An Eastown standby, The Queen's Pub (1420 Lake Dr. SE, Grand Rapids), will close this August and reopen the following day as
Radix Tavern, a combination bar and restaurant serving Southern-style foods with a West Michigan flair. Many current employees will transfer with the changeover, but the addition of a full-service restaurant creates the need for five to 10 new staff members.
The new tavern will be owned by Balwinder Bal, owner of The Queen's Pub and the connected Bombay Cuisine, but will be operated by executive chef Jayson Leek, formerly of The Gilmore Collection and the Chicago Yacht Club.
Radix (pronounced RAD-ix) Tavern will feature a menu of barbecue, cornbread, succotash and some hearty vegetarian choices, says Chef Leek's wife, Danielle, who handles marketing for the tavern.
"Radix is Latin for roots," she says. "We're going back to our roots of when we had a lot of slow cooked veggies and could only eat what we could grow on the farm or get in the forest. It's very farm-to-table, which is very West Michigan, right? So it's a good mix."
Renovations are taking place now, during the hours when The Queen's Pub is closed, Leek says. The restaurant is looking for a sous chef, two cooks, dishwashers and wait staff, she says. The kitchen staff will be full-time positions.
A closing/opening date has not been set.
Source: Danielle Leek, Radix Tavern
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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