Roll of Honor 2025
Building on tradition, new downtown Brainerd restaurant owners are ready for fresh start
Sage on Laurel to transform to Passport this spring
BY RENEE RICHARDSON Brainerd Dispatch Brainerd
att and Jacquelyn
MCalos, new owners of Sage on Laurel in downtown Brainerd, have a new vision for the restaurant that has been part of the city since 2017.
They are transforming the restaurant and changing its name to Passport this spring.
The building has a storied history in the city. The exposed brick in the interior
and the polished wood floors would have a story or two if walls could talk, from its past as a number of other establishments, including the Blue Ox Bar, a noted stop in the movie “Fargo.”
An image of the movie poster is on a wall, linking to that history. The restaurant’s previous owners, the Shaws, brought back the tall, grand ceilings, welcomed natural light and created the popular, expansive patio.
Now Matt and Jacquelyn
Calos plan to build on the restaurant’s strengths and expand into a new direction. They purchased the restaurant in May. Jacquelyn worked at Sage and, as a couple with experience in the food industry already under their belt, they were looking for a place to buy.
Then the sale of Sage presented the opportunity for them to own their own place.
Matt, originally from Boston, which is also a nickname many know him by,
said he worked at Ernie’s and Dunmire’s previously.
When he was younger, he said he never thought of cooking as a career. He liked his machine work, but after he started cooking, he realized he enjoyed it too.
The couple moved to the Brainerd area in 2019. Jacquelyn’s father lives here and they came for a visit. Matt liked ice fishing and it seemed a perfect spot to move and leave Massachusetts.
“The look of the place fits
the direction we wanted to go with,” Matt Calos said. “We had a couple of ideas, but this was one of the ideas.”
The new vision for Passport is to offer a core menu and then every month focus on flavors of a different country. The theme of Passport is “taste the world.”
“We’ve been doing a couple of themed dinners over this winter just to kind of lean into the Passport theme later, and people are enjoying it.
Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
New owners at Sage on Laurel, Matt and Jacquelyn Calos, took over on May 1, 2024, and are transforming the restaurant and changing its name to Passport, focusing on healthy, fresh food featuring a host of flavors.
It’s just something different all the time,” Matt said. “Every month, it’ll be a different country. So, literally, you come in all the time and get something different.”
What will be the same are the popular core menu items of pot pie, lasagna, curry bowl and spring rolls. They’ll have the regular steak and cheese also but give it a regional flavor based on the highlighted country.
When it’s Italy, think Tuscan flavors. When it’s Japan, look for sushi. For a recent flavor of Africa they used tagine, described as a balance of sweet and savory, for the main course and a Marrakesh mule for the featured beverage.
“I want to do traditional food from that country, but I want it so that Minnesotans will actually eat it,” Matt said, noting he’s learned Minnesotans have a different expectation when it comes to spices. So a lot of research is going into the flavors and how to make those into dishes that work here to a level Minnesotans are comfortable with trying.
They are continuing the popular lunch specials like BLTs and curry bowls, which feature jasmine ginger rice, Asian slaw blend and a housemade red curry. The restaurant has a kid’s menu.
They also feature
special menus for gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan so those customers can get their own menu and don’t have to negotiate through what is offered to get to what fits their dietary needs. Matt said the plus side is they can look at the menu and everything on it, they can order.
“The core menu will definitely be what people that have been coming here a long time want, and hopefully we can try new things, too,” Matt said.
But he knows the drill. He said he has friends come in and he can just rattle off what they are going to order as it’s the same item every time.
They plan a four-course dinner for a Valentine’s Day menu from Feb. 13-15, called “Fond of you, Fondue.”
The restaurant also appears to be on a
national trend as Jacque-
lyn looks to incorporate mocktails with imitation vodkas and imitation gins that create the flavor of adult beverages without the alcohol. With current news pointing to the health concerns with alcohol consumption, their focus on mocktails could be coming at the right time.
They are looking to change the front dining area into a lounge at some point — like a martini lounge — and provide a place to eat, drink and just hang out and relax.
They’ve connected with other businesses in the downtown area and have taken part in events, such as downtown carriage rides, which they hope to be part of this summer as well. Matt grows herbs in the garden on the patio.
“We definitely plan on getting involved in all the
downtown events that are already here,” Matt said, adding they are talking with other groups on their block regarding a start of the season party including the VFW and Shep’s on 6th.
Downtown business owners gather every six weeks to talk and meet. They pick different venues and recent conversations included the new apartment building going
up where the former Thrifty White building went down recently. Plans are to add 78 apartments in the new building.
“I think that’ll be great just having that many more people downtown,” Matt said. “We’re just happy there’s a lot of new businesses coming in downtown. We feel like we kind of got the place at the right time,
right on the cusp of, everybody’s starting back up again.”
The restaurant employs 12 and that will double in the summer.
The restaurant seats a little less than 100 and when the patio is added it’s closer to about 140 or 150. They want to add music on the patio on Saturday afternoons.
People walk by Sage on Laurel in downtown Brainerd.
Photos by Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch
The new vision for the a newly rechristened downtown Brainerd restaurant
Matt Calos speaks to a gentleman at the end of the counter on Jan. 7, 2025, at Sage on Laurel in downtown Brainerd.
Seidel Auto and Tire to celebrate 5 years in business
Word
mouth and repeat customers keep the business going
BY TIM SPEIER
Brainerd Dispatch
Photos by Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
Seidel Auto
Already, work of local artists is featured inside the restaurant and is for sale. The restaurant includes orders for takeout and delivery through DoorDash and Uber Eats. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and the shorter hours of 10 a.m. to 3
p.m. Sunday will expand to closing at 8 p.m. in the summer.
One of the most popular dishes is an egg roll in a bowl with ginger jasmine rice, sauteed pork with cut cabbage, carrots and cilantro with garlic ginger sauce, topped with crispy wonton strips.
“That is definitely our No. 1 seller,” Matt said. “I figured it would be pretty good, but I wasn’t expecting it.”
So how does the restaurant stand out amongst its competition?
“I feel like we are definitely different than everybody downtown, just with the random dishes here and there that we have, you know?” Matt said. “We definitely have our core dishes that we do, like meatloaf. We do things that other people do, too. And our burgers are huge hits, the Wagyu burgers
— we definitely have things that other people don’t have. So if they’re looking for something different, I would say we’re the choice.” They locally source their ingredients from beef to tap beer, so they think the future looks bright and are optimistic.
“Just talking with the other business owners down here, we’re all kind of on the same page and have the same
direction in our head that it’s going to be up and coming again with the new building, and even the open spaces are just filling up quick right now.” Renee Richardson, Brainerd Dispatch managing editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee. richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter @ DispatchBizBuzz.
“My girlfriend said, ‘Well, why don’t you just open your shop,’” Seidel said. “And my famous last words, I said, ‘Who’s gonna wanna come this far out?’ So she gives me a hard time on that one. Well, she was right; the local clientele around here has been very good.”
First looked at as a plan for retirement, Seidel said he opened his shop in March 2020 and he has had a steady customer base since.
Seidel said he can work on almost anything, from brakes to motor swaps and everything in between, though he does not work on A/C and is restricted on the size of the vehicle. He welcomes anyone looking for a mechanic in the area.
Word of mouth and repeat customers keep the business going, he said, as he explained that he gets customers not only from Brainerd and Baxter but also has customers that come up from the cities or down from Duluth to have him work on their vehicles.
Having a big shop all to himself, Seidel said
Seidel said. “I don’t sugarcoat anything. I tell them what I see and what needs to be fixed.”
season at Nor th Central Speedway.
“My summertime expense car,” he said with a smile.
he also gets work sent his way from Corral Auto when the job is too big for their small shop, such as an engine swap. Seidel equates his
success in running a small business to being honest and upfront with his customers.
“Just pure honesty with the customers,”
Seidel Auto and Tire is recognized as a NAPA-certified Auto Care Center. Seidel said with that certification he is able to offer a nationwide 2-year/24,000-mile warranty on the parts he installs It is not all work and no fun as Seidel has his IMCA hobby stock car in the garage as he prepares for the 2025 racing
Scheduling nowadays gets worked around his girlfriend’s appointments, as she was recently dia gnosed with cancer, Seidel said, pointing to a cancer support sticker hanging in the shop window.
Even with everything going on, Seidel can get most jobs done within a week, though it can be up to a two-week wait as he does get busy on occasion.
Seidel Auto and Tire is located at 4983 County
Seidel Auto and Tire on Monday, Jan. 6,
Photos by Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
Chris Seidel works on a wheel at Seidel Auto and Tire on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.
Building homes and relationships in Crosslake
BY TOM FRAKI
Echo Journal
CROSSLAKE
For more than 20 years,
Lands End Development design-build in Crosslake has designed and built custom homes, emphasizing making the home-building process an enjoyable journey and surrounding itself with nice people.
Today, the company is still owned and operated by the four partners who started the business — Matt Balmer, sales and marketing; Jeff Balmer, project designer; Brian Engen, estimating and accounting; and Jon Fogarty, project coordinator.
Lands End has built more than 400 homes throughout Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, largely working with clients building lakeshore properties in the lakes area. Its continued success, the partners agreed, is due to the people who work there and their ability to build relationships with clients.
“The people here, and I think I speak for all four of us, they’re like family. We hang out together, we’re friends, we know their family. It’s a big part of what we do
and what we bring. That’s our secret sauce. We build awesome homes, but other people build awesome homes too.
The people here are what set us apart,” Matt Balmer said.
History
For Matt and Jeff Balmer, who are fourth-generation builders, designing and building have always been a part of their family.
While they were in college, the brothers took a different direction and founded Lonesome Cottage Furniture Company in Pequot Lakes where they manufactured custom rustic furniture and architectural home details.
When that company had grown and the opportunity came for them to sell, Matt and Jeff took that chance to return to hands-on building.
“We ended up having a business appraisal done, and it was kind of that moment in time for us after we’d been doing it for a while, to say,
‘Well, this is our business reset if we want one,’” Matt said.
It was then that they recruited the help of their high school friends, Engen and Fogarty, to begin building spec homes around the lakes area.
“It was more of a passion
project of ours, just to build a cool house. So with the spec homes, we had the ability to build what we wanted and then sell it. So we kind of jumped into custom home building right away. We were just our own customer,” Jeff said.
After a couple of years of being located in Breezy Point, Lands End Development moved to its current location in Crosslake in 2006.
“We had an office in Breezy Point to begin with. But we’ve always kind of been based in Crosslake,” Matt said.
Tom Fraki / Echo Journal
From left are Jeff Balmer, Jon Fogarty, Matt Balmer and Brian Engen at Lands End Development in Crosslake.
Lands End Development in Crosslake.
Since then the company has grown to about 35 employees, including office staff, accountants, designers, craftsmen and carpenters, as well as working with a variety of trusted subcontractors.
“The first year we built one home. The second year we might have built one and a half or two homes. It just continued to evolve from there. We got busier and we had to hire more and more people and staff to help manage the workload. Now this year, we probably will build 25 to 30 homes,” Fogarty said.
Values
Through their years of experience and areas of expertise, the partners said the company has come to focus on four integral values that play into their process — quality, creativity, value and service.
In meeting these values, Lands End Development prides itself on not cutting corners, listening to client needs, achieving competitive pricing and providing a positive experience.
Aside from the company’s core principles, Matt said communication, guidance and understanding the client’s position is also important for them.
“It’s about making the journey for the client fun, enjoyable and rewarding. We are always putting ourselves in the shoes of someone who’s building. If you’re choosing to partner with us, we just want to make sure that we’re guiding you down that path, giving you good advice,
finding the best value, treating you with respect,” Matt said.
“We strive for all these things so that at the end of it you can say, ‘These guys have had my back the whole way,’” he said.
People While Lands End Development is in the business of creating custom homes, it’s the company’s focus on getting good people on its team that is key to its satisfaction with its clients.
“At face value, what we do is super simple.
Someone walks in the door and says, ‘I’d like a home built,’ and then we do that. It’s more complex than that but at the end of the day, it’s about treating the client right and surrounding ourselves with awesome people,” Matt said.
Engen agreed.
“That was the thing that rang true to me, is attracting and retaining good people. That is what we talk about year after year is, ‘How do we do that?’ It’s just so critical to this business,” he said.
Regarding the future of the company, Matt said they weren’t interested in growth for growth’s sake and want to keep their aim toward maintaining high standards and meeting clients’ needs.
“I don’t think growth is really on our minds. That’s just a byproduct of doing good things. We go to great lengths to make sure that the journey for our clients is really smooth,” Matt said.
“I think that’s what we’re always striving for.
he said.
BY TRAVIS GRIMLER Echo Journal
TPINE RIVER
oday, Waste Partners is owned by a family trio of Drey, Jace and Eric Loge. But 25 years ago, Eric and his father, Gary, were just getting the business off the ground.
Gary came to the business with years of experience. Almost 20 years earlier, Gary started another company, Poor Gary’s Disposal, in Brainerd.
“They were around a dozen strong and they served the Brainerd/ Baxter area,” said Drey Loge, Eric’s son and Gary’s grandson. “He did that for about 10 years and then sold to Northern Waste Systems.”
After the sale, Eric went to work with Waste Management in the Twin
Cities, gaining relevant knowledge. It would be almost 10 years before he and his father, Gary, would get back in the business in April of 2000, and this time in Pine River.
“My dad kind of got a little tired of being a corporate cog and decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to find a place to do it myself,’” Drey said. “So he picked Pine River as his headquarters. He bought what was at the time Grinning Bear Disposal.”
Grinning Bear still has operations in the area, but Eric and Gary bought a branch of the company, along with another, smaller hauler.
“I think about two years later he bought (Cable Disposal),” Drey said.
Grinning Bear came with two dependable trucks, one spare, and a driver, Buck Filsmyer, son
of Grinning Bear’s owner. Filsmyer still works with the company.
“We started in Pine River and Backus, the Pequot Lakes area and then added Crosslake,” Drey said. “We’ve gone north, south, east and west since then. We service Walker to Fort Ripley now and basically the county lines on either side.”
Waste Partners also took on a contract with the Cass County Transfer Station near Pine River
in 2006 to manage that location.
While expanding the service area has been the biggest change for the company, it is not the only one.
The company runs 16 routes a day with as many drivers, four full-time mechanics, a parts adviser, maintenance manager, five workers at the local transfer station and an office staff.
Contributed photos / Drey Loge
Eric Loge, center, started Waste Partners with his father, Gary, and is now co-owner with his own sons, Drey, left, and Jace, as of 2021.
Fatherandsonduo,GaryandEricLoge,startedWaste PartnersinApril
The company has around 40 employees today.
Brothers Drey and Jace, now owners, grew up with the company.
“It was a great place to grow up,” Drey said. “It provided many opportunities I don’t think a lot of kids would have. I remember at 4 or 5 years old opening up bags of yard waste. I think Dad paid us a nickel a bag to start out that way.”
The brothers eventually started doing yard work, then light maintenance and washing trash cans, which then led to riding along on pickup routes to help drivers.
“Growing up that way we really started to understand the billing process and some of the back end, the administrative and even the maintenance work,” Drey said.
In 2007, Eric bought out Gary. After working some time with the company, Drey and Jace graduated from Pine River-Backus High School. Both went off to college.
Jace returned home first and rejoined the business and Drey eventually followed.
“My dad called me up and said, ‘I’m probably on a five- to 10-year plan figuring out what to do with the company. Would you ever be interested in giving it a shot?’” Drey said. “At that time we kind of hemmed and hawed. We thought about it, prayed about it. My wife applied for a job at the Pine River-Backus School and she got the job, so that was the last straw that allowed us to make that change.”
Drey returned around the time of the COVID-19
pandemic and has been teamed up with his father and brother ever since. The two siblings each bought into the company in 2021.
“That was our first opportunity to buy some shares and really start to take this thing on and run with it,” Drey said.
Eric is still at the company, though he has allowed his kids to take over a lot of the duties as they continue to run the company for possibly another 25 years. Learning from their father’s success will be key to
making that happen.
“It boils down to two things: Work hard and go the extra mile,” Drey said.
“I think people really recognize and value that.”
In November 2024, Waste Partners was named the 2024 Business Excellence Award winner by the Brainerd Lakes Chamber. This award recognizes a business that embodies leadership, innovation, employee investment and community service. The Loges and their business were honored at the chamber’s annual Celebration of Excellence event.
The company has a mantra.
“Show up to work on time, make the garbage disappear and do the first two without hitting
My dad kind of got a little tired of being a corporate cog and decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to find a place to do it myself.’ So he picked Pine River as his headquarters. He bought what was at the time Grinning Bear Disposal.
anything,” Drey said.
“It’s our joke here, but that’s really what it is. We ask our crew to go out and be the best service in the lakes area.”
Drey said that requires willingness to do extra work, like sometimes helping get cans to the curb when someone forgets, picking up trash that has been spread by bears, and being mindful of other drivers on the road.
Waste Partners is one of the local haulers that still wholeheartedly supports the concept of recycling. They do their best to tell their customers about best practices and take those customers’ efforts seriously.
“It’s stewardship,” Drey said. “It’s ethics. If a customer took time to separate recycling, and they did it correctly, we’re going to be good stewards of that
resource. We’re going to get it to the recycling center and hopefully it’s processed into something valuable.”
Drey has led classes for the school and the chamber of commerce on recycling.
“We really try hard to illustrate to folks that it is worth doing,” Drey said. “It’s a benefit, but it’s got to be done right.” The Loges hope to continue to grow their customer base. They continue to attract approximately 500 new customers per year.
“Our goal is to continue to provide exceptional service and continue to grow at a rate we can sustain,” Drey said. Travis Grimler, Echo Journal staff writer, may be reached at 218-8555853 or travis.grimler@ pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook.
Contributed Photos / Drey Loge
In the early 2000s, Waste Partners’ first truck helped them to start a business that would thrive for years to come.
The trucks Waste Partner purchased in 2024 are far more advanced than those they started with early on. Education and outreach are a big