Project Description

Welcome to Marseille, Minnesota. The fingerprints of France are found across Minnesota in names like Fon du Lac, the Saint Croix, and Grand Marais, and stretch back through time to the original overseas immigrants, the Voyageurs. Marseille native, Emilie Cellai, and her husband Ben Johnson have embarked on their own adventure that blends old-world European cuisine with new-world Minnesota flavors to create the latest French outpost in the upper Midwest. Their story, several years in the making, is one of perseverance and improvisation. Struggling to find a suitable space, they landed on a long dark establishment with an iconic sign out front that came with historic preservation stipulations. Meaning it couldn’t be touched in any way. Given that both a bistro and diner serve comfort food in a casual, neighborhoody environment, Emilie and Ben embraced the sign and the name and Le Town Talk French Diner and Drinkery was born. Vive la France!