QR codes replace staff at Walker Art Center restaurant



The restaurant inside the Walker Art Center is replacing its front-of-house staff with QR codes and a counter service model starting Wednesday.

A spokesperson for DDP Restaurant Group, which owns Cardamom, confirmed employees were notified of layoffs on Thursday. Employees will receive severance pay due to the short notice, according to their email.

Olivia Martin, the DDP Restaurant Group social media coordinator, said in a Saturday email to MPR News the change has been discussed for several years as Cardamom’s guest traffic relies on Walker events and seasonality.

As a result, employees were cut early on slow days or stretched thin on busy ones, Martin said. Rising labor, food and operating costs are also a factor.

“After careful consideration, we believe this new format will create a stronger, more sustainable and viable path forward for Cardamom while allowing us to better align staffing with the needs of the business and create more reliable, stable hours for employees who remain with Cardamom,” Martin said in the email.

Martin said back-of-house employees and bartenders will not be impacted.

But 16 hosts and servers will end their employment on Sunday, according to Jac Kovarik, communications coordinator for CTUL. The workers’ rights nonprofit has supported organizing efforts by Cardamom employees over the last year.

“Some of the workers that we organize with received the email when they were working on Friday, which is just so horrible and disrespectful,” Kovarik said.

[[MPR News called Cardamom and an employee declined to comment because they have to work through the weekend. ]]

Maya Ulrich had their last day as a server on Friday. They said Cardamom workers had sought basic safety plans during Operation Metro Surge and asked management for steps like signage and briefings for front-of-house employees. Ulrich said Cardamom had been steadily growing business and opposed the company’s reasoning for cutting employees.

“I immediately felt like the layoff was retaliatory,” Ulrich said. “I felt incredibly angry and shocked. I felt betrayed.”

The DDP Restaurant Group faced criticism last year for closing Café Cerés after staff voted to unionize.

While employees were invited to re-apply to be either food-runners or bussers at Cardamom, Kovarik said most are not interested in that for a variety of reasons. One is that it’s typical for half their paychecks to come from tips, which would drop with a QR code model.

Workers plan to be more vocal in coming days, according to Kovarik.

The Walker Art Center did not respond to an MPR News request for comment.



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A Republican lawmaker charged in an alcohol-related driving offense won’t have to appear in court again until after the Legislature adjourns for the year.

A June 10 arraignment hearing is set for Rep. Elliott Engen, a Lino Lakes Republican who faces three misdemeanor charges following an arrest early Friday. He was stopped for speeding and other infractions in White Bear Lake; officers detected alcohol and he later tested well above the legal limit for driving, according to a citation.

Engen has apologized for a lapse in judgment; he promised to learn from his actions and “do better.” Aside from being a second-term legislator, he is also a candidate for state auditor.

A second lawmaker, GOP Rep. Walter Hudson, was in Engen’s truck at the time of the stop and an open bottle of alcohol was found in a rear seat. Hudson, a second-term legislator from Albertville, was in possession of a permitted handgun, which could cause him legal problems if he is determined to have been intoxicated.

Police officers wrote in their report that Hudson disclosed he had the gun as the truck was being searched. The report said police took the firearm for safekeeping and said he could pick it up at a later time, which Hudson agreed to.

“I regret the poor decisions that were made during this incident, and commend the White Bear Police Department for their professional response,” Hudson said in a written statement. “I’m grateful that no harm was done to ourselves and others.”

Two lawmakers stand and look around
Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, (center) and Rep. Bidal Duran, R-Bemidji, (right) join other Republican lawmakers gather in the House chambers Jan. 27, 2025.
Tim Evans for MPR News file

A third, unidentified passenger was in the truck as well, according to police. Hudson and that person were transferred to the police department until they could arrange rides.

The Minnesota lawmakers had been at the Capitol late into the evening Thursday as the House debated procedural motions on gun, immigration and social media legislation. The motions failed on 67-67 votes.

There is no indication yet that either Hudson nor Engen had been drinking on Capitol grounds, which would be a violation of a House rule against consumption of alcohol or drugs in spaces under that chamber’s control.

According to a White Bear Lake Police report, Engen initially said he had not been drinking when asked by the police officer who pulled him over — “nothing at all,” he is quoted as saying. He performed a field sobriety test, which the report says showed signs of impairment.

Engen gave a preliminary breath sample there, the report says, which estimated a 0.142 blood alcohol level. After he was taken by squad car to the police department “Engen spontaneously stated, ‘Sir, I had a drink three hours ago,’” the report says.

He told the Minnesota Star Tribune in an interview Monday that he had also consumed alcohol in the afternoon on Thursday as well.

Engen is charged with two impaired driving offenses and speeding. White Bear Lake police also said he was driving a vehicle with expired registration and an inoperable headlight.

Engen has not returned calls from MPR News. A court docket lists a “notice of appearance” on Tuesday.

He is being represented in the criminal case by Chris Madel, an Excelsior attorney who waged a brief Republican campaign for governor.



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