First look: Mara dips into the Mediterranean at the new Four Seasons

When a restaurant opens in a brand-new five-star hotel, its reputation inevitably precedes it. Now that Mara is open at the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis, guests can decide for themselves whether chef/owner Gavin Kaysen's Mediterranean-influenced restaurant, bar, lounge (and related cafe) matches the buzz. Here's what to expect if you're fortunate enough to snag a reservation and dine out in downtown Minneapolis' newest tower.

Location: 245 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-895-5709, mararestaurantandbar.com

Hours: Breakfast is available from 7-10:30 a.m. Mon.-Fri., 7-9 a.m. Sat.-Sun.; dinner service is from 5-9:30 p.m. daily. Walk in to the bar from 2-10 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 2 p.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat. The grab-and-go Socca Café is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

The food: There are various ways to experience Kaysen's contributions to the Four Seasons Minneapolis. Mara serves breakfast and dinner daily, and bar snacks, such as cheese-stuffed focaccia ($18) and melt-in-your-mouth panisse (aka chickpea fries, $15), are available in the lounge.

Dinner, which is booked out until August, is the main attraction. Servers advise ordering small plates from each of several categories — spreads, raw and cured, pasta, entrees and sides — to taste one's way through the flavors of the Mediterranean. That can add up, and take time; my dinner lasted four hours.

I tried the hummus, smooth and as airy as whipped cream with a pop from fried chickpeas, which came with a sturdy seasoned pita for dunking ($14); juicy chunks of broccolini that had been charred on the grill and smothered with Meyer lemon vinaigrette and crunchy sunflower seed dukkah ($14); and an unexpectedly unforgettable pasta dish of housemade garganelli under succulent lamb merguez ragù studded with peas and carrots ($30). Servers, friendly and knowledgeable, were spreading the word that the chermoula-spiced chicken is Kaysen's favorite dish; he worked on it with chef de cuisine Thony Yang for two months. It's spatchcocked and deboned, grilled to perfection and lacquered with a pomegranate glaze ($32).

Desserts from pastry chef Eddy Dehin are stunning. Riz au lait ($12), a coconut and lime rice pudding with basil ice cream, packs the tropics into one small bowl. Chocolate Decadence ($14) utilizes the kitchen's climate-controlled chocolate room to make paper-thin dark chocolate sails that are poked into dollops of mocha cream. "Looks like a Viking ship going off to sea," a neighboring diner exclaimed as it was set on my table.

Across the RBC Wealth Management lobby is Socca Café, a light-filled espresso bar with grab-and-go salads, panini, gluten-free wraps, gazpacho (all $12-$15) and the same pastries as the dining room.

The drinks: Discussions of Adam Witherspoon's bar program will likely start with the fact that there's a Jell-O shot (it's a citrus-shaped garnish for a Negroni-like cocktail called the Cardinale). But it won't end there. Witherspoon, previously of 3Leche, Martina and Colita, has created an innovative cocktail menu ($15 each) with housemade liqueurs that incorporate everything from flowers to hot peppers, and he garnishes the drinks with pizazz — or, in one case, a Jolly Rancher-like sucker sprinkled with pink and purple herbs. Three nonalcoholic cocktails ($10) are crafted from proxy liqueurs made by Witherspoon's 3Leche comrades.

The beer selection is egalitarian — this is a hotel bar — but the wine list by sommelier Paul Hennessy runs deep (glasses are $13-$30). My server advised me that the Lyrarakis Voila Assyrtiko ($13), a white from Crete, "pairs universally," and he was right.

The vibe: Dinner service has a celebratory air, and the sumptuous window-lined dining room's gold-leaf walls and green Italian glass chandeliers illuminate as the setting sun reflects off the building across the street on Nicollet Mall. A rust and sage palette and an Italian-tiled fireplace in the corner bring homey warmth to the glitzy space, which is trimmed with more gold than a Tiffany counter. But a cringey soundtrack of chill-out music won't let you forget that you're in a hotel.

At a five-star luxury hotel, the people-watching is almost as good as anything on the menu. Because there's a mix of spruced-up locals and travelers, conversations about vacationing, hotels and food were easily struck up between tables. The couple seated next to me were at the Four Seasons for a staycation — they had walked to the hotel from their home — and planned to sample the entire Mara menu over three nights.