Crave pushes ahead with plans for Rochester opening

With Covid-19 hammering the local restaurant industry, news of restaurant openings in the area have become rare. Inside Hotel Indigo, however, a Twin Cities-based restaurant has plans to do just that — taking a leap of faith to bring a self-described ‘one-of-a-kind experience’ to the downtown area.

Crave Food and Drink, an American kitchen with 11 locations across Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota, plans to open inside Hotel Indigo in the coming weeks. The nearly-10,000 square-foot space will offer a ‘fresh spin on modern American cuisine,’ in addition to a sushi bar. Half the space will be under a retractable roof, allowing Crave to use their full space through all four seasons.

Kam Talebi, the owner and CEO of Kaskaid Hospitality, which manages all Crave locations across the Midwest, says their unique space is one of the main facets of the experience. The retractable roof, he says, is a sight to behold — one that can’t be found at any other place in Rochester.

“We were testing the roof a couple weeks ago… It's a huge structure,” said Talebi. “When it starts to move, it’s interesting to see people on the street look up and say, ‘what the heck is going on?’ ”

Talebi says Rochester had been a target market for some time, thanks to high demand from Med City residents eating at Crave restaurants scattered across the Twin Cities. The original goal was to open in Rochester by mid-summer, but Covid-19 forced Talebi and his staff to consider holding off on construction entirely.

In the end, though, Talebi and company decided to remain bullish on the space — and the original goal of a midsummer opening was only pushed back by roughly eight weeks, to September 5. With opening day a few weeks out, Talebi says he and his team have their fingers crossed for a successful launch.

“We’re excited, and we’re nervous,” said Talebi. “There’s a lot of emotions involved. Not a lot of people are opening restaurants right now. We might be crazy, but maybe we’re crazy in a good way.”

The decision to continue construction was driven, in part, by the Talebi family’s lengthy experiences in Rochester. In 1979, Kam’s mother Shahnaz was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and sought treatment at Mayo Clinic. Shahnaz spent 20 years in Rochester receiving treatment — and ever since she successfully beat the grim diagnosis, Kam has held the city (and the Clinic) in high regard.

“I’ve had a soft spot for the city, thanks to what Mayo did for my mom,” said Talebi. “She’s still alive with us, and she’s one of the miracle cases. She was given three months to live in 1979, Mayo Clinic’s oncology department did what they did, and she’s still with us today.”

Over 40 years since the original diagnosis have passed, and Kam (with brother Keyvan) now finds himself in a position to become a stakeholder in a city he knows well. The decision to push through with construction and opening was not an easy one, but one he hopes will be worth it.

“We’re such great fans of the city, and we felt such a strong commitment to the project, we said ‘let’s keep it going,’” said Talebi. “We were able to work through the March and April period and get the restaurant on its way to opening up. We’re incredibly excited to be in a position to do that.”

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.