Pizzeria Lola restaurateur opens buzzy Young Joni in northeast Minneapolis

Restaurateur Ann Kim's anticipated latest project officially threw open its doors this week.

Young Joni, a wood-fired pizza palace in northeast Minneapolis, is Kim's third eatery, following the popular Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza in Edina.

After a series of soft openings, Young Joni's final launch was Tuesday.

Here's an early look at the space and the menu:

Your first trick will be getting inside the warehouse-style brick building that also houses Dangerous Man Brewing Company – the handle for the paned glass door camouflages into the frame. But once inside, you'll be engulfed in copper and wood – including shelves holding glassware and other apparent antiques and a decorative wooden rafter ceiling.

A chef's table of sorts overlooks the pizza oven in the restaurant's rear and a larger bar closer to the front of the eatery spins out boozy and classic cocktails, including a Negroni, a Paloma and a Caipirinha. Off the back alleyway, another entrance reveals a small back bar.

As for the food? There are plenty of recognizable forces from Lola, including a hefty pie lineup that boasts pillowy singed crusts and classic and creative takes. There is a marinara pizza, a margherita and a simple cheese for the minimalists, as well as a sausage and onion and a white clam rendition called the Pepe. Other varieties include the Royale, topped with ham, ricotta, garlic confit and arugula, the Basque, sporting Spanish chorizo, goat cheese, piquillo peppers and olives, and a Korean BBQ pizza with beef short ribs, scallions, arugula and a soy chili vinaigrette. The impressively doughy gluten-free crusts (pictured on both pizza photos) from Lola are available at the new eatery as well.

There are also a handful of salads, vegetables – think mushrooms with miso butter and Japanese sweet potato with charred scallions, crème fraiche and pickled chili – and small plates including sweet and spicy spare ribs, grilled chili blue prawns and meatballs with kimchi oxtail sugo.