South Minneapolis restaurant Khâluna has been named one in all Eater’s 15 finest new eating places of 2022.

The Laotian-style eatery positioned at 4000 Lyndale Ave. S. was opened in October 2021 by Chef Ann Ahmed. 

The restaurant gives a dinner menu with small plates that includes hen samosas, siin swan, and sakoo; chilled plates like pineapple noodles, laab heed and rainbow rice; and entrées consisting of mango fish, laksa, gaeng toon and completely different fashion curries.

Jaya Saxena of Eater praised the eating places “magnificence,” noting its “colours are smooth and beachy, with accents of gold and greenery that make a Minneapolis fall night radiate heat.”

Of the meals, she praises Ahmed’s “exact and imaginative Laotian delicacies.”

“She subs in peanuts, pistachios, and mushrooms for the extra typical pork in her sakoo, creating luxurious, umami-laden texture within the conventional avenue meals, topping it off with edible flowers and zinging flakes of Thai purple chili. Cocktails come spritzed with macadamia oil that’s perfume-like in its perfume. And almost each desk has an order of bucatini talay, a tangle of pasta with shrimp, scallops, squid, and a wealthy ‘tom yum ragout’ of breadcrumbs, tomato, and fish sauce.”

In addition to the acclaimed meals and cocktail menu, Khâluna, which implies “please” in Lao, additionally gives a store stocked with fair-trade items Ahmed imports from Laos.