Gavin Kaysen, the acclaimed chef who famously left NYC’s Cafe Boulud back in 2014 to begin building a restaurant empire in his hometown of Minneapolis, is laying the groundwork for his second venture. This time it’s a French bistro.
Eater Minneapolis reports Kaysen has finally revealed the name of his new project — Bellecour. Per a release, the restaurant is “a nod to Kaysen’s relationships with close friends, mentors, and lauded chefs Daniel Boulud and Paul Bocuse. Chef Boulud was born in Lyon, and Chef Bocuse is based there.” The name references a famous city center in Lyon, France, and “is a place where Kaysen spends time and finds inspiration during his travels.”
The building is undergoing an extensive remodel. Kaysen and his wife Linda Kaysen have tapped Shea Design to develop the look of the restaurant, which will serve classic French dishes such as escargot and French onion soup with a Midwestern twist. There will be an on-site bakery run by pastry chef Diane Yang.
Kaysen’s departure from the acclaimed Cafe Boulud sent major waves through the NYC restaurant scene, but his first Minneapolis restaurant, Spoon & Stable, was quickly embraced by diners and critics alike. Shortly after the 2014 opening, Kaysen spoke to Eater about his decision to leave New York for the Midwest, saying, “I watched Minneapolis, and I watched the scene here grow and I wanted to be a part of it. It made me proud to see a a city that I grew up in that was once never really a part of a food conversation, was all of a sudden now part of this food conversation happening in America.”
Bellecour is slated to debut in Spring 2017.
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