MINNETONKA, Minn. — It was the place you'd stop to grab a bite to eat after holiday window shopping at the Dayton's later turned Macy's in downtown Minneapolis.
Judy Goldstein will never forget her first job back in 1959 working at the Oak Grill - back then it was a men's only club. Judy tells us it was 'THE' exclusive place to dine and the most popular item on the menu was the Popovers.
"They were THE kitchen," Judy said. "Dayton's was known for its popovers long before I began working there. I had one for lunch today, and there was no translation in error in the original compared to what I had today."
The Oak Grill got its start back in 1947 and served its last popovers and pot pies in 2017 - that is, until now.
"Macy's has a tradition of food," said Macy's Regional Chef Brad Saylor. "We have been around for 115 years and the legacy restaurants in Minneapolis, like the River Room in St. Paul and the Sky Room in Minneapolis and the Oak Grill, we wanted to bring tradition to trend with a new restaurant but kind of a throwback to the old as well."
The Social Kitchen & Libations is located in the Macy's at Ridgedale Mall with a menu that Chef Saylor says may look familiar.
"If I had gone with grandma at holiday to the Oak Grill and the Popovers came to the table and the heat came out of it when I spread honey butter on it… it's the memory," said Chef Saylor. "I captured the memory in that moment so now I come back to a place like the Social, it's like 'Oh yeah that's it, that's the memory, I remember this food.' It's awesome."
Chef Saylor has hundreds of Macy's recipes in the company's historic archives dating all the way back to the 1920's including some known favorites:
Popovers with Honey Butter, Deli salads, like the popular Mandarin Chicken Salad, Pot Pies and Soups. Apparently what's old is new again and still tastes great.
"We also have very trendy bold flavor items but we connected tradition to trend and that's what's really cool," said Chef Saylor. "To walk around and see the smiles going 'Oh popovers,' this is cool."
Something else people will remember - the original chandelier from the 12th floor of the downtown Minneapolis Dayton's is now the centerpiece to the Social Kitchen. They added a modern cage to give it an updated vibe.
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