Photo by Erik Eastman
Adam Eaton of Saint Dinette
Hold on to your belly lox, Minneapolis—looks like we're getting the deli of our dreams. Now, anyone who's been obsessing over the eats at St. Paul's star restaurant Saint Dinette can't fail to have noticed the good bagel and bagel-adjacent foods chef Adam Eaton has had on the menu—try the brunch everything bagel with Montreal lox for all kinds of good feelings. Many of us didn't dare to dream that these bagels foretold the coming of more bagels, but hark, it's true! I just got off the phone with Adam Eaton, and he told me: Maybe as early as April, Eaton, Tim Niver, and Saint Dinette's general manager Laurel Elm will be bringing Montreal-style bagels, house-smoked fish, and pastrami to the corner of Lake Street and Bryant!
Yes! The deli, as yet unnamed, takes over the former Uptown home of Tinto (now moved southwest to 50th and Penn) and will soon hold a wood-fired oven. Once that's in place and they've got an interior modeled towards a comfy retro-new-deli sort of vibe with counter service, get ready for late night cocktails, all-day hot pastrami sandwiches, Eastern European dumplings such as pierogies, Montreal-style bagels, updated versions of traditional deli salads, and six or eight sorts of house-smoked fish, from belly lox to sable to whitefish. "We're not going to limit ourselves to Jewish food though," says Eaton, musing on why Jewish delis in Minneapolis such as beloved Lincoln Dell and short-lived Rye have closed. To that end, they'll also be using the wood-oven for updated versions of other smoked-meat sandwiches—think Italian beef, Philly Cheesesteaks, and the like. Also, there will be egg creams, and probably hard egg creams, served until bar-close.
"I hope people are excited about it," Eaton told me. "I'm really excited about it. It's the restaurant I've wanted ever since I was a little kid."
And he's only got to wait a few more months for it! Break a leg and hearty congrats to all. We await your smoky fish with baited breath.
