Crave's rooftop, under construction. Photo by Tom Horgen.
"It's a little bit edgier than before," Kam Talebi said. That's how the Crave owner summed up his hotly-anticipated venture into downtown Minneapolis Thursday afternoon. Stepping over power tools and ducking plastic tarp, Talebi guaranteed that this Crave — his fourth in the Twin Cities — will be ready for its opening on May 19.
Everything will be bigger: the bar, the sushi operation and the space in general (it's 12,000 square feet). Talebi has blown out the old Palomino on Hennepin, opening up the soaring ceilings. He's adding little stylistic touches that he might not have in Edina or Bloomington (the booths are covered in what looked like crocodile leather). Go to Crave's facebook page for an extensive photo tour.
"We understand that we're coming in from suburban America," Talebi said, "so we've really custom-tailored the concept for downtown."
The big buzz surrounding this location is the ambitious rooftop, which will open May 29. At 6,500 square feet, it'll be just a smidge larger than Seven's. On Thursday, the rooftop (which sits on top of LaSalle Plaza) was still in the skeletal phase, with thousands of pounds of steel making up its impressive base. Talebi emphasized that he doesn't want customers to look at the rooftop as simply a late-night destination, but a dinner spot too. He's building a full kitchen up here, as well as a bar and rest rooms. "The way I look at it is we've built two restaurants," he said.
In all, Talebi said the investment totals about $5 million. "It's been a challenging build-out, but we've been working around the clock," he said.
Check back here for more updates. The rooftop's opening (which comes 10 days after the restaurant's) will be the debut of "Communion," a popular DJ night that will move over from Solera.
- Crave: 9th and Hennepin in downtown Minneapolis. www.craveamerica.com
