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by Sue Orsen/The Victoria Gazette Said Kim Heenie, “It’s a dream come true. Kevin and I had only been gone from Island View a couple weeks when I got a call from Mary, asking if I’d like to start a new restaurant in downtown Victoria. We’ve been planning and working together ever since.” Kim and her chef husband Kevin Heenie operated Island View Dining in Waconia from 1991 to 2016, when their lease was unexpectedly not renewed. That Waconia restaurant had been their home away from home for 25 years. Now their new restaurant will have the same zip code as their family home: Victoria MN 55386. Mary Meuwissen is a former Mayor of Victoria (1995-2002), current partner at Counselor Realty with offices in downtown Victoria, owner of the Creamery property since July 2005, and, most significantly, a partner with her husband in Michael Homes. Michael Homes has been constructing award winning homes for nearly 40 years. Kim Heenie and Mary Meuwissen were friends prior to this project. Kim has brought Mary to Minneapolis restaurants to show Mary what she likes and what she thinks works well. Said Mary, “I didn’t know some of those places existed.” And Mary has shown Kim design and construction elements that Kim didn’t know existed. Together, they are creating a powerful presence in downtown Victoria. The restaurant is expected to open this spring. The name Winchester & Rye was chosen by Kim and Kevin Heenie, and not without significant thought and consideration for their venture. Kim’s heritage includes bootleggers from up near Holdingford, MN. Kevin’s heritage includes gunsmiths from Connecticut. To be more exact, Kim’s great grandparents made some of the best rye and corn whiskey in the State of Minnesota while Kevin’s grandfather created custom handcrafted woodstocks for Winchester, purchased by royalty as well as commoners. What will be on the menu? Replied Kim, “We took top sellers from our menu at Island View -- Pan Fried Walleye, BBQ Ribs, Cajun Chicken Sandwich, Hot Garlic Shrimp, Salmon Strawberry Salad, Our Chicken Wings, Mac-n-Cheese, Other Pastas, Burgers, Lettuce Wraps, Our Homemade Wild Rice Soup. We’ll be open for lunch and dinner.” As Mary Meuwissen said, “Kim and Kevin are doing the restaurant. Mike and I are doing the building. We started plastering walls inside the creamery last summer. We chose to delay the build-out until fall so we wouldn’t interfere with Classic Car festivities. In other words, the project went from a summer build to a winter build. Our official project start was October 1st, 2018.” Has the weather affected the project? Replied Mary, “Winter has its challenges. Weather impacts the bricklayers and other trades. The big snowfalls make tight parking for the contractors and trucks making deliveries. We tried not to disrupt downtown traffic flow.” Winchester & Rye is on its way to becoming the gem of Carver County. In some respects, it could very well be unequaled or unsurpassed in the Twin Cities metro area if not in the entire Midwest. Indeed, as with other venues in downtown Victoria, Winchester & Rye is not a cookie-cutter establishment. Nothing in downtown Victoria is cookie-cutter. It is evident that this restaurant, too, will have a personality and character all its own. When you see the parapet around Victoria’s old creamery building, you know it will be a singular establishment -- like a cool castle that is excited to open its doors and windows to the entire kingdom, far and wide. Even though Winchester & Rye will loom large on the downtown scene, it already seems to contribute to Victoria’s small town charm, partly because it has retained the historical Creamery building, and also because its floor to ceiling windows create a wide-open hospitality to the entire community.
THE REST OF THE STORY IS IN THE PAPER EDITION. |
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Sue’s Album A symphony of photos and fewer than a thousand words at www.VictoriaGazette.com |
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March 2019 |
