"I'm taking it easy this summer," said chef Justin Sutherland — right before launching into an extended rundown of restaurants he's about to open. And the list is impressive.
In just a matter of weeks, the "Iron Chef America" champion will open Northern Soul on the rooftop level of the new Ties Lounge complex on Nicollet Mall.
The seasonal eatery will open as an all-day menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner with cocktails and a downtown view. Dishes will dip into the Southern style Sutherland has built his career on, with several favorites from Handsome Hog, his first and most famous restaurant. That means crispy fried wings on mini waffles with spiced syrup, smoked salmon salad and the Tennessee Hot chicken sandwich will be regularly available in Minneapolis for the first time.
The project is coming together quickly, with an upstairs kitchen already built out to the chef's specifications. Downtown Minneapolis diners could be basking in the sun and feasting on grits by the end of July. (Ties' downstairs food options will continue to be overseen by Joey Meatballs and is completely separate from Sutherland's work.)
But that's not all the chef has under his signature In Diversity We Trust hat.
Up next will be the first Twin Cities location for his burgeoning egg sandwich chain, Big E's, inside the Moxy Minneapolis Uptown hotel (1121 W. Lake St.). The eatery has a musical soul; its name is a nod to iconic rapper Biggie Smalls, and all the sandwich names are inspired by other musicians. For example, the It Was All a Dream is a steak-based egg sandwich with American cheese, a fried egg and Welch's grape jelly. Of course there's a Prince sandwich: When Doves Cry combines scrambled eggs with wilted spinach, hummus and feta.
This is only the beginning of the Big E's rollout. The first opened in Portland, Ore., in May, and the next will be located in Moxy's downtown Minneapolis hotel.
Back across the river, dinner is the star of the show at Noyes & Cutler, where Sutherland serves as culinary director for chef Aaron Cave's modern steakhouse. That restaurant officially opened June 29 in the former Public Kitchen location (229 E. 6th St., St. Paul) and serves dishes like charred vegetables, crispy-skinned trout, Wagyu bacon cheeseburger and special occasion-worthy prime rib.
For those keeping score, that's four new restaurants in a matter of months for the chef who's "taking it easy" this summer. Perhaps what he meant was that he's taking a brief break from traveling the country and world with his numerous media appearances, from serving as a guest judge on "Chopped" and filming his TruTV show "Fast Foodies" to his latest, the web series "Taste the Culture."
We'll be hearing and seeing even more of Sutherland in the near future — he has a cookbook, also named "Northern Soul," due out late this summer, too.
