Breva Bar & Grill opened last week in the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis, replacing Italian restaurant Monello, which closed this spring. We stopped by for a first taste at the new place, opened by the national hospitality group Apicii, and sampled some of the New American cuisine described as “elevated comfort food.” Apicii’s culinary director, chef Ron Rosselli, created Breva’s menu, while the drinks are designed by beverage director Tony Edgerton.
Our friendly and efficient host suggested we start with the suya honey chicken wings, asking if we liked peanuts to make sure we had no allergies. She was right that the roasted peanuts and sauce perfectly complement the plump wings, making for a robust starter. We also tried the creamy burrata with blackberries, with crunchy flatbread and pumpkin seeds as another appetizer. Both dishes were satisfying and easy to share.
“Brava” means “fig” in Spanish so we started with the fig Old Fashioned from the creative cocktail menu. While I don’t necessarily consider figs a Midwestern staple (in contrast to the dishes I’ve had during visits to the Middle East), the sweet, crunchy flower is a flavorful addition to this perfect drink. We also sampled the Golden Standard, with rye and egg whites, and admired some of the other cleverly named drinks with Minnesota ties, such as the Viking G&T and the Wild Rice Negroni.
For our main dishes, I enjoyed the mushroom risotto with Parmesan and the very distinctive and sometimes overpowering black truffles, while my husband continued his hunt for the perfect New York strip steak, always served medium rare to compare. He found Breva’s 12-ounce Black Angus version a solid contender. We also shared a chopped salad from the main menu, and I inquired if it could come as a side instead. No luck with that, but it made for leftovers the next day. While technically not chopped, the salad had a balanced mixture of the standards of egg, avocado, bacon, and blue cheese and an extra kick with shallots as a twist. There were other menu items we hope to try on subsequent visits, including the smoked walleye dip and $10 Breva burger on the happy hour menu.
The decor is a classic, comfortable, clean, upscale design of wood and quartz, with a 12-seat bar at the north end of the dining room. The vibe felt casual and intimate, representing a Scandinavian “hygge” feel. Apicii also is planning to open a new cocktail bar in the basement of Hotel Ivy to replace one of my favorite luxurious speakeasy establishments, Constantine. That new place, Masa & Agave Cantina, boasts tequila and tacos, and is scheduled to open this fall.
Breva Bar & Grill, inside Hotel Ivy, 1115 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis; brevabarandgrill.com
