Dario aims to surprise and delight with vegetables and pasta in the North Loop

In early 2024, chef Joe Rolle and bartender Stephen Rowe will open Dario in the former Dalton and Wade restaurant in Minneapolis' North Loop. The menu will center on pastas made with imported Italian flours, star-worthy vegetables, several a la carte proteins, and beverages to complement them all.

Rolle has spent time making memorable pastas, roasting juicy chicken breasts and even smashing some famous burgers in notable eateries around town, but it all began in the kitchen at the Dakota. At the time, Rolle had just finished a few months of culinary school and landed in the kitchen with the man who would become a Minneapolis legend, chef Jack Riebel. It was also there that he met Rowe 18 years ago.

Growing up on the Iron Range, Rolle joined the Navy with dreams of becoming an elite SEAL. After military service, he spent time casting about for the right path, and went to his share of parties. Along the way, he developed a taste for entertaining.

"It was my aunt that suggested culinary school," he said. "I loved getting people around the table. It was there that all your problems were ironed out."

By all accounts, the kitchen at the Dakota, the downtown Minneapolis music and dinner club, was an intense place. One person who impressed Rolle for his reliability was Stephen Rowe. "Stephen and his friends were the glue of the front of the house," said Rolle.

The feeling was mutual. Rowe and Rolle kept in touch.

Under Riebel's mentorship, Rolle found his new passion. When not at work, he spent his money dining out and traveling to other kitchens, forming his version of an unpaid internship. He worked in Napa, New York City, San Francisco and more. He parlayed his skills into jobs back in the Twin Cities, opening Il Foro with Riebel, working with Erik Anderson and Jamie Malone as they opened Grand Cafe, and at Daniel del Prado's first restaurant, Martina.

Rowe went from the Dakota to help open the Bachelor Farmer before moving into the role of a bartender at the renowned Marvel Bar. He stayed until it shuttered as one of the early local closures of the pandemic.

Before COVID crippled the industry, Rowe and Rolle had been talking about how they could join forces to open their own restaurant. "We did anything we could to keep this idea going when it seemed like everything was falling apart," said Rowe.

The restaurant would be called Dario, Rolle's middle name and the name of his grandfather.

Opening in the North Loop neighborhood — arguably the city's most restaurant-rich area — wasn't the original plan. But when they brought in designer Aaron Windkamper to talk about how Dalton and Wade could be reimagined, everything clicked.

"The menu will have four sections," said Rolle. "Raw with a composed oyster dish, some crudo and stuff, a pasta section, eight to 10 composed vegetable dishes — not in a bowl, not sides, but impeccable vegetables. They might be raw and dressed in immaculate olive oil or roasted." There also will be a protein section, and meats will be served a la carte, often with a sauce.

The ideal dining experience, he said, would be to come with friends who love to share and order several dishes to mix and match.

"It's all from an Italian/American kid from the Range and told through an American lens," said Rolle. "I like lots of crispy things. I love chiles." The pastas will largely draw from the boot of Italy. The use of chiles will draw inspiration from Southeast Asia. The sauces will be based in the French classics.

Beverages will be designed to work in conjunction with the service style. "We want to keep the emphasis on the lighter side: spritzes and highballs," said Rowe.

The dessert drinks will lean into the good bitter and dark things, like a Manhattan riff with Armagnac and black walnut amaro. There will also be beer, wine and a half-dozen or so nonalcoholic beverages, like Drywit, made by another Marvel Bar alum.

Inclusive beverage options are part of the service that Rowe and Rolle are focused on creating.

"Every person enters a room with expectations and you can meet them in any number of ways," said Rowe. "If you can read what they're expecting, you can guide and delight them."