Gavin Kaysen Plants Bellecour Flag In Downtown’s Wells Fargo Tower

Chef Gavin Kaysen is bringing Bellecour, his French bakery-and-bistro concept, to the ground floor of downtown Minneapolis’s Wells Fargo Center, where a commuter-friendly daytime bakery counter will segue into full bistro service later in the day. The new location is slated to open in late fall.

As reported by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Bellecour will take over the first-floor retail space in the tower, with a separate daytime bakery operating on the ground level. According to the Business Journal, Kaysen chose the Wells Fargo Center for this next phase of expansion and is targeting a late-fall opening.

An Iconic Downtown Address

The Wells Fargo Center is a Cesar Pelli-designed, 57-story office tower that anchors downtown Minneapolis and spans a full-block indoor promenade with ground-floor retail. The Hines property page outlines the building’s floors, square footage and tenant mix, underscoring why it is a high-visibility spot for a bakery aimed squarely at weekday office traffic.

Built-In Weekday Crowd

That professional tenant base could supply a steady weekday stream of customers for Bellecour. Justia court filings and tenant records list major law firms and corporate offices in the Wells Fargo Center, which helps explain the site’s appeal to restaurateurs. Across downtown, landlords have been reactivating first-floor space to draw morning and lunch trade, a pattern operators say can make or break a bakery concept.

Bellecour’s Local Comeback

Kaysen has been rebuilding the Bellecour brand in recent months with a North Loop bistro and an Edina cafe that combine breakfast pastries and coffee with evening French bistro service. The revival is documented on Bellecour's website and was profiled by the Star Tribune, pointing to sustained demand for the kind of morning counter the Wells Fargo Center location plans to offer.

Kaysen’s team has not released a full menu for the new outpost, but the concept is expected to lean on pastries, coffee and quick savory items during the morning rush while keeping the bistro format for later service. For downtown workers eyeing a reliable breakfast spot and a quick lunch between meetings, Bellecour’s landing in the Wells Fargo Center will be one to watch.