"Gavin Kaysen's Mediterranean room inside the Four Seasons, a $98 prix fixe worth the splurge. Book it to close a deal."
Gavin Kaysen put Mara on the ground floor of the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis in 2022, the Minnesota native's first hotel restaurant after building Spoon and Stable and Demi into the spine of the city's dining. It reads as a Mediterranean room with Midwestern manners: olive oil and citrus on the plate, lake-country warmth in the welcome. The format is a four-course prix fixe at $98, with a $75 wine pairing for the table that wants the full evening.
Kaysen, a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Midwest in 2018, sets the direction, and executive chef Martin Morelli runs the line day to day. The cooking pulls from the Mediterranean coast: wood-fired vegetables, house pastas, whole fish, a steady rotation of seasonal plates rather than signatures held in amber. The four-course prix fixe lands at $98 per person, and sommelier Mary Kennedy's $75 pairing is one of the more honestly priced wine flights in a hotel dining room. Mara sits on the ground floor at 245 Hennepin Avenue, and the kitchen opens to a chef's table for parties that want to watch the pass. For the wider field, see our guide to the best fine-dining restaurants worldwide and our list of the seven signs of a great restaurant.
The room is the most polished dining space downtown: high ceilings, deep banquettes, a sound level that stays at a hum even when full. Lighting is dim and flattering, tables are spaced generously, and the Four Seasons service standard means water glasses stay full without anyone hovering. Dress is smart; you will see suits closing business and couples in good clothes, and both fit. The adjacent Bar Mara handles the pre-dinner drink.
Book Mara to close a deal because the room is built for it: generous table spacing so a conversation stays private, a sound level that never forces you to raise your voice, and a fixed-price menu that takes the guesswork out of hosting. Reserve the chef's table if you want to impress, or a corner banquette if you want quiet. The bill is predictable, which matters when you are picking it up. For more of the city, see the Minneapolis dining guide.
Not for a budget night or a quick bite. The format is a $98 four-course prix fixe at minimum, and the pacing assumes you have the full evening to give it.
Yes, if you want a polished Mediterranean dinner with Four Seasons service. Gavin Kaysen, a James Beard Best Chef Midwest winner, sets the menu and executive chef Martin Morelli runs the line. The $98 four-course prix fixe is not cheap, but the room, the pacing, and the $75 wine pairing make it the most reliable special-occasion table in downtown Minneapolis.
Moderately hard for weekend prime time. Mara takes reservations on OpenTable, and Friday and Saturday evenings between 7 and 8pm go first, along with the chef's table. Aim two to three weeks out for a weekend; midweek you can often book within a few days. If your date is fixed, reserve as early as the window opens rather than gambling on a cancellation.
Plan on $98 per person for the four-course prix fixe before drinks, and $75 more if you add sommelier Mary Kennedy's wine pairing. With cocktails at Bar Mara, tax, and tip, a full evening for two runs comfortably past $300. It sits at the luxury end of Minneapolis dining, which is the trade you make for the Four Seasons setting and service.
Yes, it is one of the best rooms in the city for it. Tables are spaced generously enough to keep a conversation private, the sound level stays at a hum, and the fixed-price format means no awkward menu math while you host. Book a corner banquette for quiet or the chef's table to impress, and the predictable bill makes picking up the cheque painless.
Book on OpenTable. Weekend prime-time and the chef's table go first; aim two to three weeks out for a Friday or Saturday.
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Mara earns a place on our deal-closing list for its private prix fixe, generous spacing, and Four Seasons discretion.
See the deal-closing guide →