Restaurant notes: Lynn on Bryant closing, Walker's Gather drops lunch, Summerville leaves La Belle Vie

Here's a sad way to start the month of May: after just 18 glorious months, the Lynn on Bryant (5003 Bryant Av. S., Mpls., www.thelynnonbryant.com) is closing.

"I'm proud of the Lynn's success in bringing neighbors and friends together around local, ingredient-driven food," said Peter Ireland, the restaurant's gifted chef/owner. "Despite our best efforts and loyal supporters we were unable to attract the wider audience necessary for the business to thrive."

Ireland's plan is to continue the restaurant's regular schedule (dinner Wednesday through Sunday, and weekend brunch)for the next two weeks, then accept bookings for private events.

"My goals are to make sure that my staff is afforded a transition, that I can honor all commitments to them and allow them the time to move on," he said. "And that I can renumerate all purveyors, and say goodbye to the customers that liked to come to the restaurant."

At a time when the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is upgrading its dining programs, the Walker Art Center is pulling the plug on lunch service at Gather, the museum's stylish D'Amico-run restaurant. The last noon-hour meal will be served Sunday.

Museum visitors will continue to be able to dine at the counter-service Garden Cafe, the D'Amico operation located in the Bazinet lobby at the building's Vineland Place entrance. An expanded menu, including a variety of panini sandwiches, was introduced this week.

"The Walker and D'Amico have chosen to focus lunch service at the Garden Cafe," said museum spokeswoman Rachel Joyce. "Operating two competing venues for lunch is uncommon at museums and cultural attractions of the Walker's size."

In addition, the Dog House, the hot dog stand at the Walker's popular mini-golf course, will reopen on May 22.

It's a shame that diners' access to what is easily one of the Twin Cities' most visually arresting eating-and-drinking venues is being so severely curtailed. The second-floor restaurant is a key component to the Walker's nine-year-old, $135.6 million addition.

La Belle Vie (510 Groveland Av., Mpls., www.labellevie.us) managing director Bill Summerville is leaving the restaurant in mid-May.

"There are some projects that I want to work on, although I'm not ready to release specifics right now," he said. "The first project will be publicly revealed relatively soon, and others will evolve over the summer."

This much he will say: He's staying in Minneapolis, and in the industry.

Summerville, easily one of Minnesota's top wine directors, has been a La Belle Vie partner since 2005, and was part of the team that opened Solera in 2002 (it was sold to Graves Hospitality in 2010).

Matthew Anderson, a veteran of Solera — and La Belle Vie, during its Stillwater incarnation — will be replacing Summerville as managing director.