When it Rains it Pours: Stem Wine Bar is the Latest Northeast Restaurant Addition

Story and photos by Julie Craven

When Ivy Ivers Taheri told me she'd been in the business for 20 years, I must have looked skeptical. “No, really. I was busing tables when I was 13 and I have been in the hospitality industry ever since,” she exclaimed.

Stem Wine Bar is a full-service restaurant, bar and lounge. A spot for wine drinkers in a sea of venerable Northeast breweries. The roots go deep with beer making in the area, but Ivy, who is also a partner at The Tangiers, saw an opening for her passion - great wines and small plates.

The wine list is relatively short, but certainly varied. I had a Kunde Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma and Doug went with an Italian wine, Cantele Primitivo from Puglia. French, Italian and domestic wines will rotate through the wine list and Ivy credits Small Lot Wine with being a great partner in the process of creating the wine list.

Our group was a bit of a revolving door (our server Ben did a great job of keeping track of everyone!), and as each person came and went it was a great chance to both catch up and to try out one of the small plates on the menu. Because Doug is a Virginia boy, he always tries the crab cakes. The Panini Sliders with Brie, Apple and Prosciutto was one of four variations on the shareable slider theme and the two young people with us said that it was delicious.

Our friends Steve and Cheryl went with the crudités plate, a colorful veggie assortment that included carrot varieties and fennel paired up with three hummus options: roasted red pepper, pesto and herb. They also ordered the Petite Lamb Chops. Finally, there were the Korean meatballs, perfectly balanced between zing and a slight sweetness at the end, all paired with a delicious Barbera d’Alba red wine from Italy.

The dessert partner at Stem Wine Bar is Eden Prairie based Three Chocolatiers. Plans are to rotate the dessert offerings every couple of weeks. Tonight there were two chocolate desserts, a lemon tart and a coconut cream pie in the line up.

I asked our twenty-something style mavens, Maggie and Heidi, how they would describe the interior - “swanky” and “very Gatsby” were the descriptors. The Champs de Provence French Rose also got a thumbs up from them.

Why this site for a location? Ivy said her search for the perfect spot took her literally all over the metro. Her leasing agent assured her she wouldn't like this location, the last one on their list,  but they stopped anyway. The empty building had housed fire engines and had the dirt floor to prove it. “If ever there was a place that needed some love,” Ivy grinned. The design details were all hers and the contracting talent was GSM Contracting.

Down the road? Wine dinners and perhaps an expanded Late Night menu are the back of the napkin ideas Ivy is considering for Stem Wine Bar. “The team is building some really fun bi-weekly wine and food pairing events that I think will be a great component to the business and mostly fun for people to diversify their wine knowledge and try some new stuff!”

Hours: 4pm till close, Wednesday through Sunday

Location: 24 University Avenue NE #125, Minneapolis, MN

Website:  stemwinebars.com

Julie Craven can be reached at julie@millcitymedia.org.