On a Monday in mid-October, a friend and I biked to the Main Cinema to catch a screening of The Substance. We locked up our bikes about an hour before the movie, planning to grab a drink next door at Aster Cafe.
There was just one flaw in the plan. Our usual Aster-and-Main moviegoing night is Tuesday (when, hot tip, movie tickets are just five bucks). This being a Monday, Aster Cafe was closed. So was Jefe Urban Cocina. And… somehow those are the only two restaurants along this stretch of Southeast Main Street?
It doesn’t make any sense, we marveled, as we walked past the empty storefronts and that one bridal shop toward Sonder Shaker. This might be the single prettiest boulevard in Minneapolis—a tree-lined, cobblestoned street looking out over the Mississippi and the downtown skyline—and somehow there’s so little to do here. Part of it is structural, with much of the space along the historic street walled off entirely, for some reason. But then you’ve got all the unoccupied restaurants, the places that couldn’t make it work. Meanwhile, Aster Cafe has been humming along for years. What’s their formula? Why isn’t anyone replicating it?
Well, as of last month, someone is. It’s Aster Cafe owner Jeff Arundel.
Dubbed Aster House, Arundel’s latest venture is just a few hundred feet from the cafe he took over in 2010. Like Aster Cafe, which is located in the oldest masonry building in Minneapolis, Aster House also has historic digs; it’s inside the Brown-Ryan Livery Stable building at 25 SE Main St., which was built in 1880. (Crucially, it is not part of the Eagan apartment complex with the same name that will show up when you search for it.)
The building’s thick stone walls and narrow arched windows give Aster House some real gravitas; stepping inside feels like entering the home of an archduke. Inside, it’s archduke’s-house-meets-supperclub: towering ceilings, angular pendant lights, plush curtains. It’s gorgeous, but not so fancy that you’d feel out of place in, just by way of example, the KORN shirt you got at their recent St. Paul show.
Among the more striking features is the wooden bar, backdropped with a nature scene painted by artist Kristi Koziolek. There are only a few bar seats, and they were all full during our visit—everyone wanted to sit there. Our trio opted for a more sharing-friendly table and perused the menu; the kitchen is helmed by Josh Jones, but the food was developed with guidance from Myriel’s Karyn Tomlinson, whose influence is everywhere.
Take the Lazy Suzan ($24) a “sampling of snacks” very much like the ever-present charcuterie at Myriel. Our spinning platter arrived with spreads (liver mousse, walleye), house-made cheez-its, various meats and cheeses, and plenty of pickled stuff. Everything on it was quite tasty, and I’ve gotta emphasize how fun it is to spin around; you might need to be strategic to keep the excellent walleye spread in front of your seat, though.
Aster House’s Wild Rice Fritters ($9) were also fun—miraculously un-greasy and texturally wonderful, like a bowl of wild rice soup inside a crispy, salty shell. State Fair food developers, take note. Slightly more forgettable was the Corn Toast ($8). Our server warned us the buttermilk and corn amalgamation on top would be cold—I just know the poor staff has gotten complaints about it—but even with that warning, something about the chilly toast just felt… off.
Aster House mains include a Prime NY Strip ($42) and Lake Trout with braised fennel and beurre blanc ($28), but, we opted for the Slow Cooked Chicken ($24), with cabbage and dijon cream. The chicken was... chicken, with nice crispy skin, but it’s the cabbage and dijon base here that’s really wonderful—I could have eaten a bowl of just that. We were wowed by the Polenta ($16), a plush and cheesy umami wonder piled with roasted oyster mushrooms and savory sarvecchio cheese.
At Myriel, desserts are part of what makes a meal memorable (Tomlinson’s apple pie was one of Food & Wine’s favorite dishes of 2022), and here, too, we capped our dinner with a memorable sweet treat. Aster House’s Banana Toffee Pudding ($10), topped with Chantilly cream, is over-the-top decadent—the kind of dessert that will have you saying “Oh my god” and leaning back into your chair after the first bite.
Some of the things that make Aster Cafe work so well are yet to come at Aster House. The restaurant is “a flower in bloom,” per its website; soon there will be a stage for live music, and next year, a sprawling patio much like the always-hopping outdoor space at Aster Cafe. If the meal we had is any indication, great things are in store for St. Anthony Main.
Just make your pre-movie plans carefully. Aster House, too, is closed on Mondays.
Aster House
Address: 25 SE Main St., Minneapolis
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Reservations: Yes
