WAYZATA, Minn. - You might call it, Heartland 2.0.
What was just another "hotel restaurant" with an overwhelming, offer-everything menu has been re-envisioned, revamped and now, re-opened as a Chef Lenny Russo reboot.
Located in the posh, boutique Hotel Landing, ninetwentyfive restaurant initially opened last summer. It had the location -- attached to a brand new hotel, near Lake Minnetonka. It had the appeal, after Wayzata became the "it" city for food enthusiasts. But there's one thing it didn't have. It needed to tell a story.
"There was really no sense of place," Executive Chef Russo said of the previous menu. "I said, 'Let's tell a story about Minnesota, about the Midwest, about Wayzata, about the lake.'"
The James Beard nominated chef was given just nine days to fully revamp ninetwentyfive and create something that could be similar to the institution he established with Heartland -- a place where the menu reflects the area, both in its high-quality offerings and super-local sourcing.
"I thought, why do we have saltwater fish, why do we have ingredients that don't say anything about where we are, who we are," Russo said.
The menu now is a showcase of the Midwest farmers and artisans Russo has developed relationships with over the years with the goal of showing visitors and locals alike, just how much the area has to offer.
Take the bison tartare -- all of the ingredients, aside from a drizzle of vinegar, is not only locally sourced but indigenous. Same with the grilled quail with wild rice, even down to the seasonings. You'll find cultivated ingredients throughout the menu, even down to the wheat used to create the agnolotti pasta, stuffed with sheep milk ricotta.
And though it seemed to have happened overnight, re-opening was challenging, to say the least.
"Changing something to a new focus and rebranding was a lot more difficult than just opening something from scratch," said Chef de Cuisine Daniel Cataldo.
He, alongside Chef Russo, worked to give the menu a focus, revamp the entire cocktail menu (with the help of Trish Gavin), even change the uniforms of the staff and then launch it to the public, in less than two weeks.
"Coming out of the gate, it was bumpy," Russo said. "We needed to still fine-tune a lot of those things and we're still fine-tuning to a certain extent."
But through it all, they've come away with something they consider to be more of a destination, rather than a place of convenience.
"I think that we consciously were trying to get away from the fact that it's a hotel restaurant," Russo said. "More that it's a restaurant with rooms attached to it."
ninetwentyfive is located at 925 Lake St. E. in Wayzata. For menus, reservations and more information, click here.