Latest news with #Bellecour
CBS News
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Abang Yoli's Chef Jamie Yoo opens up about bringing Korean fusion to Minnesota
Abang Yoli's chef Jamie Yoo didn't know until he was a teenager that he wanted to be in a kitchen. It wasn't until his dreams of being a speed skater ended that he started considering alternative career paths. "I told my dad I wanted to be a chef, and the my dad was like 'sure, you can do it. Just try it.' and one thing he told me was don't give up," said Yoo. Yoo spent part of his childhood in Korea, learning to cook from his mother and grandmother. "We didn't really go out when I was young. I just saw my grandmother and my mom making kimchi at home, and they were using a bathtub to salt the cabbage, about 250 pounds," said Yoo. "So I started learning from my mom, side by side." Yoo moved from Korea to Seattle when he was 14 years old. After spending time learning at culinary school, he went on to work at Bellecour under James Beard Award-winning chef, Gavin Kaysen. "When chef Gavin opened Bellcour in Wayzata, he offered me a job to work at the Bellcour and that's why I moved to Minnesota," said Yoo. "It was a great restaurant. [I] learned skills there, and the unfortunately after COVID, we closed. I just [didn't] know what to do after that restaurant closed." Yoo said it was a dream of his to open this kind of concept restaurant — cooking the food similar to what he ate at home when he was a child. Abang Yoli isn't a fully traditional Korean restaurant. "I saw Korean cuisine getting more popular and I was thinking maybe I can bring, instead of doing traditional Korean cuisine, maybe I can bring what I've learned to a restaurant. It was kind of a bit more for me," he said. Yoo opened his current location in Minnetonka earlier this year. "I mean, I love my concept right here," said Yoo. "It's a little bit of the not traditional way. It's a little bit of a mix. I think a lot of guests are scared about kimchi. We are doing a little bit of non-traditional kimchi, we call it kimchi-slaw. I give a sample and I mean 99% [of guests] are enjoying it. I'm very happy when I see guests enjoying my kimchi recipe. " "My signature item is the Korean style fried chicken —chicken sandwich and the grilled sweet potato. I put a lot of effort on that grilled sweet potato that still has a memory too. When I was young, in Korea on the street they're selling this kind of grilled [sweet potato], and that flavor . . . the taste is just the best taste," he added. "Do you ever what to go back to Korea to try and get more influence [from the food]?" asked WCCO producer, Chloe Rosen. "Yeah I mean, it's just, every week there's a new things coming out," said Yoo. "It's just like, everything's changed so quickly there. So like corn dog was very popular, like so many things are like going crazy you know. So like I saw, I try to get inspired from those kind of street food instead of making a full dish." Yoo is focused on his restaurant in Minnetonka, making it the best it can be. But he has dreams for the future. "So my biggest goal is I want to have a bit of fine dining Korean cuisine. My finer goal is a sit down restaurant, a little bit more detail, and nicely plated and more like high technique, Korean fusion cuisine. That's my goal." Yoo knows his dreams take a lot of work and a lot of long hours. "I know my parents are worried about me, like how much I work here. But like I just don't want to give up and I just like, it's like today, I just felt so tired, and then when I came here and opened the door and turned on the gas [it] just kind of like woke me up a little bit. Now I feel great, you know? I'm just ready to work another 15 hours. I love cooking and I just love to talk, that's just makes me [feel] energy and then feel good."
Axios
13-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Restaurant Roundup: Hey Bear! Cafe will close May 14
Cooks of Crocus Hill and Gavin Kaysen 's bakery Bellecour are ending their five-year partnership, per a release. The Edina location of Cooks | Bellecour will close entirely on June 1, while the Bellecour within Cooks in North Loop will also exit the same day. But, Kaysen plans to open two stand-alone Bellecour outposts this fall — one in the shuttered Edina location, and one near his North Loop restaurant Spoon and Stable. Hey Bear! Cafe, the bargain breakfast joint off of University Avenue in St. Paul, is shutting down Wednesday after less than a year in operation. Staff member Oskar Johnson cited disputes with the building's landlord on the Instagram post announcing the closure. The chef behind Guacaya Bistreaux, the North Loop Latin-Carribean restaurant that abruptly closed late last month, plans to open North Star Deli in Kingfield, Southwest Voices reports. No word yet on an opening date. Lake Harriet's park restaurant Bread and Pickle reopened for the season on Monday, according to its social media.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gavin Kaysen's Bellecour ending Cooks collaboration, moving to 2 standalone locations
The five-year collaboration between Gavin Kaysen's Bellecour and longtime St. Paul cookware retailer and culinary school Cooks of Crocus Hill is coming to an end, with Bellecour "evolving" into two standalone bakeries opening later this year. Kaysen's Soigne Hospitality announced the changes on Monday, which will see the closure of Cooks | Bellecour in Edina on June 1, and Bellecour exiting Cooks of Crocus Hill locations in Minneapolis' North Loop and St. Paul on the same date. This fall, the Edina location at 3934 Market Street will reopen as a standalone Bellecour bakery and coffee shop, while a "new expression" of Bellecour will open in the North Loop at 107 3rd Ave. N. The North Loop location, which will be around the corner from Kaysen's Spoon & Stable, will be a bakery and coffee shop during the day, but a French bistro in the evening. There will be no Bellecour presence in St. Paul following the changes, which are summarized as follows: Cooks | Bellecour Edina to close June 1, reopen as Bellecour bakery this fall. Bellecour to leave Cooks of Crocus Hill at 210 N. 1st St. in Minneapolis on June 1. Cooks to continue offering cooking classes and culinary events. Bellecour to open bistro and cafe location at 107 3rd Ave. N. this fall. Bellecour to leave Cooks of Crocus Hill at 877 Grand Ave., St. Paul on June 1. Cooks of Crocus Hill to continue retail and cooking class operations. Cooks of Crocus Hill has had a presence in the Twin Cities in 50 years, and the links with Kaysen started in 2016 when its North Loop location opened across the street from Spoon & Stable. Bellecour initially launched as a full-service French bistro and bakery in Wayzata in 2017, with a selection of baked goods created by acclaimed pastry chef Diane Moua, then of Spoon & Stable but now of Diane's Place. Bellecour closed in Wayzata following the onset of the pandemic in 2020, but reappeared some months later as a pop-up bakery operation inside Cooks' North Loop location, which became permanent in September 2020. The merger between Cooks and Bellecour became official ahead of the opening of the Edina cafe in 2023, with all three locations becoming known as Cooks | Bellecour. 'We had a successful collaboration with Cooks for the past 5-years and are incredibly grateful to the community that helped us survive some of the most challenging times we've seen as business owners. Now we're collectively ready to take the next steps with our businesses," said Gavin Kaysen. The new North Loop location will be closer to the long-closed Wayzata location in spirit, operating as a "casual, counter service café and bakery by day" and a "full-service neighborhood bistro by night." "Bellecour is and was always meant to be, my love letter to France, to the chefs who have taught me, and to the city of Lyon where I visit often. While we had to take a detour the past five-years, I am excited to bring the cuisine I love to a neighborhood that has always been a strong supporter of what we have created," said Kaysen. "This version of Bellecour is meant to be created for the neighborhood. During the day, it will be an all day café with a bakery, and at night we will transform it into a cute bistro. I want to create food and a place where people can join us multiple times a week. I feel we have been overcome by the costs of everything, and in this bistro I really want to celebrate the craftsmanship of a bakery and bistro," he added. Anyone who has gift cards for Cooks | Bellecour should direct their enquiries to Cooks of Crocus of Crocus Hill.
