Cedar + Stone, Urban Table combines local ingredients with high-quality service to create a perfect private dining experience.
Bloomington is quickly becoming a destination for thoughtfully curated private dining and event experiences. With its proximity to the airport, growing roster of restaurants with private dining options, and a reputation for “Minnesota Nice” hospitality, Bloomington is an ideal location for corporate parties, cocktail receptions, and private dining for groups of all sizes.
Located inside the JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America, Cedar + Stone, Urban Table is a standout restaurant that blends local flavors and international cuisine. The restaurant’s high-quality service and customizable menus create a seamless experience.
To learn more about Cedar + Stone’s appeal as a dining space for groups and guests alike, we spoke with Executive Chef Kunal Dighe and Executive Sous Chef Nagi Elshahabi.
Executive Sous Chef Nagi Elshahabi
Q: What has your career been like, and how are you bringing your experience into your position as head chef at JW Marriott?
Dighe: I’ve been working with the company for close to 10 years. I started my career opening the JW Marriott in Vancouver. I successfully ran the hotel, and we set up the food and beverage operation with a very hefty wedding program over there… that’s how I got transferred to the Marriott here. I wanted to bring all the diverse experience I have and provide international cuisine options to Minnesota and Midwestern clients.
Q: How does Cedar + Stone, Urban Table at JW Marriott attract groups and visitors? What are some of the “top sellers” for groups and events that come to the restaurant?
Dighe: To attract groups and visitors to Cedar + Stone, we are open for custom dinners. We have a very diverse team of chefs here, from different parts of the world. We want to show Midwest clients that you can come to the JW Marriott not just for amazing food, but also an experience paired with top quality service. … Our focus is attracting groups and local clients by serving them a quality, customized dinner curated to their own palate. We want to give them intentional dinners where we can purposefully launch all the menus and create a unique experience that they won’t find anywhere else.
Q: What features make a restaurant stand out as an event venue?
Dighe: We focus on crafting intentional menus for our clients. If you want to have a birthday party, if you want to have a wine-and-cheese dinner, if you want to have a bridal party, this is a place to host your event. We don’t want to limit ourselves by having set menus.
Elshahabi: Having a live station for chefs makes us unique. The chefs make liquid nitrogen ice cream, carve various meats, and share knowledge about all the dishes. We can do a live pasta-making station or do live tasting menus, so there is a lot we can do to involve our guests.
Executive Sous Chef Nagi Elshahabi
Q: How does the hotel’s dining experience reflect its location in Bloomington/Minnesota?
Dighe: We have a commitment to our local farmers and vendors. We work with Hidden Stream Farms in Elgin, a small organization that collects different farms together and provides beautiful, high-quality seasonal items. We also provide Midwest-inspired dishes. One of our top sellers is our braised short rib, which uses local Minnesota beef.
Elshahabi: We try to have all local ingredients in our dishes, and we also have our own local farm: the JW Garden Farm. We use all the herbs inside to make most of our dishes. Any dish we have, has a different story. We have different section chefs, and each chef does their best to make sure a dish is delicious and has a nice presentation.
Q: What trends are you seeing in group dining? Has the demand for specific types of dining changed over the years?
Dighe: The trend depends on what meal period you’re doing. If you’re talking about breakfast or lunch, people want a lot of healthy dishes. They don’t want complicated dishes, and they want to be able to pick out the ingredients in four or five items. They prefer simple salads where the dressing needs to be very light, with fresh crunchy vegetables. Dinner trends are very different. Many people want to go back to the classics. They gravitate toward nicely done pastas, and our pizzas are popular. We are proud of our unique flavors, flours, and cheeses which all come locally from Wisconsin. People often ask what cheese we are using because they want to know the origin of the ingredients, which is a big trend as well.
