August 26, 2019
The Grinning Mule coming near Plaza Midwood
The non-profit restaurant will be run by Heist’s former chef
The Grinning Mule is in an old mechanic’s garage off Commonwealth Avenue near Plaza Midwood. Kristen Wile/UP
A non-profit restaurant called The Grinning Mule will open near Plaza Midwood in mid-March, off Commonwealth Avenue on Morningside Drive. Behind the restaurant is Bart Kofoed, the founder of 2xsalt Ministries, and Scott Walker, whose name you may recognize as former executive chef at Heist Brewery.
The restaurant is in an old mechanical garage, with angled floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the front. When the restaurant opens, the front area will likely have lounge seating for guests to enjoy a drink while they wait for a table. The small dining room will hold 40 to 50 seats, and another 14 or so at the Italian glass-covered bar. There is also a small patio.
The menu will consist of tapas-style small plates with eclectic inspiration. The Grinning Mule represents a traveler, and the menu will reflect that global influence, as well. Daily specials will be inspired by what’s in season locally. Kofoed says he wants the restaurant to be a place where guests feel comfortable getting dressed up or stopping in as they are.
“We’re going to be elevated but our price is not going to be,” he says.
As for the non-profit aspect of the restaurant, Kofoed and Walker plan to hire workers who have spent time in prison or otherwise struggle to find employment. During his time at 2xsalt Ministries, which he has since sold, Kofoed said the one thing those he served needed most he could not provide.
“I kept hearing from the community, ‘We need jobs, we need jobs, we need jobs,'” he says. “… People who have come out of prison, they’re labeled forever, it’s like they’ve got a scarlet letter. They did their time, they deserve an opportunity to get back in.”
Kofoed, who worked in the restaurant industry two decades ago, says he swore he would never do so again. The ability to create jobs and provide job training drew him to open The Grinning Mule.
The restaurant will also have a food truck, which will be run out of the main kitchen. The food truck will be used for neighborhood events and to hold casual gatherings on the restaurant patio, like Panthers tailgates.
They hope to open The Grinning Mule in March, with the food truck and expansion of the non-profit happening later on.
“We have the experience and the intelligence to start off kind of slow but to grow into something march larger than what this portrays,” Walker says. —Kristen Wile
Scott Walker is an excellent chef – Scott and Bart have been collaborating on this design and menu for a long time and (pretentiously speaking for the neighborhood) we cannot wait for this elevated nearby location. Bring it on!