Growing up in Columbia, Luis Patino was surrounded by family and a culture where the sharing of food is a way to express love. After emigrating with his parents to the U.S. at the age of 5 years, Luis learned from his mother to cook the foods of Columbia as a way to stay culturally grounded.
Having launched a successful food truck and catering business in 2012, Luis and his Café Racer are ready to put down roots in the Seward Neighborhood. Luis, along with his wife Christine, have leased the old Donut Co-op/Clicquot Club building at 29th Avenue S & E 25th Street and plan to open a café/restaurant there in March.
Luis and Christine are both graduates of Hamline University. Luis’ restaurant experience includes front-of-house and event management at Common Roots Café. He previously worked as a paralegal in immigration law and with the Housing Preservation Project. Christine is a police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, and serves as Café Racer’s Operations Manager.
According to Luis, Café Racer Kitchen will serve “a full menu of healthy, Latin American inspired cuisine, featuring some of our favorites from the food truck and many new items as well.” The food truck favorites include the Pulled Pork Sandwich served on an arepa, a fine white cheesy cornmeal masa cake; and Colombian Streets Dogs, two all-beef hotdogs or soy dogs on a bun topped with pico verde, cilantro aioli, crumbled potato chips, sweet peppers and queso fresco.
One thing that characterizes Café Racer’s style of Latin cuisine, says Luis, is ‘the repeated themes of sweet and savory, crunchy and soft’. There are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free entrees, and side dishes including Carrot Soufflé, Roasted Vegetables, Saźon Rice and Sweet Plantains.
Café Racer Kitchen plans to be open Monday-Friday for dinner, and Saturday & Sunday for brunch and dinner. They have plans to use the patio for outdoor seating, and are pursuing a license to serve beer, wine and specialty drinks. For now, Luis and Christine are “polishing the building to the level it deserves and to preserve its historical feeling” in anticipation of a spring opening.
