My mother, before devoting herself full-time to sitting in hammock chairs and walking her squirrely German Shepherd through the woods, worked in advertising. One of her greatest professional coups was the radio ad jingle she wrote for a small restaurant socketed deep in the heart of Vermont. It began like this:
Daddy wants a T-bone steak
Momma wants fresh fish
I’m stealing that jingle to introduce Crave. The restaurant it was originally written for has long since been turned into affordable housing, and its writer, like I said, is too busy commanding Lily to stop jumping on houseguests to take any offense. It is the perfect crime.
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There are two paths to restaurant ownership. The first is to start out at the very bottom, gradually ascending from the dish pit to bussing tables, and then to waiting on tables, and so on and so on until you finally own the tables. The second route, which entails succeeding tremendously in a different line of work until you can own the restaurant from the get-go, is far more pleasant. You never have to get egg yolks underneath your fingernails, and welcoming guests to your restaurant like you’re Rick in Casablanca must feel immensely gratifying.
Kam Talebi, the owner of Crave, took the pleasant route. And I am very glad he went into the restaurant business, because if he had instead continued founding technology companies I would have been hard-pressed to strike up a conversation.
“I originally became a restauranteur solely as an investor,” said Kam. “I had virtually zero experience operating a restaurant, but my background was building up companies from scratch. Fortunately that skill set is fairly generalized, so after a few years learning the specifics I decided to abandon tech and become a restauranteur full-time.”
Now, thirteen years later, Kam has carved out the nice little restaurant empire for himself. Crave has grown to 12 locations across four states. Go to the busiest stripe of pavement in Downtown Minneapolis and you can eat at Crave. Finish riding Shredder’s Mutant Masher at Mall of America and the stiff drink you’ll need to recombobulate your senses is at the Crave nearby. Or stay close to home. Eden Prairie – which is the guiding light of the modern world – rightly has her own Crave.
“My intention from the beginning was to create a very experiential restaurant,” said Kam, “one which offers a vibrant dining experience, a menu in a very approachable price point, and a kitchen that makes everything from scratch. Great food, great service – a dining destination for all.
“We built Crave’s menu around two very different but surprisingly complementary types of cuisine: American, of course, and sushi, which quickly became a core part of Crave’s identity.
“In retrospect, offering sushi was ambitious. There are Japanese sushi chefs who have dedicated their entire lives to mastering their discipline’s delicate knife strokes. It takes an unimaginable amount of technique to make a truly great piece of nigiri, even though at first glance it looks like nothing more than a slice of fish on a bed of rice. You can’t skip any details when it comes to making sushi. It is a dish that hides nothing. But after so many years honing our craft, I believe Crave’s sushi is on par with what you would find in Tokyo.
“Just making sure freshly caught fish arrives in the Midwest daily is its own art form, in a way. Back in the early ‘90s raw fish might have raised eyebrows here in Minnesota, but fortunately, over time, it became much easier to fly it here. This has also given Crave the opportunity to offer the freshest salmon and sea bass – second only to what you would eat on a boat.
“I think it’s safe to say the Midwest has far more resident beef experts than fish experts (not counting walleye). That’s why we’re just as particular about the quality of the steaks and burgers we serve. We only prepare Certified Angus Beef. It is the highest grade of Angus available on the market, but you can taste every difference that quality makes.”
I believe I am more qualified to gush about Crave’s drink menu than anyone else, Kam included. An almost reverential mood strikes you as you enter the restaurant, for its glowing glass-cased wine rack towers over all. There are over 100 different labels to choose from, or 20 by the glass if your table has varying opinions on what wine should be like. This great feat of viticulture has earned Crave the Wine Spectator's Restaurant Award on several occasions.
If you would rather have a local brewery’s best or a mixed drink, then you will still find your preferred brand of liquid jolliment at Crave. I observed the bartender as he performed some kind of brilliant ju-ju with smoke. “Woodford Reserve Double Oaked,” he explained, “makes the best Manhattan if you know how to smoke the cocktail glass just right. Smoke it too little and you’re only putting on a show; smoke it too much, and you may as well be drinking a campfire.”
As Crave weathered the recent pandemic, they devised two ways to put their scratch kitchen to good use while their dining room remained at half-capacity. These are called Toasty Bun and Cluckers – burger and chicken menus, respectively, all within the six to nine dollar range and available exclusively for takeout or delivery.
Crave is located in the Eden Prairie Center. You can visit craveamerica.com to see their menu, order curbside pickup, or summon free delivery via DoorDash. You can also call (952) 479-7440 if you would like to ask the hostess how her day is going.
