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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Lavomatic to open in February (hopefully)

I'm hoping this blog doesn't sound like an ad for Jean-Robert's restaurants, but I can't help that he's constantly opening and reinventing his restaurants. This one particularly excites me, as it's in my neighborhood of Over the Rhine.

The Business Courier reports that Lavomatic is slated to open February 1st, "hopefully", says Martin Wade, one of du Cavel's business partners. The menu will feature global, rustic, French-inspired food that won't be stuffy or formal, along with 75 wines by the bottle and 28 wines by the glass, selected by the Downtowner's wine columnist, sommelier Burke Morton, who also runs front-of-house.

The owners of Metronation hinted that, perhaps, it will be connected to Lavomatic, so you can browse while you wait, particularly on Sunday mornings (do I sense brunch?). I'll be interested to check out a restaurant within quick walking distance-- will you head to OTR to try it out?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else had really really disappointing meals at Jean-Robert's restaurants beside me?

Pigall's is always top notch (even if I only get to go there once or twice a year for a special occasion!)however my husband & I have had one mediocre meal after another at Jeanro Bistro and at the closed Pho Paris. We kept going back to Jeanro Bistro because it's a great space and it's owned by the best chef in town, and we kept thinking 'maybe it's just an off night', but after several identical experiences (and friends with the same complaints) we finally stopped going. The service was pretty bad their also.

I'm just starting to wonder if Jean-Robert has spread himself too thin, and if he doesn't really run the other restaurants himself (i read a post on another blog that he runs the other restaurants for his financial backers)? We don't plan to go to Chalk after our experiences at Jeanro and Pho. There are fust too many good restaurants around town these days to bother!

Any thoughts??

Julie said...

Hi, Nancy!

I've really enjoyed every meal I've had at Greenup Cafe. I've been to JeanRo once: the service was good, but my steak was very tough. The frites, however, were quite good! I haven't been back (again, too many restaurants in town!), but I'd be willing to give it another try. Pho Paris was just okay. I'll try Chalk, and I'll try Lavomatic (particularly because it's so close to me), but I'm hoping his brand isn't being so diluted that service and food suffer. I'd rather he do one or two restaurants very, very well than five mediocre restaurants. I, to, have heard that he focuses on Pigall's, and far less on the other restaurants-- again, being spread too thin.

Anonymous said...

Julie, I agree, the frites there are really great!

Anonymous said...

Lavomatic will definitely be connected to Metronation - owner George Schmidt told me that, for fire code reasons, the restaurant has to be. Can't wait to try it out!

Julie said...

Fantastic! When I talked to George back before the holidays, he wasn't entirely sure. This is great news.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Lavomatic to open in February (hopefully)

I'm hoping this blog doesn't sound like an ad for Jean-Robert's restaurants, but I can't help that he's constantly opening and reinventing his restaurants. This one particularly excites me, as it's in my neighborhood of Over the Rhine.

The Business Courier reports that Lavomatic is slated to open February 1st, "hopefully", says Martin Wade, one of du Cavel's business partners. The menu will feature global, rustic, French-inspired food that won't be stuffy or formal, along with 75 wines by the bottle and 28 wines by the glass, selected by the Downtowner's wine columnist, sommelier Burke Morton, who also runs front-of-house.

The owners of Metronation hinted that, perhaps, it will be connected to Lavomatic, so you can browse while you wait, particularly on Sunday mornings (do I sense brunch?). I'll be interested to check out a restaurant within quick walking distance-- will you head to OTR to try it out?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else had really really disappointing meals at Jean-Robert's restaurants beside me?

Pigall's is always top notch (even if I only get to go there once or twice a year for a special occasion!)however my husband & I have had one mediocre meal after another at Jeanro Bistro and at the closed Pho Paris. We kept going back to Jeanro Bistro because it's a great space and it's owned by the best chef in town, and we kept thinking 'maybe it's just an off night', but after several identical experiences (and friends with the same complaints) we finally stopped going. The service was pretty bad their also.

I'm just starting to wonder if Jean-Robert has spread himself too thin, and if he doesn't really run the other restaurants himself (i read a post on another blog that he runs the other restaurants for his financial backers)? We don't plan to go to Chalk after our experiences at Jeanro and Pho. There are fust too many good restaurants around town these days to bother!

Any thoughts??

Julie said...

Hi, Nancy!

I've really enjoyed every meal I've had at Greenup Cafe. I've been to JeanRo once: the service was good, but my steak was very tough. The frites, however, were quite good! I haven't been back (again, too many restaurants in town!), but I'd be willing to give it another try. Pho Paris was just okay. I'll try Chalk, and I'll try Lavomatic (particularly because it's so close to me), but I'm hoping his brand isn't being so diluted that service and food suffer. I'd rather he do one or two restaurants very, very well than five mediocre restaurants. I, to, have heard that he focuses on Pigall's, and far less on the other restaurants-- again, being spread too thin.

Anonymous said...

Julie, I agree, the frites there are really great!

Anonymous said...

Lavomatic will definitely be connected to Metronation - owner George Schmidt told me that, for fire code reasons, the restaurant has to be. Can't wait to try it out!

Julie said...

Fantastic! When I talked to George back before the holidays, he wasn't entirely sure. This is great news.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Lavomatic to open in February (hopefully)

I'm hoping this blog doesn't sound like an ad for Jean-Robert's restaurants, but I can't help that he's constantly opening and reinventing his restaurants. This one particularly excites me, as it's in my neighborhood of Over the Rhine.

The Business Courier reports that Lavomatic is slated to open February 1st, "hopefully", says Martin Wade, one of du Cavel's business partners. The menu will feature global, rustic, French-inspired food that won't be stuffy or formal, along with 75 wines by the bottle and 28 wines by the glass, selected by the Downtowner's wine columnist, sommelier Burke Morton, who also runs front-of-house.

The owners of Metronation hinted that, perhaps, it will be connected to Lavomatic, so you can browse while you wait, particularly on Sunday mornings (do I sense brunch?). I'll be interested to check out a restaurant within quick walking distance-- will you head to OTR to try it out?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else had really really disappointing meals at Jean-Robert's restaurants beside me?

Pigall's is always top notch (even if I only get to go there once or twice a year for a special occasion!)however my husband & I have had one mediocre meal after another at Jeanro Bistro and at the closed Pho Paris. We kept going back to Jeanro Bistro because it's a great space and it's owned by the best chef in town, and we kept thinking 'maybe it's just an off night', but after several identical experiences (and friends with the same complaints) we finally stopped going. The service was pretty bad their also.

I'm just starting to wonder if Jean-Robert has spread himself too thin, and if he doesn't really run the other restaurants himself (i read a post on another blog that he runs the other restaurants for his financial backers)? We don't plan to go to Chalk after our experiences at Jeanro and Pho. There are fust too many good restaurants around town these days to bother!

Any thoughts??

Julie said...

Hi, Nancy!

I've really enjoyed every meal I've had at Greenup Cafe. I've been to JeanRo once: the service was good, but my steak was very tough. The frites, however, were quite good! I haven't been back (again, too many restaurants in town!), but I'd be willing to give it another try. Pho Paris was just okay. I'll try Chalk, and I'll try Lavomatic (particularly because it's so close to me), but I'm hoping his brand isn't being so diluted that service and food suffer. I'd rather he do one or two restaurants very, very well than five mediocre restaurants. I, to, have heard that he focuses on Pigall's, and far less on the other restaurants-- again, being spread too thin.

Anonymous said...

Julie, I agree, the frites there are really great!

Anonymous said...

Lavomatic will definitely be connected to Metronation - owner George Schmidt told me that, for fire code reasons, the restaurant has to be. Can't wait to try it out!

Julie said...

Fantastic! When I talked to George back before the holidays, he wasn't entirely sure. This is great news.