blipsman, if you grew up in Highland Park, you know what people who live there do about dining, which is the same thing they've been doing for many decades: if you live on or east of Green Bay Road, you go to Highwood; if you live west of Green Bay, you go to Milwaukee Avenue.

Katie wrote:blipsman, if you grew up in Highland Park, you know what people who live there do about dining, which is the same thing they've been doing for many decades: if you live on or east of Green Bay Road, you go to Highwood; if you live west of Green Bay, you go to Milwaukee Avenue.

That's pretty funny! I grew up on the far west side of HP off Ridge Rd and Park Ave West. I personally tend to avoid doing what the families around here do. I will say that if Malnati's had a dine in restaurant in HP, I would be in there at least a couple times a month and I could see them doing well, but they will not budge on turning the carryout location into a dine in.

Inovasi Owner Explains Why Royce Closed: John des Rosiers discusses why two concepts he had for restaurants in Highland Park failed, and wonders why restaurants in town keep closing.
As always, read the comment sections afterwards.

Interesting article with des Rosiers, and I believe the last post in the comment section is the most telling:

"Just to say, our family is spending our food dollars on groceries and home cooked meals. We are saving money and eating better that way."

Disposable income--even in Highland Park--isn't what it was. I know that if I'm going out to dinner at someplace new or even a joint I haven't been to in awhile, I am definitely checking the online reviews in advance. Certainly I take the reviews with a grain of salt and divide by two, but these days it makes me much more annoyed to waste money on a mediocre meal than it used to, and odds are I won't give them a second chance. Conversely, however, I seem to enjoy a well-prepared, thought-out dining experience at a good value a lot more than I used to. Thus the continued excellent business at Inovasi, where quality is a given.

I liked both Moderno and Royce, and never had a bad meal at either. That said, I suspect Highland Park is a lot like Naperville. There's money there but the demographic doesn't support innovation. They want casual and inexpensive, even if it's cookie-cutter or chain food. There's been several high-end or innovative cuisine places in Naperville that have closed over the years. So Highland Parkers, don't take it as an insult. Demographics are what they are.

Hi,

Whatever miscalculation was made on Moderno, it was not good business to publicly blame the customers you wanted to attract to Royce.

While I can understand the investors in Royce not wanting to publicly announce their chef had left. There were many who patronized over the few months believing they were in the presence of, and being supportive of, John Des Rosiers. Clearly, he had left the building months ago, which seemingly nobody knew of until Royce closed. It strikes me a visit to Royce these last months was a bit of bait and switch.

I'm glad Lake Bluff is so near to Highland Park, for those who miss Moderno/Royce can conveniently visit. At the very least, do check if John Des Rosiers is in the building before you settle down to dinner.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Whatever miscalculation was made on Moderno, it was not good business to publicly blame the customers you wanted to attract to Royce.

While I can understand the investors in Royce not wanting to publicly announce their chef had left. There were many who patronized over the few months believing they were in the presence of, and being supportive of, John Des Rosiers. Clearly, he had left the building months ago, which seemingly nobody knew of until Royce closed. It strikes me a visit to Royce these last months was a bit of bait and switch.

I'm glad Lake Bluff is so near to Highland Park, for those who miss Moderno/Royce can conveniently visit. At the very least, do check if John Des Rosiers is in the building before you settle down to dinner.

Regards,

Cathy, your last comment is uncalled for and intimates that Inovasi is no longer being run by John. Unless you know that to be true, you could be accused of spreading false rumors in order to impact his business. Be careful.

Cathy2 wrote:It strikes me a visit to Royce these last months was a bit of bait and switch.

Cathy2 wrote:At the very least, do check if John Des Rosiers is in the building before you settle down to dinner.

Last time I was an Inovasi, a meal about which I posted here, chef des Rosiers told me face to face that he was back at Inovasi full-time. In fact, I wrote:

on May 1, 2013, I wrote:Chef tells me he's back in the kitchen full-time at Inovasi, as Royce now has its full staff settled in.

There's absolutely no reason to imply or infer that chef des Rosiers isn't at Inovasi or that if he weren't there, it would represent some sort of intentional deception. Moreover, regardless of whether he was at Royce or not, it featured his concept and his menu. In the article linked above, he takes full responsibility for the failures of both Moderno and Royce. So, he's not only talented but he's also a stand-up guy. As to why it wasn't publicly announced that he'd parted ways with Royce (or the reasons for his departure) would be pure speculation by any of us. To imply that it was an intentional bait and switch is not only unfounded. It's a cheap shot.

=R=

Wasn't Rubino the main chef there (HP) anyway? And, of course, chefs with multiple locations wouldn't be expected to always be in house. Unless you're only going to catch a glimpse of someone, the presence of the "name" chef shouldn't have any impact on the food being served to you, unless its a very small place, since its typically not the name chef who's handling garde manger, grill, etc.

The quote from the original Patch article on May 13 was the following:

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."

While I don't think anyone familiar with restaurants would have expected des Rosiers to be flipping burgers at Royce or standing at the pass, it was marketed as his restaurant, which to most people means more ongoing supervisory involvement than simply putting in place a menu and walking away, especially when his main restaurant is only several miles away. I'd have a different expectation of a Gordon Ramsay's role in managing a global franchise.

and this comment from des Rosiers at the beginning of May

Chef tells me he's back in the kitchen full-time at Inovasi, as Royce now has its full staff settled in

seems to be less than fully accurate about his relationship with Royce at the time.

Of course, it is quite possible that there might have been a confidentiality agreement in place with the other investors that prevented him disclosing his relationship with the restaurant until it closed.

Katie wrote:blipsman, if you grew up in Highland Park, you know what people who live there do about dining, which is the same thing they've been doing for many decades: if you live on or east of Green Bay Road, you go to Highwood; if you live west of Green Bay, you go to Milwaukee Avenue.

I'd never heard that... growing up in the shadows of Ravinia, we mostly frequented Max's, Ravinia BBQ & Michael's. And either Panda Panda or Little Szechuan, depending on who lobbied harder. Although our most common "nicer than usual" dinner, like when grandparents were visiting, was Night N Gale in Highwood... and we did live east of Green Bay, so I guess you're correct!

rickster wrote:and this comment from des Rosiers at the beginning of May

Chef tells me he's back in the kitchen full-time at Inovasi, as Royce now has its full staff settled in

seems to be less than fully accurate about his relationship with Royce at the time.

Of course, it is quite possible that there might have been a confidentiality agreement in place with the other investors that prevented him disclosing his relationship with the restaurant until it closed.

In all fairness, those are my words, not his. He was pretty direct about not being involved at Royce anymore but I didn't record our conversation, so I paraphrased it here as well as I could remember it. However, you're right that we have no idea why the information wasn't disclosed more publicly . . . or maybe it was and we just missed it.

Did anyone go to Royce, ask to see chef des Rosiers and get an answer that implied he was still with the restaurant? Even if that were the case, and we have zero indication that it was, since des Rosiers would have been gone, it would be inaccurate to hold him responsible for such a response.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

rickster wrote:and this comment from des Rosiers at the beginning of May

Chef tells me he's back in the kitchen full-time at Inovasi, as Royce now has its full staff settled in

seems to be less than fully accurate about his relationship with Royce at the time.

Of course, it is quite possible that there might have been a confidentiality agreement in place with the other investors that prevented him disclosing his relationship with the restaurant until it closed.

In all fairness, those are my words, not his. He was pretty direct about not being involved at Royce anymore but I didn't record our conversation, so I paraphrased it here as well as I could remember it. However, you're right that we have no idea why the information wasn't disclosed more publicly . . . or maybe it was and we just missed it.

Did anyone go to Royce, ask to see chef des Rosiers and get an answer that implied he was still with the restaurant? Even if that were the case, and we have zero indication that it was, since des Rosiers would have been gone, it would be inaccurate to hold him responsible for such a response.

=R=

Ronnie, I've heard the same thing from John for months, so you haven't paraphrased incorrectly. And while I don't know for certain why the information wasn't released, it doesn't take much to figure it out. John was the "celebrity" associated with the restaurant and its original launch. I'm confident that the investors didn't want it out that he was no longer involved in the project because they would lose the people who follow him. With the tenuousness of the business, I'm sure they didn't want to take a chance on losing even one customer.

John Danza wrote:Ronnie, I've heard the same thing from John for months, so you haven't paraphrased incorrectly. And while I don't know for certain why the information wasn't released, it doesn't take much to figure it out. John was the "celebrity" associated with the restaurant and its original launch. I'm confident that the investors didn't want it out that he was no longer involved in the project because they would lose the people who follow him. With the tenuousness of the business, I'm sure they didn't want to take a chance on losing even one customer.

That makes perfect sense but it's still speculation. Obviously, you're much closer to chef des Rosiers than I am, so I'm sure you have a better sense of it than I do.

What irked me was the implication (made above, not by you) that JdR needed to be checked up on because of information (not) being put out by Royce after he had already left there. From what you say above, JdR has been open about his departure from Royce. When I dined at Inovasi at the end of April, it was the first I'd heard of it.

=R=

blipsman wrote:... growing up in the shadows of Ravinia, we mostly frequented Max's, Ravinia BBQ & Michael's. And either Panda Panda or Little Szechuan, depending on who lobbied harder. Although our most common "nicer than usual" dinner, like when grandparents were visiting, was Night N Gale in Highwood... and we did live east of Green Bay, so I guess you're correct!

Well, Ravinia, that's another story... not so much in the way of fine dining, but some good food (Il Forno's Pizza, in particular!) I grew up about halfway between Ravinia and downtown HP, near "where the old folks' home used to be," if you know what I mean. How about you? The Night N Gale was a favorite of my parents; thanks for the reminder of a happy memory.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

John Danza wrote:Ronnie, I've heard the same thing from John for months, so you haven't paraphrased incorrectly. And while I don't know for certain why the information wasn't released, it doesn't take much to figure it out. John was the "celebrity" associated with the restaurant and its original launch. I'm confident that the investors didn't want it out that he was no longer involved in the project because they would lose the people who follow him. With the tenuousness of the business, I'm sure they didn't want to take a chance on losing even one customer.

That makes perfect sense but it's still speculation. Obviously, you're much closer to chef des Rosiers than I am, so I'm sure you have a better sense of it than I do.

What irked me was the implication (made above, not by you) that JdR needed to be checked up on because of information (not) being put out by Royce after he had already left there. From what you say above, JdR has been open about his departure from Royce. When I dined at Inovasi at the end of April, it was the first I'd heard of it.

=R=

So someone suggesting a bait and switch by the "celebrity" chef is beaten with a rattan cane, but expressing confidence that the restaurant's ownership (not sure if this at all included John des Rosiers) deliberately misled the public and hid the absence of the celebrity chef because business was poor is somehow different?

I have no idea what the truth is, but the follow-ups are no less speculative.

BR wrote:So someone suggesting a bait and switch by the "celebrity" chef is beaten with a rattan cane, but expressing confidence that the restaurant's ownership (not sure if this at all included John des Rosiers) deliberately misled the public and hid the absence of the celebrity chef because business was poor is somehow different?

I have no idea what the truth is, but the follow-ups are no less speculative.

I made no such speculation about the activities at Royce. My comment had to do with Cathy's less-than veiled negative comment that John des Rosiers may or may not be involved in Inovasi and that one should make sure he's there before going there for dinner. That was pure speculation on her part.

BR wrote:So someone suggesting a bait and switch by the "celebrity" chef is beaten with a rattan cane, but expressing confidence that the restaurant's ownership (not sure if this at all included John des Rosiers) deliberately misled the public and hid the absence of the celebrity chef because business was poor is somehow different?

I have no idea what the truth is, but the follow-ups are no less speculative.

Agreed. It's all speculation. However, it doesn't really add up to hold JdR responsible for information being put out (or not put out) by Royce after he'd left there. It seems that whatever Royce did or didn't do after he left there is on them, not him. From what John Danza says above, if anything, JdR was very open about his departure. Just because it wasn't widely known that he'd left Royce doesn't necessarily mean it was being kept a secret. Should they have put a sign on the door? Again, we have zero indication that anyone who walked into Royce was (intentionally) misled, least of all by JdR.

A few years ago I went to a restaurant in Forest Park because I'd learned that a well-known chef had taken over the kitchen. Given what I knew of the chef's work, the meal I had was not at all what I expected. Afterwards, I asked if chef was around because I wanted to say hello. I was told he was no longer at the establishment. Perhaps this was a well-known piece of information among the restaurant's regulars but it was news to me. Was I baited and switched? Was I intentionally misled. I've never thought about it in those terms. To me, it was just a case of me not knowing something that may have been common knowledge to others.

=R=

Katie wrote:

blipsman wrote:... growing up in the shadows of Ravinia, we mostly frequented Max's, Ravinia BBQ & Michael's. And either Panda Panda or Little Szechuan, depending on who lobbied harder. Although our most common "nicer than usual" dinner, like when grandparents were visiting, was Night N Gale in Highwood... and we did live east of Green Bay, so I guess you're correct!

Well, Ravinia, that's another story... not so much in the way of fine dining, but some good food (Il Forno's Pizza, in particular!) I grew up about halfway between Ravinia and downtown HP, near "where the old folks' home used to be," if you know what I mean. How about you? The Night N Gale was a favorite of my parents; thanks for the reminder of a happy memory.

I know where you're talking about... I was right off St. Johns, about 200 yards north of the back of the Ravinia lawn.

Where was there an Il Forno's pizza in HP? I remember Piero's...

There is still an Il Forno's on Old Elm rd, which is technically HP.

-Will

Il Forno's used to be on Ravinia's main drag, Roger Williams Avenue, next to the post office. Oh wait--is that post office closed? Okay then, "next to where the post office used to be."

blipsman wrote:I know where you're talking about... I was right off St. Johns, about 200 yards north of the back of the Ravinia lawn.

Ah... sounds like a great location for free concert music. We were walking distance from Ravinia Park, which was nearly as good.

Cathy2 wrote:Inovasi Owner Explains Why Royce Closed: John des Rosiers discusses why two concepts he had for restaurants in Highland Park failed, and wonders why restaurants in town keep closing.
As always, read the comment sections afterwards.

Whoa, I did and tried to flag one as inappropriate and got bounced from the page. Guess no one from Patch monitors those comments.