Spring Starts—Really!—on Friday

The deep sense of aggrieved injustice I felt shoving snow off my car this morning (in April! in April!) was mitigated only by the knowledge that spring must come one day. It must.

And that day is Friday. This Friday, April 4.

Because that’s when Sea Salt, the wonderful seafood restaurant in the Minnehaha Falls Park Pavilion, will open.

It was supposed to open April 1, but after that cruel April Fool’s joke of a snowstorm, they put it off until Friday. I spoke to Sea Salt co-owner John Blood and he told me: Come hell or high water, the place is opening Friday.

This place is my favorite seafood restaurant in the Twin Cities. Blood and his business partner, Chris Weglinski, were longtime workers at Coastal Seafoods, and they know fresh fish better than just about anyone in town. The fish they sell at Sea Salt is not only great, but available at such a low price point—what’s not to like?

Well, the waiting, certainly. The most child-friendly, most affordable, and most-fresh of all Twin Cities seafood restaurants, Sea Salt gets positively frenzied during prime-time on weekend nights. But, Blood tells me they have some tricks up their sleeve to minimize lines this season.

Tricks like what? Like salads. Like soups. Seafood salads, seafood and seafood soups, of course—but things that they can get to people fast. Weglinski and Blood also toured Peru during their winter break, and came back inspired by Peruvian ceviches, which Blood tells me are quite different from their Central American counterparts. “They only marinate it for about 10 minutes,” he says, “and then they serve it in the marinade, which is really just a little bit of lime and lemon juice. It seems so much fresher that way.” Expect Peruvian ceviches just about every day.

The other change? More beer. Blood tells me they plan to have two or three offerings from Summit, two or three from Surly, and one mega-brewery light beer on offer allavailable all summer, in addition to their wine list.

A Summit Scandia and Peruvian ceviche in the park—doesn’t that sound like heaven? Or, at least, spring?

So burn your duck boots. Or, you know, burn them on Friday.

Sea Salt Eatery
4825 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis
612-.721-.8990
www.seasalteatery.com