Jason DeRusha
The restaurant world is littered with the empty shells of restaurants aspiring to be “healthy.” It’s a tough word because it implies “flavorless.” But it’s also what many of us are looking for in the morning or mid-day, an alternative to the salad spots like Girl & The Green, Sweetgreen, Crisp & Green, and all the other successful iterations of that. Enter Parcelle.
One of my favorite entrepreneurs, Kamal Mohamed, the chef/owner behind Northeast’s StepCHLD and the packaged “not uncrustable” brand Gallant Tiger, just opened Parcelle in the space that used to house New Bohemia, the sausage place that closed in 2019.
I stopped by for lunch and got a very satisfying and tasty Bento box, I had pesto tofu, buffalo cauliflower, and broccolini. For $15, you pick a main and two sides, and everything was full of flavor. They have salads, paninis, and a chicken chimichurri burrito, too.
I look forward to trying some of the breakfast items: naturally there’s an avo toast, they also have a breakfast burrito. They make all the sauces, breads, pastries, and tortillas with organic ingredients and organic oils, specifically olive and avocado oil, eliminating the use of any preservatives and seed oils.
I’m also intrigued by the Wesley Andrews coffee counter in Parcelle. It’s a second location featuring one of my favorite local roasters, you can’t miss the Japanese-style siphons as you walk in, which they say produce a more vibrant and richer flavor than drip coffee. They also look pretty badass.
The restaurant is bright and open, with design by Aaron Wittkamper, the same designer who created the look of All Saints, just across the street. Mohamed said he’s also doing profit-sharing at Parcelle. It’s tough to get good staff and interesting to see if this is a trend that will spread more widely. With all the new housing popping up in the neighborhood that I still don’t quite know what to call (it’s not exactly Northeast, it’s just over the bridge from downtown, I always call it the Surdyk’s neighborhood), this is just a smart spot for great coffee and easy, flavorful, healthier food. The grand opening is Jan. 24, but they’re already in action.
Parcelle, 233 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, parcelleorganics.com
Open 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon-Fri, opens at 8 a.m. Sat-Sun
