St. Paul restaurateur Tim Niver and his Saint Dinette crew are headed across the river to open a new deli and bar.
Niver's newest project, an unnamed deli and cocktail bar in the former Tinto (901 W. Lake St., Mpls.), will sport house-made Montreal-style bagels, lox, pastrami and dumplings, as well as libations (maybe even some spiked egg creams), when it opens this spring. Niver also owns Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.
"It feels like a homecoming in a strange way," Niver said, who is teaming with Saint Dinette chef Adam Eaton and general manager Laurel Elm once again. "I think people think of me as a St. Paul guy, and I am, but I'm also a Minneapolis guy. Town Talk Diner was really what helped me start my career. I'm very happy to get back." (Niver opened Town Talk on Lake Street in the Longfellow neighborhood in 2006; it has since been remade several times under different owners.)
The deli's focal point will be the bagels, which Eaton has begun making at Saint Dinette. Montreal-style bagels are typically infused with a little malt or honey, making them slightly sweeter than New York and other varieties. They usually have a larger hole and are served with cream cheese on the side for dipping, not spreading.
They'll be paired with house-smoked and -cured fish and meats to make what Niver hopes will be sandwiches that rise above the norm, à la Saint Dinette's beloved bologna sandwich.
The deli will have a full bar with a cocktail program, an online ordering system, a catering operation and perhaps a retail element as well — "bagels, cream cheese, lox, pastrami, anything we can mass produce," Niver said. He plans for the space to be open all day long, seven days a week, with counter-style service.
Tinto reopened at 4959 Penn Av. S. in Minneapolis in November.
Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque and Pirate Bar (423 Main St. S., Stillwater), a downtown Stillwater fixture for nearly a decade, closed last weekend.
The restaurant, which once appeared on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," had struggled in recent years, owner Tim McKee said, so he and chef Shawn Smalley decided to move on.
