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Staff Profiles

Sarah Colianni Mixes Drinks and Conversation at the Bar

October 30, 2019 By Minneapolis Club Staff

Sarah Colianni, Minneapolis Club bartender, laughing with two patrons across the bar.

Sarah Colianni has been tending bar at the Club for about a year now, but it feels longer than that.

“That sounds bad, but I think that’s because of the setting,” she says. “Interacting with people at the Minneapolis Club, I’ve gotten to form better connections with the people who come and sit at the bar compared to other places I’ve worked at. It feels longer just because of how well I’ve gotten to know them.”

Some members say Sarah knows them better than anyone else; she says some consider her a friend. “It feels like family, almost – just making them feel comfortable.”

“It doesn’t feel like I’m doing a job – it just feels like a natural connection. It doesn’t feel like I’m going off a script.  It just flows really naturally.”

That natural flow, Colianni says, is informed by both her near-decade in the service industry and her Italian-American upbringing – which, to hear her describe it, comprised a lot of big family dinners and conversation.

“It’s just how I was raised. The whole [Italian] culture is kind of based on hospitality and making everyone feel welcome. You can’t teach hospitality – it’s just ingrained in me.”

Despite that intangibility, she’s had no problem sharing what she knows with other Club food and beverage staff, pulling from her experiences as a barista and mixologist at a number of Twin Cities institutions, including helping to open a distillery in St. Louis Park. At the Club, she’s helped with training materials, process improvement, and more.

“You can’t teach hospitality”

Still, Colianni’s passion for her work lies in the natural connections that occur across the bar, over drinks and between barstaff. “I worked in high-volume restaurants before, where you don’t get as much creativity to experiment,” she says. “That’s one thing I love about my job at the Club: people have the drinks they love, but then sometimes they branch out, and I get to introduce new drinks to them” and experiment with food and beverage staff to create all-new menu options.

Sarah Colianni, Bartender - Minneapolis Club

Members say Sarah even makes a “trademark” Old Fashioned – one so good, a visitor once said it was the best Old Fashioned he’d had in the USA. Others suggest that it should have its own special name, an idea that gains momentum when she mentions that her recipe includes a secret ingredient.

“I have no idea what to call it,” she says, adding, “If anybody has any suggestions…”

Visit the bar, try Sarah’s signature Old Fashioned, and maybe drop a name into the hat.

Filed Under: Staff Profiles Tagged With: Bar, Pub, The Grill

Sous Chef Missy Petersen Places a Premium on “Putting Time and Love into the Food”

July 19, 2019 By Minneapolis Club Staff

Missy Petersen

The day we spoke to her, Melissa “Missy” Petersen was wearing many hats in her role as Sous Chef – which is actually the norm for her.

In addition to her regular responsibilities – ranging from cooking, plating and quality control to communication and more – Missy was helping manage the kitchen during Executive Chef Håkan Lundberg’s vacation. (Even chefs need a break sometimes.)

This is where Missy thrives: in a place where her skills bring vital structure to the kitchen and her efforts are apparent in each plate, bowl and bite. “We have a lot of great tools to work with,” she said of the Club’s capacity to support inspiration and intuition. “I really enjoy coming up with new things.”

As Sous Chef, Missy’s role is defined equally by the skillset she brings and the needs of the Executive Chef and the kitchen at large. In her own words, “The chef has a grand scheme – it’s my job to execute that.” Her lifelong passion for food definitely helps.

“I always liked to cook,” she said. “I experimented with it a lot as a kid, and I always enjoyed good food. I feel like that sounds like a pretty typical chef upbringing…  and then I decided one day that that’s the direction I wanted to go.”

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu with the best of her class, she worked at Redstone American Grill, which she described as her first restaurant experience. “Coming from Redstone taught me a lot.” (She also helped launch a Redstone location in New Jersey, which she says gave her a bevy of insight into managing kitchen teams.)

Despite a lasting interest in cuisine and years of experience, she asserts that “chefs don’t know everything. We have to be open to learning from our staff and rely on them for what we don’t know.”

As an impromptu example, during our interview, Missy addressed questions from kitchen staff without missing a beat, meting out chickens for various dishes throughout the week. The interaction lasted all of 60 seconds, after which a clear plan of action was already in motion with all contingencies mapped.

Missy said her personality allows her to address situations like those, which require a certain degree of improvisation, with a level head. “There’s a lot that goes on at the Club, culinary-wise. I try to handle surprises as calmly as possible.”

Missy’s efforts (and those of the kitchen at large) are apparent in the Minneapolis Club dining experience, which Missy said is about more than food. “The Club’s dining experience is unique – it’s the service, it’s the food, it’s the ambiance. Dining is about the whole experience, and our members are proud to become a part of it when they come in for a meal.”

On the more recognizably culinary side of her role – that is, preparing and plating food – Missy prioritizes one thing above most other concerns: love of the craft.

“You have to put love and time into your food,” she said. “Passion and caring can be inherent, and knowledge is built over time” – and the “love” she’s talking about is what happens when the two meet. Members see both in action during Kitchen Table dinners, where groups can dine in the kitchen and back rooms to get a direct view of the passion and knowledge that create what’s on their plate. (For more information on Kitchen Tables, contact Catering or ask your server during your next meal at the Minneapolis Club.)

For Missy’s cuisine career, passion led to understanding, and understanding led to leadership. “We work as a family, working closely and watching each other’s back,” she said.

Filed Under: Dining, Staff Profiles Tagged With: Håkan Lundberg

Pastry Chef Ali Boril Creates Sweet Memories

May 31, 2019 By Minneapolis Club Staff

Ali Boril

Since relocating from California two years ago, Pastry Chef Ali Boril has continued the Minneapolis Club’s tradition of baking excellence, introducing inventive and fun new desserts while maintaining the high quality of popular favorites loved by members.

Boril is highly trained, with a background that includes graduating from the culinary program at Orange Coast College and a degree in Hospitality Administration and Management from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. She previously served as pastry chef at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, California. After moving to Minnesota, Boril accepted a position as a line cook at the Minneapolis Club under Chef Håkan Lundberg. When the position of pastry chef opened, she saw an opportunity to return to baking.

“I studied on the culinary side, but I eventually realized I loved pastry more,” says Boril. “Chef Håkan gives me so much freedom. I get to write my own menus and create my own specials. He’s always up for me trying any idea I have.”

Boril loves the wide variety of baking that she’s challenged with at the Minneapolis Club. “Chef Håkan is Swedish and I don’t have experience with Swedish desserts, so I look it up, fine-tune it and have him taste it. I just have to go for it and see how the flavors match. We create the same quality for each party – no matter if it’s five people or 500 people.”

Another attraction of baking at the Minneapolis Club is the rotating oven. This vintage mechanism has six levels that rotate up and down a shaft that measures a story and a half. Each level holds six sheet pans, allowing Boril to bake 36 full sheet pans at once – a huge advantage for a pastry chef who often caters weddings and events with hundreds of guests.

Boril is proud of a couple of new desserts she’s added to the Club’s menu. One is a delicious flourless chocolate almond torte with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. The other is an upscale take on the classic American donut. “We decided to do cinnamon sugar donuts. We have a lot of people who come sit at the bar, and it’s a fun dessert for when you’re hanging out, having a drink and being social. They come with caramel, chocolate and berry coulis for dipping.”

While she’s always experimenting with new desserts to provide a fresh taste, she’s also mindful of the need to maintain the high quality the Club members’ favorites. “The members are obsessed with banana cream pie! So, we do that often.”

Filed Under: Dining, Staff Profiles Tagged With: Ali Boril, Håkan Lundberg

Nuie Helps Make the Minneapolis Club a Weekday Oasis

May 2, 2019 By Minneapolis Club Staff

Nuie Marceau is one of the Club’s longest-tenured staff members and takes pride in observing what our members need and asking how she can better serve them. Nuie has seen many changes in the Club and our members over the years. This is especially evident in the way members work.

“I’ve been here a while, and times have changed,” Nuie said. “Jobs are different now, with more contract work. Sometimes, people are working three projects at different locations in a day’s time.”

Because of today’s more flexible – and challenging – schedules, Nuie wants to remind members that the Minneapolis Club can be their oasis in the hustle and bustle of downtown Minneapolis. “The Club offers many areas to plug in a laptop or meet with clients,” says Nuie. In between meetings, members can take advantage of the fitness center or the squash courts.

Nuie and the rest of our staff make sure that our members can stop in any time of day for refreshments or foods in addition to the complimentary coffee available in the Reading Room and the Pub upstairs. She hopes that members will remember that they can take advantage of these perks instead of navigating a noisy, crowded coffee shop.

She’ll also make sure that you can satisfy your hunger any time of day. “You have to be open to what the members want,” she says. “We don’t shut down during the day. Between meetings, stop in for a bite or a cup of coffee. If you skipped lunch to work out and it’s 2 p.m., come in and have a sandwich.”

If you do, you can look forward to seeing Nuie’s smiling face.

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Filed Under: Staff Profiles Tagged With: Pub, Reading Room

Reduce Pain, Increase Strength and Flexibility with Our Certified MAT Trainer

May 2, 2019 By Minneapolis Club Staff

Muscle Activation Technique trainer stretching client

Legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning retired at the pinnacle of professional football, leading the Denver Broncos to win the 2016 Super Bowl. How was a 39-year-old quarterback still recovering from a debilitating neck injury able to end his career as a champion? His secret was a sports medicine discipline called Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) pioneered by Denver-based trainer Greg Roskopf.

MAT is based on Roskopf’s insight that tight and inflexible muscles are caused by muscular imbalances. When some muscles in the body fail to contract and fire properly, other muscles “pick up the slack,” becoming tight and inflexible.

MAT is an advanced training method, requiring trainers to undergo a rigorous certification process before they are qualified to administer MAT to clients. The Minneapolis Club is proud to have our trainer Kelly Nichols MAT certified.

“MAT is a powerful tool to assess muscular imbalances. With a more efficient and balanced muscular system, you are less likely to be in pain or to injure yourself,” says Kelly. “MAT helps find the cause of pain as well as helping you to recover or heal faster from a hard workout or injury.”

MAT is a powerful diagnostic tool for trainers. Through ongoing education, MAT-certified trainers like Kelly progress from treating the symptoms of injuries to addressing the underlying causes. More importantly, it’s not a “one size fits all” approach – MAT is a system that assesses each client individually to create solutions that fit their body and fitness level. This ensures that you’ll enjoy better performance in other sports or workout activities with less chance of injury.

“I’m always driven to continue my education in Muscle Activation Techniques to bring my best knowledge and service to the members and my clients,” says Kelly. “I love that MAT gives me the tools to assess and treat members in pain or just in need of that fine tuning. It brings a new knowledge and perspective to my personal training and allows me to make better decisions when designing workout plans.”

It’s this proven, customized approach to individual fitness that makes MAT a powerful training technique that delivers results for everyone from professional athletes to first-time fitness clients. If you’d like to learn more about how MAT can help decrease your pain and help you perform better, please contact Kelly Nichols in the Fitness Center.

To learn more about Muscle Activation Techniques visit www.muscleactivation.com

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Filed Under: Fitness, Staff Profiles Tagged With: Muscle Activation Techniques



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