MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Eating out and eating healthy doesn’t always sound like it’ll be delicious.

But a new Minneapolis restaurant — Birdhouse on Hennepin in Uptown — is aiming to change that.

It’s currently open for breakfast and lunch, but it’ll add dinner and have its grand opening on June 21.

Ben Mauk spent nearly 20 years as an executive chef on both the east and west coasts. Now he’s now cooking things up at Birdhouse as he grew up in south Minneapolis.

“Literally it’s a dream job, couldn’t ask for a better job,” he said.

When asked how to combat the notion that “healthy food isn’t tasty food,” Mauk said, “From my perspective this project is professionally coming full circle.”

For the last 19 years, Duplex was the restaurant where Birdhouse now resides. The home has been gutted now with room for 54 inside, and 45 on the outdoor patio.

The team has spent months researching suppliers, visiting farms and the buzz words are — best practices. Questions like “Was the chicken raised humanely?” And “Are the vegetables grown with respect for the land?

“There’s no simple solution,” Mauk said. “This is gonna be a developing project as we move forward.”