By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

The city’s historic Savage depot won’t be staying empty for long.

The Savage City Council approved a lease reassignment Monday night (Dec. 1) for a new bistro that will open sometime in January.

The action comes just two weeks after the Dan Patch Coffee Depot closed its doors. Annette Grant, owner of the Coffee Depot, has been involved in the lease reassignment deal and removed her equipment this week from the building, which is owned by the city and located in the town square parking lot between Highway 13 and 123rd Street.

James Lewis, of Savage, plans to reopen the depot as The Savage Depot, a bistro offering coffee, wine, beer and a menu of sandwiches, wings and appetizers in its place. He was in the depot during WinterFest to offer residents a place to come inside to warm up and to learn about his new business.

Lewis estimates the restaurant will be open for business in mid- to late-January.  

He said he plans to respect the historic nature of the building and build upon Grant’s vision to provide a gathering place for residents.

“I admire Annette’s passion and to make it a place for the community,” he said, “And I want to maintain the historic nature of the building.”

Lewis subscribes to the “third place” theory where people traditionally have three places they are comfortable – their home, work and one other place. “Think of Norm in the TV show ‘Cheers,’” he said to illustrate the theory.

“I want to create an environment where people will be comfortable,” he continued, “Where people can come with their kids, as a couple or with friends to enjoy themselves.”

Downtown bistro

Lewis’ vision for The Savage Depot is to be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He describes the food menu as “light fare” and “gourmet” which will include bakery and breakfast sandwiches in the morning; and sandwiches, soups and salads for lunch and dinner. He’s also planning to offer flat bread choices for pizza and appetizers.

Coffee and other traditional beverages will also be on the menu, as will beer and wine.

But the beer and wine choices won’t be something that can be found anywhere, Lewis said. Rather, he plans on offering “unique” beers and wine. “We’ve identified some regional beers from micro breweries in the upper Midwest,” he said.

Wine choices will be unique, too, from small vineyards in Canada and California. “These will be exquisite wines that you won’t find just anywhere,” he said.

And, he’s hoping to expand the menu choices to wings, chicken and fish, but that will depend on getting specialized kitchen equipment that will allow food to be cooked and vented properly in a smaller area where traditional commercial stoves and cooking equipment won’t fit.

Lewis admits fitting a restaurant into a historic building is a challenge, but he’s up for it. In his presentation to the city’s Depot Task Force last week, he said two of the challenges are the interior steps leading from the upper to lower level and the lack of signage on the site.

The city has agreed to allow Lewis to remove the steps. The steps are worn and loose, but they were kept in place when the city renovated the depot because the city’s namesake, M.W. Savage, is thought to have walked those steps when he moved his International Stock Food Farm to town in the early 1900s.

The Dan Patch Historical Society will take possession of the steps. Lewis wants to put in a ramp in place of the steps to make the building handicapped accessible on the inside.

As well, signage is needed.

City Administrator Barry Stock told the City Council that he is working with Lewis on a cost-share arrangement for a sign on the site. The challenge is that city ordinance currently no longer allows for pylon signs (signs on a pole) in the downtown area.

Monument signs, however, are allowed, so Stock said the city is looking at its options.

Fast turnaround

Stock said the city didn’t want the depot to sit empty for a long time.

And he said the reason for the fast turnaround is that Grant and Lewis are friends. As well, both of them had submitted proposals for a coffee shop when the city was looking for tenants in 2006.

“When we originally put our bid in for the spot we had no idea that we’d go up against Annette,” Lewis said, “We know her from our church and we couldn’t stand in the way of her dream for the place, so we withdrew our plans.

“But when this opportunity became available, we knew we couldn’t pass it up,” he added.

Lewis’ business background is in the high-tech industry, where he worked for many years. He also stated a company from the ground up that specialized in using robotics to record CDs. Lewis sold that business to his biggest competitor four years after he started it, and vowed to stay on after the sale for a transition period.

“Eight years later, I was still sitting at the same desk,” he said.

So, he resigned with plans to open another business; but his wife, Karen, beat him to the punch. She opened Ficus & Fig in the Heart of the City in Burnsville several years ago.

“I watched her go through that process, and frankly, I was jealous,” he said.

So after a few years of being a stay-at-home Dad, he decided to move forward with his own plans. “I knew I wanted to do something community based and fun,” he said.

The bistro idea fit the bill, Lewis said, and if it works, his long-term goal is to open similar businesses in other suburban communities.

“A lot of people are telling me I’m crazy to do this at this time with the economy the way it is,” he said, “But I look back to when I started my technical company and I heard the same things.”

Stock said the terms of the lease arrangement give Lewis six months free rent, just as the city did with Grant when she first moved in. However, this time, the city is requiring the next six months of rent to be paid up front – so Lewis must hand over a check for $6,435 on Jan. 1, 2009.

 Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.