Circa 1900 lost its mojo, chef Chris Curtiss got outta there a few months ago (he's currently in the kitchen at Binkley's), and rumors have been floating around that the restaurant's owners, who also own the wonderful Coronado Cafe, would unload the joint. More recently, I'd also heard that the folks who took over would be turning it into a fish & chips place.
Yep, it's all true. Circa 1900 is no more (hasn't been for several weeks, actually), and the circa-1900 Silva House (a historic bungalow that's part of Heritage Square) is now undergoing renovations to transform it into an English pub called The Rose & Crown.
According to new owner Don Phillippi, whose younger brother will be moving here from the East Coast to be the chef, the deal took place in mid-October.
The menu will include a variety of British dishes, from the aforementioned fish & chips, to bangers & mash, to shepherd's pie and cottage pie. There will be seafood and handcut steaks, as well as draft and bottled beer. "It will definitely be more casual and reasonably priced than Circa 1900," he adds.
At the moment, Phillippi is hoping to open December 7th. The restaurant's name, he explains, is also the name of a pub in the English town of Swanley, Kent, where his mother-in-law is from.
Smart way to get some brownie points!
