Nicholas Aadland and brother Riley will be offering grab ‘n’ go lunches and take ‘n’ bake dinners at the Brothers’ Table, expected to open in late February in the northside building long known as Jerry’s Supper Club. Photo/Russ Hanson
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
It’s the age-old question parents ponder on the nightly commute home – “What’s for dinner?” A pair of brothers aims to provide a healthy and convenient answer beginning next month with their first food enterprise, the Brothers’ Table.
“We’re parents ourselves. We know what it’s like,” says Riley Aadland, who with brother Nicholas is renovating the old Jerry’s Supper Club for their new venture. “You’re tired. They’re hungry. It’s easy to order a pizza – but we want to offer a more nutritious choice.”
Their focus: healthy farm-to-table eating. With the help of chef Julie Walsh, they’re getting ready to offer a revolving menu of choices for lunch and dinner. Julie, who operates the Detroit Deli food truck in summer, will prepare a list of the sandwiches she’s made locally famous at lunch time, along with standards like hamburgers plus weekly specials.
“It’s all grab ‘n’ go,” Riley explains. The Brothers’ Table does not include eat-in facilities, “at least not for now.”
Come dinner time, they will offer a variation of that theme when they open in February. “Take ‘n’ bake,” he announces. “You’ll be able to pick up a pan of lasagna or beef bourguignon and take it home to heat up for the family.” Salads and other sides will also be available, along with a variety of sauces, pickles, salsas and other extras from local companies in a small market area.
The core concept, the brothers explain, is to source wholesome food locally. The farm-to-table approach offers a way to not only guarantee the quality of their product but to support local growers.
The Aadlands are incorporating catering into their business; they already have a contract to provide lunches for one local day care. While their remodeling to date has focused on adding a brand-new kitchen to the venerable building at the corner of 11th Street and 15th Avenue North, the main area occupied by Jerry’s will eventually get new life, too, as a venue for weddings, corporate meetings and other events.
“We intend to host some events of our own as well,” Riley adds, “like dinner theatre experiences.” The large stage from the Jerry’s era could host entertainers or plays later this year.
In the meantime, the brothers – who grew up near Veblen, South Dakota – say that pandemic restrictions aren’t the only reason, or even the main motivation, behind their take-out-based business.
“Life isn’t slowing down at all,” Riley observes. “That’s our real push. We think we can take a little of the strain off the shoulders of busy families by putting healthy, local good eating on their plates.”
For more information on the Brothers’ Table, visit their new website, brotherstable.com.
