Justin Sutherland’s Big E egg sandwich spot to move into Grand Pizzeria space

Jess Fleming, Pioneer Press
Updated ·2 min read

We now know what will take the place of Grand Pizzeria, next to Grand Ole Creamery on Grand Avenue.

Chef Justin Sutherland’s egg sandwich shop, Big E, is set to open April 24. The first location of the shop is in Portland, Ore., but the intention was always to expand. Sutherland lives in St. Paul and his first restaurant, Handsome Hog, is located in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood.

“The intention is to open next in Minneapolis, and then into surrounding suburbs, and infinity and beyond,” Sutherland said.

The chef, who is doing well after a summer boating accident and multiple subsequent surgeries, said the restaurant will be open for all three daily meals.

“It’s not a breakfast place,” Sutherland said. “We don’t want to be pigeonholed into breakfast. It’s a celebration of the egg, but not a breakfast place per se.”

Sutherland is a travel junkie who jets around the globe for work and pleasure and the menu reflects that.

“Egg sandwiches are my favorite food,” he said. “I travel all the time, and every time I ask the hotel concierge where the best egg sandwiches are. I also love music, so all the sandwiches are named after music.”

Rose Street Patisserie is making Japanese egg buns for the sandwiches, which also feature Tillamook cheeses. Coffee will come from music-centric Misfits Coffee in Minneapolis.

Menu items range from a steak, egg and Welch’s grape jelly number called It Was All a Dream to a scrambled egg, lump crab, pickled daikon and miso aioli sandwich called Her Name is Yoshimi. As a nod to a local musical hero’s famously vegetarian diet, the When Doves Cry contains spinach, hummus, feta and scrambled eggs.

There will be a DJ booth in the space, which is undergoing a light refresh before opening, where local artists will spin, and Sutherland, who was on the road for much of the winter, plans to stick around for a while to get the space up and running, so you’re likely to catch him if you stop in.

Big E: 750 Grand Ave., St. Paul; eatbige.com

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