Chef Andrew Zimmern, star of the Bizarre Foods franchise on the Travel Channel, is set to launch his first restaurant in Minneapolis later this fall. The Chinese street food concept Lucky Cricket will be crafted by David Shea and Tanya Spaulding of locally based architecture and design practice Shea Design.
A vibrant palette and an eclectic assortment of furnishings will transport diners to the streetscapes of China and beyond. Intertwining industrial and natural materials, the contemporary design will juxtapose traditional Chinese imagery to pay homage to the power of yin and yang. Illuminated by red dome lights, the 115-seat main dining room will also boast a street market theme with a central gold banquette fixed beneath a suspended sculpture comprising found fishing baskets and traps. Floor-to-ceiling bamboo poles will span the walls alongside bright red and green booths, accented by wooden tables and black chairs.
Two Chinese tuk tuks will also serve as focal points of the interior, with one on the patio and the other in the 72-seat tiki bar and lounge. The space will also be appointed with a thatched straw roof installed above an L-shaped bar topped in bright green. Yellow high top bar chairs will complement the bar’s bamboo face. Two large Polynesian masks on the back bar will shield slushie machines, and tabletops will be adorned with collages of imagery from vintage Tiki album covers to related memorabilia of the 1940s and ’50s.
