In first year, The Graceful Ordinary keys on local angles
A notable advantage comes to mind when considering The Graceful Ordinary restaurant in downtown St. Charles has been open for nearly a year. It's far better to have an upscale restaurant right on the Fox River than an empty Harris Bank building.
Most of us can wrap our minds around the concept of a new development improving physical appearances and providing jobs. But digging deeper into The Graceful Ordinary story tells us something more meaningful because it benefits not only the diners at this 3 E. Main St. location but its employees and the Fox Valley area overall.
Most of the restaurant's employees are local. Many have years of experience at some of the most popular restaurants in Chicago. Essentially, they are now getting a similar experience without the commute.
It reminds me of Geneva's All-Chocolate Kitchen owner, pastry chef Alain Roby, who worked as a famous international chef in downtown Chicago for years. But he got tired of driving into the city, so he started his new business in his hometown of Geneva.
Translate that for The Graceful Ordinary, and owners Megan and Chris Curren believe they have helped set a path for Kane County natives to pursue lifelong roles as professional chefs, bartenders and waitstaff with the leadership strategies and tools needed to reach the industry's highest recognition and accolades, such as the James Beard Awards, in their community.
That's just part of what it takes to hire and keep quality staff in the restaurant world.
"We have been able to recruit and retain an amazing staff," Meg Curren said. "They are the anchor of our business. We want our team to be proud of the place they work at. We can't promise it will be sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. But we do what we can to make sure they feel valued, appreciated, have the tools they need to be successful, and aren't being micromanaged."
Curren acknowledges her employees work hard but "also have a life outside of our restaurant." It makes the Currens' basic mantra that "our only hope is that while they're here with us, it's worth it to them," she added.
The Graceful Ordinary has quickly engaged with community events and fundraisers for CASA Kane County, Cal's Angels (fighting pediatric cancer), and local school and mental health organizations. The restaurant will host the "Art of the Dessert" fundraiser on Monday, Nov. 21, for the St. Charles Arts Council.
In the meantime, the restaurant business remains challenging, especially these days. Chris Curren wants The Graceful Ordinary to stay on top of that curve by continuing to lure new customers and navigate pandemic challenges at the same time.
"Being situated on Main Street, we see a lot of foot traffic, especially during parades and downtown festivals," Chris noted. "Even if people don't visit us when they first walk by, we're still in the back of their mind for future visits. We get a lot of feedback about how wonderful it is to see this building being used again, and we've seen it have a positive impact on the community - that in itself makes it all worthwhile."
Chris feels navigating COVID outbreaks has become easier for almost everyone. When the restaurant opened in November of 2021, COVID was on the rise, and a vaccinated employee tested positive while away from work.
"At that time, we made the call to shut down until everyone on our team had enough time to get tested," he added. "When everyone came back with negative test results, we were able to open again that next weekend."
Chris said that everyone has more confidence in self-managing the COVID challenges, making it more comfortable for those in social situations.
As The Graceful Ordinary celebrates its first anniversary Sunday, Nov. 6, the Currens rely on good food, good service and word-of-mouth as much as marketing to help attract new diners.
"We strive to provide a great experience for each of our guests, and we find that many times we gain new guests from hearing about us from their friends," Megan said. "That being said, as we approach our one-year anniversary, we hope to keep welcoming new visitors for a long time to come."
Your restaurant checklist:
As the previous item about The Graceful Ordinary illustrates, many new restaurants have popped up in former dining or retail sites.
Still, when recently chatting with some people at a social event, the topic of restaurants came up, and I mentioned The Graceful Ordinary. Surprisingly, some were unaware of it - and these were local people.
To help awareness, I've developed a checklist that reminds readers about new restaurants that have opened, or will soon open, in previously empty locations. I have written about or at least mentioned most of these earlier. So, let's get started.
In Geneva, an interesting "greens and grains" restaurant concept known as Currito has been drawing good crowds in the former Boston Market building at 1873 S. Randall Road.
We're waiting on the transformation of a couple of locations in the Geneva Commons, with an El Jefe Mexican restaurant planned for the former Bar Louie site and a new breakfast restaurant called First Watch café reportedly preparing to take over the empty Claddagh Irish Pub.
It's been slow going, but a Popeyes has been planned for the former Kentucky Fried Chicken spot at 1518 S. Randall Road.
Mexican restaurant Los Cantaritos began operating in the Shops of Randall Square retail strip at 1772 S. Randall Road in the former China Taste location.
In downtown Geneva, as recently noted, Mandrake Small Plates and Libations is moving into the Ristorante Chianti location at 201 S. Third St.
In Batavia, Pal Joey's Restaurant & Bar has been making the most news since returning to its old site at 31 N. River St., after a short stint off Randall Road in the former Golden Corral location at 2030 Main St.
WindMill Grille and Pizzeria opened at 90 N. Island Ave. in the spot formerly housing the Aliano's restaurant, while the Mirus Batavia small plates restaurant with wine and cocktails has opened at 15 E. Wilson St., the former Gaetano's location.
At 220 N. Randall Road, Chicken Salad Chick will soon open in the previous Crabby Boil building near the Menards hardware store.
In St. Charles, Chums Shrimp Shack took up shop in the former Beef Shack spot at 2115 W. Main St., but not a significant amount of progress has unfolded for the planned new Beef Shack, as it hasn't yet opened at the southeast corner of Main and Randall in St. Charles.
Mio Modo is essentially the new name of the former Francesca's, as the same restaurant management group is in charge at the 200 S. Second St. location.
Meanwhile, Moto iMoto operates at 1 S. First St. in the old Wok 'n Fire location. That means Wok 'N Fire was on the move, eventually landing in the former Sweet Tomatoes building at 2801 E. Main St.
Going cocoa crazy
Imagine having a sheet of 17 tickets to use for sampling cocoa drinks at various locations in downtown Geneva.
For $20, that sheet of tickets is yours to participate in the Geneva Chamber's 2022 Cocoa Crawl from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, throughout downtown and other locations.
Tickets can be purchased at genevachamber.com, with businesses and their drink selections listed on the order page. Tickets can be picked up at the Geneva chamber upstairs office at 8 S. Third St. during business hours on Nov. 4 or at the Geneva Visitor Center, 10 S. Third St., from 10:30 to 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 5.
The event, in which a ticket is used for each cocoa sample, is suitable for adults and children.
Some cocoa drinks may include alcohol, but non-alcohol options are available.
Remember Paul and Orv
In spotting a tribute to Paul Bergeson and his wife Ethyl on a bench plaque in the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles, it reminded me what a help Paul and Orv Jones, who passed away a couple of weeks ago at age 94, were in my early days as a sports editor. Bergeson, who died in 2018 at age 91, was the athletic director at St. Charles High School, while Jones did about everything at the school, from teaching to coaching and keeping official score at games. In short, they touched a lot of lives.
They definitely helped me when I became the sports editor in the Tri-Cities at Chronicle Newspapers in 1978 after about nine months in Elburn reporting about the western townships and Central and Kaneland school districts.
It's easy to remember fellows like this for the rest of your life because of a trait we can all embrace: being very friendly.
Some people have to work hard at that. Paul and Orv did not. It came naturally to them.
dheun@sbcglobal.net