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Heather Westwood

Five years ago, Sharif Wagdy moved to Minnesota with a vision: opening a restaurant combining the flavors of his Mediterranean culture with the new tastes of the United States.

Executive chef and owner of Blackstone Bistro, Wagdy owns two restaurants by the same name in Egypt. He said he decided to open one in St. Louis Park after living in Edina and searching for a good suburban area.

“I’m a neighborhood bistro. I try to be in the nice neighborhood areas so I was searching in the nice suburbs area and St. Louis Park is an amazing area with a great community,” Wagdy said. “The location of this is a prime location in the heart of St. Louis Park and surrounded by these beautiful apartments, we compliment each other, the apartments and me.”

Sophomore Sofia Jacobsson said she thinks it’s weird they chose St. Louis Park to open their first restaurant in America.

“I would’ve gone at least to the city, to Minneapolis. It’s kind of strange that they would do it in such a small place. Them coming from a different place in the world. St. Louis Park isn’t as diverse,” Jacobsson said. “Most people here don’t typically try ethnic food, in my opinion.”

The restaurant, supposed to open mid-October, opened March 17 because of complications within the building process, according to Wagdy.

“I design my own restaurants and I build my own restaurants and I’m very picky in how they look. Sometimes if I don’t like something, I take it down and then I rebuild it again,” Wagdy said. “I wanted to make sure that I represent the name and myself in the right manner.”

Wagdy said the process also took longer than a typical remodeling because he demolished the entire property rather than simply renovating.

“It’s not easy building a restaurant. Some people come into an area and they leave the same restrooms, they leave the same kitchen, they probably use the same equipment,” Wagdy said. “I demolished the whole property, took the kitchen out, took the bathrooms out and started from scratch.”

The food is very similar to what is served in his two Egyptian restaurants and is described as an American bistro with Mediterranean fusion and everything on the menu is his creation, according to Wagdy.

“When I say Mediterranean, it has Greek, Spanish, Italian and Moroccan touches into the food,” Wagdy said. “Our food is all made from scratch, everything is made in house. They are my recipes so whether it’s sauces, dressings, soups, everything is done in house and as per order. So when you come in and you order a soup, it’s made for you right then, it’s not prepped, nothing is prepped and sitting out.”

Junior Jennifer Montoya said she believes having a restaurant serving non-American cuisine is nice so people can explore different palates.

“It’s a good idea to have different restaurants like this so other people can learn about other food cultures,” Montoya said.

Wagby said his restaurant is family-oriented and caters to everyone.

“Everybody is welcomed. As long as they enjoy my food and enjoy the ambiance, that’s most important,” Wagdy said. “If you open the menu, you’ll see there’s a little bit for everyone. If you want steaks there’s steaks, if you want pasta, there’s pastas, pizzas, salads.”

The restaurant serves different menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is open from 7 a.m.-12 a.m. and takes reservations by phone and walk-ins.