Plus, updates on Burnsville’s incoming Pacifica Square food hall and Asian supermarket, and chef Justin Sutherland wins an Emmy
After a nine-year run, Twin Spirits Distillery’s last day of service will be Saturday December 30, the distillery announced on Instagram. Founder Michelle Winchester opened Twin Spirits as the Cities’ first “one-woman-owned” distillery in 2014, helping catalyze Minnesota’s craft spirit boom. After buying a 1920s property on Northeast’s Central Avenue, she spent two years rehabbing it into a cozy, intimate cocktail room, installing copper stills and barrels in the back. Small greenhouses outside the distillery provided fresh rosemary, mint, and other herbs for cocktails; vodka, gin, rum, and whiskey were distilled onsite. (Twin Spirits’ moonshine, made from a base of pure Minnesota honey, was distilled just once a month on the full moon.)
Winchester wrote on Instagram that mounting health issues led her to the decision to close. “This year took a toll on me and I have decided to give myself the proper attention I require,” she wrote. “I do not have the time nor energy to give Twin Spirits the time it deserves.” She thanked her staff and customers, saying she has “truly enjoyed not only creating a new chapter in my life by starting this business, but also meeting so many fabulous customers and making so many new friends.” The distillery is currently on the market — Winchester wrote that she hopes a new owner will emerge to keep it open. In the meantime, those cozy winter greenhouses are open for bookings through the end of the year, and Winchester told Eater in an email that Twin Spirits can continue to distill spirits for bottles and cocktail kits through May.
Pacifica of Burnsville, the food hall and Asian supermarket coming to Burnsville Center, has lagged behind its original opening date of January 2023 — and as Bring Me the News reports, it may be delayed even further. The Burnsville City Council will vote tonight on an amendment to a $1.1 million grant linked to the mall, which would extend its “substantial completion” date to July 30, 2024. However, Windfall Group, the developer behind the project, told Bring Me the News that the food hall and market are on track for a grand opening by March 2024, a few months ahead of the requested extension date. Either way, Pacifica Square seems set to open next year, adding to the metro’s growing slate of Asian malls and marketplaces.
Handsome Hog and Northern Soul chef Justin Sutherland took home an Emmy over the weekend, clinching the award for Outstanding Culinary Host. On his series Taste the Culture, Sutherland travels the country to spotlight “untold BIPOC stories in the food space,” hopping from a Harlem cocktail bar to Atlanta cult-hit Slutty Vegan to a Black-owned family farm in Grayson, Georgia. He was nominated alongside Andrew Zimmern, Kardea Brown, Ina Garten, Guy Fieri, and Emeril Lagasse.