New Restaurant On the Block
I recently talked to the young chef, Darin Koch (pronounced cook, natch), who is opening Butcher Block, the new restaurant going in to the old Fugaise spot in Northeast Minneapolis. Our conversation was odd, mainly because Koch told me about 16 times that the restaurant plans to make no profit at all, that they’re going to specialize in in-house butchery but are opening without a butchery area, will be open till 4 a.m. on weekends (and would be open 24 hours a day if Koch had his druthers). It will offer 29 chicken wing flavors.
Does any of this sound credible to you? Well, it’s what I was told. Here’s more of what I was told: Butcher Block will be all about in-house butchery, and will open June 18. Koch has a cooking background that includes a long stint at Osteria I Nonni. Before that, he worked at the Napa Valley Grille under the talented Eric Scherwinski, and somewhere in the mists of time he had a cooking job at W. A. Frost under local nose-to-tail evangelist Lenny Russo.
Butcher Block is planned as a meat-heavy gastropub, or in Koch’s words, trattoria, with nothing on the menu priced over $15, and will have a full bar as well as wine and liquor license. Their claim to fame will be their butcher, Filippo Caffari, a former Osteria I Nonni chef who will be hand crafting all sorts of old-school European delights like lamb prosciutto, pork guanciale, and coppa salami. They plan to have a burger or two on the menu at all times. They hope to open with one made of lamb and garnished with a special variety of minty lettuce they’re having specially grown just for them.
The restaurant will work as a caterer by day, delivering upscale corporate box lunches, and serve in-house dinner by night. In addition to butchering all their own meats—meats such as wild boar, veal, beef, pork, and lamb—Butcher Block will also specialize in chicken wings, through a menu section called “Basket of Robins,” which will offer 29 chicken wing flavors, including mango curry with yogurt, and blackberry balsamic red wine reduction. Koch told me you’ll get 15 to 24 wings for $10. (Basket of Robins, of course, is a play on Baskin Robbins, with their 31 flavors; no actual robins were harmed in the typing of this sentence.) This Basket of Robins, and all Butcher Block menu items will be available until 4 a.m. weekends, 2 a.m. the rest of the time.
“We don’t want to make any type of profit,” Koch said. “We’re just totally passionate about great food.” Koch also told me that the former Fugaise space is no longer recognizably Fugaise. The prison-gray walls have been repainted. There is a black and white photograph of a butcher scale on one wall, and that Fabrizio Cicconne, another co-owner, will be managing the front of the house. Fabrizio Cicconne, of course, is a local restaurauteur who has had a hand in restaurants including La Bodega, Nochee, Arezzo, Café Agri. “We’re basically an old school Italian Trattoria with trans-global flavor,” Koch told me. “I just wish passion paid the bills.”
The Butcher Block
308 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
612-455-1080
thebutcherblockrestaurant.com
Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009 in Permalink
Comments may be edited for length, clarity, or appropriateness.
Reader Comments:
Let's see... a chef without a profitable business model, an almost-invisible location, and an owner/front-of-house guy with a trail of failed businesses? I won't be getting too attached to this place.
Dara,
I don't know who Darin Koch is, but by any chance was he drinking honey straight from a jar, talking a mile a minute about "the energy on the streets of the Twin Cities," with a grossly misbuttoned shirt and gold-fleck spray paint all over his moustache?
Because this sounds downright addled to me. Let us know if/when the VC's line up to fund this idea.
OT: Great article in the NYT about South Carolina bbq : even the slide show is great. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/dining/10United.html?_r=1&ref=dining
I've got a Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker and I'm ready to try a smaller version. Dara, where do recommend I go for 'clean' pasture pork. I used to hit up Global Midtown Xchange, is that farmer's market in there still the best spot. I'm up on the North side.
Thanks for any rec's.
TBD
Wow. How cool that a food critic is already interested in a place that has not even opened yet. Must be a hot place!!! Out of curiosity my husband and I drove by. Very visible and the sign is very sleek. We also looked up the website and are even more intrigued by the original and sophisticated menu. My husband works nights and I am a night owl so the late night menu will sure to be utilized by these locals..lol It is fantastic to see all the growth in northeast and the butcher block restaurant is no exception. Can't wait to see what these guys pull off.....
It opens the 26th according to the website. Lot's of buzz around town. Looks cool. I am sure to stop in and try it. menu looks good too, not much like it around that is for sure. If the food is good, I am in. Looks like they will be open late too, like till 4am thursday thru saturday. Guess thats cool for second and third shifters. The menu is posted already for those curious.
Dear Dara and Readers, Upon reading this article I am feeling a bit misquoted. Obviously I did not go into business to make "no profit at all". My intention was to offer upscale food, without pillaging peoples pocketbooks. When it comes to the menu prices, nothing will exceed $17. The restaurant will be open for business on Friday the 26th of June. The correct hours are Sunday through Wednesday 5pm - 2am and Thursday through Saturday 5pm - 4am. Box lunches will be available on Monday June 22. When it comes to being passionate about making great food, my words are "credible". I really hope to see you all there! - Chef/Owner Darin Koch
its funny the menu looks exactly like all past dishes from i nonni?? what couldn't come up with some new dishes and were are all the house made salumi?? with all that talent ("best italian chefs in the twin cities") it dosen't look like much buthchering is goin on their. you'd think for all this hype your giving it would be more exciting than a cheaper version of i nonni/chicken wing house.
very exciting to see all the talk. Note to readers. There are clearly some jealousy issues with old i nonni peeps. the chef has all the credentials he needs. opinions are like @ss8oles. Everyone has one. relax haters. The new restaurant has not even opened yet. How juvenile to report on something you have never experienced. i have never been to i nonni because of one reason, COST. how great it is to get the chef at affordable prices. There will always be Jans out there hating on someone elses dreams and success.. this is clearly no exception. Jan_ let me know the name of the place you own and or operate and i will come there and trash talk it. Shame on anyone with such a low level of tack and grace. Lets see what this place has to offer. Judge the food not the talk..people are so interesting. So quick to trash talk..... It hasn't opened yet..
I went to taste the food at the butcher block last night.. It was hands down the best Italian food I have ever had. The chicken was moist and the sauces were decadent. The braised short ribs melt in your mouth. Even the salad was awesome. Pork Ragu.. fogedaboutit .... Everything was delicious. If you don't try this place a become a regular, you don't know good food. Bravo to the guys who did this up right. I'd wait in line for this food. awesome.... Go there and do it soon. You wont be sorry....
To all the Jans out there...
Obviously you have no idea about anything that was mentioned in this article. You are so quick to judge, but yet fail to look behind the curtain and realize that Filippo Caffari single handedly created the menu at I Nonni. So obviously everything that he created, along with Daron's help, will be offered at their new restaurant. Such ignorance! Get the facts before you get mouth diarrhea again.
And Greeneyes, very nicely put. We all appreciate good sense out there, and thankfully you have it! Glad you enjoyed the food out there! I know I did when I went for the tasting! The short ribs were to die for, as well as everything else on the menu!
By the way, they have a facebook too, I just found it. Search for The Butcher Block...very cool!
I'm visiting from out of town and have been to the Butcher Block a couple of times --- terrific, authentic, honest Italian food and wine at an extraordinarily reasonable price.
There are some teething problems (wait staff were very nice but not too experienced, some wines/spirits were not available when ordered -- though when the $15 glass of grappa was not available and I replaced it with a $20 glass they charged me only $15 -- and the noise on a crowded Friday night dinner was too much) but those are negligable complaint. Based on my experiences, at least, the skeptics should be ashamed of themselves. I wish this place was near where I lived. :)