В Ричмонде открылся ресторан Lafayette Tavern, воссоздающий атмосферу легендарного квартала 1988 года

In 1988 two young girls sat at a card table in folding chairs selling lemonade. The younger brother of one of the girls blasted “Beat It” by Michael Jackson on his Fisher-Price boom box and danced. The stand and the show were for the patrons of Lafayette Foodland and Lafayette Pharmacy. Lafayette Foodland was a fantastic small market with its own butcher and fresh produce. The sometimes irascible but always loved Mr. Breit owned and ran the place. Lafayette Pharmacy was next door, and its ever-present owner/pharmacist Mel Fitzgerald was always good for neighborhood and family conversation. Those places and that history are the bones of the block that is now home to Lafayette Tavern. The classic old-school charm of that time and place still lingers and is built into the recently opened restaurant at 1011 Lafayette St., in the former pharmacy building. “I knew we had to pay tribute to the space … it had to feel timeless …. we had to pay tribute to what had been there,” says Constantine “Dean” Giavos, the creative director and proprietor of Lafayette Tavern. Giavos studied at Parson’s School of Design and had extensive experience with his family’s other Richmond restaurants before he conceived Lafayette Tavern. His grandmother was Stella Dikos, a matriarch of Richmond restaurant royalty. In the 1950s Stella, along with her husband, Stavros, opened the Village Café, an iconic bohemian hangout for many years, at Harrison and Grace. She opened her first Stella’s restaurant “up the stairs” on Harrison Street in 1983, and after a stint on Main Street the restaurant moved to its present location on Lafayette in 2011. Sadly, Stella passed away in 2024, but her legacy lives on in Lafayette Tavern, which is directly across the street. “Her spirit lives on in the place. … She would have loved it,” says Giavos. “Her graciousness and humility and connection to the community is her legacy.” There is even a booth in the back near the kitchen with her name on it. As my group and I recently sat in a sleek black leather booth under Lafayette Tavern’s front window, I was impressed by the sophistication and class that immediately jumped out. The black and white checked floor is front and center. The subtle backlighting of the bar, black leather swivel bar stools, the small lamps on each table, the staff outfitted in white dress shirts, black pants and black bow ties, the round porthole-like window in the front door, the monogrammed dinner plates, and the very cool music, all combine to create an atmosphere of stylishly fashionable or chic. I heard the Beatles, the Doors, Dylan, The Band and some Motown. As the night rolled on, it was the Stones. The sound level is high, but not too high. It reflects the energy and action all around. I could squint my eyes just a little bit and easily imagine being in Donohue’s or Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. Donohue’s recently closed, but it served as a model of sorts for Lafayette Tavern. “It was a local neighborhood steakhouse on the upper east side of Manhattan, and the décor jumped out at me,” says Giavos. Lafayette Tavern’s a la carte menu includes a raw bar, substantial appetizers, and “Mains” that include chicken, veal, pork chop, seafood, burger and steak. The executive chef is Bobo Catoe Jr., who hails from prior stints with chefs Lee Gregory and Joe Sparatta at Alewife and Southbound. He has proved his chops in the kitchen repeatedly. The steak is front and center with a 26-ounce bone-in cowboy ribeye, a 16-ounce New York strip and a 6-ounce filet. The steak prices seemed a little high relative to the rest of the menu, but with beef prices rising almost 12% in the past year, it’s understandable. “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as just a steakhouse. We want to do a variety of classic dishes with care and detail,” Giavos says. My group shared oysters on the half shell, fried artichoke hearts, roasted leeks and steak tartare as appetizers. The oysters tasted cold and fresh with a hint of salt water. The tartare was very creamy with croutons. The artichokes appeared to be deep fried with a tasty lemon garlic aioli, and the leeks were roasted in a brown butter and lemon sauce that covered them. For our “Mains,” we had a medium-rare New York strip that was juicy and flavorful; a seafood special of cobia, grilled with lots of pepper and tomato sauce; Scottish salmon, which was cooked medium-rare and was tender and delicious with a tarragon beurre blanc sauce; and a large veal parmesan, which was bone in and covered in mozzarella, tomato, parmesan and basil. There are also plenty of tempting sides to complement any dish. Desserts are not on the menu because they frequently change, but we had chocolate mousse and creme brulee. They were both thick, rich, creamy and excellent. A hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings was also available. We had after-dinner drinks of a decaf espresso martini and a mint chocolate grasshopper. A full bar includes a traditional Manhattan, Negroni and classic daiquiri. Nonalcoholic drinks, such as a “phony Negroni,” are also available, as are an assortment of domestic and foreign beers, bottled or draft. Our table enjoyed the Sierra Nevada bottles. Interestingly, the restaurant has just released, in collaboration with Veil brewing, an American lager with French hops as a tribute to General Lafayette. It’s available on draft only at Lafayette Tavern, but is available in 500 milliliter bottles at Stella’s grocery locations. The wine list is diverse and substantial, including white, rose and orange from France, Italy, Germany and domestic. The reds are French, Italian and domestic. I had a French pinot noir that was a bit expensive, but excellent, and others had the Napa chardonnay. Sparkling wines from Champagne and the Loire Valley in France are also offered. My experience at Lafayette was not only one of expertly prepared food and smooth, refreshing drinks, but also of relaxing conversation, laughter, great music and just enjoying the positive vibe. It is not inexpensive, but I found that the value of the food and drink, coupled with the whole experience, was generally commensurate with the prices. The service was exceptional in terms of attentiveness, timeliness and affability. No request was overlooked or ignored. “I tell my staff all the time we are a movie set, and we want to treat our guests as the main character in the movie. … We want them to love the whole experience,” Giavos says. Guests start lining up on the sidewalk at 4:15 p.m. to try to get seated at the bar for dinner. The restaurant opens at 4:30, and reservations are pretty much a must unless you get lucky, or show up after 9 p.m., which is often doable Sunday through Wednesday. The restaurant is open seven days a week, 4:30 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. To wrap up, the old-school charm of the area coupled with the rich Giavos family legacy give Lafayette Tavern an authenticity and genuineness that is so often lacking in the latest “hot spot.” Lafayette Tavern may be the latest hot spot, but it feels grounded, established and lasting. Perhaps most important is the fact that its heritage is completely and entirely Richmond, and that’s what makes it so special. In 1988 two young girls sat at a card table in folding chairs selling lemonade. The younger brother of one of the girls blasted “Beat It” by Michael Jackson on his Fisher-Price boom box and danced. The stand and the show were for the patrons of Lafayette Foodland and Lafayette Pharmacy. Lafayette Foodland was a fantastic small market with its own butcher and fresh produce. The sometimes irascible but always loved Mr. Breit owned and ran the place. Lafayette Pharmacy was next door, and its ever-present owner/pharmacist Mel Fitzgerald was always good for neighborhood and family conversation. Those places and that history are the bones of the block that is now home to Lafayette Tavern. The classic old-school charm of that time and place still lingers and is built into the recently opened restaurant at 1011 Lafayette St., in the former pharmacy building. “I knew we had to pay tribute to the space … it had to feel timeless …. we had to pay tribute to what had been there,” says Constantine “Dean” Giavos, the creative director and proprietor of Lafayette Tavern. Giavos studied at Parson’s School of Design and had extensive experience with his family’s other Richmond restaurants before he conceived Lafayette Tavern. His grandmother was Stella Dikos, a matriarch of Richmond restaurant royalty. In the 1950s Stella, along with her husband, Stavros, opened the Village Café, an iconic bohemian hangout for many years, at Harrison and Grace. She opened her first Stella’s restaurant “up the stairs” on Harrison Street in 1983, and after a stint on Main Street the restaurant moved to its present location on Lafayette in 2011. Sadly, Stella passed away in 2024, but her legacy lives on in Lafayette Tavern, which is directly across the street. “Her spirit lives on in the place. … She would have loved it,” says Giavos. “Her graciousness and humility and connection to the community is her legacy.” There is even a booth in the back near the kitchen with her name on it. As my group and I recently sat in a sleek black leather booth under Lafayette Tavern’s front window, I was impressed by the sophistication and class that immediately jumped out. The black and white checked floor is front and center. The subtle backlighting of the bar, black leather swivel bar stools, the small lamps on each table, the staff outfitted in white dress shirts, black pants and black bow ties, the round porthole-like window in the front door, the monogrammed dinner plates, and the very cool music, all combine to create an atmosphere of stylishly fashionable or chic. I heard the Beatles, the Doors, Dylan, The Band and some Motown. As the night rolled on, it was the Stones. The sound level is high, but not too high. It reflects the energy and action all around. I could squint my eyes just a little bit and easily imagine being in Donohue’s or Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. Donohue’s recently closed, but it served as a model of sorts for Lafayette Tavern. “It was a local neighborhood steakhouse on the upper east side of Manhattan, and the décor jumped out at me,” says Giavos. Lafayette Tavern’s a la carte menu includes a raw bar, substantial appetizers, and “Mains” that include chicken, veal, pork chop, seafood, burger and steak. The executive chef is Bobo Catoe Jr., who hails from prior stints with chefs Lee Gregory and Joe Sparatta at Alewife and Southbound. He has proved his chops in the kitchen repeatedly. The steak is front and center with a 26-ounce bone-in cowboy ribeye, a 16-ounce New York strip and a 6-ounce filet. The steak prices seemed a little high relative to the rest of the menu, but with beef prices rising almost 12% in the past year, it’s understandable. “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as just a steakhouse. We want to do a variety of classic dishes with care and detail,” Giavos says. My group shared oysters on the half shell, fried artichoke hearts, roasted leeks and steak tartare as appetizers. The oysters tasted cold and fresh with a hint of salt water. The tartare was very creamy with croutons. The artichokes appeared to be deep fried with a tasty lemon garlic aioli, and the leeks were roasted in a brown butter and lemon sauce that covered them. For our “Mains,” we had a medium-rare New York strip that was juicy and flavorful; a seafood special of cobia, grilled with lots of pepper and tomato sauce; Scottish salmon, which was cooked medium-rare and was tender and delicious with a tarragon beurre blanc sauce; and a large veal parmesan, which was bone in and covered in mozzarella, tomato, parmesan and basil. There are also plenty of tempting sides to complement any dish. Desserts are not on the menu because they frequently change, but we had chocolate mousse and creme brulee. They were both thick, rich, creamy and excellent. A hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings was also available. We had after-dinner drinks of a decaf espresso martini and a mint chocolate grasshopper. A full bar includes a traditional Manhattan, Negroni and classic daiquiri. Nonalcoholic drinks, such as a “phony Negroni,” are also available, as are an assortment of domestic and foreign beers, bottled or draft. Our table enjoyed the Sierra Nevada bottles. Interestingly, the restaurant has just released, in collaboration with Veil brewing, an American lager with French hops as a tribute to General Lafayette. It’s available on draft only at Lafayette Tavern, but is available in 500 milliliter bottles at Stella’s grocery locations. The wine list is diverse and substantial, including white, rose and orange from France, Italy, Germany and domestic. The reds are French, Italian and domestic. I had a French pinot noir that was a bit expensive, but excellent, and others had the Napa chardonnay. Sparkling wines from Champagne and the Loire Valley in France are also offered. My experience at Lafayette was not only one of expertly prepared food and smooth, refreshing drinks, but also of relaxing conversation, laughter, great music and just enjoying the positive vibe. It is not inexpensive, but I found that the value of the food and drink, coupled with the whole experience, was generally commensurate with the prices. The service was exceptional in terms of attentiveness, timeliness and affability. No request was overlooked or ignored. “I tell my staff all the time we are a movie set, and we want to treat our guests as the main character in the movie. … We want them to love the whole experience,” Giavos says. Guests start lining up on the sidewalk at 4:15 p.m. to try to get seated at the bar for dinner. The restaurant opens at 4:30, and reservations are pretty much a must unless you get lucky, or show up after 9 p.m., which is often doable Sunday through Wednesday. The restaurant is open seven days a week, 4:30 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. To wrap up, the old-school charm of the area coupled with the rich Giavos family legacy give Lafayette Tavern an authenticity and genuineness that is so often lacking in the latest “hot spot.” Lafayette Tavern may be the latest hot spot, but it feels grounded, established and lasting. Perhaps most important is the fact that its heritage is completely and entirely Richmond, and that’s what makes it so special.