Silver Spring Drive could finally get the wining and dining it has been asking for over the last couple years.
Restaurateur Rose Niles approached village officials Tuesday night about opening a new wine and tapas bar at the space previously occupied by Cutters barbershop at 402 E. Silver Spring.
The restaurant would serve soups, paninis and some small plate options for lunch. For dinner, it would offer Italian food and Spanish small plate dishes, which have gained popularity in recent years. Niles said she also hopes to serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
"We want to create a warm, but still very trendy, atmosphere," Niles said. "Somewhere people can come in have a nice glass of wine or an import beer, and enjoy small plate dining."
Niles intends to apply for a liquor license to serve wine and beer. She also plans to sell bottles of wine and hold wine tastings. Niles said she does not yet have a name for the restaurant, but she is pushing to open the restaurant by March 1.
Niles' family ran the former Sardi's restaurant in Mequon for many years, and she said she may revive the Italian restaurant's popular spadinis into her new venture in Whitefish Bay. Her family also owns a frozen yogurt shop in Florida, where they vacation in the summer. Her husband Scott is the CEO of Seven Mile Fair outside of Racine.
Niles grew up in Shorewood and is a Dominican High School graduate. Although she now lives in New Berlin, she said Whitefish Bay would be a great place for a wine and tapas bar.
"I think the area could use an upscale dining place," she said.
The restaurant received its conditional use permit from the Plan Commission Tuesday night. Because the restaurant plans to stay open past 10 p.m., the Village Board will have to take a vote at its Dec. 3 meeting to allow expanded hours.
She will also need Village Board approval for her outdoor seating, which she hopes to wrap around the west side of the building. The seating plan would have to be consistent with The Mandel Group's plan to redesign the Consaul Commons walkway, where the clock tower is located.
"My guess is there is going to be some strong scrutiny as to where are you going to put the seating and what kind of seating," said Village Manager Patrick DeGrave. "If they do permit it, it's going to have to be high-end."
Niles said she is willing to "weather the storm" of construction on the proposed Mandel apartment development, which she said will be good for business because it will bring more people to Silver Spring Drive.
That is, if/when the parents have made it home from the office and/or are not shuffling between /attending one or more childrens activities. There may be a lot of parents w/ some time during the day to squeeze in a glass of wine, as they do on their Starbucks runs, but I don't think that smelling like alcohol when potentially picking up a child will fly so well. Mandel may be building a 100 unit complex right next door, but that's not enough to sustain a business. Also, since I do not know the 1st thing w/ regard to wine & spirits, I don't know how Sendiks, 1 block down, would compete w/ their own wine offerings & price points on the bottled stuff. I can see being able to purchase and take home to be more appealing to an older crowd (Mandel's target renters)for personal use or entertaining vs buying a glass & appetizers at the restaurant on a regular basis. Will Mandel put up resistance to having patrons sitting outside/near the windows of tenants who will be paying a premium to live in hsi development? What about noise into the evening or the potential for cigarette/cigar smoke et al to make it's way in through ones window?
So, enjoy your glass of wine, but if they think they are going to make it soley on tapas & wine, I think they will be gone in 18 months or less. Better yet, want to put some $ on it? I'm game..I don't wish for anyone to fail, but I think they need more and as I stated in my previous post, they seem like they are going to be flexible on what they will be offering. And yes, I personally do think Mandel might have concerns, especially since the municipal parking will be below the highest priced apartments in the North Shore. One does have to be concerned about noise whether it be from cars/people traveling to/from and outside noise into the evening w/ people sitting outside. On the slip side, will Fitzgeralds & Ruhama's be sold and remodeled for a business that draws people and into the evening hours as well and possibly combining both spaces? Enjoy
And Absolutelyfab - I agree with most of your posts, you are usually on target but I'd like to think the Mandel Group didn't have a strong hold on everything in the North Shore but perhaps they do.
Now, I'm not saying that would be the plan, but if you have a luxury development next door and the area proposed for outdoor seating for this business is right in the path of access to the apartment/future condos then it needs to be tasteful and of quality as well.
If it is good, people will come - I know WE will. And, I will come with girlfriends, my spouse, and yes, my kids. I am excited to support this new place!
If the only offerings are wine & tapas, then I think there will be some very long periods of down time. Though, if there is down time ie the space is empty or there are just a couple of people nursing their drink, one still has to pay the employees, heat/cool the space/cover rent/insurance etc Now, as one potentially "adds" more offerings their intial costs/investment into a restaurant space goes up, up & up. WHY? I'll tell you. Depending on what types of food one offers as well as how it's cooked determines the equipment that will be necessary by code. No way around it. Cooking anything on a grill/stove will most likely require a hood and how big ones stove is determines the size of the hood. Commercial hoods start @$1,000 per linear foot to install. That's right, if I have an 8 foot hood, then the hood alone is going to run at least $8,000 to install along with everything else. Also, foods have to be stored and what you plan on serving also dictates what types/sizes of cooling ie fridge/freezers one needs. AND so forth and so on. Everything, including sinks, their sizes as well as placement is determined by what the offerings will be as well as all the plumbing/drains. Opening up a floor to install drains/grease traps is expensive. It's an equation. Restaurants have the highest failure rate in the industry. What the business offers will affect the investment needed.
So, I will stand by what I said before that if only wine & tapas are the offerings, then I think it will follow the same course as all the others of recent years. So, no, I'm not being a "Downer" And yes, I believe that they will need the outdoor seating to make venture a success in addition to everything else because depending on what is offered determines what/how much equipment is necessary which eats into the space/seats available for paying customers. Got it?
At this point concerns about their potential demise are extremely premature. If worse comes to worse they've got some experience in the fro-yo market to fall back on. We're all in on fro-yo in the Bay.
You need to get a grip. Seriously, I don't wish for anything to fail. I have no vested interest other than replying to a blog in between other things. You & yours have not supported so many other ventures in that little section that I hope that you back up your statements w/your wallets and that the offerings are good. It will only help in attracting that many more prospective tenants/offerings. Now, I remember reading the story about how great ThinkToys was for that little strip and then bye, bye..You didn't support the sales of the storefront. Dan Katz didn't even have to pay rent and Lixx was pretty decent. Open your wallets and support this business and not just when it opens it's doors. Time will tell. Back to the garden.