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RE$TAURANT$ blog items appear each Tuesday. Doral Chenoweth writes about the business of restaurants and the food industry in the Columbus, Ohio, Metro area. Reader comments are welcome by telephone. 614-538-1822. Email the Grump: thegrumpygourmet@wowway.com Send food stuff here: iPLATE@grumpygourmetusa.com Send weird stuff here: alferd_e_packer@wowway.com E-mail messages must include name and telephone for a reply. |
| 27DEC05 |
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The Maisonette, a Final Goodbye From An Equally Ranked 'Kindred Spirit' (Note: As said, it takes one to know one. Kamal Boulos, owner of the world-class Refectory in Columbus, penned this tribute to the Comisar family for creating Ohio’s most acclaimed restaurant, the Maisonette in Cincinnati. The restaurant closed in July, 2005, after 57 years. The reason: Urban unrest in Downtown Cincinnati.) + + + + + It was an amazing experience to walk through the Maisonette the first morning of the auction. Although the restaurant was deserted, all the tables were set up with complete settings of silver, china, and crystal wine glasses. The dining room seemed ready to receive guests for that evening with tableside carts and silver wine stands lined up ready for service. I remembered the half dozen times that I had dined there over the years and the memories of each location and event. Sadly, I had never brought my wife here, and had always intended to, and now it was too late. You could almost see the tuxedoed captains moving quietly about the room and finishing off the presentations of different entrees at the table and then topping the evening off with the spectacular flaming tableside Cafe Brulot. The Maitre d' and owner circulated among the tables to assure each guest of their personal attention. The end of era in fine dining that may never be seen or experienced again. As I walked though the vast space that is the wine cellar, it was still holding many fine wines ready to be auctioned off the next day, and among them, a single bottle of 1924 Chateau Petrus, that would eventually bring $3,500. I reflected back on the night Michael Comisar took me on a personal tour of the cellar and how that evening set us to begin building our own wine cellar at The Refectory. The auction itself actually took place in the Westin Hotel Ballroom one block away. We settled in with a crowd of more than 200 bidders in attendance and another 100-plus bidders across the country online that were able to bid live and heard the auctioneers voice as if they were in the room with us. No removal of any item until the two-day auction was over! No despoiling this property in midstream; the elegant setting to be preserved for all others to see until the entire affair of the funeral was over. To separate the curious from serious bidders, the auctioneers required a $500 cash refundable deposit to enter into the auction room. The first item up for bid was a single menu, with a special video of the history of the Maisonette. Winning bid was $195. Several of these were offered, one at a time. The auctioneer made a special announcement that on the second day at 1 p.m. they would actually sell the name of The Maisonette itself. This was not in the catalog ahead of time and was only announced at the event. Winning bid was $35,000 plus the 10 percent Buyers premium on all items. A table setting for four with a center plate, bread and butter plate, butter knife, two forks, one knife, crystal wine glass and the tablecloth was offered and again several were available. Winning bid $500. The Mobil Five Star Awards $300 each and so it went for two days. For many, a premium price for a piece of history, and for others, like myself some relative bargains, as later in the auction, when tableside carts and plates were sold they were very inexpensive. As an example, Champagne glasses in lots of 12 sold for $19 per glass at the beginning of the auction. The same glass towards the end sold for $3 per glass for one lot of 100 glasses. The end of an era and a sad event in some ways, and yet it was a privilege to be there to experience this time in restaurant history. It was even more of a privilege to have dined there at its height and experienced the choreography of fine cuisine and service in an unparalleled elegant setting. For me, it was a respectful goodbye to a kindred spirit in our business, Kamal Boulos, Proprietor, The Refectory |
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Cameron Mitchell, What a Catch! Cameron Mitchell, What a Catch! That's the cover key headline on December's Restaurant Hospitality, the industr'’s top monthly magazine. Mitchell, 42, himself a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and the owner of a dozen Columbus restaurants with nine different concepts, is the cover boy. He was cited for receiving the Melman Award, the top USA honor going to a multiconcept operator.
The magazine cites Mitchell's growth: In a "mere 12 years" under the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants banner, he heads a $100 million company. From the nine concepts, he has booked one to develop into a growth vehicle. He opened in Columbus, two Columbus Fish Markets, inspired after he visited Atlanta Fish Market. CMR now has 14 seafood restaurants, 12 in other states under the name of Mitchell Fish Markets. All are doing a reported $5 million each. The Mitchell restaurants are now in seven states. He has plans to open three to four a year. Las Vegas, considered the finest restaurant city, possibly in the world, is on the Mitchell planning board. Stay tuned. |
 Rick and Krista Lopez Owners |
New Digs for La Tavola The (temporary) bad news: La Tavola has closed in Powell. Good news: La Tavola reopens Jan. 6 in Dublin. The highly praised Italian restaurant, owned by Krista and Rick Lopez, is in final days of taking over the closed Riverview building, 6125 Riverside Dr. The Powell telephone could not be moved. The new number will be 614-760-8700. The website, www.latavola.biz , is being upgraded to showcase both old menu items and a couple of new ones. The big seller, La Tavola's destination entree, housemade tortellini, egg pasta stuffed with roast pork, mortadella (large pork sausage) and prosciutto DiParma. From the Grump's original review memories, saltimbocca alla Romana remains on the menu using fresh veal (as opposed to cheaper frozen veal) pounded thin with Fontana, prosciutto, and sauteed with Marsala and sage, all served in a tomato broth. The totally new La Tavola is in a building built to be a restaurant and will have a wood-fired oven and grill. La Tavola is among the 2006 newcomers to the Dispatch's Home & Garden Show. Rick Lopez will appear with his sous chef, Matt Langstaff, to prepare and serve their recipe for traditional Italian boar sausage to Gourmet Galaxy Cafe attendees. (For times and information, call Donna Jarvis-Miller, Dispatch Marketing, 614-461-8797.) |
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Overheard at Spagio Cellars "I like to buy wine because I like to pick out pretty bottles with pretty labels." Declining to give a name, initials on her Gucci bag were E. K. |
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We Depart 2005 With This.... Judy and Frank Hook now spend cold months in Sanibel, Florida. He reports in periodically on state of restaurant arts in those sunny climes. He reported this sign on a eatery called Beach View Restaruant: "We’ve Been Horrorfing Vegetarians for Years." We think it may be a steakhouse. by Doral Chenoweth 614-538-1822 |
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columbuschefs.com/restaurants-blog-29nov05.html - Tis the Season
columbuschefs.com/restaurants-blog-06dec05.html - Da Vinci's safe
columbuschefs.com/restaurants-blog-13dec05.html - Disney Chef
columbuschefs.com/restaurants-blog-20dec05.html - Tom Johnson