Chef Tim McKee starting limited residency at Sanjusan in Minneapolis, and more restaurant news

James Beard Award-winning chef Tim McKee is taking up residency at Sanjusan, the popular Japanese-Italian restaurant in Minneapolis' North Loop. In addition to collaborating with Sanjusan chef Peter Thillen on new menu items, McKee will host intimate eight-seat omakase dinners through mid-December.

Those dinners, which begin Sept. 14, will give diners up-close access to the chef while he cooks and explains each of the seven courses. Tickets are $135 each; there are two seatings each night — Thursdays through Saturdays — at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m.

On Sanjusan's regular menu, which launches Sept. 9, McKee contributed two dishes for each section. Start with burrata agedashi or bagna cauda crudites, or try the ja ja men pasta dish with pork Bolognese, eggplant and onsen egg. There's also an okonomiyaki pizza with shrimp, charred cabbage, Kewpie mayo and bonito.

The residency isn't the only project McKee has cooking in the North Loop. His next project, a Basque-inspired eatery at the base of the new West Hotel, is currently under construction.

Sanjusan (33 1st Av. N., Mpls., sanjusanrestaurant.com) opened in 2021 to immediate acclaim with a menu built by Daniel del Prado, who has since moved on to (many) other projects. Since then, its fan base has continued to grow under Thillen's stewardship.

The long-awaited permanent restaurant for the beloved food truck Soul Lao is open in St. Paul's Sibley Plaza with a limited menu this week and a grand opening planned for Sept. 10.

Co-owners Sabrina Boualaphanh and Eric Phothisanh have built a dedicated following, serving crusty yet succulent pork belly, vibrant noodle dishes and juicy roast chicken. The restaurant is an extension of that food truck menu, with the added benefit of a rotisserie, which slowly twirls meats to roasted perfection.

Online ordering offers dishes like naem khao, a (gluten-free) crunchy coconut rice with cured pork and herbs ($20), the OG double-fried and cravable chicken wings ($19), and khao soi fries that are Lao chili cheese fries ($13) and could be a meal themselves.

The restaurant (2465 W. 7th St., St. Paul, 651-363-3469, soullao.com) is open Tuesday-Sunday from 3 to 10 p.m.

Tiny Diner, the restaurant from Kim Bartmann's Placemaker Hospitality group, announced it will close until next spring. In a message to customers, the restaurant was frank about financial challenges, saying, "Tiny Diner is struggling financially, and rather than risk permanent closure, we are resetting the table, doing some painting and fixing, and making plans to reopen in March."

Tiny Diner (1024 E. 38th St., Mpls., tinydiner.com) opened in 2014 with an impressive solar panel roof and a commitment to being a greener restaurant, which included edible gardens and a rainwater catchment system.

While the restaurant will be mostly closed until March, there are plans for pop-ups, and scheduled events, such as the Pumpkin Patch Kid's Day, will continue. As for staff, the message said, "Chef Stephanie Portillo is taking over Fused Craft Brewed Eats, which will be featuring American and her native Panamanian food. Manager Mike Christensen, who also operates Gambit Brewing, will be setting up his new canning line and brewing us some specialty beers this winter, including a Wyrd Coffee beer. Most of the rest of the staff will be working in our sister restaurants."

The small bar and private event space adjacent to Vivir, inside Centro Northeast (1414 NE. Quincy St., Mpls.), has closed. Escondido served one of the deepest agave spirits books in the Twin Cities with an incredibly knowledgeable staff directed by Todd Mulhair. The last drink was poured on Aug. 31.

And final roundup of news from a very busy end-of-summer week. Local chef celebrity Justin Sutherland made it out of Burning Man's mud and reports having zero regrets. Plus, the Washington Post visited the Minnesota State Fair and discovered that Sweet Martha's cookies are quite tasty. We hope they saved that bucket.