According to recent reporting in ABJ, a local restaurateur duo is cooking up a new concept.
Larry Foles and Guy Villavaso, known for running the restaurants Red Ash Italia, Bulevar, J. Carver’s, ATX Cocina among others, are working on Restaurant Francois and Bar Rouge which is set for Third and Guadalupe later this year.
In the interview, Foles highlighted the significant increase in startup costs for a new restaurant, estimating a cost of about $1,000 per square foot downtown, “factoring in the price of lumber, construction materials and metallic equipment such as air conditioning, hoods and duct work.” In total the duo anticipate around $4.5 million each to open the establishment.
“It’s getting to a point that I see a lot of smaller companies are probably going to halt, slow down a little bit, even the larger ones, until we see the environment change a little bit,” Foles said. “Your return on investment is not near as good as it was five years ago.”
Restaurant Francois and Bar Rouge will be located in the AMLI building and will serve “French classics and sauces with an American flair, from beef bourguignon to short rib, angel hair pasta and chocolate souffle,” the report states as Foles likens the menu to “Red Ash’s treatment of Italian food.”
Partering with Foles and Villavaso to open the restaurant will be Harold Marmulstein of Salty Sow, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
The 4,500-square-foot restaurant will open in October, seating about 200, according to Foles via the ABJ.
