Royce - John Des Rosiers - Highland Park (nee Moderno)

Menu at Royce looks like an amalgam of Wildfire, Hot Doug's and the former Hamburger Hamlet (which I really dug). I'll bet it works profitwise--not as many offbeat perishable ingredients needed to be kept on hand hoping customers will come in during the week.

Royce
1850 Second Street
Highland Park 60035
847-433-8600
roycerestaurant.com

jnm123 wrote:I'll bet it works profitwise--not as many offbeat perishable ingredients needed to be kept on hand hoping customers will come in during the week.

Customers coming in during the week is necessary based upon the rent they are paying (supposedly). With no disrespect, I don't think the perishability of the ingredients is a relevant to their survival.

milz50 wrote:

jnm123 wrote:I'll bet it works profitwise--not as many offbeat perishable ingredients needed to be kept on hand hoping customers will come in during the week.

Customers coming in during the week is necessary based upon the rent they are paying (supposedly). With no disrespect, I don't think the perishability of the ingredients is a relevant to their survival.

So a high food cost driven by a menu comprised of numerous offbeat and perishable ingredients (read high food cost) is not relevant to profitability?

Evil Ronnie wrote:

milz50 wrote:

jnm123 wrote:I'll bet it works profitwise--not as many offbeat perishable ingredients needed to be kept on hand hoping customers will come in during the week.

Customers coming in during the week is necessary based upon the rent they are paying (supposedly). With no disrespect, I don't think the perishability of the ingredients is a relevant to their survival.

So a high food cost driven by a menu comprised of numerous offbeat and perishable ingredients (read high food cost) is not relevant to profitability?

Ronnie, you are taking my words and choosing to insert your own words to make your point. That is neither fair nor accurate.

My point to the OP is that based upon the rent of their space, their business model will probably require that they sell 400+ burgers a day, 7 days a week. If their ingredients are perishing, then they aren't doing enough covers to break even.

I disagree that offering perishable ingredients has to equal a high food cost. I also disagree that having a large menu has to equal a high food cost. While large menus and high food costs are downfall for many restaurants, I don't believe that to be the case with Moderno.

Best of luck to the new concept. I'm looking forward to it.

Jan and I ate at Royce in Highland Park last night on their opening night. This is the new concept by John des Rosiers in the space that was his restaurant Moderno. I'm happy to say that it was a really good experience.

The restaurant was about half full, perhaps a tad less. It's harder to tell now, as the decor changes separate the sections of tables with walls that make the restaurant a little quieter and more cozy. The bar is now walled off from the dining area as well. The restaurant theme in decor (to an extent) and in menu is 1930s. I've added some photos below so you get a little sense of it.

Food was excellent. We started by sharing the French onion soup and crab cakes. The soup was very traditional and very good, but had two qualities that are frequently missing from other places. The soup wasn't a thousand degrees from sitting under a broiler for five minutes, and the soup itself wasn't overly salted. The crab cakes had nice sized pieces of crab with enough crust to make it interesting. The sauce was very good, but I didn't write down specifics.

For our main courses, we shared a main and a burger. Part of the concept of the restaurant is high-quality burgers. There are a variety of pre-specified options, plus a build-your-own option. I ordered The Royal Royce, which contained mushrooms, grilled onions and Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese with a truffle aioli. The burger was ordered medium rare and that's how it was served. The flavors worked very well. I liked it, as did Jan.

Jan's main of seared skirt steak was on a bed of grilled onions with herb butter and fries on the side, so a somewhat traditional steak frites. The steak was very tasty and perfectly medium rare.

Service was very good, with a couple of minor glitches somewhat in line with a first night. It's mostly the same staff as was at Moderno, so they know the drill.

Overall, a really good experience.

John Danza didn't talk too much about the fries, which I thought were excellent. Skin on, not too crispy - the way I like them. I wanted to taste the regular fries next to the duck fat fries, but they didn't have them yet.

Agreed, the fries were good. I usually don't care for fries cut in this manner because they can be oil sponges. These had some crispiness. I'm looking forward to doing a comparison with the duck fat version.

That's a great looking burger and fries. Hope this place is the real deal.

Went last night with the kids (possibly seen above ) My son had the kids skirt steak which he loved, and which I tasted and definitely enjoyed. My daughted and I shared a few items. She started with a chocolate milkshake that had rich chocolate flavor without being overly sweet. Delicious, and she noted appropriately in a milkshake glass. I had the Manhattan, the actual name of their preparation escapes me. I should note that their spirits list is quite impressive and the prices of each pour very fair relative to the quality of the liquor being poured. On my next visit I will definitely be doing the whiskey sampler.

Anyway, we then shared the shrimp cocktail, which was fairly straightforward and didn't disappoint. The cocktail/horseradish sauce was perfect with nice heat and a clean flavor. We then had the french onion soup which we very much enjoyed. The onion and broth were perfect together, along with very tasty cheese. If I had to nitpick a little bit I wold say the crouton in there was a bit too thick and overwhelmed the bowl a little bit, but overall the best onion soup I've had in a while, and I loved that it wasn't overly salty. We then shared the Wedge, which was very good including the addition of a bit of pickled onions on top. Finally we shared the Royal Royce burger, which came out a perfectly medium rare. I have video of my daughter squeezing her burger and showing how juicy it was, but I will save that for another time. The burger was delicious, well seasoned and balanced as far as bun, meat, and toppings. There was ketchup and mustard on the table (in jars that resembled the ones that Lillie-Q uses), but they were unnecessary given the full flavor of the burger.

All in all a really good experience. We will definitely be returning soon to try other items on the menu. Yes that huge space will be tough to keep filled all the time, but I hope HP'ers give it a chance. Their food is top quality, and even though prices are still a little higher than surrounding choices, it is a relative bargain on a quality comparison basis.

Sorry I missed you there Matt. We were sitting only a couple of tables away from each other. I'll recognize you next time.

I agree on your comment about the crouton in the soup. It was a bit thick and needed to soften up in the soup.

The one suggestion I gave to John des Rosiers was on the burger being served on the paper. I know this tends to be pretty popular with restaurants serving juicy or fried stuff. However, I eat big burgers like this with a knife and fork instead of picking them up. So after a while I'm tearing up the paper and trying not to consume it. He had seen this before and was thinking of ways to serve it with the paper but leave enough room in the container so you can cut the burger without it being on top of paper.

my daughter and some family went Friday night - picky, non-foodie eaters - and Mrs. EdB60035 and I went last night.

The menu lived up to its billing. John had explained that the burgers would be cooked more like steaks - char on the outside only - and however they are doing that, my burger last night was perfectly cooked. I liked that the mushrooms weren't an upcharge, and they were a nice mix of 'shrooms. The duck fat fries were maybe too crispy for me, I'll try the regular ones next time. Overall the burger was a contender, very very solid.

We ordered way more food than we needed, to try a bunch. The calamari was very tender, not rubbery at all, and nicely done in the tempura batter. The cocktail sauce was actually texturally slightly different from the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp themselves were briny, in a good way. I liked the artichoke and arugula salad, Mrs. EdB the wedge with shrimp. This might be the best bargain on the menu - five jumbo shrimp (same as the shrimp cocktail), grilled, for only $4 more on the salad. We also had the daily soup, which was tomato soup. It was fine, but needed some texture from a crouton or something. I also told Chef on the way out that it should have been served atop a plate, as the picture of the French Onion soup shows above. For some reason the crock only came to the table last night.

Mrs EdB loved the "north shore fizz" cocktail. It's house-infused, Andrew Morgan says it takes him about six days to prep it. The beer selection seems pretty nice, with small touches like beverage-specific glassware. Andrew mentioned that the Moscow Mule is served in a copper cup, as is the tradition; but apparently this is an innovation not seen frequently on the North Shore, as it became a dining room hit on the first night and they were selling a ton of them just based on "what is that?" questions. Nice.

My daughter is on a first name basis with Des Rosiers, so when she showed up with someone other than me on Friday the staff were confused; they all knew her by name but not the people she was with . She had never had a burger from John before, only the pasta at Inovasi/Moderno. She said it was a great burger, and loved the fries. Those she was with on Friday night loved the beet salad, the whitefish, and the wedge salad. Like I said that crowd were definitely not foodie types, and they were all raving about dinner a good hour or two after they had left the restaurant.

I think if there was anything I liked the most about dinner last night is that Des Rosiers was wandering the room in a t-shirt and jeans, not chef whites, just relaxed about the whole thing. He might have fallen off the horse on the first go, but he's gotten right back up and it seems like the new place might be exactly what is needed in that space. I also was very happy to hear the staff being quite accommodating to all requests at the other tables in earshot...lessons learned and all that.

My first experience at Royce Saturday was not as good as I had hoped. I was shocked at how small the menu is. Restauant itself was packed, we needed a reservation, which we had. To start off my girlfriend absolutely loved her drink. We ordered the onion rings (actually strings - which I prefer) which were very good, but nothing special, and $3.00 more than they needed to be (they cost $9.00). My brother got the cream of tomato soup which he liked. The grass fed burgers came out warm and dry instead of hot and juicy. My bun also fell apart as I ate it. My brother and I had duck fat fries, while the girls had regular fries. All the fries were excellent, but I preferred the regular fries overall. For dessert my brother and I shared a very thick chocolate shake, made with chocolate ice cream and it was great. My girlfriend's chocolate cake was dry and she left most of it uneaten, a $1.50 Nemo's chocolate cake square from a convenience store would have been better.

All in all, not the best experience, and it was very expensive for burgers. But it is in my town, and since they just opened, I will definitely give them another chance. I really wish they had a corn fed 80/20 burger option for less money. This was a 7oz patty for $14.00.

While I guess I sound like I am complaining a bit about the prices, I understand that he is using higher quality and/or organic which can result in higher prices, plus it's HP. But I also don't give a **** - I call it as I eat it. It's still a burger and I was not impressed this time around. I'll be back.

Had lunch yesterday at Royce when Michael's was so crammed with kids we decided to go upscale and have a grownup meal! I only had a wedge salad with shrimp, the shrimp was delicious. The wedge was a wedge. My friend, however, had a burger with some cheese and the truffle aioli and she proclaimed it maybe the best burger she'd ever tried. The fries weren't terribly hot but she scarfed that burger quickly and didn't care too much about the fries. I thought the drinks list looked great and would love to get back there.

I happened to enjoy Moderno but I can see where this may be a very popular spot.

The veggie burgers are Rocye are really good. Housemade patties, made predominantly with quinoa.

Royce is changing their menu and a bit of tweaking of format starting today.

New dinner menu: http://library.constantcontact.com/down ... dinner.pdf

The focus is shifting a bit...not so strongly a "burger joint" anymore but now more of a rustic American menu. Steaks, salmon, comfort food have been added as entrees to the menu. The burgers are still there - along with chicken sandwich, veggie burger, steak sandwich - and the salads have expanded with small and large portions. However, the build-your-own option for burgers is no longer explicitly called out on the menu...I've been assured that diners will certainly still be able to "have it their way". Side dishes have been added, along with a few additional starters.

We've been eating at Royce about once a week since opening. I think the burgers are consistently good to excellent, but I have been a "BYO" fan. The whitefish is excellent, the calamari are tender, and I really like the arugula and artichoke salad. I haven't tried any of the other brand new entrees yet but will update. A few of the things that we didn't like as much have fallen off...the smoked salmon starter with bagel chips appealed to me on paper, but the potato salad being enveloped by the salmon didn't quite work.

What I'm happiest about is that most times we are in there, the place has been pretty packed. It feels much more like the neighborhood joint the space needed than Moderno (which I was a fan of but recognize why some were not).

edb60035 wrote:I think the burgers are consistently good to excellent, but I have been a "BYO" fan.

I don't understand what you mean by that.

I have been a "build your own" fan, rather than ordering the signature burgers (though I had the "breakfast burger" once). So I am going to be a high-maintenance type even though they are no longer explicitly on the menu.

edb60035 wrote:I have been a "build your own" fan, rather than ordering the signature burgers (though I had the "breakfast burger" once). So I am going to be a high-maintenance type even though they are no longer explicitly on the menu.

Just curious, what is your prefered BYO burger selection?

Regards,

I've been going grass-fed beef, medium rare, with avocado, mushrooms, Pleasant Ridge cheese, (lettuce/tomato) and the truffle aioli on the side.

Heard they closed as of today. Des Rosiers hadn't been working there for months (I was personally thrilled to have him back in the kitchen at Inovasi). I don't know why Highland Park can't sustain restaurants outside the boundaries of "expected." We have a French place that is exactly what you expect from a French bistro, we have a pancake house, we have a red sauce Italian, we have a sushi bar. Beyond that, somehow Abigail's works great (because it's small?), but nothing else beyond the edges. I guess yet more drives up to Lake Bluff for me.

I don't see how hamburgers are "outside the boundaries of expected." That was the excuse used for Moderno. Went to both Moderno and Royce once and had no interest in returning to either. Nothing to do with boundary conditions. Abigail's serves excellent food that's why it flourishes.

I ate twice at Royce and really enjoyed my meals. Overall, I thought the food and drink were excellent, especially the burgers and the Moscow Mule (maybe they will sell me a couple of those copper mugs). That said, both times when the check came I was shocked by the final tally. The prices didn't seem out of line, especially compared to say Norton's or even Beinlich's, but still somehow I left both times wondering how I had spent so much.

The space wasn't perfect (last time we went, two parents/three kids we were sat in a back room dominated by a huge TV and I had to ask to be moved), but the outdoor seating would have been great this summer. The renovation of the movie theaters next door must have been a huge damper on business, but it's a shame they couldn't hold on and see how the summer went. The vacancies at Renaissance Place are getting to be ridiculous.

Overall, it's a big blow to what edb correctly describes as a very rote dining scene in HP.

It's threads like this that make me afraid to consider moving to the North Shore... I grew up in HP, and if my wife and I were to ever decide we needed to leave the city that's the direction we'd likely head. But the lack of interesting dining is one of the things that makes us hope to remain in the city for as long as possible.

blipsman wrote:It's threads like this that make me afraid to consider moving to the North Shore... I grew up in HP, and if my wife and I were to ever decide we needed to leave the city that's the direction we'd likely head. But the lack of interesting dining is one of the things that makes us hope to remain in the city for as long as possible.

There are lots of great reasons to live in the burbs, especially if you have school-age children, but dining out isn't high on the list.

=R=

I don't have kids so it doesn't make a lot of sense to live in HP. But I always have the city close by, it's not that big of a deal. Plus it's way safer and quieter up here, which is fine by me.

I don't think it would be healthy for me to be closer to all that food in the city!

edb60035 wrote:Heard they closed as of today. Des Rosiers hadn't been working there for months (I was personally thrilled to have him back in the kitchen at Inovasi). I don't know why Highland Park can't sustain restaurants outside the boundaries of "expected." We have a French place that is exactly what you expect from a French bistro, we have a pancake house, we have a red sauce Italian, we have a sushi bar. Beyond that, somehow Abigail's works great (because it's small?), but nothing else beyond the edges. I guess yet more drives up to Lake Bluff for me.

Sadness as they were really, really solid in their execution- nothing mindblowing, but solid. They were also excellent in serving my kids (2 and 4, who are generally very well behaved in restaurants).

I'm looking at doing something with a business partner in the Ravinia area, but let's just say we're more than a bit hesitant.

edb60035 wrote:Heard they closed as of today. Des Rosiers hadn't been working there for months (I was personally thrilled to have him back in the kitchen at Inovasi). I don't know why Highland Park can't sustain restaurants outside the boundaries of "expected." We have a French place that is exactly what you expect from a French bistro, we have a pancake house, we have a red sauce Italian, we have a sushi bar. Beyond that, somehow Abigail's works great (because it's small?), but nothing else beyond the edges. I guess yet more drives up to Lake Bluff for me.

Until 2011, my office was in downtown HP for 6 1/2 years. When we first moved in, we were excited by how many lunch choices we had that were nearby but that faded very quickly. As we soon learned, the best thing most of them had going for them was convenience. With almost no exceptions, there was nothing we really sought out. The food at most of the places was bland, uninteresting and inconsistent. On a good day, someone would actually be in the mood for something from one of the local spots and we'd be happy that it was an easy decision. Occasionally I'd be in the mood for a lunch special from La Casa de Isaac, a custom salad from Michael's or the Black Bean Chicken Chili from Now We're Cooking Grill. Other than that, nothing in HP ever really compelled me. Given the sheer number of eateries in HP, it was ironic how often we ended up going outside of HP to get lunch.

It's pure speculation here but I think Royce's closing might be (more than anything else) a case of a very high rent that was not realistic given the price point of the menu. From what I've heard about how high the rent was, it seems they would have had to sell an enormous number of burgers to make their monthly nut. With a relatively conservative, non-drinking, health-conscious crowd, a large portion of whom never seemed to get over the loss of Rosebud -- plus Michael's right across the street -- this seemed like a very uphill battle. I'm sorry they couldn't make it.

I wonder what's next for this space.

=R=

I actually ate there Saturday night. It was jammed and the service was very slow. Food was ok but not as good as usual. Saw/heard no indication that it was closing.

-Will

Highland Park's Royce Restaurant Closes
First it was Moderno. Then it was Royce. Now, it's gone. The John des Rosiers' restaurant in Renaissance Place has closed.

In the same email where he said Royce has closed, des Rosiers also explained that his involvement with Royce ended three months ago. He cites a change in direction as the reason for his departure.

"I felt as though it was moving away from the concept that I had originally envisioned," he writes. "This change in direction is why I made the recent decision to remove myself from active involvement in Royce Restaurant."

Patch promised an interview with John des Rosiers for later this week. Meanwhile, the comment section to this linked article is better than the article itself.

Regards,