BY MARY PRAGER

In print | Published May 1, 2008

Just over a months after Da Vinci’s café closed unceremoniously amidst rumors of financial failure, a sign has appeared in the window of the vacant store announcing the opening of a new restaurant, Rudi’s on Park, which is expected to occupy the Park Ave storefront.

The telephone number posted on the sign belongs to Jack Cavanaugh, president of the board of managers of a new LLC – limited liability corporation – that will be guiding the opening of the new bistro. The LLC is composed of 45 to 50 investors. While the groundwork for the project was established in February, the corporation was officially launched two weeks ago, Cavanaugh said.

Although Cavanaugh acknowledged that the restaurant industry is fraught with risk, he said he believes that his investment is grounded in solid business principles. “[Restaurants] are inherently risky,” he said, but this Bistro not necessarily more than others, despite the economic problems that former Da Vinci’s proprietor Chris Bruno allegedly faced with Da Vinci’s.

According to Cavanaugh, the new Bistro will be completely unlike Da Vinci’s, more upscale and with a wider clientele. Furthermore, the permissibility of alcohol on site — by way of the restaurant’s Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) policy — is an additional enticement to potential diners, in a borough that does not grant liquor licenses to its restaurants. Cavanaugh hopes to see community members frequent the bistro with wine bottles in hand.

The “casually sophisticated bistro,” as Cavanaugh described it, will feature dinners ranging from $16 to $28, as well as Sunday brunch. An experienced chef will run the kitchen, and an architect will redesign the space. This includes installing new fixtures and appliances. “We have an architect and a restaurant designer that’s working on the décor, so we’re in the process of getting our permit,” Cavanaugh said. The board of managers hopes to create a restaurant similar to the BYOB establishments in Philadelphia and Media.

The space once occupied by Da Vinci’s will be renovated and redecorated under the direction of professional architect Elisabeth Knapt. She’s been working on restaurants specifically for three years, and the Bistro will be her sixth restaurant project.

According to Knapt, the Bistro will seat somewhere between 40 and 44 people in a dining space slightly smaller than that of Da Vinci’s. The Bistro may also offer outdoor seating facing the train station, with umbrella tables. Diners will be able to look into the semi-open kitchen through glass.

“I believe it’s going to be open for lunch and dinner, and the menu’s going to be changing by the season, and I think some daily specials that have to do with what [the chef has] picked up at farmer’s markets in the area,” Knapt said.

The board of managers expects to open the Bistro in mid to late August.

According to Cavanaugh, the Bistro will be hiring Swarthmore students. “We’ll be interested in hiring students, particularly for waiter positions and possibly some kitchen help,” he said.

Student and community artwork may also grace the walls of the new Bistro. “We certainly will have room for artwork on the walls of the dining room part,” Knapt said, noting that they’re “still too early in the project to know exactly what goes on the wall.”

The bistro will be owned by the investors, and managed by Cavanaugh, who will be overseeing it on a day-to-day basis.

The board of manager’s decision to open an upscale restaurant in the Ville comes independent of future plans for the Swarthmore Inn and possible commercialization of the ville. Cavanaugh says that he doesn’t expect the Bistro to compete with the Inn’s restaurant. Rather, it will only add to the enjoyment of people who come to stay in the Ville. He also expects the Bistro to draw people from Media, Ridley and other nearby communities.

“We hope the new restaurant will draw people from both inside and outside the Borough and give people a reason to come into Swarthmore,” Borough of Swarthmore Town Center Coordinator Marty Spiegal said. While Spiegal has been acting as a consultant to the Board of Managers, the government of the Borough of Swarthmore is not directly involved in the process of opening up the Bistro.

“The Borough has nothing to do with [the Bistro] outside of the existing codes and zoning questions … The Borough is supportive … but it doesn’t have anything specific to do with running the business,” Spiegal said.

While not directly involved in recruiting new business ventures, the Borough is supportive of any commercial enterprise that will positively influence the Ville, Spiegal said. “We hope that any new business that comes in with something to offer will help revitalize the Ville,” Spiegal said, “Revitalization is a multi-step process which takes more than just one or two businesses or ventures.”

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