of creating a space for gathering was designing it with an open kitchen, where cooks and guests could see each other and interact. “The reason I love the open kitchen is because it gives the team an opportunity to see what it is that they’re doing,” Kaysen says. “When you have an open kitchen, you see somebody eating here,

Left:

Birch Smoked Hiramasa Crudo

Charred Grapefruit, Fresno Chilies, Radish, Cilantro Oil

Chermoula Spiced Chicken

Pomegranate, Sumac Spring

Onions, Charred Lemon

and their expression is like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so good.’ And [the cooks] see that. [They’re] like … that’s amazing. Look what I’m doing, I’m making people happy. And you’re filling their bucket, and that’s super cool.”

The dining room is also designed in a way that promotes connection, whether with one other person or 10. While that sense of gathering is baked into the DNA at Mara, it’s truly something Kaysen has aimed to create in all his restaurants. This desire goes even further back than the culture he experienced while in Europe. It goes back to the joy he found in his grandmother’s kitchen,

when the food she cooked brought the family together. And witnessing this continues to bring him joy.

“I get to watch families and people come together every night in all of my restaurants, and I love to watch that experience, because it doesn’t matter what the conversation is at the table, it just matters that they’re there together,” Kaysen says. “The word restaurant comes from the word restoration … The idea of restoration is really what dining out should feel like. Do you go out to eat and then leave and feel as though you’ve been restored through that experience?”

A SLICE OF FRANCE IN EDINA

Mara isn’t Kaysen’s only restaurant that’s influenced by his time in Europe. Bellecour at Cooks of Crocus Hill—and the full restaurant in Wayzata before that—was deeply inspired by France. The bakery serves an array of French bistro-inspired pastries, desserts and sandwiches with locations at the Cooks of Crocus Hill shops in St. Paul and in the North Loop of Minneapolis—and, most recently, Edina.

Bellecour was named after Place Bellecour, a town square at the center of Lyon, France, in honor of Paul Bocuse, Kaysen’s mentor and friend. Bocuse was the chef behind the threestar Michelin restaurant L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges and the founder of the Bocuse d’Or competition. Kaysen first met Bocuse as a competitor; from there, they developed and maintained a friendship that lasted until Bocuse’s death in 2018.

“He was like our pope of cooking,” Kaysen says. “He was an incredible human being and such an amazing influence. When I went to Lyon, France, many times, I would always have dinner with Mr. Bocuse in his restaurant.”

Bocuse was an instrumental mentor and friend to Kaysen; so, when developing Bellecour, he knew he wanted to honor his friend by naming it for him. Part of that was a nod to Bocuse’s own personal history.

“Mr. Bocuse taught me so much about French cooking, and he trained Daniel Boulud, who taught me everything about French cooking and the hospitality of how the French take that on,” Kaysen says. “And when Mr. Bocuse was in World War II, he was shot and he was left to be dead in a field. And an American soldier came by and found him, picked him up and brought him to a hospital, and they gave him a blood transfusion, and they saved his life. When you eat at [Mr. Bocuse’s] restaurant, there’s an American flag that flies in front of it. And when I asked him why that flag was there, he says, ‘I never want to forget why I’m here, and it’s the Americans who saved my life.’ So we name it Bellecour and honor Mr. Bocuse for helping teach us how to cook.”

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Refresh your home with custom artwork. Christina B. Johnson has been sourcing clients with her colorful paintings since 2018. Shop her work at Edina-based Foxwell Shoppe and At Home & Co., or contact Christina for a consultation.

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Upscale resale at its best! Our customers tell us we have the most amazing assortment of designer and contemporary clothing and accessories! Stop in often, new items arrive daily. Fashion

The Goddard School’s safe, flexible and caring environment gives your child the space to take chances, make connections and experience authentic learning so they can become school-ready, career-ready and life-ready.

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Mainstream Boutique is one-of-a-kind apparel, accessories, and styling for today’s busy woman. We are passionate about our mission to love, strengthen, and celebrate you in our community. Our customers know we want you to LOVE what you are wearing.

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QUEUE UP YOUR WARM-WEATHER ACTIVITIES

Registration is now open for spring and summer programs.

It’s time to start thinking about summer activities and schedules. The Edina Parks & Recreation Spring/Summer Activities Directory launched in February, and registration is now open for both residents and nonresidents.

“The activities directory features a variety of offerings for art, camps, golf, park programs, skating, sports and more,” says Amanda Clarke, the city’s recreation supervisor. It includes activities for toddlers, school-age children and teenagers— but you’ll also find activities for adults and seniors, as well as listings for seasonal events taking place at recreation and parks facilities around the city.

While most activities have a cost associated with them, Clarke says that “financial assistance is available for all programs offered through Edina Parks & Recreation, from classes to camps to season passes at the Edina Aquatic Center.”

She notes that while all Edina residents should have received an activity directory in the mail in February, people can also browse or search activities through the online catalog, which is updated regularly with new events. —Amy

Overgaard

To view the digital booklet and register for events, visit edinaparks.com. For scholarship information and application, visit edinaparks.com/scholarships.

LOCAL EVENTS

Art Center’s Open Studio

03/03–03/31

Every Friday in March, adults can bring their own art supplies and gather with fellow creators. Ages 17 and older. $5. Noon–4 p.m. Art Center’s Nichols Studio, 4701 W. 64th St.; 952.903.5780; edinamn.gov

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile Movie Night

03/10

It’s movie night at Edinborough Park! Bring the kids to a showing of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile All ages. Free. 5:30–7 p.m. Edinborough Park Amphitheater, 7700 York Ave. S.; 952.927.8861; edinamn.gov

Compiled by Nicole Berglund and Megan Hegenbarth

The Prom Pop-Up

03/12–03/19

Donate your lightly used prom dresses, suits, shoes and accessories by visiting the prom-themed donation storefront at The Galleria. As a thank you, you’ll get a free ticket to The Prom at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Free. Store hours TBD. The Galleria, 3510 W. 69th St.; 952.925.4321; galleriaedina.com

Galleria Floral Experience

03/26–04/9

Experience mall-wide blooming gardens and larger-than-life installations throughout Galleria’s common areas, with flowers by Bachman’s. Free. 10 a.m.–7p.m., Monday–Saturday; 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Sundays. The Galleria, 3510 W. 69th St.; 952.925.4321; galleriaedina.com

Paint Your Own Pet

03/28

No experience is required for this paintby-number workshop with Gray Duck Art. Submit a photo of your pet prior to the class; Gray Duck Art will take your image and turn it into a paint by number. One free drink is included with registration. All ages. $70. 6–8:30 p.m. Wooden Hill Brewing Company, 7421 Bush Lake Road; 952.960.9663; woodenhillbrewing.com

AREA EVENTS

Minneapolis Home and Garden Show

03/01–03/05

Meet the experts and get new inspiration for your home and garden. All ages. Adults $12–14, Children ages 6–12 $4, Children under 5 free. Times vary. Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.209.4593; homeandgardenshow.com

To have your event considered: email edinamag@localmedia.co by the 10th of the month three months prior to publication.

Due to the fluidity being experienced in the current environment, please note that some events/dates and even some business operations may have changed since these pages went to print. Please visit affiliated websites for updates.

Edina High School Class of 1982 Celebrates its 40-Year Reunion

In mid-July, more than 250 Edina High School graduates and their families gathered for their 40th class reunion. The class of 1982 was the first graduating class of the merged Edina East Hornets and Edina West Cougars. Weekend events included a golf tournament, concerts by classmates’ bands, a high school tour (arranged by the new Edina Alumni Association) and a reunion at the Interlachen Country Club.

“It [was] fun reconnecting with old friends,” says Ted Axt, committee member and ’82 graduate. He added that, after COVID-19, “It was fun to have a huge party with a bunch of cooped up 58-year-olds.”

To have your event considered: send date, time, location, photos, contact information and a brief description of the event to edinamag@localmedia.co.

Women, Business and a Good Glass of Red

With a little help from her friends, Lyndsey Jacques gave her favorite neighborhood wine bar a new lease on life.

Written by Kristie Smith Photos by Chris Emeott

MIX ONE PART TRADITION with a good dose of ambition and you’ll begin to see how Beaujo’s became Bojae’s in Edina’s 50th & France neighborhood. This favorite neighborhood haunt is an evolutionary tale, with two common denominators: a female network of visionaries and a woman named April.

Lyndsey Jacques, owner of Bojae’s Wine Bar & Bistro, says the wine bar, under its former name and concept (Beaujo’s), “was my favorite local,

neighborhood bar—and then COVID-19 hit.” She had just moved into the neighborhood and wanted to make sure the spot where “everyone knew everyone” never went away. Jacques says she had been coming in for a glass of wine and a bite to eat at the restaurant for seven years before she would eventually call it her own.

As the neighborhood began to emerge from the pandemic, her father, Steve Scheck, challenged Jacques to “put her money where her mouth is” when she worried the old Beaujo’s might struggle. So, she summoned up the courage and called owner Amanda Wagner to ask what it might take to sell her the wine bar. Much to her surprise, Wagner welcomed her call.

Next, she reached out to the women in her life to help her turn her dream into what became a daily education. “I didn’t know anything about running a restaurant,” Jacques says. “I called my sister-in-law, who is a CFO, and she taught me how to look at the financials. I called a great friend, who’s an attorney, and she said, ‘Well, you’ve got to have an LLC,’ so she set that up for me.”

She agreed on the terms with Wagner, and then she needed to learn to negotiate a lease. Suzanne Haugland, a nearby business owner, helped her with the finer points, teaching her how to pursue tenant improvements and even how to update the furnishings; but she warned Jacques not to do it. “She said, ‘You won’t make money,’ and we both laughed,” Jacques says. Haugland, owner of At Home and Co., added her interior design talents to the look and feel—changing the lighting, painting the ceilings and hanging a mirror. Jacques then added artwork from her photographer friend, Stephanie Morris.

“I have this incredible network of women

Lyndsey Jacques

Steak Salad paired with a local beer.

… I had all these women helping me, but I had absolutely no experience, just this vision to save this favorite wine bar for the neighborhood,” Jacques says.

Before opening the doors, she still had one more woman to reach out to: April Diekman. Diekman had worked at the wine bar for both Wagner and the previous owner, and Jacques knew this wouldn’t work without her. “I asked April to help. I would not have purchased [the bar] without her commitment,” Jacques says. “She hired the staff for me and runs the show.”

Jacques celebrated her first anniversary this past November. “It’s been crazy. When we opened the doors, the neighborhood said, ‘Thank you so much.’ Every day, someone comes in and says, ‘I used to come here years ago; you’ve done so much to bring it back to life.’”

Jacques shares how she came up with the new name and her logo, almost as if it was kismet.

“Bojae was my dad’s nickname, after a poodle he had growing up as a kid. He said, ‘If you name it after me, I’ll pay for the sign, but you have to

promise me you’ll never put a TV in here,’” Jacques says. Her focus is on giving guests a place to come to get out of a snowstorm, catch up with friends, share a bite to eat and enjoy a glass of wine or beer.

“There are no distractions, which was what I fell in love with about this place,” Jacques says. “Guests come to chat, hang out … I see lots of first dates here.” Love has a lot to do with it for Jacques, who says she and her now husband Louis had one of their first dates at the bar in 2018. “Last April, we got married here. It was a surprise 60th birthday party, which became an engagement; we got married that same night.”

But there have also been tears, Jacques says. Food costs, inventory and payroll are just some of the things she says she’s had to learn a lot about. “Every time we have an employee meeting, I look at our team and I say, ‘We are building a plane as we fly it,’” she says. “And that’s damn scary because I hate to fly.”

She says she hasn’t made a profit yet. But she didn’t take out a loan either, after gathering fiscal resources from the sale of her former home,

some retirement funding and a gift from her father to make it all work. She credits the reopening of nearby shops and the movie theater down the street with helping bring in some younger patrons, too. “In March, when the weather is bad or it’s just too cold to drive, people put on their snow boots and walk down the block for a nice glass of wine.”

From the wine list, guests can order anything from a $10 to $30 glass of red, white or sparkling to suit their palates. (Or by the bottle, of course.)

Local beer is also available on tap, and the food menu offers perfect complements, from small plates to a steak salad, a charcuterie board or a dessert of the day.

Though Jacques can often be found catching up with her staff, perched behind the taps, she does have her sights set on an eventual retirement. “My friends and family ask if this will be my legacy, and I say, ‘Nope, this is April’s legacy. I did this for April.’ And I tell her this will be hers someday,” Jacques says. For now, she’s consumed with pairing food offerings to create the spring wine menu.

Blanche Cheese Board with a cabernet sauvignon.

Lambrusco with Flourless Chocolate Cake.

Pairings for Cozy Neighborhood Nights

Warm up with a big, intense cabernet sauvignon. A food pairing demands a complex flavor profile that can handle its beautiful red finish. Pair it with the Blanche Cheese Board, which combines a trio of meat and three cheeses with an olive tapenade, ground mustard, relishes and an inviting warm bread for the perfect Thursday night in a cozy little spot.

After a show at the iconic Edina Theatre, opt for a pint of local beer. Pair it with the Classic Steak Salad, which combines mixed greens tossed in a citrus vinaigrette with fresh vegetables, rosemary potatoes and mushrooms.

For a surprising after-dinner delight, give lambrusco another shot. This is not your ’80s, overly sweet bubble. With its red dash of tannins and fresh red fruit, it’s a perfect note that plays so well with a Flourless Chocolate Cake.

Bojae’s Wine Bar and Bistro, 4950 France Ave. S.; 612.719.4068; bojaes.com

Bojae’s Wine Bar @bojaes

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April Diekman

FIRST PLACE: BUSINESS

Crystal Clear

The beauty of Restoration Hardware is captured in this award-winning photograph.

HOBBY PHOTOGRAPHER NANCY FERGESEN was enjoying lunch at Restoration Hardware’s rooftop restaurant when these chandeliers caught her eye. “There was a lot of light pouring into the top floor from all the windows, and it caught the crystals of the chandeliers. It was so stunning, I just had to take some photos of it,” she says. Fergesen tries to appreciate the little things in life. “People don’t always see how extraordinary our world can be,” she says. “There is beauty in simple things.” She notes that she owes her keen eye for beauty to her advertising career. “I was on the account side, where I had to sell our creative product,” she says. “I learned a lot from the creative people I worked with over the years. So, I do believe you can train yourself to look at the world differently—notice the beauty and appreciate it. That’s what I try to do.”

Photographer: Nancy Fergesen

Title: RH Light

Equipment: iPhone 11 Pro Max

To view other Images of Edina photo contest winners, visit edinamag.com.