Tim McKee and Josh Thoma, the forces behind La Belle Vie (510 Groveland Av., Minneapolis, labellevie.us) and Solera (900 Hennepin Av. S., Minneapolis, solera-restaurant.com) are adding a third restaurant to their stable. They're returning to Stillwater, where they launched La Belle Vie in 1998 (they moved the restaurant to Minneapolis in 2005), and this time around, they're going casual. "It's much different than anything we've done before," said Thoma. "It's going to be an eating-with-your-fingers kind of place."

When it opens in mid-May, Smalley's Caribbean Barbeque -- named for partner Shawn Smalley, a seven-year La Belle Vie vet and, in Thoma's opinion, "the best grill cook Tim and I have ever worked with" -- will occupy the former longtime home of Esteban's in the Brick Alley building (423 S. Main St.). The menu will focus on barbecue, cooked over a wood-burning grill. Not a huge departure for the La Belle Vie team, since the kitchen at their original LBV featured a much-missed wood-burning grill. "It did wonders for the food coming off of it," McKee said.

The Caribbean in the name is a nod to Jamaican jerk barbecue, cooked over burning pimento wood. "It's the only authentic way to make authentic jerk," said McKee, who has spent several years trying to find a U.S. company importing the fragrant wood, only to reach dead ends. Until a month ago. "So I called and set up an order, and as soon as I told them my address, they said, 'Minneapolis? We're over in Minnetonka.' So we'll be the first restaurant in the United States to offer food cooked over pimento wood."

Along with pork spare ribs and pork baby backs, the menu will include slow-smoked sliced brisket, grilled chicken, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings, burgers, corn fritters, sweet potato fries and plenty of side dishes, from rice and beans to corn bread, along with a long list of rum drinks. "It's back-yard cooking," said McKee. "It's what we do on our own."

Stop the presses: Brenda Langton is serving beef at her vegetarian-friendly Cafe Brenda (300 1st Av. N., Minneapolis, www.cafebrenda.com). Not just any beef, but grass-fed beef from Minnesota-based Thousand Hills Cattle Co.

"The fact of the matter is that people want beef," said Langton. "I am all about teaching people to eat good food -- and I don't say that arrogantly -- so if they want to eat beef, then I want to show them that they can eat good beef."

Langton's kitchen has been doing fajitas, roasts, a stroganoff and a New York strip. "I ate my first piece of steak in my entire life last week," she said. "It was delicious."

Thousand Hills is also the beef of choice at Brasa (600 E. Hennepin Av., Minneapolis, www.brasa.us), where it's slowly braised with chiles to tender, flavorful perfection and served a la carte, in sandwiches or as part of a combination plate.

RICK NELSON

Too much of a good thing: That's what the folks at Cue (806 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis, www.cueatguthrie.com) say they found themselves with -- a raft of wine that they need to clear out of the cellar. So through April 11, they have slashed prices on hundreds of wines by 30 percent or more. A savvy customer will find some bottles available at or below retail price -- Martinelli Pinot Noir, Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, Shafer Merlot -- and some high-end, hard-to-find offerings (Sassicaia, Bond Cabernet) at reasonable prices. Each night also has a flight from a certain region, culminating with a red-wine dinner on April 11.

BILL WARD