Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Denne.
Hi Brendan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Brendan-started working at KFC at 16, swore he’d never work with food again after that. Became a line cook during college and loved the fast pace and atmosphere. Went on to move to Minneapolis and become a chef, working his way up through better and better restaurants.
Bryan- started in restaurants making pizzas and has held down every restaurant job there is but has mostly focused on the bar and hospitality side of things. Has worked all over the twin cities over the last 20 years and knows everyone.
We met in 2014 working at Lake & Irving and have remained friends who always had ambition of opening our own restaurant one day. We’re on a bowling team together and continued to hash out the plans between strikes (and gutters). When Brendan found out about the spot in Robbinsdale we jumped on it, he at the time was working as the Culinary Director for Travail down the street.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We were doing most of the renovations for opening ourselves during January-March 2026, a very hard time for all restaurants in the Twin Cities. It was a strange time to be not working in restaurants as we built our own, not knowing what opening day would even look like.
Other than that, pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Had many electrical and plumbing updates we didn’t expect, the walk in cooler broke down opening week, we had to install a new gas line to keep up with the equipment demands opening week, the heat went out several times, the sub floor in the kitchen had to be replaced, the grease trap had to be replaced, the list goes on… But hey, we made it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Risata Cucina?
We are an Italian American restaurant in downtown Robbinsdale. All of our pasta is made from scratch daily with flour imported from Italy. While the chef/owner has come from a more fine dining background, it was very important to us to create an environment that was welcoming to the neighborhood as well as affordable. We want to be both the special occasion restaurant and the quick beer and a bowl of spaghetti on a weeknight restaurant. The menu is made up of Italian American classics with some riffs but mostly sticking to making the best versions of dishes people know and love.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Creating a sustainable business for our employees, ourselves, and our guests.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Risatacucina.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risatacucina/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576452133773
