In Bloom, the dynamic anchor to the Keg and Case Market in St. Paul, quietly closed on Monday evening.
"As the decline in fine dining continues in the restaurant industry as a whole, our vision for In Bloom has run its course," owners Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone said in a statement. "We are grateful to the Keg and Case team, our fellow merchants in the market and the entire West 7th, St. Paul community for the opportunity."
The ambitious restaurant was part of the Twist Davis Group, which also operates the hugely popular Revival in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
In Bloom has been shuttered since mid-March, when Gov. Tim Walz ordered all Minnesota restaurants closed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Boemer and Rancone pivoted the two Revival locations to takeout mode, but kept In Bloom temporarily closed.
Nearly three dozen Twin Cities restaurants have closed during the pandemic, including the Bachelor Farmer, another four-star, high-profile operation.
In its short life, In Bloom garnered some serious attention. Boemer was a 2019 semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: Midwest award, and after receiving a four-star review in the Star Tribune, In Bloom was named the newspaper's 2018 Restaurant of the Year.
In Bloom's evolution was longer than its life span. In August 2016, Boemer and Rancone announced their intention to anchor a food hall at the former Schmidt brewery complex on St. Paul's West 7th Street. The doors finally opened in September 2018.
It was worth the wait. A theatrical, wide-open kitchen was dominated by a mammoth, 20-foot-long hearth, where Boemer and his gifted crew did all of their cooking over burning wood.
The eclectic menu initially included a focus on venison and other game meats, along with a contemporary approach to vegetables and one of the region's most discerning wine programs.
Boemer and Rancone launched their partnership in 2012 by taking over tiny Corner Table in south Minneapolis. Two years later they moved that imaginative charmer to a roomier new home a few blocks further south on Nicollet Avenue, and then converted Corner Table's empty storefront into fried chicken-focused Revival. Its Southern comfort food proved so popular that a second location, on St. Paul's Selby Avenue, materialized in 2016. (Corner Table closed last summer).
Boemer and Rancone will continue to operate their Revival Smoked Meats counter at the Keg and Case Market, "so we can continue to have a connection with the Keg and Case Market and West 7th community," they said in a statement. "We hope to see everyone on the patio soon!"
Rick Nelson • @RickNelsonStrib
