Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar

Rating:

One of the many reasons why I admire Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar is that the White Bear Lake newcomer underscores a pet theory of mine -- because, yes, it is all about me -- that good restaurants beget other good restaurants.

Here's the story: Daron Close and Chris Whalen were both practicing their crafts at Campiello when that first-rate Uptowner closed. While the two moved on to work at other D'Amico properties, they also began to nurture the prospect of launching their own dinner-only place. After mulling over sites in Chaska and Coon Rapids, they stumbled upon a vacant White Bear Lake property on Craigslist, signed on the dotted line, hired just six employees and opened the door this past June.

With Whalen's reassuring, uncomplicated cooking and Close's polished hospitality and savvy wine service, their Acqua is proof, as if we needed it, that there are few local talent incubators as fertile as the D'Amico empire. But log a few hours at Close and Whalen's table and it's clear that while the two have borrowed elements of their former employer, they've avoided a downright copy. "It's nice to get a little piece of Campi out here," Close told me, and he's right. It is. But just the nucleus, not the whole darned cell. For the most part, Acqua stands as a creation all its own.

Read Full Review »