Updated: November 23
Todd Shepard has been appointed Morrissey Hospitality’s new vice president of restaurants, a role that’s been newly created in response to the company’s recent growth. The company now oversees management for 19 restaurants, hotels and venues across the Midwest.
Shepard has more than 18 years of experience in senior operations and food and beverage leadership positions. He has held positions with Sage Hospitality, Paradise Point Resort Group and Morton’s The Steakhouse. In his new role, Shepard will direct operations at Kendall’s/Bunker Hills Event Center, Tattersall Distilling River Falls, Tria, Stockyards, The Bad Waitress, Momento, and soon, Luna & Luca.
He is a Certified Sommelier and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
The Minneapolis icon Liquor Lyles is set to become the new home of Tilt Pinball Bar, according to a Facebook post by Carrie McCabe-Johnston, owner of Bonafide Hospitality, which includes Nightingale and Tilt.
“Taking over this space is something of a bucket list for us,” McCabe-Johnston said in the post. “Tilt was born in Minneapolis and to have the chance to bring this building back to life is incredibly humbling.”
Tilt opened in April 2017, and the new location will allow them to deliver on things patrons have been asking for, including, “more pinball machines, more beers, more seats at the bar, more space to hang out, more parking, more items on the menu, more better sound for our family of DJs and (the biggest ask of all)–more pinball machines.”
Further details will be coming in the next few months, including a name change to LITT Pinball Bar. McCabe-Johnston promised to explain that change in a subsequent post.
The James Beard Foundation’s series, Taste America, will be coming to Minneapolis on Tuesday, October 25, at the Glass House, an event space on North Holden Street. The menu for the multi-course dinner was created by Chef Yia Vang of Union Hmong Kitchen/Vinai of Minneapolis and Chefs Jeremy Kean and Philip Kruta of Brassica Kitchen + Cafe in Jamaica Plains, MA. “The menu will reflect their signature styles and highlight the uniqueness of their restaurants and communities,” the press release stated.
The dinner will include drink pairings for each course; tickets are $350 for two (no single tickets are being sold).
Proceeds will go to the featured chefs to support their businesses, along with the foundation’s national programming rooted in advocacy, racial equity, sustainability and women’s leadership for the culinary industry.
St. Paul’s The Nook and Shamrock’s changed their Matt Birk Burger’s name after an online petition and complaints by customers, according to the Pioneer Press. The owner didn’t confirm that it was Birk’s recent comments concerning abortion that caused the action, the newspaper reported, but rather that the bars don’t get mixed up in politics. Birk is running for Minnesota lieutenant governor with fellow abortion-rights opponent Scott Jensen, who is running for governor. “We always do accolades of people who went to Cretin (Durham Hall), but once you get into politics it changes things,” Mike Runyon, owner of the burger joints told editor Jess Fleming. The new name is “The Double Stack Pepperjack Burger.”