Is there a pasta battle brewing in the North Loop? Brian Ingram is going for big servings and bold flavors in his new restaurant Salt & Flour, which opens today, Oct. 15, in the new North Loop Green complex. He’s just a stone’s throw away from Joe Rolle’s Dario, among the best new restaurants of 2024.
The use of salt, flour, and water is really where the similarities end. While Dario is beautiful pasta as art, Salt & Flour is pasta in serving sizes similar to what you’d expect at the Olive Garden. Just look at this ground wagyu bucatini we had at a soft opening last night—a giant plate for $25.
Wild flavor, too—garlic, ginger, scallion, lemongrass, Fresno peppers, hoisin, rice vinegar, chili crunch—there’s a lot happening here!
There are lots of creative touches on the menu—I liked the trio of charred meatballs ($18) on a vodka sauce with a dollop of whipped ricotta. Ingram said he was inspired by visits to Turkey.
You can have grilled octopus on a bed of braised cannelinni beans and tomato ($24), which gave Spanish Mediterranean vibes, or a pan-seared foie gras with figs and red wine demi ($38) for a more luxe experience.
Ingram is taking tin fish and fancying it up in a “Tin Tapas” section—we enjoyed the jackpot clams in a parmesan cream sauce with pancetta, onions, peppers, and onion. Huge flavor, and good fun, too.
The menu is huge—I can see the big shots from Piper Sandler in the office building coming down for a whole branzino, braised rabbit, or 24-ounce Tomahawk steak, and Twins fans visiting Target Field stopping in for a $17 chopped cheese grinder or a $15 pasta bowl with choice of noodle and sauce.
The pizza is a unique dough—it’s not thin crust, and it’s not Neopolitan. It’s a two-day fermented slightly crispy crust with a good chew to it. The oven had been used for two days the night we visited, so it’s clearly not dialed in exactly yet, but there’s promise here.
There’s a large bar and a grab-and-go market, too, so this place is really smartly designed to appeal to the office workers, the apartment dwellers, and those in the long-term Airbnb hotel Sonder. Brunch is coming soon, which will be interesting right next door to Ingram’s first Minneapolis outpost of Hope Breakfast Bar. The executive chef is the supremely talented Gary Sherwood, who was behind Just/Us Eatery and part of the team at Boomin’ Barbeque. I’m excited to see how Salt & Flour grows and evolves in the neighborhood. North Loop just keeps on growing, doesn’t it?
Salt & Flour Kitchen, 350 N. Fifth St., Suite 175, Minneapolis, saltandflourkitchen.com