Kevin Sousa’s aspiration of jogging a restaurant focused on foods rooted in his family’s Italian heritage appears to be limited-lived.
A lot less than two months right after opening Mount Oliver Bodega restaurant, the iconic and nomadic chef is chopping ties with RE360, the genuine estate corporation Sousa partnered with to build the restaurant on Brownsville Street.
Sousa’s wife Megan issued a assertion on behalf of Tribute Hospitality, the corporation they formed with spouse Chris Clark. Clark will keep on being with the restaurant, according to RE360.
“(Mount Oliver Bodega) was designed out of love…and out of a passion for what we do – bringing people today collectively in excess of a delicious plate of food stuff, a exclusive glass of wine, in a wonderfully established space. Bringing M.O.B. into existence was a labor of adore between myself, my spouse Kevin, and our associate Chris Clark. RE360 employed us to open a cafe – and that we did,” she explained. “While we would have favored to have remained on board with this undertaking outside of just opening consultants, the romantic relationship in between our eyesight and RE360’s have been no longer aligned.”
Achieved for comment later Thursday, Megan Sousa verified in an e mail that she and her partner are no lengthier consulting for the project.
“The proprietors (RE360) have made the decision to go in a new course,” she stated.
Joe Calloway, founder of RE360, a genuine estate investment decision business, and operator of the restaurant’s building, said there were variations of belief. The cafe at first commenced marketing pizzas for $40, later decreasing the value to $30.
“The dream of this restaurant was for it to do well by way of what a number of of us needed, not just what just one unique preferred,” reported Calloway. “Yes, it’s an upscale restaurant, but a $40 pizza wasn’t going to be nicely-obtained listed here. And I did not want to hold battling about that ahead of it would improve.”
Calloway mentioned the pizza was Sousa’s idea but the rest of the menu was formulated by chef Jonah Frazier. He and Chris Clark, the manager, will continue being with the cafe. Clark was the glue that held Exceptional Motors alongside one another, claimed Calloway.
“Jonah is an astounding chef,” Calloway mentioned. “This dude is brilliant. He can make cauliflower style delightful. He has a wonderful workforce behind him.”
Calloway reported he imagined Sousa’s title would result in a cohesive partnership and he partnered with him for the right explanations. But that doesn’t usually work out, he explained.
“I have great reminiscences with Kevin and I want him the finest,” Calloway reported. “I want him to be effective but I also want what is appropriate for us. We manufactured the conclusion centered on what was correct for us. We want our most effective tips to prevail. This is a workforce principle. Some individuals are earning this about Kevin and his restaurant working experience, but I am not guaranteed what that indicates. You cannot run a cafe centered on moi.”
The information will come as a bit of a shock, irrespective of Sousa’s propensity for jumping to various restaurants.
Mount Oliver Bodega and Arlington Beverage Club in Allentown have been the most recent in a string of consideration-finding eateries in the very last decade that contain Salt of the Earth in Garfield and Union Pig & Hen and Station Street Incredibly hot Canines in East Liberty. Sousa moved on from all those to open up Outstanding Motors in Braddock, which closed at the outset of the pandemic.
Sousa’s most up-to-date venture produced Sicilian-motivated foodstuff, primarily pizza, its centerpiece. His spouse acted as the sommelier.
“We’re not a pizza shop. We’re a wine store and cafe that has a single pizza on the menu,” he said in a Tribune-Critique interview in September, just right before Mount Oliver Bodega opened . “It’s likely to be a purple pizza, that’s it. You get it how it arrives with a lengthy, sluggish-cooked ‘all day’ sauce, and then greatly seasoned.”
Sousa did not remark on what his immediate foreseeable future may possibly hold.
