After having developed a good working relationship with the landlord and previous owners, business partners Shawn McDonald and Brett Otterson—chef and bartender respectively—decided to take a leap and purchase the former Thanh Do space at City Walk to become co-owners of new local restaurant Sovereign Kitchen, which opened last fall. “We’ve worked together on and off for seven years and we saw a good opportunity for us to start trying our own thing,” Otterson says. Along with sous chefs James Soike and Tim Keu, the team strives to provide full dinner and bar menus that qualify as contemporary American, with a French twist.
The Sovereign Kitchen menu consists of small plates, soups, salads and entrees. Both bar and dinner specials rotate throughout the year to take advantage of the four Minnesota seasons. “What you want when it’s 20 degrees isn’t what you want at 80 degrees,” says Otterson, and he adds that all dishes and drinks will be created in-house with the freshest products. What really makes Sovereign Kitchen stand out among other local dining options, however, is its service-orientated nature. “We consider ourselves family,” he says. “We want to have people we enjoy, and guests we enjoy, build relationships.”
