First look: Beloved steakhouse returns at St. Pierre Steak & Seafood in Minneapolis

Go to any restaurant in James Beard Award-winning chef Isaac Becker’s empire, and you’ll likely spot Nancy St. Pierre. The curly-locked hospitality pro with the beaming smile is Becker’s partner in work and life, and now the namesake of the power duo’s latest restaurant.

St. Pierre Steak & Seafood opened earlier this month in the North Loop, in what used to be Snack Bar.

The snug spot, just across the hallway from their iconic Bar La Grassa, has a compelling lineage: Snack Bar opened in late 2019, and never really found its footing before the pandemic shut it down for 15 months. When it reopened, the momentum of launching a new restaurant had evaporated. “It’s been a struggle to get to where we want to be,” Becker told the Star Tribune last year.

The couple tried to entice people back with affordable seasonal tasting menus. But even those seemingly did not catch on, and earlier this year they announced that Snack Bar had reached the end of its run.

At the new St. Pierre, Snack Bar is not completely gone. But there’s one more restaurant with an even larger footprint here: Becker and St. Pierre are touting the new restaurant as a revival of their Burch Steak, which never reopened after the pandemic closure.

You see it in the dishes, many of them beloved favorites from the two-level haunt that once occupied the corner of Hennepin and Franklin Avenues.

The location: 800 Washington Av. N., Mpls., 612-383-2848, stpierrerestaurant.com.

Hours: Open 5-10 p.m. Tue.-Thu. and 5-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

The food: Befitting the name, there’s a long list of steaks, fish and seafood. But you might be distracted by the even longer list of vibrant appetizers, butter-rich sides and dumplings in multiple formats. Go with it. Thick slices of tangerine-colored harissa-cured salmon come with a crespelle, or crêpe, filled with housemade cream cheese ($16). A slice of Patisserie 46 toast is slathered in foie gras mousse, cut into diamonds, and topped with four curlicues of garlic-drenched escargot ($18). Schupfnudeln, or thick, gnocchi-like hand-rolled dumplings, bathe in Gorgonzola cream sauce ($19). Slices of semolina dumplings are buried under a blizzard of Parmesan cheese ($15). And to cut through the richness? Briny crab and seabean salad, a returning Burch favorite ($23).

We didn’t order the pici, one of our favorite Snack Bar menu items ($22), but were happy to know we could still come back for the chewy strands of thick spaghetti with pistachio and ricotta.

Maybe because we were filling up by the time we got to the entrees, we were less entranced by a breaded lobster cutlet ($38) and the less-than-tender 6-ounce Zabuton cut of prime Niman Ranch beef ($50). The loup de mer, a whole grilled white fish with stewed artichokes ($32), was an impressive entree we’d order again.

But our party agreed we would most likely return to indulge in the starters, sharing round after round of small bites. Almost like a, well, snack bar.

The drinks: Cocktails were stiff and fruity, including a blood-orange-yuzu-pomegranate cosmo; an autumnal drink built from gin, rosemary honey and a Sicilian amaro; and a spicy fresno-pepper-infused tequila cocktail ($15-$16). Equal attention is paid to nonalcoholic concoctions. And the “gin parade,” a holdover from Snack Bar, lets you choose-your-own G&T adventure. Wines by the glass start at $11.

The vibe: While there are hints of the former Snack Bar on the menu, it’s really the space that keeps its memory alive. It looks the same: supper clubby red booths line the exposed-brick outer wall, perfect for canoodling, with a view of the bar from every table. But for all the intimacy of the room, we wouldn’t call it quiet inside. And eclectic doesn’t begin to describe the attention-grabbing playlist during our visit.

Getting there: There’s plenty to see and do in the North Loop if you’re on foot, but if driving, parking can be a challenge during prime times. St. Pierre and neighboring Bar La Grassa offer valet. The Tractorworks Building lobby, which will lead you to either restaurant, is four steps up from the sidewalk. (The valet can direct patrons to an ADA entrance.)