In 1981, Jackie Grombrich opened a manor-house-inspired bookstore in the western suburbs, filled with murder mysteries and infused with the aroma of fresh-baked pastries, with help from her sister Paula.
The bookstore and pastry shop opened on April 10, 1981, in Minnetonka’s Bonaventure Mall. The name Agatha’s—sometimes called Agatha Crusty’s—completely captured the spirit of the place. It had a strong Agatha Christie theme with a bookstore that resembled a manor library and a restaurant mimicking a manor kitchen and parlor, complete with floral wallpaper, green carpet, wood beams, wainscoting, sheer curtains, old rose cushions, lacy placemats, and wine-colored napkins. It was the type of big, frilly, yet earnest, early-1980s suburban posh.
The food matched the mood. Agatha’s began as a pastry shop serving lunch and later expanded into a full-service restaurant. The menu focused on scratch-made soups, including chunky vegetable, potato with peas and broccoli, and cream of sunflower as a daily special.
The house salad came with three homemade dressings: tarragon mayonnaise with mustard, Roquefort, and creamy dill. The salad bar cost $5 at lunch and $6 at dinner, which was considered a bit steep at the time.
The dinner menu included walleye broiled in brandy butter, Cornish pasties with cranberry relish, and filet mignon. Desserts ran to a Reine de Saba with chocolate, almonds, rum, and a fudgy glaze; cheesecakes; chocolate mousse; and a chopped-nut-and-honey tart.
And then there were the dill muffins, served with every meal. Dense, chewy, and, according to one review I found and my experience making them, a little bland.
What strikes me about Agatha’s is the company it kept. The Bonaventure Mall also housed the original Leeann Chin restaurant, which opened the year before. Two women-owned restaurants, launched within a year of each other in the same suburban mall, each introduced something new to this part of the Twin Cities. While Leeann Chin brought Cantonese and Szechuan dishes, Agatha’s bet on people enjoying a cozy lunch or dinner in their own manor house, with a book from the library as a bonus.
Sadly, Agatha’s quietly closed in 1983. Two years isn’t long, but it was long enough to leave a recipe behind.
These dill muffins come together quickly and bake up dense, like a hearty beer bread. The original recipe calls for dried dill, which I think causes the blandness. Fresh dill, especially in summer, gives these muffins the punchy herb flavor they need. They’re sturdy enough to turn a light dinner salad into an actual meal, and that’s how I’d serve them this time of year.
Dill Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp. fresh dill weed chopped
- 12 oz. warm beer
- 4 Tbsp. mixture of butter and margarine melted
Instructions
- Mix flour, sugar and dill weed. Add beer and stir.
- Fill greased muffin tins ⅔ full. Brush tops with butter/margarine mixture.
- Bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes, then brush again with butter/margarine mixture. Return to oven and bake until brown and crusty on top.
