While on vacation in the Caribbean, entrepreneur Jon Halper was attracted by a bar offering a variety of wine flavors, each of which was activated by a card system. After tasting some, he was able to choose a bottle to take to dinner.

"Everyone had a great time," he said. "I planted it in my head."

The ability to provide so many wine samples is related to the "preservation system" that keeps each wine at the right temperature. About eight months ago, Halper met someone selling these systems, and “everything got clicked,” he said.

"We are in the midst of a pandemic, knowing that we will get out of trouble, people will want a social experience and a way to get together-and knowing how many people like wine and learning about wine, I started to work with me. The team worked out a plan to open a bar," he said.

Halper owns Top Ten Liquors, a small chain store with 12 stores in the Shuangcheng metropolitan area. When the 13th store debuts next spring, the self-service, card-activated wine tasting experience will be part of it.

Wineside is located in the former Champps in the heart of Ridgedale, Minnetonka, and will become a mixed liquor store, restaurant/bar and grocery store. 12,000 square feet of space provides space for each element to unfold. More than half of this will be used in liquor stores, where there will be approximately 3,000 bottles of wine as well as beer and spirits. Provide a rendering of Wineside, a mixed liquor store, bar and grocery store that will take over Minnetonka’s former Champs Elysées in 2022.

The restaurant will provide the most suitable food for tasting with 100 wines by the glass: cheeses, charcuteries, sandwiches and salads. In the 5,000-square-foot grocery store, customers can pick some cheese and cured meats.

"We really want to provide the best cheeses, cooked foods, spices, chocolates, etc., and we will be able to turn them into the food we provide in wine. Chefs will be able to take these ingredients and turn them into real food supplements, Pair with wine," Halper said.

There is also a terrace, and Halper hopes that Wineside will open before Mother's Day to take advantage of the summer weather. Courses, customer clubs and wine dinners are also on the horizon to take advantage of these 100 open bottles.

"I think it provides us with a great opportunity for customers to truly experience the wine journey," Halper said.

Wineside will be located at 1641 Plymouth Rd., Minnetonka.

The Get Down Coffee Co. (1500 44th Av. N., Mpls., getdowncoffee.com) will celebrate its grand opening weekend from November 26th to 28th. It started as a barber shop in northern Minneapolis-the Houston White Men's Room-and then expanded to retail, and now it has partnered with Dogwood Coffee to add coffee ingredients.

The owner, Tony Donatell, stated that Eyes Wide Hospitality’s latest effort replaced the previous Ruby Tuesday, reimagining the traditional steakhouse by incorporating “wild” ingredients from local farmers, foragers and fishmongers. concept. Farmer and the Fishmonger (14883 Florence Trail, Apple Valley, farmerandthefishmonger.com) is scheduled to open in early December.

A 73-year-old Hastings bakery will close its doors on November 20th. The owners of Emily Bakery and Deli Noreen Bishop and Steve Fox wrote on Facebook that "many factors" influenced this decision. The closing date was originally scheduled for November 27, but the bakery was “overwhelmed” by orders after the announcement and it was moved forward by a week. This store (1212 Vermillion St., Hastings, 651-437-3338, emilysbakerydeli.com) has limited business hours in the last week.

Blue Wolf Brewing Co. (8515 Edinburgh Center Dr., Brooklyn Park) closed on November 12 after 3 1/2 years. In a statement on their website, the owner wrote: "When we opened this place, we never thought we would be so close to some of you. We will never forget the kindness of many of you. , Love, support and care for this place, as well as us."

Khan’s Mongolian BBQ (500 E. 78th St., Richfield) closed on November 14 after 28 years in Richfield. An Instagram announcement stated that “large-scale road construction is about to be carried out on 494 and Portland Avenue, our current lease ends, ongoing pandemic difficulties and staffing issues.” A location in Roseville is still open ( 2720 ​​N. Snelling Av., Roseville, 651-631-3398, khansmongolianbbqmn.com).

Sharyn Jackson is a feature reporter covering the vibrant dining scenes in the Twin Cities.

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