This past year was a major pivot for Jester Concepts, which is quickly taking on the mantle of the region’s largest and most ambitious restaurant operator. Brent Frederick once put all his chips on the city but decided in the pandemic that might be a risky bet. He says it’s simply impossible to open full-service restaurants right now in Minneapolis that deliver an acceptable return. Jester is instead growing in Edina and Excelsior and last year purchased coffee/pastry purveyor Rustica. “The counter-service model still works in Minneapolis,” he notes. Next year is about Rustica expansion, looking for opportunities to resurrect fried chicken and barbecue brand Revival, whose intellectual property Jester purchased this year, and consulting on food at the new Teptonka golf resort in New London.