Serving up Italian at West End

Chef J.P. Samuelson seems to be in a state of constant motion as he prepares for the late-March opening of Sopranos Italian Kitchen at the in St. Louis Park.

During a 15-minute time span earlier this month, Samuelson went over dinnerware samples and then chatted with a prospective hire for his kitchen staff. This was right after he bounded into the restaurant after meeting with a coffee vendor to decide on what types of hot beverages to serve in the restaurant.

Meanwhile, workers from Diversified Construction in St. Louis Park were sawing and hacking away as they ripped out the old bar used at Ringo, the restaurant that closed last year in the nearly 8,000-square-foot space.

The restaurant itself is the concept of Kam Talebi and his Kaskaid Hospitality, which owns the Crave line of restaurants, including Crave West End near the Sopranos site.

Samuelson himself has been with the operation since the end of December, when he left the downtown Minneapolis restaurant Solera after two years as its executive chef. The new general manager for Sopranos, Billy Ellis, has only been there about two weeks after leaving the Edina Grill.

The group's goal is to have Sopranos open by March 28.

Samuelson sat down with St. Louis Park Patch recently for a quick chat about opening the new restaurant.

St. Louis Park Patch: What goes into opening up a restaurant?

J.P. Samuelson: They're all different. It kind of really depends. This one, (Kam Talebi) and the guys from Crave had this concept … My background, I worked for D’Amico Cucina for three years before I moved to New York, and then was chef when I came back for three years. So I had a long history in Italian food. It's a real passion of mine … So Kam and I hit it off. He had this concept. Without calling it an Italian steakhouse, that's kind of what it is … When I came on board, they let me run with the idea.

St. Louis Park Patch: What do you think about the West End area?

Samuelson: I think it's the right place at the right time. I was amazed. I had never really been out here. I'm kind of a Southwest Minneapolis guy ... I had no idea it was like this. Crave next door is going gangbusters, two hour waits to get in on the weekends in the summertime. But it has the right feel. It's really convenient … It's centrally located.

St. Louis Park Patch: What can people look forward to at Sopranos?

Samuelson: This is going to be a little more foodie than Crave is. It's a little more food-centric, but it's going to be fun and accessible. The kitchen is going to be really open. We're going to have the chefs back there cooking in T-shirts with the European-style striped apron and the little skull caps. The whole idea is that we're taking the food seriously, but we aren't going to take ourselves too seriously … I think what sets it apart is people are going to come in and say, “Wow, this is great, and it's great value.”

St. Louis Park Patch: So how affordable is the restaurant going to be?

Samuelson: It's going to be really affordable. Lunch, we're going to be anywhere from $7 to $15. Dinnertime, we're going to have really affordable appetizers, same range, $7 to $15. Pastas are going to range from $10 to $15, maybe $16 or $18. We're going to have rotisseries, a half chicken, a full chicken you can order, have a salad. There are going to be all kinds of options. Steaks are going to be in the $17 range. Some are going to go over $30 because that's the nature of a good steak. But if you don't like that, you can have a pizza and a salad, or a chicken and a salad.