A Restaurant with Deep Roots

If you’re looking for an unforgettable dining experience, The Alcove offers both a contemporary menu and a historic setting. Located in Mount Vernon, about 50 miles northeast of Columbus, the restaurant celebrates a major milestone in December: 110 years of serving customers in the same location on Main Street. The Alcove today features fine dining, catering and even a dinner theatre.

The Alcove wasn’t always a restaurant. It opened on December 6, 1911, as Candyland, a local ice cream and candy shop started by Fred Surlas, an immigrant from Greece, and Peter J. Francis, an ice cream and candy maker from Youngstown. Candyland soon began offering sandwiches in addition to candy and ice cream. Then, to accommodate a growing demand for quality food over sweets, the shop opened the Alcove Room in the late 1920s. Its popularity led to the construction of the building you see today, which was completed in 1937.

Just a few years ago, The Alcove underwent a major renovation. Karen Wright of the Ariel Corporation purchased The Alcove, which then closed for about six months while the renovations took place. The entire restaurant was gutted and Columbus interior designer Fritz Harding helped transform The Alcove into the restaurant it is today.

“He’s very ambitious when it comes to patterns and textures,” says Assistant Manager Donovan Rice. “The choice of materials he uses are very brave and daring ... he uses leather and wood veneer and velvet, and we have flocked wallpaper and silk.”

Other special touches include chandeliers in the main dining room, which were flown in from Louisiana, and a four-pillar piece located in the rear of the restaurant, which is rumored to have come from a Columbus mansion.

A variety of dining room options are available for both large and small parties, but since the renovation there is more of a focus on smaller groups. “It’s a lot more intimate than what it used to be,” Rice explains. Despite the changes, some original details remain. Today, you can still find the original candy display cases upstairs in the banquet room bar. The pillars in the center of the restaurant, now painted black and gold, also are original.

The early days, when the restaurant was also a candy shop and soda grill.

FARM-TO-TABLE APPROACH

In addition to the elegant ambience, guests can look forward to an impressive array of menu options. Every dish is made from scratch with an emphasis on sourcing locally whenever possible. Chef Jared Driesbach is passionate about implementing the farm-to-table concept at The Alcove; he frequently shops at farmers markets and buys from local farmers and small businesses in Ohio. These include Round Hill Dairy and Buckeye Bread Co. 

“He is really adamant about using fresh and local products,” Rice says. “Every day we’re getting in a shipment from some small farm in Ohio, and it’s really fun to see him unpack those things, and they have handwritten notes … it’s just very personal.”

Chef Driesbach says the restaurant has “a huge connection with Yellowbird Foodshed, who have capitalized a genius concept of resourcing, sourcing and providing local food from all over Ohio.” He hopes to continue expanding The Alcove’s farm-to-table approach.

“We are merely in the beginning stages of bringing this concept to life, but essentially the direction we are moving is local—for local economy, sustainability within the community and healthy,” he says. “You know the person that grows it, you know their vision and their passion; it has love put into that product, and you can taste it!”

Chef Jared Driesbach talks with staff in the kitchen.

(left) Guests enjoy a meal in the restaurant’s Library dining area; (right) The drink menu offers a variety of custom cocktails.

From appetizers to entrees, there is something for every palate. Popular menu items include the prime rib, the Tomahawk Ribeye, a 30-ounce grass-fed Black Angus ribeye, and the Salmon Oscar, served with truffle risotto, which Rice praises as “the best around.” For customers looking for a taste of the original restaurant, the menu still offers an updated version of the classic crispy chicken sandwich, which “is still a crowd favorite.”

Be sure to save room for dessert, though you might have a hard time deciding between the cheesecake, crème brûlée, apple crisp and other dessert items. The drink menu offers custom cocktails including The Bookworm, which Rice describes as a “bubbly, very light citrusy drink,” and Rice’s personal favorite, the General Washington, a darker drink made with Bulleit Rye, Madeira, orange juice and Luxardo cherries.

For first-time customers, Rice hopes that their visit will leave a lasting impression. “Our façade … is small and unassuming, so when you come in, it’s kind of that ‘wow’ factor,” he says. No matter the occasion, The Alcove provides the perfect setting for making memories you’re sure to savor. As Virginia Woolf wrote, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

• Learn more about The Alcove and see the menu at alcoverestaurant.com.