urbanSTL

That's what the owner of Copia told me... I think his info is pretty reliable, but you never know.



However all the duct work is definitely down and it was up a few days ago.

buckethead wrote:That's what the owner of Copia told me... I think his info is pretty reliable, but you never know.



However all the duct work is definitely down and it was up a few days ago.

I just walked thru and there is still duct work in the space and the unit is still up in the back of the building. They didnt look like they were slowing down on opening. There were still people scurrying around working on various things. No one of authority was around to speak to, maybe later today I will try to speak to someone.

^ Yikes indeed. I've heard of similar things happening before - this is definitely bad news. If they weren't even able to shuffle money around to pay for this I imagine that there are other billing problems and they won't have any money coming in for some time!

Grover wrote:^ Yikes indeed. I've heard of similar things happening before - this is definitely bad news. If they weren't even able to shuffle money around to pay for this I imagine that there are other billing problems and they won't have any money coming in for some time!

don't discount the possible problem stemming from the building owner, who has a very bad rep for stuff like this.

foodicles wrote:

buckethead wrote:That's what the owner of Copia told me... I think his info is pretty reliable, but you never know.



However all the duct work is definitely down and it was up a few days ago.

I just walked thru and there is still duct work in the space and the unit is still up in the back of the building. They didnt look like they were slowing down on opening. There were still people scurrying around working on various things. No one of authority was around to speak to, maybe later today I will try to speak to someone.

Perhaps a 'mea copia' is appropriate here?

Any update on this place? Has anyone been by lately? I thought they were opening in July.

I talked with one of the construction guys over the weekend. It's possible they may have a soft open this weekend. There's still some work to be done. We'll see.



And the place is bigger than it appears. It's pretty deep.

AvantStL wrote:Any update on this place? Has anyone been by lately? I thought they were opening in July.

I spoke with one of the owners today and they have a few inspections left and are targeting a soft opening in about 7-10 days. They are in for Downtown Restaurant Week and have to be open for that.

I would be worried if I was the owner, to be open and running by the time Restaurant week happens. For one, the number on the card for Restaurant week isn't in service. Another thing, if they have a soft opening in 7 days from today, that would be the 9th, which would give them a whole 5 days of being open before perhaps the busiest week for downtown St. Louis restaurants. I would rather not be open for that, than open too early, not be ready, and have restaurant week be a disaster.

trent wrote:I would be worried if I was the owner, to be open and running by the time Restaurant week happens. For one, the number on the card for Restaurant week isn't in service. Another thing, if they have a soft opening in 7 days from today, that would be the 9th, which would give them a whole 5 days of being open before perhaps the busiest week for downtown St. Louis restaurants. I would rather not be open for that, than open too early, not be ready, and have restaurant week be a disaster.

Totally Agree Trent. I have owned 2 restaurants and to not come out on your best foot, especially for an event like this seems foolish. They are not experienced operators and with all the delays, they want to get the doors open at any expense.

Plus there was a pretty good sized article in the August "Sauce" magazine where they interview the chef at "Red". Very interesting reading that doesn't give me the best feelings.



They're going to try the uber-hip molecular cooking that's the talk of the food world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_gastronomy

The chef also admitted he came up with the menu in 72 hours and has never really done anything like this before. It would be one thing if he had spent some time working under Ferran Adria or a similar chef, but it sounds like he's in uncharted territory.

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:

dweebe wrote:Plus there was a pretty good sized article in the August "Sauce" magazine where they interview the chef at "Red". Very interesting reading that doesn't give me the best feelings.



They're going to try the uber-hip molecular cooking that's the talk of the food world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_gastronomy

The chef also admitted he came up with the menu in 72 hours and has never really done anything like this before. It would be one thing if he had spent some time working under Ferran Adria or a similar chef, but it sounds like he's in uncharted territory.

I read that wiki article, and I still don't know what it is.

It's weird stuff. If you watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" he spent an entire episode making sweet love to Ferran Adria and explaining how Adria's cooking style works.



This article might better explain.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0218/p11s02-lifo.html



Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way the interview with the chef at "Red" came off.

Restaurant openings are a pain. I do have to wonder, however, whether the highly touted new "business friendliness" in the City is much more than a facade. All on this forum know the delays experienced by Simply Fondue; Agave in the Grove just delayed a very expensive opening "fiesta" due to "permit issues"; and Red has been stuck in limbo for many weeks. Meanwhile, I've seen several new places in Clayton open right on announced schedule.

^

What he said. What was the turnaround from Limoncello to Bistro Alexander? Two months? Admittedly, there wasn't major construction work to be done there, but still ...



Not to take things off track, but just had a lengthy conversation with the guys at Fifteen on Locust, and they seem to be moving along pretty well, so maybe there's some hope for relatively quick buildouts downtown.

I took a quick peak inside while out on my lunchtime walk, and it looks like it's very close to being done.

It looks like they've actually slid back a bit in the last two weeks. Stuck my nose in during my post-lunch walk. The doors were propped open and you could hear a radio playing in the back part. However nobody could be seen anywhere and there's a decent layer of construction dust over the bar, chairs, tables and flooring.



Plus it looks like one of the front doors had been damaged and will need to be replaced. I don't remember that a week or two ago. Don't know if it was damaged during construction or someone was trying to break in to steal something.

Red is having a "soft opening" next Friday night...for resv's call 588-7864

word on the street is....

STL63101 wrote:Red is having a "soft opening" next Friday night...for resv's call 588-7864

word on the street is....

Did anyone make it by there last night?

Anyone know when the grand opening is? On the main page of the website it says the doors open at 7pm and talks about the grand opening, but I swear it doesn't give a date. Every time I walk by there have been people in there so I assumed it had been open for a couple weeks now.

Went by for late drinks Saturday night...awesome music and great video screens, good crowd, especially for their second night of soft opening. Going for lunch tomorrow hopefully and will give a report on the food. I have heard good things from several friends who have gotten chef's previews...so I am excited to try for myself.

We went to Red last Friday for their soft, soft opening. Or maybe it was the opening. I'm not quite sure. Very good. We had each had a dish; lamb shank with mushrooms and parmesean encrusted salmon with mustard caviar. Very different tastes. The meat fell right off the bone of the the lamb. Yummy. Dessert was also wonderful. We had the cheesecake. It doesn't sound that appetizing on the menu, but trust me. Try it. Oh!!! and the Apple Martini was so good. Very smooth. Had to have another! I'm very excited for this restaurant with its great tastes and great atmosphere. We will definitely be going there again.

Excellent. I'm a big fan of lamb when its done well.



I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try this place.