restaurant Max

Who is Max? Max is the new restaurant from the St. Paul Grill folks that is serving “lifestyle” cuisine in the new Hotel Minneapolis. What is lifestyle cuisine? Beats me. Best as we can discern, Max is designed to offer a bit of an all-things-to-all-people experience, from flatbreads to salads to sandwiches to entrées. But this is not simple grill fare, it’s chef-driven cooking that offers innovative twists on the familiar—imagine a pesto chicken cobb salad served in rolled lettuce leaves. Plating is inventive and some of the recipes are busy. The kitchen is helmed by chef Matthew Holmes, former sous chef at T. Cook’s, one of the Phoenix area’s top tables. The classic Midland Bank Building lobby now seems a tad overdesigned. It’s dressed up with mirrors and art and the prominent marble columns are now adorned with red art glass, a love-hate element to be sure. Restaurant Max is an ambitious entrant in a crowded downtown dining scene, and it is Morrissey Hospitality’s biggest creative risk to date. It will be interesting to see what its clientele wants from it and how it evolves in the coming months.

Hotel Minneapolis, 215 S. 4th St., Mpls., 612-340-0303

Photo by Richard Fleishman