Latin-infused bistro opening in Kenyon

Driving to Kenyon to scope out a potential location for a new restaurant, Cristian Pinos felt a surprising sense of homecoming.

For all the difference in climate and terrain — not to mention culture — the countryside of southern Minnesota reminded him of rural Ecuador, where he grew up.

Cahill Bistro, the Edina-based eatery founded by Pinos and his brothers Alberto and Carlos, is set to open a new location in Kenyon during the week of Rose Fest. The restaurant is located at 632 2nd Street, the former location of Lacey’s Kitchen and Cocktails.

Pinos described the restaurant as “Latin American-infused” — not beholden to any one country or cuisine.

“I didn’t want to do Ecuadorian cuisine. What we like to do is a little fusion, taking something from here to here to create new dishes,” he said.

Customers can expect scallops and risotto alongside South American fare like empanadas and roasted meat slathered with chimichurri, an Argentinian sauce made from a blend of herbs and olive oil. Pinos highlighted several of their dishes he expects to be a hit, including pan-seared walleye, a pulled pork sandwich with caramelized onions, salsa and avocado and his personal favorite, a rack of lamb with chimichurri and roasted potatoes on the side.

Pinos will retain the dishes from their Edina location for the most part, condensing the lunch and dinner menus to a single menu and reducing the prices due to the lower cost of doing business in Kenyon. At the outset, he plans to open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, potentially reworking the hours based on when customers show up.

He plans to serve breakfast on the weekends, opening at 9 a.m. The breakfast menu includes chilaquiles, Eggs Benedict with tomatillo salsa in place of Hollandaise sauce and huevos divorciados — “divorced eggs” — a variant of huevos rancheros that’s split down the middle, one egg topped with green salsa and the other with red.

Pinos moved to the United States in 2005, several years after his brothers. After many years working in restaurants, they opened the original Cahill in late 2017, naming it for Edina’s Cahill Road to make it easy for customers to remember. Having worked in restaurants that refused to make substitutions or adjustments for customers, he prefers to run things differently.

“I’ve worked in restaurants that were like that, you cannot change. I said to myself, when I have my own restaurant, I will make everybody what they want. If the kitchen cannot make it, I’ll go back there and cook,” he laughed.

Pinos wants to make food that everyone can eat. With the exception of the sandwiches, most of Cahill’s offerings are gluten free. The menu includes vegetarian options, which he’s happy to make vegan if necessary.

While his brothers will continue running the Edina location, Pinos will focus on the new Kenyon location with other family members including his sons and nephew. Love and food and cooking goes back generations in his family, and some of his relatives still own restaurants in Ecuador. He plans to staff the restaurant with family on opening day, but he’ll start hiring once he has a clear idea of how many employees he needs.

Pinos said he’ll need bartenders after the restaurant opens. Unlike the Edina location, the new restaurant has a license to sell liquor. In addition to a selection of wine and beer, he plans to offer mixed drinks and shots.

In the time he’s spent preparing the restaurant, Pinos has met many of his future customers and gotten a feel for the community. He hopes to move to town permanently when the opportunity arises.

“I love Kenyon. I’ve just been here for a couple months but I really like it,” he said.

Pinos said opening the original Cahill Bistro was a risk, and he’s ready to take another one. In the future, Pinos would like to offer catering services, rent out the space downstairs for private events and open an Airbnb in the rooms above the restaurant.

However, his first priority is launching the restaurant. He compared opening a business to watching a baby grow up — it needs to learn to crawl, then walk, before it’s ready to run.