Niver Niver Land

Chef Jorge Guzmán (Petite León) is an interesting character. I've been in similar rooms with him throughout the years, but I never really got to know him. He always seemed brooding and uninterested. The dude was hard to approach.

But I recently got to know him much better. For today's episode, I sat down with this guy and figured out what made him tick. And, let me tell you, I think I understand what's going on.

He's been through a lot. Trauma. He's been ripped off. He's failed. Hard. He's extremely critical of himself. He has trouble accepting compliments and praise. At the same time, he knows he deserves praise. James Beard has certainly taken notice of him.

So here we are, Jorge and I. We sat down for over an hour to talk about his restaurant, his past, his heritage, his beliefs, and much more.

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants.

What's there to be said about Ann Ahmed? She's a force of nature.

Her latest restaurant – the Minneapolis-based Gai Noi – has once again proven that she is a master at the art of restaurants. Ever since she opened Lemon Grass Thai in the mid-2000s, she has drastically improved her standards of food and aesthetics.

Lemon Grass has since closed, but the two places that came after it, Lat 14 and Khâluna, have blown people away with their style, grace, and execution. The increasing level of quality has led to both regional and national recognition.

It might seem flashy and cool, but there is a driving force here: her heritage. Born in Laos, Ann moved to Minnesota at a young age. Even though she spent most of her life in the U.S., she continues to explore and honor her Laotian heritage through the food she serves and the experiences she creates.

And so, it was such an honor to sit down with Ann and really explore the connection she has to her heritage and how that reveals itself in the corners of her restaurants.
 
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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants.

Here it is, fam! The first-ever liv episode of Niver Niver Land. We featured two Minneapolis bartenders – Robb Jones from Meteor Bar and Jessi Pollak from Spoon & Stable – for a wonderful conversation about the hospitality industry.

This was recorded on May 22nd at Saint Dinette to a sold-out room of people. The experience was surreal and we had a blast.

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

Chef Jacob Schumack and photographer Roy Son are both experts in their respective crafts. But you know what else they’re good at? Eating. I consider these gentlemen to be professional diners. They’ve eaten at a lot of places in their day and their perspectives on dining are interesting to me right now. Why? Because the way we dine at restaurants has changed a lot in the last three years. To get a better insight into what those changes are – and how the industry can learn from these changes – I invited these guys onto the show to discuss how, why, and where they eat out.

CORRECTION: We labeled this season incorrectly at the beginning. This is actually season 6 episode 2. Daniel del Prado was season 6 episode 1. The Milwaukee Files were their own special thing. The next episode after this will be season 6 episode 3.

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

This is it! The final installment of the Niver Niver Land Milwaukee Files! We're kinda sad it's ending.

This one is with Justin Carlisle. He owns Ardent, one of the best restaurants in Milwaukee. Actually, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called it the best restaurant in town back in 2019. We'd even wager that this spot competes regionally and nationally.

We went out to eat at Ardent the night before and it was stellar. Beyond stellar. It's all I was thinking about for days after the fact.

During that meal, Justin and I got along very quickly. We are very similar in many ways. We both have been through a lot in the restaurant industry. We've done our time and we still have more to do. We're still asking questions. How can we keep this going? Where's it all leading to? What's next?

For this episode, I went in with no notes. Zero. Nada. It was my first time ever doing that. How did it turn out? Guess you'll have to listen and find out for yourself.

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

Welcome back to the Niver Niver Land Milwaukee Files.

Today we're speaking with a legend of Milwaukee dining. Paul Bartolotta is a two-time James Beard award-winning restaurateur who has been operating his restaurant group since 1993. He's been working in restaurants since the 70s and the guy has been just about everywhere.

He's a huge name in the town. We knew it would be essential to bring him into the discussion when we visited, and we're glad we did. This was an excellent chat that unveils his thoughts on legacy, family, and heritage.

We're sure you'll enjoy this episode. Thank you for listening!

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: there is a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

Welcome back to a special feature of Niver Niver Land: The Milwaukee Files!

We visited Milwaukee for a week in earlier February and talked to three incredible people in the restaurant industry. Why? Because we like Milwaukee, and we wanted to hear what they're thinking about these days. The restaurant landscape has totally changed in the last few years. We wanted to know how it changed in Milwaukee.

Our first interview was with this wonderful woman, Melissa Buchholz, owner-operator at Odd Duck, a killer small plates restaurant in the Walker's Point neighborhood of Milwaukee.

This is the perfect first episode to begin The Milwaukee Files because Melissa gives us a real sense of where the city has been, where it's at, and where it's heading.

We had a fantastic conversation and we hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for listening!

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Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

Follow Odd Duck on Instagram.

Follow Melissa on Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

Also, you should totally buy a few of Muccis' frozen products, available in stores throughout the Twin Cities metro.

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: there is a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

Welcome back to Niver Niver Land!

Today, we have one of the most prolific restaurateurs in the state, Danny del Prado.

Odds are you've eaten at one of his restaurants. It's a long list that seems to grow every year: Colita, Martina, Rosalia, Josefina, Macanda, Cardamom, and more.

I had so much fun talking to this guy. His life story is fascinating and his perspective on restaurants is invaluable.

Thanks for listening!

-

Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

-

Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

-

Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: there is a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

Hi! Welcome back to Niver Niver Land.

Today, we are closing out season 5 with two incredibly handsome and talented dudes: Gustavo Romero of Nixta Tortilleria & Pedro Wolcott of Guacaya Bistreaux.

Both are Latino men, both are running stellar food businesses in Minneapolis, and both are getting tons of press right now.

We talk about their respective cultures, music, food, life, and all things good.

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Follow Gustavo on Instagram.

Follow Pedro on Instagram.

Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.

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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

-

Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry.

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul.

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: there is a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years.

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants. 

What does leadership look like for restaurateurs in 2022? How do we continually evolve in an industry that has changed so much over the past two years? How does one maintain high standards in their work? These questions, and more, are discussed in this episode of Niver Niver Land.

Our guest, Alex Roberts, is one of the most critically acclaimed chefs in Minnesota history. In 2010, he was selected as one of the "Best Chefs in America" by the James Beard Foundation. The rest of his Beard nominations, which amount to 6, include "Outstanding Chef" and "Outstanding Restaurant."

After cutting his teeth in New York City, Roberts came to Minneapolis in 1999 to open Alma. The restaurant is still open today and has become an institution of dining in the Midwest. His other great contribution to the state, Brasa Rotisserie, further established his reputation as an incredibly talented and versatile chef.

Follow Alex on Instagram.

Follow Tim on Twitter and Instagram.


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Be sure to support Mucci's and Saint Dinette. How about making a reservation soon?

You can find Niver Niver Land across all of social media here:

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

-

Welcome to Niver Niver Land: a podcast that addresses massive change in the restaurant industry. 

The show is hosted by award-winning restaurateur Tim Niver – a local legend of Minnesota's Twin Cities – known for his involvement with fabled spots like Aquavit, Town Talk Diner, and Strip Club Meat & Fish. Today, he runs Saint Dinette and Mucci's Italian in St. Paul. 

Tim sees a major problem with restaurant industry dialogue: there is a lack of discussion about the ongoing, unprecedented change. Many of those who work in the industry are still trying to wrap their heads around what has happened over the last two years. 

Today, Tim is ready to talk about these things – through his trademark wit and foolishness – so that we can better appreciate and preserve the cultural importance of restaurants.