09/21/2026
Our chef and owner Nicole Pederson-Bates grew up in Minnesota and learned the art of pancakes while working front of house at a certain Midwestern chain restaurant. Later, while serving at Tulips in St. Paul, she would stand in the back of house and watch the staff break down tenderloin—until one day the chef interrupted her observation to ask when she was going to enroll in culinary school.
After pancakes (and school), she spent her career cooking in fine dining kitchens of Chicago, New York, Vail Valley, and France before making her way back to the Twin Cities in 2019. The decision to take over the former Groundswell space came from a deep love for Hamline-Midway (where she and husband/co-owner Andrew also live) and the dream opportunity to take the culinary zeal she's always had and direct it toward her own place and her own people.
