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Thom Pham is spreading his love for Minneapolis via his “pham-tastic” food and exquisite taste in décor. This charming and ebullient restaurateur has a boundless passion for pleasing people and their palates with fusion delights. His ever-increasing concoctions range from Cranberry Puffs, “cream cheese wontons gone wild,” to Spanker Soup, an explosion of flavors — sweet cranberries, hot red curry, earthy mushrooms and the fresh green of asparagus, to an unusual take on walleye, covered in an absinthe-green jalapeno and basil sauce.
Pham is an experimental executive chef renowned not only for his signature fusion dishes but also his warmth and style, including great dinner jackets such as a striking pink smoking jacket. His current menus are but a tasting of Pham’s food — he feels he’s barely tapped into what he has to offer Minneapolis.
So, in addition to Thanh Do in St. Louis Park and AZIA, Anemone Sushi Bar and the Caterpillar Lounge, located on “Eat Street” (Nicollet and 26th, Mpls.), Pham’s expanding his and our horizons by opening two new restaurants, Temple in downtown Minneapolis, MIX on East Lake Street, and Manhattan Martini Lounge a couple doors down from MIX. Owner Pham will also be the executive chef, as he is for the other restaurants!
By Thanksgiving we’ll be able to go to Temple and indulge in fine French-Indonesian cuisine, set in the old Tiburon space on Harmon Place. Temple fills an 11,000 square foot space and features a giant fishtank filled with koi fish as a dividing wall. Pham said, “The décor is going to be more nightlife, with beautiful lighting, and with one of the largest fishtanks in the Midwest. Koi are so peaceful, so it will be fun in there. The entryway will be super-contemporary, white.” Pham anticipates, “It will probably be the place to go in Minneapolis.”
Anyone who’s been to AZIA and the Caterpillar Bar will appreciate Pham’s eclectic and intense style of design and décor. He’s self-taught — “This is all I know. This is just common sense in me. I’ve been in business almost 20 years so it just worked out that way.” Pham uses the time period of the building as an inspiration, “If you asked me to come and design something, and say, ‘Okay, I have this space. It’s 3,000 square feet and I want a restaurant in it,’ I wouldn’t have a clue what to tell you. But when I walk in a space it all comes to me.”
MIX and the Manhattan Martini Lounge, opening early winter, are cozily nestled in the burgeoning East Lake food district, between the Town Talk Diner and Craftsman, an area also boasting Midori’s Floating World Japanese restaurant, El Nuevo Rodeo, Manny’s Tortas and the Longfellow Grill.
Pham describes his new East Lake future hotspots: “MIX is in a 1950s building. Formerly it was an Embers, so I like to go with that 1950s scheme. Also, I love the ‘50s — every era has something special about it — but the ‘50s were so different. I think the ‘50s and today will tie well together. Also, the Manhattan Martini Lounge will be down the street. I came up with “Manhattan” because the storefront looked like a storefront in New York. It’s got that old exposed brick on both sides and tin ceiling that is early 1900s, 1920s look. The Manhattan Martini Lounge is going to be cozy, and comfortable — that’s why I decided to make the décor 1920s. It’s a great year, a crazy year as far as style goes.”
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There will be music mixes at MIX and Manhattan Martini Lounge, and possibly dj’s such as at AZIA. Pham’s timely philosophy: “You can stay home and make great meals, but when you go out you don’t just go out to eat, you go out to enjoy and experience, you have to have the whole package. I’m big into music.”
Pham’s current menus include just 25 to 30 percent of what he can offer, he noted. “I grew up in a family of foodies — we love food. My grandma’s father is from France, and her mother is from Vietnam. She ran a catering company as I grew up. My father is from Italy, so cooking in my family has no rules. There’s a lot of arguing about it, and I was always behind the scenes learning from what they’d say. And I’ve been in the restaurant business for awhile so I learned that.”
Pham pulls inspiration from “the crazy mix in my family, I had nothing to do with! (he laughs). And the second thing is: every time I come up with a dish, I don’t think of what I would like to eat. I think of a guest and about what they might like, and plan that out. I’ve been in the business so long, when a customer comes in, I know what they’re going to order. So when I come up with traditional dishes or fusion dishes, it’s not about me, it’s about my guests. Who’s going to smile when they try this?”
Everyone who tries Pham’s newest creation, the Tamarind Lobster at AZIA, smiles. “All my staff say, ‘When you touch it, when you try it, you want to eat your finger after that.’” Pham laughs glowingly, “That’s how good it is. That’s the thing — when everybody loves it. You know when you make a dish, some people like it; some people don’t, but when you come up with a dish that everybody loves, you’re like YESSS!
I just love to be able to do a new thing every day, coming up with a new dish or concept to make people happy,” he passionately states. “It’s nice to see people appreciate it. Life is not about making money and being comfortable. It’s about being with people and seeing what you can do, doing what you can do — together it’s fun.”
Pham is developing the MIX menu to fit the diverse Longfellow neighborhood. He recently purchased and renovated the Longfellow house he grew up in, now living a mere couple of blocks from MIX. “I think the Longfellow neighborhood now is probably one of the most diverse, not just in Minneapolis, but everywhere. It’s a great mix of generations and an incredibly open-minded neighborhood.
You have the baby-boomer generation which is the hippies, then you have the punk kids in there, and the young new professionals, couples, young families, and then on the other side you have the East Bank and West Bank…people who have money but still want to have an urban living instead of moving to the suburbs. I think that’s what’s most exciting about the neighborhood. And of course when I come up with the menu I have to think of who’s going to order what dish.
On my menu I have an item for anybody who walks in the door. Putting the menu together is the most fun. Who’s going to smile when they see this dish, you know?”
Luckily Pham will continue spreading smiles throughout Minneapolis as he plans to remain here. “I have a lot of personal connection with Minneapolis. I can’t see myself moving away. Basically I was reborn here. It’s too beautiful and generous to move away. And it feels like it’s my people! I just want to be here and return the favor and offer what I can to the community.”
Temple | 1201 Harmon Pl, Mpls.
MIX | 3300 E Lake St, Mpls.
Manhattan Martini Lounge | 3533 E Lake St, Mpls.
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