ABOVE: Natanael and Leah Moreno.

FAIRMONT– Natanael and Leah Moreno are the faces behind a new pop-up style restaurant in Fairmont. MINGA will serve South American and Scandinavian inspired comfort food. They’ll be collaborating with Fairmont Brewing Company for their first event, a summer beer brunch, on July 3.

The Morenos moved to Fairmont in 2019, though they both graduated from Fairmont High School.

Natanael said he’s always had an interest in food. Growing up in Chile, he said food was very important to his family. His maternal grandfather was a butcher and he’s heard from his mother that the family never had to get anything from the market but grew their own produce and made their own butter.

“Food was central,” Natanael said.

After moving to Fairmont in 2005, Natanael started making his own lunch to bring to school. Once he went off to college, he continued to cook.

“When I met him in college, that’s what he was known for. He loved to entertain,” Leah said.

Natanael said he likes cooking meals as a way to both reconnect with his childhood, and connect with the people he’s serving. In college, both Leah and Natanael had the opportunity to meet people form all over.

“We were introduced to so many different types of food. Colombian, Peruvian, Brazilian, but also Malaysian and Filipino food. That kind of sparked our interest too. Whenever you make new friends and gather, there’s new dishes,” Leah said.

After the couple married, they continued to cook different dishes together, though neither of them anticipated to necessarily start their own business.

“We’re both dreamers and we’ve thrown around the idea but it wasn’t until recently it was something we felt like we could try,” Leah said.

She said after talking to Joe and Lea Reimann, owners of Fairmont Brewing Company, and looking into the pop-up style model of a restaurant, they realized they could start slow and in a way that fits into their lifestyle with three small children.

“It still gives the community something new and exciting and delicious,” Leah said.

MINGA refers to the Andean practice of communal labor for the common good. Leah said whenever anyone in the community has a project, everyone comes together to get it done. Afterward, there’s a feast. Leah had participated in a minga while studying in Ecuador and Natanael had growing up in Chile.

“When we were brainstorming names, that came up and we didn’t even realize the connection and how far-reaching the concept is. It has a lot to do with the values we share of community, collaboration and also abundance,” Leah said.

When the Morenos shared the name and its meaning with the Reimanns, Joe pointed out that the concept is similar to barn raising, which is common among European settlers.

“Our food is a fusion of Scandinavian and South American because basically our home is a fusion of that,” Leah said with a laugh.

While there are other influences, Those are the main ones. The first pop-up on Sunday will feature a mix of both.

“There’s going to be a grazing table with assorted cheeses and homemade bread from Amboy Cottage Cafe. We’ll be featuring local makers and farmers. There will be a Simply Homemade black raspberry jam that she forages from a five mile radius around her house. There will be local honey from Madelia, Moody Bees Honey,” Leah said.

It’s important to the Morenos to source as much locally as they can. The main dish, arepas, are a corn-based dough with meat. Theirs will be Venezuelan style and will feature pork carnitas from Blue Dirt Farms in Blue Earth. There will also be Peruvian sauce.

“And then there’s the beer, obviously,” Natanael said.

Each part will varied with a drink from Fairmont Brewing Company. With the grazing table, there will be a porter cold brew latte with lavender syrup. For the main dish, there’s a choice between a beer-mosa or the pineapple lime cheleda.

“Both of those are really citrus-y and go really good with the pork,” Leah said.

There will be also be a surprise drink from Fairmont Brewing Company to finish off the meal.

Natanael is most excited to be able to showcase Southern American food and expose people to a different variety of food. Leah is excited about working with different vendors and partnering together.

“I feel a lot of pride in Southern Minnesota right now. There’s some really cool things going on. We’re starting with a collaboration and we don’t want that to ever go away. I hope we can keep exploring new ways to partner with other people,” Leah said.

As for next steps, they’re not in a rush to get their own brick and mortar place, but are excited to hear feedback from the community to help them adapt and grow.

They’re exploring a partnership with Fairmont Brewing Company as they both align in a mission of creating a product and place that encourages togetherness and community.

For the first event on Sunday, all 32 tickets are sold out for the 1:30 p.m. seating but there are still some tables left at the 11 a.m. seating.

In order to find out when another event will take place, the Morenos suggest people check out either Fairmont Brewing Company’s social media pages, or MINGA’s social media pages.