Twin Cities diners have long lamented the closing of Burch Steak, the four-star restaurant from chef Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre that closed during the pandemic and never reopened. Now the couple is ready to bring it back — at least in part.

Becker and St. Pierre are reimagining their restaurant Snack Bar (800 Washington Av. N., Mpls.) into St. Pierre Steak and Seafood, which will include favorites from both Burch and Snack Bar as well as more seafood options. The couple also own nearby Bar La Grassa and 112 Eatery.

"We decided to convert Snack Bar into a restaurant with a wider menu because of its great location in the North Loop next to Bar La Grassa," Becker said in a statement. "The conversation quickly turned to bringing back Burch's menu with a few additions and changes to fit into today's Minneapolis scene."

Becker told Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine that Snack Bar, a pizza and small-plates eatery that opened in 2019, didn't bring in the business they needed post-COVID.

For their new endeavor, the James Beard Award-winning chef is giving top billing to St. Pierre, his longtime spouse and business partner.

"Nancy has been my partner from the beginning and hasn't received the same attention for her hard work and passion, mostly because she never wanted it," Becker said. "For our latest restaurant, I wanted to give her the recognition she deserves."

Tom Wallace, The Minnesota Star Tribune
Steaks from Burch when the restaurant opened in 2013.

The original Burch Steak opened in 2013 and was a beacon on the corner of Franklin and Hennepin Avenues in Minneapolis' Lowry Hill neighborhood. With a formal dining atmosphere specializing in steaks on the main floor and a first-rate pizzeria in the lower level, Burch topped many best-of lists and was the Star Tribune's Restaurant of the Year. (The couple's 112 Eatery and Bar La Grassa also were restaurants of the year.)

"Once again, Becker has proved himself to be the Tom Hanks of chefs, that rare combination of prodigious skill coupled with an intuitively populist touch," then-restaurant critic Rick Nelson wrote in the recognition. He continued: "Like its sibling establishments, the Burch experience is buffed to a high gloss because St. Pierre and her front-of-the-house crew are fluent in the language of hospitality."

St. Pierre Steak and Seafood is set to open in early spring; Snack Bar will remain open for the time being.