Minneapolis

Destinations

21 Nov

DESTINATION GUIDE WITH LIZ GARDNER

Minneapolis Design City Guide: A Curated Journey with Liz Gardner

Minneapolis has a quiet, luminous energy, shaped by lakes, winter light, and a deep appreciation for craft. Few capture its spirit better than Liz Gardner, the multidisciplinary creative behind Maison Bodega, whose world moves between art, materiality, and community.

Like the historic home she inhabits, Liz is richly layered: creative director, stylist, historian, product designer, salonnière, a multi-hyphenate long before the term was coined. Her practice is shaped by research, intuition, and a meticulous attention to detail.

Through her lens, Minneapolis reveals itself as a city of nuance: modern architecture framed by woodland, thoughtful cultural spaces, independent galleries, intimate studios, and neighbourhood gems rooted in authenticity. Liz’s guide invites you into this world: intentional, soulful, and quietly magnetic.

NOVEMBER 2025
Words: designeers, LIZ GARDNER

A BREAKFAST AND COFFEE STOP:

Cardamom

Cardamom, the restaurant within the Walker Art Center is a go-to for breakfast, think incredible pistachio lattes and Turkish eggs. With a view of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, you can choose an indoor spot at the bar or a communal table on the patio depending on the season.

FAVOURITE art gallery:

The Weinstein Hammons Gallery

The Weinstein Hammons Gallery is tucked in the neighborhoods between Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet, but its reach is international. Representing culturally significant artists like Erik Madigan Heck and Cass Bird, they also have a commitment to compelling retrospectives like Gordon Parks and Robert Mapplethorpe.

FAVOURITE DESIGN MUSEUM:

Walker Art Center

The Walker offers a perfect mix of design inspiration and the nourishment of nature. Set alongside the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, you can walk the grounds filled with native prairie grasses, trees filled with soothing wind chimes and peruse public art by Jenny Holzer, Claes Oldenburg and Siah Armajani. The iconic museum structure was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and upon entrance, you’ll find world-class exhibitions like Sophie Calle’s Overshare, a recent favorite.

a cocktail bar:

Small Hours

Small Hours is a Hi-Fi Wine Bar created by Sarina Garibović and Sam Cassidy. Merging a listening room with the most interesting wines and small plates, it's the best place for aperitivo.

a FINE DINING RESTAURANT:

Myriel

Kat Tomilson has been an advocate for farm-to-table well before that was cool. Her James Beard award winning restaurant in St. Paul, Myriel, merges the heartfelt sensibilities of sourcing from farmers she knows by name, with dishes presented on antique plates and linens sewn by her mother, with a flavor palette and sensibility that has caught the attention of the world.

place to find art, furniture, design objects:

Ginny Sims Ceramics

Imagine a Robinson Crusoe-style studio nested in the treehouse: Ginny Sims has a point of view rooted in a rigorous study of Staffordshire and traditional ceramics oeuvre, but with a slightly irreverent presentation. She offers her collection of pitchers, mugs, plates, candlesticks and vessels in online “drops” that sell out in minutes. If in Minneapolis, you can visit her space and get first dibs.

An artisan everyone should know about:

Studio Alluvium

Studio Alluvium is the workspace and showroom of ceramic artists Zoë Powell and Mitch Iburg. Located in Saint Paul, it functions as a space dedicated to the research and use of the state’s diverse clay and mineral resources. I’m fascinated by their commitment to the geological underpinnings of the raw material and how they translate to their distinctive styles. A fascinating duo.

Favourite concept store for design inspiration:

SENTi

SENTi is a shop that focuses on the five senses. Rooted in a love of fragrance, owner Jen Knoch, taps into the sentimental with charming miniatures, exclusive lines of fragrance from Milan, Italy and Grasse, France (the home of fragrance as we know it), as well as collectibles for the home. Insider tip: book a ‘Scent Session’ for you and friends, where she will familiarize you with fragrance families, the history of scent all with a side of bubbles and small bites.

A design hotel to stay in:

Alma

Situated above Alma, the James-beard award winning restaurant and café by Alex Roberts, the 8-room hotel features the design details of multi-hyphenate Talin Spring. Embroidered blankets from Morocco, chairs woven by women artisans in Africa, there is a collected sensibility to the rooms that simultaneously feel warm and fresh. Rooms include the culinary offerings of the café as well as proximity to the cobblestone paths along the Mississippi River.

Your go-to bookstore or magazine shop:

Isles Studio

Stepping into Isles Studio is like entering the most magical menagerie. One of my favorite parts is Jeff's collection of books, always a go-to for design inspiration.

An iconic architectural landmark:

Northwestern National Life Building

The Northwestern National Life Building in downtown Minneapolis was built by Minoru Yamasaki in 1965. Known for his design of the World Trade Towers in NYC, he claimed he was designing a park with a building in the center of it. Despite the evolution of the structure’s purpose through the years, the bookmatched marble exterior reflects in the shallow pools that flank its delicate quartz columns. A perfect example of modernist design, we are so lucky to have this in our city.

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

Liz Gardner portrait Taylor Hall O’Brien