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By Mark Fisher
| Friday, May 25, 2012, 09:44 AM
The owners of Company 7 BBQ in Englewood said this morning that The Travel Channel’s Food Paradise show has notified them that a film crew from the show is coming to film in their restaurant on June 3.
“It is wonderful exposure for us, but I think being noted as a food standout will be good for the whole Dayton region,” Mary Grilliot, co-owner of Company 7, said this morning.
Grilliot said she believes the show is working on one of its segments called “Drive Through Paradise,” although she expects most of the filming to be done inside the restaurant at 1001 S. Main St. in Englewood. The film crew will likely arrive shortly after opening (11 a.m.) and shoot for five to seven hours, Grilliot said.
Company 7 owners are looking to pack the house on June 3 (next Sunday), and they suggest reservations. For more information, call (937) 836-2777.
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 09:19 AM
Several Starbucks stores in the Dayton area, and apparently as many as 1,500 across the country, shut down abruptly this morning or failed to open for what the company said was a preventive maintenance issue involving the water filtration systems of the stores.
Customers who arrived at the Starbucks shop on Far Hills Avenue in Oakwood encountered locked doors and a sign alerting them that the store was closed “for routine maintenance” — but those same customers noted there was nothing routine about a Starbucks location being closed at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday.
Oakwood Starbucks sign
An employee of the Oakwood Starbucks said store managers were told to close down the store at about 7:30 a.m. this morning. Customers said stores on Brown Street and Mad River Road also were closed. By mid-afternoon, all three of those stores had reopened and were serving coffee business as usual.
Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson said by phone this morning that preventive maintenance on a piece of equipment in several stores’ water filtration system was supposed to be completed overnight. “The vast majority (of stores) we got to, others we did not,” Olson said. The affected stores will reopen once the work is completed — most likely before the end of today, Olson said.
Olson said there is no health issue involved, and the work will not adversely affect quality or taste of the coffee served. The stores were closed because company officials did not want plumbing work being done while customers were in the stores. “That’s not the Starbucks experience,” he said.
The Oakwood’s shop’s customers were taken aback to find a locked door at 9 a.m. this morning.
“This is the second time I’ve come by,” Kristin Milligan of Kettering said. “I was here an hour ago and the store was closed then, too. I need my Starbucks.”
Daniel Gaines of Oakwood appeared stunned by the locked doors and the “closed” sign when he came for coffee, pound cake and to sit inside the shop and do some work. “I’ll probably go to a competitor’s shop for some coffee and then go home,” Gaines said.
Another customer encountered the “closed” sign and headed back to his car, saying, “It looks like it’s going to be Tim Horton’s today.”
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 04:10 PM
Eva Christian, owner of the Boulevard Haus restaurant, has been convicted of all five counts that she faced in her Montgomery County Common Pleas Court trial. For details, see this story headlined “Boulevard Haus owner found guilty of insurance fraud” which was posted this afternoon shortly after the verdicts were announced.
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 06:03 AM
After listening to witnesses for more than two weeks — including testimony from the defendant herself — a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court jury will resume deliberations this morning in the trial of Eva Christian, owner of the Boulevard Haus restaurant in Dayton, who is accused of five felony counts relating to alleged insurance fraud. Click on this link for the complete story.
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By Mark Fisher
| Monday, May 21, 2012, 06:01 AM
DAYTON — The owners of Beavercreek Pizza Dive (formerly Roc-a-Fellas Pizza) are expanding to add a second location near the University of Dayton.
Owners J.R. and Teresa Geraci have purchased a property at 200 Shroyer Road at Wilmington Pike — within spitting distance of shops belonging to two of the largest pizza chains in the U.S. — and are planning to open Belmont Pizza Dive sometime this fall after renovations are complete. Teresa Geraci said she and her husband — whose Beavercreek shop specializes in New York-style pizzas — look forward to the competition with the nearby Domino’s and Papa John’s shops.
“Competition is good for everybody, and we think this will be a good location for us,” Geraci said, citing its proximity to Oakwood, Belmont and UD and the amount of vehicle traffic through the Shroyer-Wilmington intersection. “Domino’s and Papa John’s are pretty smart, and they’ve probably done a lot more market research about that location than we could ever afford to do. Besides, people eat at more than one pizza place.”
She said the Belmont Pizza Dive will probably focus more on carry-out and delivery, with a smaller seating capacity than the Beavercreek Pizza Dive, which seats 45 inside and 60 on a patio and offers dine-in promotions such as an Monday night buffet.
Plans call for Belmont Pizza Dive to share its building with a second business, and the Geracis have launched a Facebook page specifically to solicit suggestions and start a dialogue with neighbors on what type of business they’d like to see in the neighborhood. The building previously housed AAA Stripping & Refinishing.
“Maybe the neighborhood would like an ice cream parlor or a laundromat, a dog grooming business or a carry-out, a dentist or an arts studio,” Geraci said. “We envision the location as an asset to the community — we just don’t know yet exactly what that should look like.”
Geraci said she and her husband would like to open more pizza shops in the Dayton area.
“Restaurants are hard work, but I must say that neighborhood shops are so rewarding,” Geraci said. “The customers at Beavercreek really support the store and make it a joy to come to work every day.”
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Restaurant openings
By Mark Fisher
| Friday, May 18, 2012, 07:09 AM
Did you know that the St. Leonard Franciscan Living Community at 8100 Clyo Road in Centerville has a restaurant that is open to the public? I didn’t. It’s called the Station House, and it has a dining room, patio and bar. The Station House is open Wednesday through Sunday (Tuesday hours are being dropped starting June 3, according to St. Leonard’s Geni Thurin). For more information, call (937) 439-7154.
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 05:28 PM
KETTERING — The owner of the Pavilion Grille at 580 Lincoln Park Boulevard adjacent to Fraze Pavilion this afternoon challenged his landlord’s right to seize the restaurant.
The restaurant has been closed Tuesday and today because the landlord changed the locks on the doors Monday in a dispute over rent and fees. But Pavilion Grille owner Fred McGhee filed for personal Chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy last week, listing among his debts $68,500 to the Pavilion Grille’s property manager for the business lease and $35,500 in unpaid Ohio sales taxes dating back to 2011. The bankruptcy filing carries with it an “automatic stay” that blocks efforts of creditors to seize property for payment of debts, according to McGhee’s attorney, Stephen Malkiewicz, from the Dayton law firm of Rieser & Associates. Malkiewicz filed a motion this afternoon in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking to reverse the landlord’s actions and restore access to McGhee. A hearing was requested within seven days.
The bankruptcy filing will include a proposed plan that will help McGhee to become current on the restaurant’s rent and sales-tax payments and to continue operating the restaurant, Malkiewicz said.
Malkiewicz said McGhee has been diagnosed with leukemia and is undergoing treatment, which has contributed to his financial problems. Some of the debts listed on McGhee’s bankruptcy filing are related to medical bills. McGhee confirmed the diagnosis and said the treatments have left him weakened.
But McGhee said he is “looking forward to getting back into the restaurant and getting ready for the Fraze season,” which begins June 4.
Phone calls Tuesday and this afternoon seeking comment from Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Healthcare Trust of America, which owns the building that houses Pavilion Grille and is the restaurant’s landlord, were not returned.
A year ago, when the establishment was still known as Norton’s Grille and was owned by McGhee, its landlord filed an eviction notice and changed the locks of the business in a dispute over unpaid fees. McGhee regained possession after court-ordered mediation led to a settlement just eight days before the 2011 Fraze concert season started. Fraze concerts draw throngs of patrons to the restaurant-bar, and especially to its outdoor patio that faces the Fraze.
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By Mark Fisher
| Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 05:19 PM
KETTERING — The Pavilion Grille — the former Norton’s and Lincoln Park Grille in a high-profile location at 580 Lincoln Park Boulevard adjacent to Fraze Pavilion — did not open for business as scheduled this afternoon. The failure to open comes five days after the restaurant’s owner, Fred McGhee, filed for personal Chapter 13 bankruptcy, listing among his debts $68,500 to the Pavilion Grille’s property manager for the business lease and $35,500 in unpaid Ohio sales taxes dating back to 2011.
McGhee, reached by phone early this afternoon, said his attorney had advised him not to comment until mid-afternoon. Subsequent attempts to reach McGhee later in the afternoon were not successful.
In his May 10 bankruptcy filing, McGhee listed assets of $3,100 and liabilities of $261,658, including more than $100,000 in what was described as “trade debt,” and a handful of smaller debts related to medical expenses.
The previous day, on Monday, an envelope addressed to McGhee from the restaurant’s property manager, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), was taped to the outside door of the restaurant and advised the recipient that the contents were “Urgent — Notice of Termination.” Michelle Atkinson, assistant real estate manager for CBRE, declined to comment Tuesday on the notice or developments concerning the restaurant, referring questions to the building’s owner, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Healthcare Trust of America. Healthcare Trust Marketing Manager Lauren Principe did not return a phone call seeking comment.
A year ago, when the establishment was still known as Norton’s Grille and was owned by McGhee, its landlord filed an eviction notice and changed the locks of the business in a dispute over unpaid fees. McGhee regained possession after court-ordered mediation led to a settlement just eight days before the 2011 Fraze concert season started. Fraze concerts draw throngs of patrons to the restaurant-bar, and especially to its outdoor patio that faces the Fraze.
This week’s developments come about three weeks before the 2012 Fraze concert season starts. Karen Durham, general manager of The Fraze, said her office gets frequent calls during the concert season requesting contact information for the restaurant. The entertainment venue’s paid-concert series starts June 4 with a show by Michael Bolton.
“For years, it has been a great spot for both locals and out-of-towners to go, both before and after events,” Durham said.
Kettering city officials would like to see a restaurant succeed in the location, said Gregg Gorsuch, economic development manager for the city of Kettering, “because we feel a restaurant there completes the Lincoln Park area, and gives Fraze patrons another dining option” near the venue.
In the bankruptcy filing, McGhee’s attorney said that the restaurant owner “has not shown a profit from his business, nor has he been able to take a draw, in the six months prior to filing,” but added that McGhee “anticipates a huge climb in business beginning in June 2012.”
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Restaurant closings
By Mark Fisher
| Monday, May 7, 2012, 08:53 PM
A Chicago-area chef Bruce Sherman from North Pond restaurant won the award for “Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region” presented by the James Beard Foundation, in a category in which Anne Kearney, executive chef and co-owner of Rue Dumaine restaurant in Washington Twp., was one of the five finalists.
The James Beard Foundation Awards are widely regarded as the nation’s most prestigious recognition program honoring those in the food and beverage industries — a sort of Academy Awards for restaurants and chefs. No Dayton-area chef or restaurant owner has ever won a Beard Foundation award for their work at a local restaurant.
The Beard Foundation’s Great Lakes Region that includes Ohio also includes Chicago, which through the years has dominated the nominations for the regional “best chef” category. This year, all four of the other finalists in the Great Lakes best-chef category work in Chicago-area restaurants.
A year ago, Kearney was named one of 20 semifinalists in the same category, but did not advance beyond the semifinalist stage.
Kearney could not be reached for comment at the awards ceremony. Prior to traveling to the awards banquet held at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Kearney said, “All things considered, it is an honor to be nominated simply for the opportunity to be in the same room with the culinary legends from the past 25 years as well as the new breed.”
The James Beard Foundation recognized Rue Dumaine in 2008, naming it a semifinalist for the foundation’s “Best New Restaurant” in the country. And Kearney herself was named a James Beard Foundation best-chef award winner in the southeastern U.S. in 2002 when she and her husband Tom Sand owned and operated Peristyle restaurant in New Orleans, and after she had been named a semifinalist each of the three preceding years.
When the finalists for the 2012 awards were named earlier this year and Kearney had made the cut to five finalists, Amy Zahora, executive director of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association, and Shanon Morgan, president of the MVRA, both said the selection reflects well on the overall quality of dining in the Miami Valley.
Zahora said Dayton “is a small city that doesn’t get a lot of credit, but there’s a lot of great talent here, and great chefs, too.”
Morgan said, “It’s a privilege to have Anne Kearney here, not only because she’s a great chef, but because she’s a wonderful person, too.”
Kearney and Sand opened Rue Dumaine in 2007 at 1061 Miamisburg-Centerville Road (Ohio 725). They plan to move the restaurant to the Austin Landing center near I-75 and Austin Road in 2013.
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By Mark Fisher
| Monday, May 7, 2012, 07:45 AM
CLAYTON — Matthew DeAngulo — a Dayton chef who has worked at several of the region’s fine-dining restaurants and who most recently was the founding chef at Olive in Dayton — is preparing to open his own restaurant to be called Urban Harvest Restaurant & Catering at 8331 N. Main St. in the Randolph Plaza.
Renovation of the new restaurant, located in the former Uptown Delicatessen, is underway, and DeAngulo said he expects to open in mid to late June. The menu will focus on Midwestern casual food, with a strong emphasis on local sourcing of ingredients, which DeAngulo was deeply involved in at Olive to the extent that Olive founder Kimberly Collett referred to him as the restaurant’s “chef/farm wrangler.”
The 39-year-old DeAngulo’s food-service career started at age 13 as a busboy at The Toll House Tavern in Union, and took him into the kitchens of restaurants such as Olivia’s, Neil’s Heritage House, Zola’s, Café Boulevard, Benham’s and others.
“It’s my time,” DeAngulo said of opening his own restaurant. “It’s time to show what I can bring to the community, to show that I can provide something different.”
He chose the Clayton location because he grew up nearby in Union. “Plus, I believe this area is starving for an independent restaurant” that is strongly community-based and serves well-prepared, made-from-scratch Midwestern food, DeAngulo said. He said he has made contacts at purveyors such as Bowman & Landes turkeys and Ed Hill chickens and will serve menu items such as macaroni & cheese, burgers, chicken burgers, greens and other items that are Midwestern staples.
The new restaurant owner will work with businesses and medical offices in the area around the Randolph Plaza to build his catering business.
For more information about Urban Harvest, call (937) 499-0725.
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Restaurant openings
By Mark Fisher
| Monday, May 7, 2012, 07:03 AM
OAKWOOD — Cooper’s Deli at 2515 Far Hills Ave. that we first told you about back in December 2011 will open to the public at 11 a.m. today, May 7.
The new restaurant seats 57 in its main dining room and 25 on a rooftop patio, and also has a banquet room for special events. It opens with 30 employees, according to Dan Apolito, who co-owns Cooper’s Deli with Mike Fullenkamp and Scott Dorsten and who also is co-owner of Archer’s Deli in Centerville.
The deli’s menu includes pastrami and corned beef from New York City, soups and salads, and New York style cheesecake. A signature sandwich will be the New Yorker, with corned beef, pastrami, cheddar cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing, served on marbled rye, Apolito said.
Cooper’s Deli will feature five beers on draft, including a signature Cooper’s IPA brewed by Rivertown Brewing in Cincinnati. Its wine list, as is the wine list at Archer’s Deli, was chosen by Eric Jerardi, local blues musician who also operates the Little Store deli and wine shop in Butler Twp., and includes multiple selections available by the small carafe, half-liter carafe, and bottle. Apolito said the deli will host regular wine tastings.
Cooper’s Deli’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
For more information, call (937) 610-1999 or check out the Cooper’s Deli Facebook page.
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Restaurant openings
By Mark Fisher
| Friday, May 4, 2012, 03:36 PM
DAYTON — A new business called Cheeky Meat Pies is celebrating a grand opening today at the 2nd Street Market in downtown Dayton.
Diners can buy one meat pie and receive the second one at 50 percent off during the grand opening today, May 5.
Cheeky Meat Pies are described as individual meat pies that diners can eat like a sandwich and are similar to the meat pies popular in New Zealand and Australia.
For more information, check out the Cheeky Meat Pies Facebook Page.
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Restaurant openings
By Mark Fisher
| Thursday, May 3, 2012, 07:31 AM
DAYTON — The new cupcake bakery and dessert shop called Moore Dessert Please! that celebrated its grand opening just yesterday will appear on the Food Network’s Sunday (May 6) episode of “Cupcake Wars.”
Representing the local bakery will be 22-year-old shop owner Brittany Moore and her mother Tina as her assistant, according to a news release from the new bakery. The mother-daughter duo will compete with three other bakers from across the U.S. The episode airs at 8 p.m.
The bakery at 1003 Shroyer Road next door to Carmel’s restaurant near the Dayton-Oakwood line is owned by the mother-daughter duo, who operated an online-only bakery for nearly two years before opening the storefront shop.
For more information, call (937) 297-0293.
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 10:19 AM
DAYTON — The new cupcake bakery and dessert shop called Moore Dessert Please! will celebrate its grand opening today, Wednesday May 2, by offering a free cupcake to the first 100 visitors.
The bakery, which opened at 10 a.m. this morning and first opened its doors to the public on April 23 at 1003 Shroyer Road in Dayton, said on the Moore Dessert Please! Facebook page that “the first 100 people in the door get a free chocolate or vanilla cupcake” today, and that the store also will offer gelato, coffee, cake pops and other cupcakes.
The bakery is located next door to Carmel’s restaurant near the Dayton-Oakwood line. It is owned by Brittany Moore and her mother Tina Moore of Oakwood, who operated an online-only bakery for nearly two years before opening the storefront shop.
For more information, call (937) 297-0293.
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By Mark Fisher
| Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 08:52 AM
My former Dayton Daily News colleague Alexis Larsen and I collaborated on this story entitled “The best dining is under sun, stars: We round up the best outdoor dining spots in Southwest Ohio,” and the story was published today (5-2-12) in the Dayton Daily News.
Amelia’s Bistro in Bellbrook
But as the story says, Alexis and I know we just scratched the surface of the best patio dining in the greater Miami Valley. If you have a favorite restaurant patio dining spot that is not mentioned in today’s story, email Mark Fisher (Mark.Fisher@coxinc.com) and Alexis Larsen (alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com) and tell us about it. (Facebook suggestions also welcome, of course.) If emailing, please include your full name and hometown, and the reasons why you think your restaurant patio rocks, and we’ll assemble some of the comments for a future story.
But in the meantime, consider giving a few of our favorites a try.
Stefano’s Italian Cafe in Middletown
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