Trees hold great significance in Grand Rapids, Minn. They grow in regimented rows on the outskirts of town and frame the Mississippi River that winds through the middle of it. And they serve as the anchor and inspiration for a new restaurant downtown.
Amanda and Kyle Lussier opened the Pines in June with a seasonally evolving menu, polished service and sleek Scandinavian design. It’s the kind of restaurant that would do just as well on any bustling corner of the Twin Cities, but it’s built by and for the people of this northern Minnesota town.
The seedling of the idea began during the pandemic, when the couple relocated to Kyle’s hometown. “Back when everything was weird,” said Kyle. Both of their hospitality jobs changed dramatically during the shutdown.
“We had the chance to stop and think, if we can live anywhere, where do we want to be?” he said.
They were drawn to Grand Rapids, a tight-knit community where you’re just as likely to run into your fourth-grade teacher at the grocery store as you are to spend a day on the lake with the loons as a soundtrack. Kyle had left after high school for what he calls “normal college” in New York. He graduated as an English major, which didn’t lead to a solid career path; he leaned on hospitality jobs for income.
“I always thought if my jazz drumming doesn’t work out, I can cook,” he quipped. But it was after relocating to Minneapolis that he discovered the culinary program at the now-defunct Art Institutes International Minnesota.
“It blew my mind that art could be food,” he said. The improvisation he used in his musical passion served him just as well in this new vocation.
Kyle embarked on a career that informed his ideal of a great restaurant. At a James Beard Award-winning restaurant in Portland, Ore., he saw what it took to work under the weight of accolades and expectations. In Minneapolis, he worked at Guthrie Theater’s Sea Change, with its sustainable seafood program and carefully orchestrated service to usher showgoers in and out. At Wise Acre Eatery, he learned to work with seasonal bounty, fed directly from the restaurant’s farm, and adopted the farmer/owner’s mantra: “Mother Nature tells me what to cook.”