Solera

Rating:

The Twin Cities restaurant landscape has gone through a dramatic series of ups and downs in the months since the Star Tribune gave two stars to the local dining scene. While 2003 saw an unprecedented number of restaurant closings (including a depressing number of high-profile losses), the year also produced an extraordinary number of new -- and in many cases, splendid -- restaurants.

It is these new-to-the-scene efforts that we showcase in our first annual awards issue. The choice was unanimous among the Taste staff: Tim McKee and Josh Thoma, chefs/ owners of Solera in downtown Minneapolis and La Belle Vie in Stillwater, have made the biggest splash in our local pool.

The winner

Patience is a virtue is undoubtedly embroidered upon the minds of Josh Thoma and Tim McKee. It took the pair 2 1/2 years to get Solera off the ground. Boy, was it worth the wait.

After visiting Spain and becoming completely smitten with its culinary traditions, the two chefs knew they had little choice but to open a tapas bar. Real estate and financing were just the first of many hurdles, but the nerviest gamble was the menu.

The pair strolled way out on a limb by focusing on a lengthy and daring roster of tapas, those delightful two-or three-bite Spanish savories. How would that strategy play in Minnesota, where the predictable response of "Oh, that's a little different" sends shudders down restaurateurs' spines?

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