Vincent Francoual, the acclaimed French chef behind Chloe by Vincent and, before that, Vincent A Restaurant, is parting ways with Restore Restaurant Holdings, the company that owns Chloe and EaTo in downtown Minneapolis.
Francoual said in a social media post that the decision came from wanting to spend more time with his family, including the daughter whose name graces the bistro in the Canopy by Hilton hotel where since December 2022 Francoual has been serving the southwestern French cuisine with which he grew up.
“It hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but I’ve chosen to search for different opportunities that will give me the flexibility to spend more time with my family: Brenda, Chloe, and of course, our dog Toby,” he wrote.
Chloe, at 700 S. 3rd St., Mpls., will lose the “by Vincent” in its name. Though changes won’t be noticeable at first, Chloe will gradually transform into a neighborhood American bistro, said Matt Monroe, who founded Restore Restaurant Holdings with his father, Dennis Monroe. Popular dishes such as French onion soup and beef bourguignon will remain on the menu.
Francoual’s departure gives the company a chance to change the direction of Chloe, from special occasion fine dining to something more casual for residents in the Mill District part of downtown Minneapolis.
“It’s hard to be a French restaurant in a hotel in Minneapolis,” Monroe said. “We need to reposition to have a broader appeal and also really speak to the neighborhood, like we did at EaTo,” which gets a majority of its business from locals and regulars.
“Chloe has the potential to do that, too, but right now it’s viewed as a little bit more of a celebration restaurant or a destination, instead of, ‘We can walk two blocks and get a good burger,’” Monroe said. “Vincent’s name attached to the restaurant, it complicates things, because there is this white tablecloth, fine dining stigma attached to who he is.”
The group is in the midst of a search for a new executive chef to oversee Chloe and EaTo’s culinary operations. They are also working with Serge Smith, formerly of Terzo, to make changes to the menus at the cafeteria at the Northstar Center in downtown Minneapolis, where they recently took over management of food concepts.