The interior of Brim Café & Coffee was created by Christian Dean Architects and Design. Customers are greeted by lime-washed walls and earth tones that give the restaurant a warm and inviting ambiance. Photos: Chris Emeott
A gluten-free café brings its organic and locally sourced cuisine to Southdale Square.
Step inside Brim Café & Coffee’s new Southdale Square location and you’ll find sunlight streaming through tall windows and bouncing off limewashed walls. This greenhouse area has stone tiles underfoot and leafy, green plants soften the space. “We wanted a connection to nature while dining in a café,” says Kate Sidoti, owner and operator of Brim. Here, customers can settle in over gluten-free bowls and toasts, crafted with locally grown and organic ingredients. This is Brim’s newest location, and it’s already carving out a niche as a neighborhood spot where good food and connection come together.
Kate Sidoti, owner and operator of Brim Café & Coffee.
Sidoti says a fateful meet-cute spurred her to open Brim’s first location in Minneapolis. “I went for a run around Bde Maka Ska, and I saw [my now-husband Patrick Sidoti] at a stoplight,” Sidoti says. “We started talking and ended up running the lakes together.” The timing was just right. After nine years as a private chef, she was tired of traveling and ready for a shift in her career. Sidoti got married and moved to Uptown where her culinary venture began. “I wanted to positively impact more people,” she says. “I saw a space there that I thought would be a really beautiful café.”
Brim Benedict
As a private chef, Sidoti had amassed a healthy cache of recipes and knew just the concept she wanted to bring to the Twin Cities—thoughtfully crafted dishes made in a gluten-free kitchen with locally grown organic ingredients and no seed oils. “The main goal was to make really fresh, flavorful food.” As someone with a gluten allergy, Sidoti knew the importance of having a place diners can trust to be gluten free. But she wasn’t content with putting out gluten-free food alone. She wanted to wow her customers. “We just want to make good food that happens to be gluten-free. Food can really impact tremendously how you feel,” she says.
Linda’s Bowl is Brim’s most popular dish. It’s also quite colorful. This edible rainbow features beets, black lentils, local greens, Norwegian salmon, Red Lake Nation wild rice, rosemary sweet potatoes, seared turmeric cauliflower, spiced zucchini broccoli and a cashew dill sauce.
In 2018, Brim opened at the corner of Lake and Knox avenues with a view of Bde Maka Ska, just seven months after the space had first caught Sidoti’s eye. “We opened with seven bowls,” she says. “I’m proud of how we’ve evolved. It’s been a slow distillation.” Today’s Brim menu has hash, salad and warm bowls alongside a selection of broths, brunch items, sandwiches, soups and toasts. Ingredients are sourced largely from Minnesota and Wisconsin, including cherry tomatoes (StrongHeart Farms in Marine on St. Croix), chicken and eggs (Larry Schultz Organic Farm in Owatonna), gluten-free breads and donuts (Sift Gluten Free in Minneapolis), grass-fed beef (Grass Run Farms in Spring Grove) and red cabbage (Featherstone Farms in Rushford). “We choose and prioritize locally grown,” Sidoti says. She also works with the Hmong American Farmers Association to identify farms that practice organically. “It’s rewarding that we can be part of the food circle,” she says.
Brim Café & Coffee has a large coffee menu as well as “noncoffee” drinks such as its Iced Turmeric Ginger Latte. It also has a variety of seasonal items such as this past autumn’s Iced Maple Sea Salt Matcha Latte.
Sidoti says the most popular dish also happens to be her favorite. “It’s called Linda’s Bowl. Linda is the biggest cheerleader of Brim,” she says of her frequent customer. The dish features local greens, Norwegian salmon, Red Lake Nation wild rice, rosemary sweet potatoes, seared turmeric cauliflower, spiced zucchini broccoli, beets, black lentils and a cashew dill sauce.
While Brim’s Uptown location has a distinctly Scandinavian feel, Sidoti says the Edina location is earthier. “I want each location to stand out and match the community,” she says. “We were looking for a year before the (former) Red Pepper space opened up. It felt right with the community.”
The first thing customers will see upon walking into Brim’s Edina location is this counter which brings a café atmosphere to the space.
Sidoti is planning to launch grab-and-go family meal options—perfect for picking up after work or swim class, she says. “I want to make it easy for families,” she says. “I feel a responsibility for engaging the community.” She also hopes to add more Brim locations. “I really want to keep expanding. Having people eat real food is rewarding,” she says.
Brim Café & Coffee
Instagram: @brim_cafeandcoffee
