Courtesy of Steady Pour and Jook Sing
Stars of the Minneapolis food and cocktail scenes are coming together to reimagine Steady Pour, the Northeast Minneapolis bar and event space that has quickly become a favorite destination in the neighborhood since its opening several years ago.
Steady Pour is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Jeff and Ari Seidenstricker. Jeff Seidenstricker is a brewer and distiller who created Steady Pour’s impressive cocktail program and is known for his mixology credentials. In addition to its home bar, the venue offers bar catering and room rentals for private events.
For the last few years, Steady Pour has collaborated with various local chefs to offer pop-up dining experiences. Now, a long-term partnership focused on food is coming to life: Minneapolis chefs Mike Yuen and Tony Gao are bringing their popular Chinese American concept, Jook Sing, to Steady Pour. “We’ve known Jeff and Ari since 2022, and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with them and have this long-term home base at Steady Pour,” says Mike Yuen. “They’ve given us the freedom to build something wholly new here. Beyond a dine-in menu, we’re excited to experiment and test new formats. We just launched takeout, are expanding offerings for large groups, and we’ve added a new brunch catering menu to the list of other in-house and off-site event catering options.”
Yuen and Gao draw inspiration from their childhoods as both Chinese immigrants and Midwesterners, creating dishes that reflect that cultural blend—from char siu and dim sum to burgers and ribs.
Courtesy of Jook Sing
The teams at Steady Pour and Jook Sing are clear that this collaboration isn’t just a pop-up. Going forward, Yuen and Gao will be the resident chefs and culinary directors for Steady Pour, blazing a new trail for the bar’s food program. They’ll revamp all menus, keeping the focus on food that’s playful and shareable, and that complements the forward-thinking cocktails Steady Pour is known for. “Even before we knew exactly what we wanted to do, we were just excited to work together with Mike and Tony—they’re just really great humans to work with,” says Steady Pour’s Ari Seidenstricker. “They are obviously talented, but they are also really skilled problem-solvers. They saw untapped opportunities for us here at Steady Pour and keep coming to the table, sometimes quite literally, with great ideas.”
Courtesy of Steady Pour
In addition to takeout, in-house private events, and off-site catering, Steady Pour offers eat-in dining (for walk-ins or reservations) on Wednesday through Sunday evenings. “We’ve heard Steady Pour referred to as a ‘hidden gem’ for a while now, but with all that Mike and Tony bring to the table, it’s time to shout it from the rooftops,” says Ari Seidenstricker. “The food program they are developing with us is truly fantastic. They are complete masters of flavor and can layer techniques, seasonings, and sauces in such unique ways—everything they cook has a signature Jook Sing style.”
Steady Pour, 2125 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612.224.9606; steadypour.com
