Longtime Saint Dinette chef will help lead Ann Kim's Minneapolis restaurants

It's not that Adam Lerner (formerly Adam Eaton) was looking to leave his perch as the longtime executive chef of Saint Dinette. But when James Beard Award-winning chef Ann Kim calls, you answer.

Kim, the chef/co-owner of Vestalia Hospitality and its four Minneapolis restaurants — Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, Young Joni and Sooki & Mimi — has named Lerner the restaurant group's executive chef. He will make the leap across the river next month and slowly transition into the role.

"It's not going to be this immediate bomb all of a sudden. I'm going to develop into the company," Lerner said. "This is not something where Ann is going away, that's very clear. It's just a way that I can help share some of the weight with Ann, because it's a lot for one person."

The hire gives Kim "the bandwidth to continue exploring additional creative possibilities," she said in a statement.

CEO Becky Lemon said, "Welcoming Adam into this new role and helping support Ann as she engages with us in a new way is a giant step that opens up a new and even more exciting future for us."

Kim is not stepping back from her role as chef/owner, a spokeswoman for Vestalia Hospitality clarified. And Lerner says he has no plans to alter Kim's culinary imprint at the restaurants. Instead, he says, he will make his mark on the leadership side of things.

"It is so personal for her," he said of Kim's food. "Her inspiration and her vision is never something that's being replaced."

Lerner, a St. Paul native and an alum of La Belle Vie, has had a fruitful stretch working with restaurateur Tim Niver. He was chef de cuisine at Niver's Strip Club Meat & Fish, the opening chef at Saint Dinette in 2015, and was chef and co-owner of the short-lived Meyvn, where the menu drew on Lerner's Jewish family roots.

"This new role for Adam is exactly what I would have dreamed up for him," Niver said in a statement. "Cultivating Saint Dinette alongside him has been a true pleasure. Looking ahead to our next steps, I'm excited to open up the heart of our restaurant to someone new and continue serving St. Paul and the greater Twin Cities."

"It's not leaving, it's just an opportunity," said Lerner, who recently adopted his middle name as his last name. "Through Saint Dinette and because of Tim, I've been given a lot of opportunities. And the way I've developed with Tim and the mentorship he gave me, it really is a culmination of all of it. It makes a lot of sense for me."

Niki Heber has been named executive chef at Wood + Paddle Eatery, the restaurant inside the Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown (35 S. 7th St., Mpls.). Heber will oversee the hotel's culinary operations as well as the restaurant's seasonal menu, which is inspired by local dishes (see walleye schnitzel and smoked cauliflower with cheese curd grits). Heber is a familiar name in Twin Cities restaurants, with a résumé that includes Corner Table, Octo Fishbar, 4 Bells and, most recently, the Market at Malcolm Yards.

And the Hewing Hotel (300 Washington Av. N., Mpls.) announced that Marque Collins is its new executive chef. He'll take over the menus at Tullibee and Hewing Bar & Lounge. The self-taught chef has been cooking throughout the Midwest for a decade — most recently in Des Moines — and will bring a nose-to-tail butchery program to the restaurant as he showcases the ingredients of Minnesota's seasons.

Dumpling (4004 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls., dumplingmpls.com) began as a farmers market stand and pop-up before opening as a cozy restaurant with a menu dotted with banh mi, noodles, ramen and dumplings. In a social media post announcing the closure, owner Bunbob Chhun shared his struggles of balancing business ownership with fatherhood in the wake of two historically difficult years of restaurant operation.

The restaurant's final days of service will be April 21-23 from 3 to 8 p.m.; after that, Chhun will take the summer off and begin the hunt for a new tenant for the address.