Since opening in 1999, Restaurant Alma has become a staple in Minneapolis’ culinary landscape. Inhabiting the space underneath the boutique Alma hotel, the cozy eatery is nationally recognized for its seasonal tasting menus. As the restaurant enters its 25th year, co-owners and husband-and-wife team Alex and Margo Roberts are reflecting on two and a half decades of evolution.
Photo by Bodega Ltd., Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis
After working in Minneapolis restaurants for six years during high school and college, Alex moved to New York City to attend the French Culinary Institute and worked at Union Square Cafe, Bouley, Gramercy Tavern, and Cucina before returning to Minnesota five years later.
Inspired by contemporary American chefs and restaurateurs who were working to expand high-end cuisine beyond Euro-centric fine dining, the concept of Restaurant Alma was born. The idea was to create a casual fine dining environment based less on formality, with an emphasis on hospitality and a rotating, diverse style of American cuisine.
“As American cooks, it was our goal to honor tradition through the lens of modern technique and high-quality sourcing. Never to create ‘fusion’ cuisine or practice cultural appropriation,” says Alex in a statement. “We have changed our menu every 10 weeks (or more frequently), always offering new dishes, for our entire 25-year history.”
In the beginning, Alma was a local pioneer in its approach to traditions “rich and poor”—elevating chicken liver, Brussels sprouts, and beans alongside foie gras, wild mushrooms, and pristine seafood, for example. “It was far from the norm, as was the heavy labor model of vegetable-forward cuisine, hand-filled pasta, homemade bread, stock, sauces, and desserts,” says Alex. “Thankfully, it’s far more commonplace in fine dining everywhere now.”
Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis
A large part of Alma’s vision is rooted in local sourcing and sustainability. In 1999, Alex’s father, Don Roberts, started a small, organic vegetable farm and supplied the restaurant for nearly 15 years. “In the early days, the only way to get local products was to wake up early and shop at local farmer’s markets, because it was very rare for small farmers and producers to deliver directly to restaurants,” says Alex. But times have changed, and today, Alma receives weekly deliveries from local farms and wholesale distributors committed to regional and organic sourcing.
Restaurant Alma’s current tasting menu features a range of seasonal flavors, including roasted squash, pork loin, Arctic char, root vegetable pave, apple cider beignets, and more, plus fall cocktails. If you want to celebrate the 25th anniversary this month, reservations are available online.
