Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Opening with a bang
"We opened for lunch on July 3 and we had our first repeat customer on July 5, so I think that\'s a very good sign,\" Fleming said.Fleming co-owns Crescendo Bistro with Laura Hoffman. The restaurant features a limited menu by design.
\"We want to focus on quality and I want to make sure that I inspect every item that leaves the kitchen,\" Fleming explained. \"I like to say that \'love is in the details,\' and I want the food that we present to reflect the passion that I have for this business.
\"I believe that a good chef gives of himself to everything. You have to pay attention to everything.\"
A longtime chef, Fleming began his food career at an early age.
\"I was a dishwasher when I was 12,\" he said. \"I couldn\'t imagine doing anything else.\"
Start me up
\"Our menu is very straightforward,\" Fleming said. \"Last week we served meals for the staff, and one of them said, \'Oh, my gosh, this is the best blue cheese dressing I\'ve ever had,\' and I had to laugh. It was made from three ingredients.\"
Fleming said that he served under a lot of other chefs before striking out on his own. \"I worked with some of the best chefs on the East Coast and I always wanted to run my own restaurant.\"
He was pleased to find the available space.
\"This is one of the most gorgeous places that I could hope for,\" he said.
The luncheon menu includes sandwiches, such as the shrimp po\' boy, chicken and Italian panini and a flank steak. Sweet potato fries are included. The sandwiches run from $8 to $9.
There are a number of salads, which cost from $8 to $10, and the lunch entrees run $10 to $12 and include the likes of Atlantic salmon teriyaki, chicken valdastino and flank steak rebieta.
The dinner menu features seafood cioppino, grilled pork T-bone, rib steak chimichuri, chicken valdastino, crab cakes and pepper crusted sea scallops. Entrees run from $18 to $29.
Asked for a favorite, Fleming hesitated before saying, \"I\'d say it\'s the seafood cioppino. It\'s an old-school classic. If you\'re a seafood fan, it\'s a little piece of heaven on a plate.\"
Fleming plans some additions and changes as time goes on.
\"We\'re planning on starting a Sunday brunch by the end of the month,\" he said. \"And in about 30 days we\'ll put some specials on the menu.
\"I love doing blue-plate specials. Diner food is to die for. I will have meatloaf ... it\'s my mother\'s recipe ... and I\'ll have Yankee pot roast, Maryland fried chicken, things like that.\"
Fleming is hoping that word of mouth will make Crescendo Bistro a success.
\"Once we get you through the door, we\'re hoping that the ambiance, the food and the hospitality will drive you crazy and make you tell all of your friends,\" he said. \"We\'re really trying to market our restaurant in the restaurant, and \'good\' isn\'t good enough. If a meal wasn\'t memorable, you may not come back, but the way we\'ve been received so far, I think we\'ll be successful.\"
Crescendo Bistro is located at 32 Main Street in Old Town Warrenton. The phone number is (540) 347-0550.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner on Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. By the end of July Crescendo is scheduled to be presenting brunch on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
You must be logged in to post a comment.