By OWEN MORRIS
Extra Virgin's Web site says the original mid-October opening date has been pushed back to early November. Since it's almost mid-November, I stopped by to see how it was coming along.
Steady but surely, said Chef Michael Smith himself. While he's now pushed back the opening to around the first of December, there's no set date. Smith does, however, promise that EV will be open by the holidays. "We started booking parties because it's pretty much ready. We're anticipating a great holiday season."
As the seasons have changed, so has the menu, which Smith says is nearly finalized. "It will be wintery stuff like beans, hearty meats. It gives me more to work with."
Construction is still going on. Smith had just put in place decorations designed by local artist Jesse Small. The kitchen itself is also done, so Smith is expecting the city for inspections soon. The upstairs private dining room has been mostly finished for a couple of weeks, and there have already been parties in it.
Smith says he's anxious to get the restaurant open -- and he looks like it, too, constantly running his hands along the bottom of the new bar or fidgeting with a door handle that catches his attention. He knows that opening in December will leave him no time to work out the kinks before the holiday crush, so he's trying to work them all out now. "The concept is new to me. Fine-dining I can do and have done all my life. But to just get it going, to create this place, I'm excited. It's what? Eighty seats. I can handle eighty seats."
Don't expect a grand opening, though. Smith says that the block party he hosted was opening enough. "We'll just do an investor/supporter party but no big things. We're going to be busy within the first few days. Once people figure out we're open, they'll start coming ... It's a new late-night place in the Crossroads. People want one and we'll be here."
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