If “most-Twin-Cities-restaurants-worked-at” was a competition (which it’s not, officially speaking), between the two of them, industry longtimers Brendan Denne and Bryan Gooding might just win. Gooding has worked at more than 40 in the past three decades, starting with a southern-suburbs pizza spot when he was 14; Denne isn’t far behind. Now the two of them—front-of-house and back-of-house leads respectively—have teamed up to open their very own restaurant for the first time. Risata Cucina, opening March 9, is bringing Italian fare that’s equal parts old-school and modern to downtown Robbinsdale. Denne and Gooding have spent the past few months rehabbing 4168 Broadway Avenue West, sprucing up the circa-1906 space and giving it all a fresh coat of paint. Serendipitously, the colors they chose were Artichoke (walls), Sun-Dried Tomato (wainscoting), and Basil (bathrooms).
There are other details that give the space that time-worn feel: vintage glass ashtrays used for olive oil dipping plates; patches of patterned wallpaper. Denne and Gooding say that throughout the process of renovating they learned that “Grandma Chic” is in fact an established aesthetic—even more fitting, as there’s a photo of Denne’s grandparents from sometime in the ’70s, kissing with a cigarette in each of their hands, hung over one of the corner booths.
“We want to be here for a long time,” Gooding says. “Those old places in New York—like Barbetta, which just closed after 120 years. They opened in 1906; they were the oldest Italian restaurant in New York. How do you mimic that being-around-for-30-years kind of vibe? It’s hard to do. But we want people to get engaged here, have their rehearsal dinners. We want families to bring their five kids and have spaghetti, and feel at home. There are certain spots that have done that so well in the Cities, and they’re gonna be here for a long time. Working at Lake and Irving—I saw a lot of things on Lake Street the last 12 years. And one thing that Lake and Irving always did for that neighborhood was to be a gathering space for regulars, whether it was a snowstorm, whether it was the unrest.”
Originally, Denne and Gooding announced Risata as a “red sauce” restaurant, but that led to some confusion among locals. Devotees of mushroom cream and alfredo sauces protested. So for the sake of clarity, they’re going with just “American Italian,” classic enough that the dishes are familiar and comforting; modern enough that not all of them will skyrocket your sodium levels and send you immediately into a food coma. Take the spiedini (or skewers), a tapa-like snack with pistachios, mozzarella, grilled mortadella, and a kalamata caramel. A dish fit for patio season (and yes, Risata will have a patio come summer)…