Jefe Urban Hacienda: The New Boss on St. Anthony Main
Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 3:00AMStory and Photos by Julie Craven
Just days after their opening, Jefe Urban Hacienda has the look and feel of a well-established restaurant. The only giveaway to the fact that they opened less than a week ago is the adrenalin-rush-delight the staff has as guests come in the door. Esti welcomed us, Luisa served us and they were both gleeful and insistent that we meet everyone.
Luisa is from a town about an hour from Mexico City, so when I asked her about the menu she had a lot of references to her hometown. We started at the top of the menu, the Mexican Street Food section, and ordered the Oxtail Quesadillas. Braised oxtail, corn tortillas, shredded lettuce, chipotle crema and rajas. Tender, cheesy and rich, there would be a photo, but Doug helped himself as soon they arrived and that was the end of that!
If you want to go Mexican bold, Luisa suggested another street food item, the Jalapeños with Tocino. Jalapeños with poblano cream cheese, bacon and salsa de tamarindo. On a hot day, she predicted the Fruta con Limon will be a frequent order. Refreshing and light, it's a combination of mixed tropical fruit, fresh lime juice, chili powder and sea salt.
Next on the menu are Tacos. There are two to an order and Luisa called out two on the list: a vegetarian choice with the Wild Mushroom and the Ropa Vieja, a flank steak taco for beef lovers.
Among the tamales and pork items on the Especiales portion of the menu there's one very non-Mexican sounding entree: Cauliflower Pastor. It's a combination of pineapple and caramelized cauliflower, fried onion, grilled jalapeño, mixed together. An order of tortillas on the side and you can make your own unique taco. Chili Relleno is already standing out as star and it's one of Luisa’s favorites as well. A poblano chili stuffed with monterey and cream cheese, ranchero sauce with sides that include refried lentil and saffron yellow rice. Not spicy and super flavorful.
The Americano section, or gringo items as Luisa referred to it, has a State Fair Pulled Pork Sandwich and a Salmon entree. And there's a burger, too - Juicy Lucia (get it?!).
Amy Spartz and her husband Jeff Arundel launched Jefe. They also have the Aster Cafe just down the street. Amy commented that in their experience over the past six years, summers on St. Anthony Main were good, but the winters were hard. About two years ago they saw that change and as the density in the neighborhood increased, year round business was notably better. That's when they decided to open a second restaurant concept (I know you're smiling, Jacob Frey!) The “where” came before the “what”. The landlord of this location is a friend and she and Jeff both loved “the kooky, the character and the soul of the building.” But she described it as “tired” and there was work to do.
“Jeff had the aesthetics and did all the interior - he could see the end result,” Amy noted. It made them both smile when within an hour of the opening, three people asked “who is your decorator?” Paul Tierney, a metalwork artist, and friend of the couple, did the doors and the statue of Zorro. His work is also featured in the interior and the exterior of the Aster Cafe.
“Then it was the ‘what’ options and that fell to me," Amy said. "I looked at the neighborhood, at Mexican options accessible to this community and had conversations with neighbors at the Phoenix and the A Mill Artist Lofts. A Mexican concept felt like the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Bar manager and the creator of the Jefe’s craft cocktail menu, Andrew Campbell stopped by our table. Formerly with Bradstreet, his first order of business was to create a Jefe Margarita. His philosophy? Do simple things correctly. His starting point was fresh squeezed Curaçao and then began playing with it. His goal is to keep the ticket time under 10 minutes, which is great service for each of the 12 craft cocktails options. Even with 12 craft cocktail options, Andrew wants the experience to be approachable and there are times when folks, including himself, want the $2 beers for happy hour. That’s on tap, too. Jefe translates to “boss” and this great new restaurant certainly is Boss!
Hours: 4pm till close, everyday
Location: 219 Main Street SE Minneapolis, MN
Website: jefeminneapolis.com
Julie Craven can be reached at julie@millcitymedia.org.
