Stepping inside Maison Margaux is meant to feel a little like leaving Minneapolis behind. From the elegant French brasserie to the dramatic underground Salon Rouge, chef and owner David Fhima designed the North Loop restaurant as an experience – one that transports guests to Paris without requiring a plane ticket.
For Fhima, Maison Margaux is also the realization of an idea more than three decades in the making.
“I'm a classically trained French chef, and a lot of my restaurants that I've done in the past had some French influence, but not really a classical French restaurant per se,” Fhima says. Maison Margaux gave him the opportunity to finally create a concept rooted fully in the cuisine, culture and hospitality that have influenced him throughout his life.
The opportunity emerged just before the pandemic, when Fhima and his family learned that the historic North Loop building located at 224 N 1st St. was available. Then COVID-19 arrived, bringing uncertainty to restaurants everywhere. Instead of abandoning the project, the family moved forward.
“While everything was shutting down, we were building a new business,” Fhima says. “It was a very scary thing to do.”
That chapter inspired a phrase closely connected to Maison Margaux: “In the midst of the storm, we found a pearl.” Margaux is both a nod to the famed Bordeaux wine appellation and, as the restaurant describes it, a reference to “pearl” in French.
Today, the historic building encompasses several distinct experiences. The brasserie captures classic Parisian dining, while an upper level offers event spaces and the lower-level Salon Rouge introduces a moodier atmosphere. Throughout the property, Fhima says the goal was to preserve the building’s Minnesota history while layering in French opulence.
The same philosophy carries onto the plate.
“We wanted people to come to the restaurant and feel transported,” Fhima says. “We want them, for the two to three hours that they spend, to feel like they were in Paris.”
Maison Margaux’s dinner menu blends recognizable French classics with Fhima’s modern interpretations. Current offerings include soupe à l’oignon gratinée, moules frites, bouillabaisse, whole sole meunière, short ribs Bourguignon and Wagyu top sirloin au poivre with pommes frites.
Weekend brunch brings another side of French dining to the table – and happens to center on Fhima’s favorite meal.
“My favorite way to eat is breakfast,” he says. Guests can settle in over French toast, crêpes, classic French omelets and pastries from the family’s Motherdough Bakery. “There’s some magic that happens when you are there at 11 o’clock in the morning, listening to Edith Piaf and having a French omelet.”
Another defining piece of Maison Margaux is its extensive cellar. Fhima says his family’s collection totals roughly 35,000 to 38,000 bottles, with an especially strong representation of French and Bordeaux wines gathered throughout his career. The restaurant describes its cellar as featuring more than 35 selections by the glass, hundreds by the bottle and a private collection assembled over more than 40 years.
All of it reflects Fhima’s own international story. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a French, Moroccan, Spanish and Sicilian family, he grew up in Paris and London, studied in Geneva and began his restaurant career in Los Angeles before eventually making his way to Minnesota in the late 1990s.
Yet for all the attention paid to the architecture, cuisine and atmosphere, Fhima says Maison Margaux ultimately comes down to something much simpler: people.
“We are first and foremost about people, family and hospitality,” he says. The goal is to make every guest feel as though they are the only person being cared for in that moment. Whether someone arrives for a celebration or simply a meal, Fhima views those hours around the table as something deeply personal.
“There’s nothing more intimate than somebody giving you two hours and asking you to make those two hours special,” he says. “It’s a privilege to do that.”
Lori Fhima adds, "Our staff, led by our son, Elijah Fhima who embodies hospitality (maybe even more than chef David, if that's possible) are the main reason for our successes and growth."
After decades in restaurants, Maison Margaux feels like a culmination of Fhima’s experiences – his French culinary training, his family’s multicultural heritage, lessons learned across numerous restaurants and his connection to Minneapolis.
As Fhima puts it, Maison Margaux represents “the good that I’ve learned, the bad that I try not to repeat, and the new that I’m trying to create.”
And in the North Loop, that new creation has become a distinctly Minneapolis interpretation of Parisian hospitality.