We are in St. Paul, MN for a wedding this weekend and had one night free for dinner and chose Bucheron located on the south side of Minneapolis, just across the river. It was a brilliant choice indeed. While Bucheron boasts family ownership by Chef Adam Ritter and his wife Jeanie Janas Ritter, they have assembled a friendly, courteous and helpful team which works in sync and was led at our table by the charming Adriana. They just won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant 2025, which is no small feat to beat!
The menu is French/MidWestern using local and in the case of seafood, not so local, ingredients to the best of their capabilities. The menu can be a tad confusing so we let Adriana guide us and she did superbly as we decided on four dishes to share and then Will opted for dessert. The wine list is varied (with prices starting in the 60$ range and going up to the thousand plus!) and Adriana guided us to a super dry French white Grenache Gris "Mas Gabinelle" Vieilles Vignes 2022 from Autignac in Langued'Oc/Roussillon that we later learned from Jeanie was imported by a guy who live locally and actually worked at the winery! When we asked about reds by the half-bottle, Adriana's face lit up and she said the Chateau Haut-Segottes Grand Cru from St. Emillion (right near our home in Bordeaux) 2021 was a fab Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend that we loved.
The setting is a tad crowded, but not awful, although the noise levels are quite high. The room was jammed to the gills on our arrival at 740pm as was the bar seating and outdoor area, not a table was unused. There was some background music which was totally unnecessary. The tables are wood, the chairs and banquettes are leather-like and the walls have little decoration save some modern sconces; it is all about the food.
We started with the Kingfish Crudo with watermelon, Fresno chile, basil and rhubarb salt which had a slight kick from the chile but was simply like buttah! It was so refreshing as it had been a hot and muggy day. Next came Venison Tartare with poached egg yolk, spruce tips and rye chips. The rye chips were fun (think bagel chips/tortilla chips cross) and worked superbly, but the tartare itself was tender and spiced just right not to intrude with the meat's flavor.
Summer Beans was a farm treat that tasted like it was so local made with zucchini, tarbais beans, a rich miso bagna cauda and came with delicious bits of charred octopus and small chunks of pork secreto. We loved it all, but the best had to be the Vadovan Curry Pappardelle with rabbit ragout, peas and carrots, Parmesan and Thai basil.
Will loved his dessert of Corn Cake with grilled Peach, Plum, Caramel Corn and Corn Ice Cream, another local farm treat that resembled a granola cobbler with popcorn!
we had a super time with the super staff and the excellent food and left raving to the team how great it was to find this amazing find.
I have to add that an 18% hospitality charge is already INCLUDED in all the prices, just like in Europe and so many other places, eliminating the need for figuring out how to tip!
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