VIRGINIA—Tim Kruchowski and Jennifer Zenor plan to make the Copper Nickel On The Course in Virginia a place where people can enjoy great food and beverages, while feeling right at home.
Kruchowski and Zenor, who also own the Copper Nickel Public House in Aurora, recently were awarded the lease for the Virginia Golf Course clubhouse restaurant and have been working around the clock to get it up and running.
“One of the things we pride ourselves on (from the Aurora restaurant) that we want to carry over to here is just a good customer experience and making certain that people feel welcome, that this is a community gathering place for people,’’ Zenor said. “We’re just excited to bring that atmosphere and that type of hospitality here.’’
Along with their good reputation, they’ll initially be bringing a similar menu to the Copper Nickel in Aurora with the somewhat of a compacted time frame to open.
“We’re looking to expand that,’’ however, with a beautiful, larger kitchen at the golf course restaurant that will enable them to do more, Zenor said.
“Initially, we’re going to have a good selection of appetizers, a good selection of burgers, a good selection of sandwiches and wraps, salads and some pastas. We make our own Alfredo sauce, our own marinara, our own ranch, bleu cheese. People come from all sorts of places to enjoy that,’’ she said. “We have some nice personal touches on things. We make all of our own soups. We sell quite a bit of soup over in Aurora and hope to continue that here.’’ A gluten-friendly menu will also be available, as will some vegetarian options.
Currently, their best-selling burger is the quesadilla burger, which features a garlic herb tortilla wrap, pepper jack cheese, bacon, pico de gallo all wrapped up and grilled. “It’s a flavorful heat,’’ she said.
Kruchowski added the Copper Nickel in Aurora also does a rib night, Friday night fish fries and prime rib on Saturday. “We’ll start with that at first. With this grill and this kitchen, we can really bump it up eventually I think.’’
“We’re hoping the fish fry attracts people,’’ Zenor said. The new restaurant will have the standard all-you-can-eat pollock, while also offering 12-ounce walleye fillets, garlic butter tilapia, butterfly shrimp, coconut shrimp and cod.
The partners are waiting for their licenses to come through and are looking to open the bar portion of the restaurant first in about a week. They are simultaneously working to open the kitchen, which will come shortly after the bar is open.
Zenor has been interviewing employees for all of their positions and has hired 24 so far. The interviewing and hiring process is still continuing, as well.
A full staff of employees will be needed to meet their plans of serving breakfast, lunch and dinner year-round. Initially, they most likely won’t be serving breakfast, but will start that up shortly after lunch and dinner. Lunch will start at 11 a.m., while breakfast will start at 8 a.m. when it becomes available. The kitchen is slated to be open until 10 p.m. to meet the needs of golfers coming off the course. Grab and go options for early morning golfers will also be available.
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Kruchowski grew up in Chisholm and has spent the last 21 years in Aurora and Lake Vermilion.
When the golf course restaurant became available, “we thought we’d like to give it a shot and bring our menu down this way and try to do a really good job with the golf course,’’ he said, all while getting it consistent and putting out a good product.
Kruchowski has been in the hospitality industry for about 34 years.
“I opened my first liquor store in downtown Virginia on June 1, 1991. It was called the Liquor Locker at the time. Crazy Ricks was the name of the business. People will remember.’’ He also ran Norman’s Night Club for a while when it was called Razzles.
In Aurora, their ownership has include the Copper Nickel since 2016. Before that, he said he was in Rudy’s from 2008-2016.
“I’m happy to be back in Virginia and give it another shot,’’ Kruchowski said. “We’re really excited to get this one going. We think it’s going to do real well. Excited to open up for the course and get things rolling.’’
Zenor, who was born and raised in Minnesota, added that “this is a second career for me.’’ She has a background in non-profit administration and was the executive director of a statewide non-profit in the state of Wyoming for 20 years.
Being in the hospitality business, is “definitely a different sector of work than the non-profit industry, but there’s so many transferable skills and its’ been fun to learn and explore and grow and expand, like we are with this opportunity,’’ she said.
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Potential customers are excited to have the restaurant and bar open again and the new owners are excited themselves.
In addition to golfers, the Copper Nickel On The Course plans to serve those utilizing the cross country ski trail the city has, the snowmobile trail and the sledding hill.
”We’re hoping to provide good meals for folks that are taking part in those recreation activities,’’ Zenor said. The clubhouse pro shop space is also available for parties in the offseason.
The restaurant’s plans include special holiday buffets, along with Minnesota Vikings television viewing parties, hot chocolate bars in the winter for kids.
The restaurant and patio deck seat at total of 140.
”There’s good space in here,’’ Zenor said. “That’s a lot of people. We’re excited about that.’’
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