Woodfired Cantina, the only sit-down restaurant at St. Paul's Keg and Case food hall, has closed.
"We struggled to make it work," said owner Brian Ingram. Brian and Sarah Ingram's Purpose Driven Restaurants has pulled out of the food hall entirely, closing its Purple Ice Cream shop earlier this fall after a short run. (It took the place of Sweet Science Ice Cream, which relocated to Edina.)
Ingram said he was approached by Keg and Case owner Craig Cohen, asking if they would be interested in leaving the market so that the restaurant space could be used as seating for the food hall's other vendors. At the same time, the restaurant group's resources were invested in opening Hope Breakfast Bar's second location in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park. Ingram said much of the cantina staff was able to secure employment at the new restaurant, which opened last weekend.
Woodfired Cantina first opened in September 2020, with a massive wood-burning hearth as the sole cooking method for its Baja-influenced menu. It took the place of In Bloom, an award-winning concept from the owners of Revival, the local fried chicken mini-chain. In Bloom closed in summer 2020, shuttering during the statewide mandated restaurant closure. It never reopened.
Keg and Case opened in September 2018 in the historic Jacob Schmidt brewery as the West Seventh neighborhood's first food hall. After closing briefly for the pandemic, it reopened in May 2021 with several new vendors.
In addition to Hope Breakfast Bar, the Ingrams' Purpose Driven Restaurants, which donates a portion of profits to charity, also operates The Gnome Craft Pub and plans to open Apostle Supper Club, both in St. Paul.
