I arrived at Diane's Place on an overcast Friday morning in April, not the kind of day you'd expect to be good for food photos. But the soft, even light coming through the front windows turned out to be just right.
I chose a counter seat by the front window for my 8:15 reservation, set down my iPhone, and got ready for a pretty ambitious breakfast.
Diane's Place is tucked inside the Food Building in Northeast Minneapolis. It opened in spring 2024 as chef-owner Diane Moua's first solo restaurant.
If you've spent time eating around the Twin Cities, you might recognize her name from La Belle Vie, Spoon and Stable, Bellecour, or Demi. Here, she brings together her pastry background and the Hmong flavors she grew up with.
That mix has drawn plenty of interest beyond Minnesota. Moua was a 2025 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Midwest, after several earlier nominations for her pastry work.
Diane's Place was named Food & Wine's 2025 Restaurant of the Year and landed on The New York Times' 2025 list of America's 50 best restaurants.
That's a lot of national buzz for a place that's still new, but it made sense as soon as I started eating. Naturally, I went straight for the pastry case.
Straight to the Pastry Case
It's the kind of pastry offering that makes it tough to show any restraint. At first glance, the pastries look familiar, but then you spot ingredients like pandan, lychee, and scallion in the mix.
I couldn't settle on just one, so I ordered three:
- Coconut pandan croissant
- Mango, passion fruit, and lychee croissant
- Green scallion Danish, a staff favorite
The coconut pandan croissant looked the most like a classic, but the decoration told me this was something different. Its deeply browned, sugar-dusted shell was topped with thick ribbons of pale green pandan cream and a small chocolate square.
The green scallion Danish was a savory change of pace. It arrived as a tightly coiled round, with a glossy surface and dark scallion bits tucked in the crisp layers. I could see why it was a staff favorite.
My favorite was the mango, passion fruit, and lychee croissant. I was hooked before I even cut into it.
Instead of a crescent, it came as a neat little cube, with sharp edges showing off the swirls of laminated dough dusted with sugar. On top sat a bright yellow mound of mango-passion fruit cream, a peeled lychee, and a tiny purple flower.
The cube shape was fun, but it wasn't just for looks. Slicing it open revealed a layered interior filled with more of that bright yellow cream. The mix of mango, passion fruit, and lychee tasted as luscious and tropical as it looked.
Of the three, this was the one I liked best, both for the generous filling and the fun of slicing into that unusual cube.
The Savory Order I Almost Skipped
Ordering a full savory plate with three pastries already in front of me might not have been the most sensible move, but it was the right call.
Diane's Hmong sausage made for a hearty breakfast: two glossy, deeply browned sausage links on a big mound of sticky rice, with an over-easy egg, fresh herbs, and a small bowl of sweet-and-sour sauce on the side. It looked great, but more importantly, it tasted fantastic.
The sausage was an umami anchor after all those rich pastries. The sticky rice made it especially satisfying, and the egg added even more richness as the yolk soaked into the rice.
Fresh herbs added color and brightness, and the sweet-and-sour sauce gave the plate a lift. Everything worked together. Even as I realized just how much food I'd ordered, I was glad I hadn't stopped at the pastry case. I did take plenty of leftovers back to the hotel.
My cortado proved the perfect companion for the meal: small, strong, and balanced enough to cut through all that buttery pastry.
If coffee is central to your travel plans, check out my guide to the best coffee shops in downtown Minneapolis.
Breakfast with a View
Sitting at the front counter meant my back was to most of the dining room, but I never felt cut off. I could sense the room filling up behind me as breakfast got underway.
The window seat gave me all the natural light I wanted, turning my little patch of counter into a makeshift photo studio as each new plate arrived.
My waiter was especially friendly and noticed how many photos I was taking. I told him that visiting a great bakery, sampling a bunch of things, and photographing them is my idea of fun.
At Diane's Place, that kind of enthusiasm fits right in. The food makes you curious: Which pastry should I try? What's inside that wild-looking cube? Should I order the sausage too, even if my place setting is already crowded?
For that last question, I can now say with confidence: yes.
Diane's Place works on several levels. It's a great bakery stop, a real breakfast destination, and a place to see how Moua blends French pastry technique with the Hmong American flavors she knows best.
My breakfast turned out to be all three: a beautiful spread of pastries, a deeply satisfying sausage-and-rice plate, and a warm welcome at a place where the hospitality matches the food.
I arrived on a gray Minneapolis morning looking for good pastries and good light. I came away with a bag of leftovers, too many photos, and a new favorite breakfast stop.
