Some brands are built from a brief. This one was built from a family legacy.
Longtrees Woodfire Grill is a passion project born from Abby and Michael Rakun's deep roots in Alexandria, Minnesota — a tribute to Abby's upbringing and her family's long tradition of storytelling in the area. The concept called for a brand that felt as warm, grounded, and unpretentious as the food itself.
At Longtrees, diners indulge in classic Midwestern cuisine with a modern twist — rotisserie chicken, walleye fish and chips, fire-roasted seasonal game, locally foraged fungi, and craft cocktails that will put some hair on your chest. The brand needed to hold all of that: comfort and craft, heritage and edge.
Design Shop MPLS developed the full brand identity, menu design, swag, interior design, and styling — creating a cohesive experience from the logo on the wall to the glass in your hand. Website design and development by CyberSprout.
KATE CARLSON
+ Brand Identity
+ Menu + Swag Design
+ Interior Design + Styling
ABBY RAKUN
+ Owner + Creative Director
+ Content Development
MIKE RAKUN
+ Owner + Chef
CYBERSPROUT
+ Website Design + Development
This spot is all about roasting steaks and rotisserie chickens to perfection over an open flame. For the daring, they rotate fresh game like duck, elk, and venison, as well as foraged morels and lobster mushrooms in-season. The bar serves unpretentious craft and classic cocktails, a curated wine list, and local beers on tap to round out the experience.
Tom Longtree. “Not much to say”. That was the man’s reply when asked to tell his tale.
Classic Tom.
If you haven’t heard of Tom Longtree, you’ve heard of someone like him: a real northwoods folk hero. As the story goes, sometime during The Roaring Twenties he up and left the Twin Cities and headed north along the Mighty Mississippi in search of greener pastures - or perhaps taller pines. He trekked from St. Paul to Lake Itasca, meeting kinfolk and learning to trap, hunt, fish, and work an axe along the way.
It was a harder life but a simpler one. He lived off the land with only his wits and his hands, and as his story spread from campfire to campfire, his legend took root.
EXPERIENCE
