by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Within a month, a New York-style restaurant will be opening, offering a menu the owners say will be unlike any other menu in downtown Jacksonville.
The restaurant, called Chunky Chef Chicken and Waffles, is on Bay Street in the building where Cafe Athena was previously located.
Chunky Chef will offer things like specialty sandwiches, fresh salads, homemade desserts, coffee and espresso. But their specialty is chicken and waffles, which are very popular in New York.
Co-owners Ron Dray, his sister Janine Dray and Bill von Zangenberg came together to bring a different type of restaurant to downtown.
“We don’t want to have anything anyone else has,” said von Zangenberg.
Janine and Bill met during one of her trips to New York City and through their jobs they met each other. Ron, the owner of a restaurant called Deli Stop in New Jersey, wanted to try a restaurant in New York called Amy Ruth’s that specialized in chicken and waffles.
“We tried it together it was really good,” said von Zangenberg. “We talked about opening a restaurant and Janine said, ‘why not Jacksonville?’”
Janine and Ron have been in Jacksonville for almost 20 years, where he was the general manager of Sterlings Downtown in the Seminole Club. He has also owned a catering business since 1989, which is now called Chunky Chef Catering and Cakes. Janine also has a background in the food business as a dietitian.
Their goal is to bring a New York-style restaurant to Jacksonville where they pride themselves on customer service.
“We really want to concentrate on customer service,” said Janine, adding they want to give their customers a friendly, relaxed atmosphere offering a different style of food at an affordable price. “In New York the restaurants are very customer service oriented and they are quick and friendly.”
Since the area they are occupying is broken up into three different rooms, there is a certain way to maneuver around the restaurant. When customers enter through the main door, to the right is a cafe/espresso bar decorated in a teapot theme. This is also the area where the food is ordered. Customers are then given a number and they can go to the left of the building to sit and eat in air conditioning or in the back of a restaurant they can eat in the open-air atrium. The atrium area will be decorated with artwork from local artists. Janine said the art will be of natural and wildlife scenes. There is also a small garden with plants and a fountain in the atrium area. All of the food will be delivered to their customers.
The food will be fresh and is being shipped from all over the U.S., said von Zangenberg. He will also bring in Italian specialties, but at the same time they want to be eclectic.
“We want to give them (the customers) something different,” said Ron. “We want to show people what chicken and waffles are.”
For those who are unsure what that is, waffles can be served in many different ways, not just for breakfast. The waffles are all Belgian waffles, and the classic chicken and waffles is simply served with chicken on the side with waffles. Waffles will also be served in the traditional way with maple syrup and toppings such as pecans and cherries. Janine said breakfast will be served all day.
“We have a healthy side to our menu such as salads, veggie chicken sandwich and five-grain waffles,” said Janine.
To go along with the different food, the menu items will also be listed in a non-traditional way.
“We want to keep everything from within Jacksonville as much as possible,” said Janine. “But are also going to be totally different.”
Their menu items are going to be named after famous people in and from Jacksonville. Before they were allowed to use some of the names, they needed to get permission.
Two of the names they are using are Andrew Jackson, for whom Jacksonville is named, and Robert Bateman who was from Jacksonville and went down with the Titanic.
They are excited to get their restaurant up and rolling and have hopes of making it even larger than it is to accommodate large parties or wedding parties.
“We have a different food menu and a different atmosphere and we are planning on growing with Jacksonville,” said Ron.
Once they open they will offer breakfast and lunch Monday - Friday from 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Janine said they will also be open for any special events that are downtown like the symphony or a Jaguars game.
“We are looking forward to being a part of business in Jacksonville along with serving businesses,” she said.