When Solera opened on Hennepin Avenue in 2002, it was a BFD in the local restaurant scene. Tim McKee and Josh Thoma were basking in the early critical glow of then-Stillwater-located La Belle Vie, and the tapas they installed next to the Orpheum were a revelation. It was a foundational restaurant for many in the … [ Read more]
Now Open: Pig Ate My Pizza Kitchen + Brewery in Robbinsdale
May 21, 2019 by
Andy Goettsch cut his teeth in Italian fine dining. Each dish he prepared required time-consuming techniques and attention to detail, and any missteps were easy to taste. After 15 years in kitchens, including five as chef de cuisine for Travail, his passion shifted to an equally time-intensive craft: brewing. Now, as head brewer for the … [ Read more]
News from the Travail Universe: New building, PAMP Brewpub, BBQ details
June 20, 2018 by
The ever-expanding Travail Gastronomic Universe (TGU) has announced plans for the their next spate of blockbusters. Here are the broad strokes: Minnesota BBQ Company opening this August Kale Thome has been with the TGU since 2010, and the Wichita, Kansas, native will soon open the long-awaited Minnesota BBQ Company at 816 Lowry Avenue in Northeast … [ Read more]
Recipe: Roasted Duck with Duck Stock and Cracklins
June 26, 2017 by
Roasted Duck with Duck Stock and Cracklins This month, Minnesota Spoon writer Steve Hoffman witnessed what happens when the gastronomical mad scientists behind Travail Kitchen and Amusements, Bob Gerken, James Winberg, and Mike Brown are thrown into a kitchen that Betty Crocker might have recognized. Read Steve Hoffman’s full story. Enjoy the Travail team’s recipe for roasted … [ Read more]
Minnesota Spoon: Travail cooks traditional with Bob Gerken, James Winberg, and Mike Brown
June 26, 2017 by
So they arrived, the guys from Travail Kitchen & Amusements. Or rather two of the three guys. The third guy might swing by later. The two guys, Bob and James, got out of their white pickup. Introduced themselves. We smiled at each other. Bob had kind eyes and a scruffy black beard that failed to … [ Read more]
Get to know the Minnesota chefs & restaurants up for 2017 James Beard Awards
February 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The James Beard Foundation announced its list of semifinalists for 2017 chef and restaurant categories today, and Minnesota was well-represented with 13 chefs and two restaurants making the cut. The Best Chef: Midwest category, which last year was awarded to The Bachelor Farmer’s Paul Berglund, includes Thomas Boemer of Corner Table, Mike Brown, Bob Gerken, and James … [ Read more]
Travail team opening barbecue joint in Northeast
June 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The culinary circus behind Travail, The Rookery, and Pig Ate My Pizza is branching out into barbecue. The MSPBJ reports the squat brick building at 816 Lowry Ave. N.E. in Minneapolis, owned by Travail’s James Winberg (left, above), is destined to become a take-out Kansas City-style barbecue joint. The space will include a kitchen with a meat … [ Read more]
Travail chef takes the reins of a restaurant and brewery
May 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Spotlight IPA. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s because you haven’t been to F-Town Brewing Company or one of Travail’s restaurants lately—or maybe ever. The refreshing session ale is a collaboration effort between Andy Goettsch, chef at Travail Kitchen and Amusements, and F-Town Brewing Company of Faribault, Minnesota. These two establishments have combined for … [ Read more]
Minnesota’s 12 James Beard semifinalists
February 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Twelve Twin Cities chefs, bakers, restaurateurs, restaurants, and importers have been named semifinalists for the 30th-annual James Beard Foundation awards, reports the Star Tribune. The so-called “Oscars of the food world” recognize and celebrate excellence in 21 categories.The category with the most local names is Best Chef: Midwest. The Midwest region includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, … [ Read more]
How Travail’s model is creating chefs that meet diners’ expectations face-to-face
October 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Ferran Adria, the father of international modernist cuisine, visited Minneapolis for the first time in October, less than 24 hours after news broke that the father of the modern Minneapolis restaurant scene, La Belle Vie, would close its doors later that month. It was an auspicious coincidence that left us wondering about the expectation we … [ Read more]
Time Magazine names Pig Ate My Pizza among nation’s best
August 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
TIME Magazine has singled out Pig Ate My Pizza in Robbinsdale as one of the 10 Best Pizza Places in the U.S. While any such list is doomed to be subjective and incomplete (this one includes only one NYC spot and none from New Haven, Conn.), it’s still a terrific nod to the sweet, crackly … [ Read more]
Pork & Pickle pop-up set for Lyn65
August 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Geoff Hausmann, charcuterie-whisperer of Travail, will bring his next Pork & Pickle pop-up dinner to Lyn65 on August 24th. The six-course dinner includes tax and tip for $50 (booze available at a cash bar). The special chef’s table seatings are sold out, but regular seating is still available via Brown Paper Tickets.
