Bijou club ready for the juice
Also, new Mexican eatery for Back Bay
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, September 3, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The Boston Bijou Theatre opened on Washington Street in 1882 as the first American playhouse lit entirely by electricity. The electrical system was installed and supervised personally by Thomas Edison.
Flash forward 128 years: While structural work was under way for their new upscale Boston restaurant and nightclub, George Aboujaoude and partners Kevin Fitzpatrick and Mete Aslan would Google potential names.
“I wanted to hit on something that really had a history in Boston,” Aboujaoude said. “Bijou really stuck out, because it was the first theater in the country to have electricity, and nightclubs are all about lighting, sound and electricity.”
Bijou is slated to open in October on the second and third floors of 51 Stuart St., where nightclubs Europa and Buzz (a headline-grabber in 2002 when Celtic Paul Pierce [stats] was stabbed there) formerly operated.
Starting at 5 p.m., Bijou will serve a utensil-free menu of shared plates including caviar, finger foods and skewers.
“It’s a bit more comfortable and hassle-free,” said Aboujaoude, a former Lyons Group marketer who was inspired by the menu at Club 35 in Cairo, Egypt.
Michael Navarrete (Sorellina, South End Buttery) will double as the executive chef of Bijou and Cafeteria, Aboujaoude’s 3-year-old Newbury Street restuarant.
Come 11 p.m., Bijou will revert to a full-blown nightclub with DJs playing international house music, dancing, bottle service and food until 2 a.m.
Aboujaoude expects to spend $1.5 million on the project - designed by Boston architect Stephen Chung - by opening.
Bijou’s bottom floor will be a luxurious, honeycomb-inspired lounge. The high-ceilinged, top-floor nightclub will have two dramatically dark areas with sleek banquettes, two bars and a DJ booth.
A brother-sister team are bringing what’s promised to be a “dark, decadent and sexy” Mexican restaurant to Boston’s Back Bay.
Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar is taking the place of the original Papa Razzi at 271 Dartmouth St. under a joint venture of North Shore natives Christopher and Stephanie Jamison and Greenwich, Ct.-based CB5 Restaurant Group.
The 131-seat eatery will be a sister restaurant of the Lolita in Greenwich, operating as a dinner-only, casual fine-dining spot with a Mexican street food-inspired menu and more than 300 tequilas.
It’s the first restaurant for the Jamisons, both in their 20s.
“Chris and I both worked front-of-the-house in various restaurants and really loved the business and were drawn to the excitement of it,” Stephanie Jamison said.
Plush red fabrics and black leather, candlelight, reclaimed brick, rough wood and wrought iron will set the mood, and custom-mixed music will set the beat.
Lolita’s menu will more or less mirror that of its sister restaurant, which serves tacos (blackened grouper with jicama slaw, chipotle crema), quesadillas (ancho chile chicken with black beans, fire-roasted corn and smoked bacon), salads and $18 to $29 entrees from pollo asada to salmon coco to caballero ribeye.
The Jamisons are shooting for a late fall opening. CB5 has developed more than 100 restaurants, including Tatu in Baltimore and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., which also is home to Bongos Cuban Cafe, a joint venture with entertainers Emilio and Gloria Estefan.
The Back Bay Restaurant Group’s 21-year-old Papa Razzi, meanwhile, will operate until Sept. 15 before relocating. It will reopen the week of Sept. 20 with a revamped menu at 159 Newbury St., taking the place of Bouchee, which closes Tuesday after four years.
“Ideally, we will find a new, smaller location to reopen Bouchee,” Back Bay Restaurant Group spokeswoman Amy Daniels said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1278864
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