Prince's former personal chefs announce plan to open Minneapolis café

The Birchwood Café is returning to the restaurant scene in Minneapolis under a new name.

Now called the Neighborhood Café, the upcoming Minnesota business was renamed by its new owners and will potentially re-open in late April.

The building was purchased by Juell Roberts, Ray Roberts, Mike Smith, and Jeff Zajac last month for $1.15 million.

Juell and Ray have years of cooking experience and were Prince's personal chefs.

They were inspired by the Birchwood Café’s original owner Tracy Singleton and Juell revealed that they are ‘filling the void.’

‘I was a huge Birchwood fan back in the day, and Tracy was a pioneer, and it's kind of just been sitting there, which is really sad,’ she added.

Juell and Roberts are the new co-owners of the Birchwood Café, which will now be called the Neighborhood Café. The eatery will potentially open next month

Juell and Ray have years of cooking experience and were Prince's personal chefs before his death in 2016

Juell was a baker, while Ray was the cook when they worked for Prince. The pair were his personal chefs for nearly four years

Singleton opened the restaurant in 1995 and was described as ‘a leader in the movement toward using more local, sustainable, and organic ingredients.'

The venue had been in Minneapolis since 1926 and according to CBS News, it used to be a dairy and grocery store.

‘We've had a lot of customers come in, who have been here since we opened, and all of them are saying, “Oh my gosh, it feels like home” or “It's like the first one, but better,” said Singleton back in 2014.

‘I was afraid of wrecking it by changing it but I really feel like we were able to make it better.’

Everything changed after the café threw a Juneteenth block party in 2021.

The café did not have the permits to throw the party, and shortly after the event, the staff was laid off and the restaurant shut down.

Now that the café rests in the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, the couple will be making several changes to the Minneapolis eatery.

The Birchwood Café was opened by Tracy Singleton in 1995. The building had been around since the 1920s

The restaurant shut down in 2021 following an un-permitted Juneteenth party and a massive employee layoff

The Roberts’ will start off by serving breakfast and lunch at the Neighborhood Café.

However, the personal chefs may add dinner entrees in the future.

‘Who we are is very much healthy food, but also Minnesota comfort,’ Juell told the Star Tribune.

The café menu will not be the same as the Birchwood but the Roberts’ plan to turn the business into a ‘very chef-focused’ restaurant.

The restaurateurs will also be getting help from Smith, the café co-owner, real-estate agent and owner of Hi-Lo Diner in Minneapolis.

Smith is helping with the cafe’s interior design and that the plan is to brighten the restaurant with ‘cream colors’ and ‘other cosmetic changes.’

Although Juell and Ray have appeared on social media to be busy with work and family life, this is their first new venture since the death of Prince.

The café menu will not be the same as the Birchwood but the new proprietors plan to turn the business into a ‘very chef-focused’ restaurant

The new restaurant will start out by serving breakfast and lunch, but may begin to serve dinner entrees in the future. The venture is the first project that the couple has been involved in since Prince's death

The pair worked as the ‘Purple Rain’ singer’s personal chefs for nearly four years up until his death in 2016.

Juell has posted multiple tributes to Prince on her Instagram in the years following his passing.

‘It was honestly the best thing in the world. There's no greater joy than that job,’ said Juelle, who did the baking.

‘We worked insane hours, and I was even pregnant for part of the time, and I don't know how we did it but it was just so much fun.’