Tim McKee
Executive Chef/Owner

James Beard Award-winning chef Tim McKee is one of the most recognized and respected chefs throughout the Upper Midwest.  He has the unique distinction of having earned multiple four-star reviews from the Star Tribune for his restaurants, Solera and La Belle Vie.  In addition, his talents have reaped well-earned praise from a wide range of regional and national food critics as well as his peers. His food style features intense flavors that are “balanced and presented in measured portions that compel the diner to savor each taste in turn.”

Like so many of the field’s most talented chefs, Tim McKee’s career in the food profession is the result of a fortunate detour. Born in Los Angeles and raised in St. Paul, Minn, McKee initially began cooking professionally while attending the University of Minnesota and majoring in anthropology and geology. In 1990, during his last quarter at the University, he took a job working at Azur under the direction of Chef Jay Sparks. McKee then made the fated decision to take a year off before starting a “real job” and stay on at the restaurant. This decision led to his transfer and appointment in 1993 to Sous Chef at D’Amico Cucina, another D’Amico & Partners restaurant. Just one year later, McKee was named D’Amico Cucina’s Executive Chef.

However, up until 1997, McKee still considered himself just “taking time off until I started my career.” Then Food & Wine magazine named him one of the country’s “Best New Chefs,” and he realized that perhaps he could make a career out of his love of cooking. And, he’s never looked back.

Within a year, he’d opened his own restaurant. Josh Thoma, who had worked with him as a Sous Chef at D’Amico’s, became his business partner. La Belle Vie received immediate critical acclaim. The intimate French Mediterranean restaurant served impeccable contemporary French cuisine in Stillwater, Minn. – a charming, historic river town community not far from the Twin Cities. It was the area’s destination restaurant. Couples frequently planned weekend excursions around dinner at La Belle Vie. Food & Wine again praised McKee, this time for his “marvels of Mediterranean cuisine.” Local and regional media showered the tiny restaurant with critical praise. And since its opening in 1998, La Belle Vie has consistently topped ZAGAT® Restaurant Surveys for the highest-rated restaurant in Minnesota.  

In 2003, McKee and Thoma opened their second restaurant, Solera. In contrast to La Belle Vie, Solera is a sexy, sleek homage to Spanish cuisine located in the heart of the Twin Cities theatre district. More than a 1,000 of the chef’s devoted food fans crowded the three-story establishment on opening night. Food & Wine again hailed McKee’s talents, naming Solera one of the “World’s 10 Best New Restaurants.”  The StarTribune named McKee and Thoma its first, “Restaurateurs of the Year.” Gourmet listed it as a top pick for “Where to Eat Now.” TV host and food celebrity, Chef Andrew Zimmern declared it a “foodie’s delight” and summed up the restaurant’s appeal by asking, “Can you say, ‘wow’ in Spanish?”
Then in 2005, McKee and Thoma turned the spotlight back on La Belle Vie when they announced they would relocate the restaurant to Minneapolis in response to demands from their Twin Cities fans. La Belle Vie’s stately new home at 510 Groveland is an appropriate setting for McKee’s exquisite cuisine. Gourmet recently named La Belle Vie to its list of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants.” In his four-star review of the restaurant, StarTribune, critic Jeremy Iggers announced, “What magnificent cuisine!” and declared La Belle Vie the serious gourmet’s “ultimate Twin Cities dining experience.”
Thoma and McKee followed up their success with La Belle Vie and Solera with two new and very distinct restaurants in 2008. Going in a completely different direction they created two creative, edgy, casual-style restaurant/bars. In May, they opened the jaunty and spicy, Smalley’s Caribbean Barbecue and Pirate Bar in Stillwater, Minnesota and followed it up with the irreverent Barrio Tequila Bar and Café in downtown Minneapolis in August.

Tim will be joining chef Rick Kimmes of the Oceanaire this weekend for Trout Fest.