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Home > Blogs > Taste: Dayton food and restaurants > Archives > 2011 > August > 29 > Entry
New Italian restaurant coming to the Oregon District
DAYTON — A new restaurant called Roost Modern Italian is scheduled to open in early October at 524 E. Fifth St. in the Oregon Historic District, according to owners Dana Downs and Beth Hirschbach, who also operate the Black Rooster Pasta Bar in the 2nd Street Market in Dayton.
Roost Modern Italian will seat 40 inside and another 35 on its patio. It will employ about 10 people, Downs said. The projected opening is Oct. 4.
The site is the former Las Americas restaurant that closed July 30. The space previously housed John Henry’s and Blue Moon restaurants.
“It’s a nice space,” Downs said. “And I think it has the best patio in the district.”
Unlike earlier restaurant owners who utilized the market as a stepping stone to opening a restaurant elsewhere, Roost Modern Italian’s owners have no intention of closing their 2nd Street Market location.
“We’re doing well at the market, and we don’t want to leave our customer base,” Downs said. And the presence at the public market will serve as a marketing tool for the new restaurant, she said.
The Black Rooster Pasta Bar expanded its offerings at the 2nd Street Market earlier this year, “and we were maxed out there,” Downs said.
The new restaurant “will not be a pasta bar,” Downs said, but instead will focus on Italian dishes that go beyond traditional pasta and pizza, using fresh and seasonal ingredients.
Items on an early sample menu for Roost Modern Italian include an appetizer of Black Sea Salt-Crusted Scallops with Lemon Capers and Anchovy Crumbs, an entree of Bearnaise-Crusted Beef Tournedos with Demi Glace with Spinach Al Forno & Tuscan Fries, and desserts such as Pear and Gorgonzola Crostada, and Chocolate Pot de Creme with Balsamic Berries.
Roost Modern Italian will have a full liquor license. It will be open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. It will be closed Mondays.
Downs and Hirschbach also operate a catering company under the name Veritas Foods.
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