New restaurant’s owner hopes to see Kenyon ‘flourish again’

By COLTON KEMP colton.kemp@apgsomn.com

Angie Anderson was feeling burnt out from working at JB’S Tavern in Wanamingo, driving her to quit her job about two years ago.

“I think, after COVID, people were mean,” she said. “They’d come into the restaurant and they were mad they had to wear a mask, mad because they couldn’t put 18 tables together. And it’s like, it’s not my rule.”

Still, having so much experience from working at “every restaurant in town” over the years, she knew she was a valuable asset.

That’s why, when Barney Nesseth, a partner at JB’S, asked to meet with her, she thought he was going to ask her to come back.

“He said, ‘I have this idea,’” Anderson recounted. “He goes, ‘I’m gonna buy the Emerson building in Kenyon.’ And I said, ‘Oh, for what?’ He goes ‘Well,’ and he handed me this packet and it said ‘Angie’s’ on top. It was a proposal for a restaurant — for him and I to do a restaurant together.”

She was “speechless and shocked” at the proposal. It wasn’t long before Anderson was putting up big letters, spelling out the name that her and her new restaurant share.

At first, Nesseth offered a 90-10 split and said, by year four, she’d be 50% owner. Then, she would eventually have the opportunity to buy the business outright.

Well, that offer didn’t last. Just the other day, Nesseth gave her the additional 40%.

“He goes, ‘You’re going to be anyway, so it’s just easier is we split everything,’” she said. “He’s like, ‘You’ve done all this hard work in here and you’ve put all your time. You deserve it.’ So, we’re 50/50 now.”

While Nesseth is taking a hands-off approach and letting Anderson take the reins, there is one part of the restaurant inspired by his family. Anderson said he would often say they needed ice cream at JB’S Tavern, since his daughter “always went out for ice cream” with her friends.

His daughter, Rachel Nesseth, died in a car crash in August at just 18 years old. In her memory, Anderson has tentatively decided to name the ice cream section of her store “Rachel’s Ice Cream Parlor.”

Thriving community

One of the surprising par ts of her first few days was how many people followed her from other restaurants around town because they said they enjoy her cooking. Among those who followed her is Bill Theel, a Wanamingo man who was at the restaurant Tuesday morning.

“It’s great to have a new restaurant in town,” he said. “I knew her when she worked at — where was it again? — JB’S. Yeah, it’s a great addition to the community.”

Anderson likes that small-town vibe, but didn’t always plan to stick around in Kenyon. Out of high school, she wanted to save up money to go to the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont.

“I wanted to be a really fancy chef who made, you know, this much food,” she said, forming a small circle with her hands. “I was working at the Kenyon VFW, trying to save up money. Well, I never saved any money and then I got pregnant. So I was like, ‘OK. I guess I’ll stay.’”

Back then, Kenyon was “thriving,” according to Anderson, who grew up in the small town in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Over the years, she’s watched that spirit fade away.

“There were stores, there were three grocery stores on Main Street, every building had something,” she said. “I mean, it was just crazy. … I’ve seen Main Street (Second Street) kind of dwindle, and it makes me sad because you drive through and it’s like there’s nothing here.”