Café Levain

Harvey McLain, Owner

The seed for Café Levain was planted when owner Harvey McLain opened the doors of The Turtle Bread Company in Minneapolis’s Linden Hills neighborhood in 1996.  Since that time, he opened two additional Turtle Breads in Downtown Minneapolis and South Minneapolis, the latter of which provided enough additional space for McLain to start thinking bigger about his business scope.  After three years of operating as the well-known fine dining Restaurant Levain, Café Levain was launched in 2007 as a French bistro with a full menu of comfort food done right.

Adam Vickerman, Executive Chef

Home is where the heart is, and for Adam, Café Levain is home. Adam first started at Levain under Chef Steven Brown in the fall of 2004, while it was still Restaurant Levain.  At on 18, he worked as a prep cook and worked his way through the entire hot line.  Although he departed in the fall of 2006, Adam would never forget the first kitchen he worked in, where he learned so much professionally and personally.

Restaurant Levain was reincarnated as Café Levain in 2007, with Adam on part-time helping his good friend and Chef Eric Sturtz . Eric’s time at Café Levain and in Minneapolis lasted until February 2008, when love called to him from Duluth. Adam was promoted to Chef and you would think the rest was history – but after a year, Adam was pegged to open Harvey’s Italian restaurant, Trattoria Tosca. A tremendous experience and opportunity, Adam stayed on as Executive Chef until January 2010, when he again felt the need to spread his wings. This time, Adam landed at Sea Change Restaurant and Bar at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Adam was promoted to Sous Chef at Sea Change in August of 2010, but the itch to return to cooking and to and Café Levain was growing in him. The urge to return to Café Levain was always there – the timing, however, was never right – until March 2011.  Now, Adam is back, cooking on the line nightly and running this French bistro with his lovely crew of misfits. Adam is finally, once again, at home.