Sample Circuit: JP Samuelson finds new adventure at Solera

Nearly two years ago I splurged on a $80 ticket at Solera restaurant in order to meet Anthony Bourdain on a book signing tour. Taking macho swigs of Heinekens and pumping up his bad-boy image by telling Rachel Ray jokes, he had me convinced he was the coolest chef ever. Fast forward almost two years – in that very building I meet Solera’s new chef who shattered any notion of how cool a chef could be.

Meet JP Samuelson.

Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

The most newsworthy move in the Twin Cities, next to the Loring Park cherry being taken off its spoonbridge, is JP Samuelson’s move to Solera restaurant. JP Samuelson, a gem in the Twin Cities dining scene, has traveled the United States, learning about different cuisines, honing kitchen skills, working under the prestigious David Bouley– yet his farm beginning was the fundamental experience in his culinary journey. “The farm got me into food without even knowing it,” he said. This chef who churns out gourmet dishes under the glitz and glam of the downtown skyline once picked beans and berries in his grandmother’s garden while watching the plow horses help his grandfather harvest corn and soybeans.

The very thing he noted as being an emerging trend among other chefs in the Twin Cities, he’s practiced for years – working small and focused. Insistence on quality ingredients and the fundamentals of classic technique is common among any chef who wants to be taken even half-seriously, but what makes Samuelson distinct is his ability to also reinterpret ingredients. Solera gives him the perfect opportunity to play this out with its Spanish tapas, or small appetizer plates, that are eaten in a communal style, and makes unfamiliar dishes more accessible to both the curious, and not-so-curious eaters.

Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

With a restaurant whose name literally translates to ‘stone base’, one wouldn’t expect much change within its walls. But nothing could be further from the truth. Tim McKee, Solera’s owner, and Samuelson have collaborated to create dinner events that are themed around different regions in Spain. “It’s more about the new food that’s going on in Spain and what the young chefs are doing there,” Samuelson said. As some argue that Spain is the center of the food universe at present, there’s no better place to emulate and explore.

There is one question I cannot refrain from asking chefs and it’s something along these lines – “Why do you continue in this line of work when pressure is high, money is tight, knives are sharp, nights are late, and backs get sore?” Besides feeling the same way about adrenaline the way college students feel about caffeine – a necessity in the veins – Samuelson says it’s the tangibility that comes with being a chef that keeps him in the kitchen. “We’re working with real stuff,” he said. Given his roots, he unsurprisingly adds, “It’s like being a farmer.” Back to where it all began.