Lane Cardwell

“Impress Me For $20”

Some colleagues and I had lunch with restaurateur Jack Baum (Canyon Cafe, Cozymel's and others) early last year to talk with him about an upscale concept that was for sale. Chef driven, outstanding food, sexy decor, and a $50+ check average.  I'll never forget Jack's comment about the table service industry in general.

“I'll tell you what gets my attention. When a restaurant can impress me for $20. Now that takes some hard work, and some creativity, but it can be done.”

There are many great concepts that can impress me for $20.  One that still pokes around in my mind when I'm thinking about how hard it is to be different can be found in Columbus, Ohio. Cameron Mitchell, the Rich Melman for a new generation, has an absolute winner on his hands with Marcella’s Ristorante and has opened a second location.

These same colleagues and I visited the Columbus market and did a driving tour of Cameron’s various concepts. We saved Marcella’s for last as our dinner for the evening. All we knew was that it was Italian, fairly new and extremely popular. Somehow that all translated into our minds as fancy and expensive. When we walked in the door and looked around we all agreed that we were in for a fun evening. It was anything but fancy and expensive. It felt like Italy by way of France. Cameron says that he modeled it after the restaurants that he and his family enjoy in Tuscany.

The food was really good, but we have all been in places where the food was really good. The atmosphere was festive and invited conversation among the tables that you sat near.  But what really got us excited was the style of menu. As described on their website, this is a place “where plates are passed and flavors shared.” The menu is designed for sampling many different dishes. So often a small dish or tapas style menu looks reasonable at first glance, but those $5.95, $6.95 and $7.95 dishes needed to make a meal can really add up.

Not so at Marcella’s. Olive selections are $3.  Cheese selections are $3 each. Italian meats for $4. Cold small plates for $5 and $7. The choices are so reasonable and varied that it is the job of the server to keep you from going crazy.  “Sir, we will be open the next time you return if you want to save a few items for then.”

Words fail me in describing the concept and doing it justice. Click on the links above and take a look at new ways of doing something very old. Cameron has done it again.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on February 25, 2008 | Comments (0)