A new noodle restaurant for Eat Street, cocktail bar in Duluth, St. Paul ice bars and more restaurant news
Crossing Bridge Noodle Restaurant will take the place of the shuttered Bad Waitress restaurant on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis (2 E. 26th St.). Owner Kevin Ni is an experienced local restaurateur. He's co-owner of Sushi Train and owns Captain Crab in Brooklyn Park and three Mochinut locations. Ni told the Southwest Journal he believes his restaurant will be the first in the area to serve this chicken-broth-based soup.
Crossing-the-bridge noodles, a traditional soup from China's Yunnan province, is served with large bowls of boiling broth, perfumed with star anise and ginger alongside myriad mix-ins to customize each bite with meat, rice noodles, bean curd sheets and vegetables. Expect a mid-March opening.
Fresh Ramen is slurp-ready in Burnsville
Bloomington's Itton Ramen & Japanese Street Food just opened its second location at 1000 County Road 42 in Burnsville. The original restaurant opened just over a year ago in Bloomington (2137 W. 80th ½ St., ittonramen.com) with a bright and lively dining room and Hakata-style Tonkotsu soup by head chef Sam Lin. Both locations are open daily for lunch and dinner.
New Palestinian restaurant opening in Duluth
The new Palestinian restaurant Falastin will take the place of the New London Cafe on East Superior Street in Duluth this spring. Grown from popular pop-ups from musician Lyla Abukhodair, her spouse Samuel Miller and her mother, Ann Abukhodair. Pop-up menus included baklava, shawarma, vegan lentil soup and cheese-stuffed bread topped with za'atar.
In December, Abukhodair did an interview with Eater Twin Cities and spoke of her desire to open a deli with a place for coffee, food and a case filled with different cheeses not readily available in the city. She spoke of sharing family recipes and favorite cookbooks, too.
Their goals are lofty: "The inspiration behind Falastin is rooted in resiliency, family, community, and culture," the website says. "It is a place for education, celebration of culture, honoring family stories, supporting community, and of course, a place to share." Follow the progress at falastin.co.
Plus, a new cocktail lounge in Duluth
While we're already eyeing exciting news up north, there's also a cocktail bar that should be on the radar. Over on the other end of Superior Street in Lincoln Park, Altitude Cocktails is readying to open this year inside the new Zenith Basecamp complex geared toward outdoor enthusiasts. On the in-the-works menu will be both top-shelf cocktails and a serious selection of NA drinks, including a spirit-free old fashioned.
More ice bars are in the works
As the last puddles of Minneapolis' downtown ice bar dribble away, new ones are taking shape in St. Paul. From Friday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 11 the Capital City Ice Bars will open outside 10 restaurants as a part of the Red Bull Heavy Metal street snowboard contest. Restaurants adding the chilly outdoor service include Apostle Supper Club, Burger Moe's, Herbie's On The Park, Loon Cafe, Meritage, Momento, Pillbox Tavern, Smorgie's, Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub and Wrestaurant at the Palace. All restaurants will be serving both spiked and nonalcoholic cocktails on their icy bars. The upcoming forecast also appears to chill out a bit, so the bars and the snowboarders might have a better chance at carrying out their missions.
Red Bull Heavy Metal will take place on the Capitol grounds Feb. 10.
