A new French restaurant is coming to St. Paul’s Selby Avenue.

Aubergine, which means eggplant in French, will open late this fall in the former Revival space.

Owners Bjorn and Megan Jacobse, who both previously worked for chef Gavin Kaysen locally, had been living and working in Portland, Ore., for six years before moving back to St. Paul last year with their 2-year-old son, Hugo.

It was in Portland that they honed the idea for Aubergine, hosting a number of successful pop-ups. Bjorn was born in Lyon, France, and lived there for the first four years of his life.

“I was born in France, so French cuisine has always been near and dear to my heart,” he said. “My mom lived there for a while, and she’s fluent in the language. So I grew up hearing stories and eating the food.”

The menu will change with the seasons but will take inspiration from Lyonnaise cuisine.

“It will be focused on French technique, old-world French cooking,” Bjorn Jacobse said. “The menu will be relatively local, focusing on local meat and vegetables, utilizing the whole animal.”

Megan Jacobse, whose experience includes being on the management team at Kaysen’s Spoon and Stable, will run the front of the house. The beverage program will be very wine-focused, she said, and they’ll highlight under-appreciated regions and varietals in the U.S. as well as France, Germany and Italy.

“There’s lots of fun stuff happening in the wine world,” Megan Jacobse said. “We want to focus on some different varietals coming out of regions you wouldn’t expect.”

The pair is significantly changing the layout of the restaurant, which will seat 45 with eight additional bar seats and a flexible private dining area that can accommodate overflow.

And, of course, they’ll use the pretty, shaded patio behind the space in the warmer months.

Christian Dean Architecture has drawn the plans for the new space, and the pair said they took a lot of inspiration from Montreal, where Bjorn worked for a while.

“It will look like a completely different space,” Megan Jacobse said. “We are expanding the kitchen and reworking the bar. There will be elements and touches that make it a warm, welcoming, cozy environment. There’s a similarity in culture and climate between here and Montreal, and there is a warmth and unpretentiousness that we wanted to bring to the space.”

Construction should begin soon, and the pair are hoping for a pre-Thanksgiving opening.

Aubergine >> 525 Selby Ave., St. Paul; restaurantaubergine.com

Former Revival owner hired by suburban restaurant group

Good news for suburban eaters: Chef Thomas Boemer has been named the culinary director for The Wondrous Collective restaurant group.

The group owns more than a dozen restaurants in the Twin Cities area, from Mean Miners street tacos in Eagan and Apple Valley to Minnesota Burger Company in Apple Valley and Farmtown Brew Hall in Farmington.

Boemer, a James Beard Award nominee who was co-owner of Revival, Corner Table and In Bloom, all closed now, is known for his takes on southern cuisine and smoked and wood-fired meats.

The Wondrous Collective owner Tony Donatell announced Boemer’s hire in a news release, which read in part:

“We’ve developed a reputation for bold, boundary-pushing cocktail programs and a talent for building spaces that feel like a celebration of everyday life. But we’ve always known there was more we could do with the food. Today, I’m proud to share that we’ve found the missing piece.”

Boemer has already begun tweaking the menu at The Farmer’s Cellar, a Lakeville cocktail bar, and has just unveiled a full menu refresh at Revolve Hall in Apple Valley. Within that food hall, Boemer has debuted his first new concept for the restaurant group: The Wanderer: Adventure-Inspired Provisions. It’s described as “a fast-casual kitchen built on live-fire, flavor and a love for the road less traveled.”

The Wondrous Collective >> wondrouscollective.com