by Joel Addington
Contributing Writer
A little more than a year after opening his first restaurant Downtown, Jonathan Insetta is taking on a new challenge — reinventing a French bistro in Avondale without losing the eatery’s heritage in the community.
The bistro formerly known as Crush is located at 3628 Park St. and first opened in 2004. But when the executive chef left, Insetta said the food suffered.
“We understood why it went out of business and that it was something we could fix,” said the 29-year-old Jacksonville native who bought the restaurant two months ago. “But I wanted to keep the tradition of what they started here alive.”
Insetta owns Chew on Adams Street and has been in the restaurant business cooking and managing for nine years. The new 4,000-square-foot Crush is slated to open in three to four months under the name Restaurant Orsay, which refers to a small town outside of Paris.
The front dining room will open first with seating for 60 following some cosmetic renovations. The hardwood pine framing and architecture will remain, but the bar will be reconfigured to allow for a full liquor menu instead of just beer and wine.
“What we want to do is give the impression there is a new restaurant but keep the integrity, warmth and charm of the original Crush,” said general manager Crystal Vessels, also 29.
Vessels and her husband, Restaurant Orsay’s executive chef Brian Siebenschuh, 31, were former employees of Crush along with the new bistro’s sous chef Sam Efron.
Efron is also a Jacksonville native while Vessels and Siebenschuh hail from Oklahoma.
“We all have a very strong attachment to what was put in here,” said Insetta.
Vessels agreed saying, “We’re exceptionally emotionally invested in the success of this restaurant. We helped stain the floors and tile the kitchen walls.”
In addition to traditional French dishes like steak tartar and old Crush favorites like the homemade fries and mussels, Restaurant Orsay will also feature a raw bar of oysters, shrimp, clams, lobster and crab. The renovations also include a remodeled wine cellar and tasting table for a 200-bottle wine list.
“It will be a well though-out and scrutinized wine list,” said Insetta. “Every bottle will be something we can be proud of.”
The second phase of the reopening, a lounge and deck in the rear of the property, will take place in six to seven months with seating for another 60 to 90 patrons.
And while renovation plans aren’t yet finalized for the lounge, Insetta said it will add a different dimension to the former Crush.
“We want it to be little more hip and up-to-date, but still rustic, warm and inviting,” he added, saying the drink menu will include classic cocktails as well as house infused vodkas, fresh fruit juices and purees.
“It will be a different vibe and feeling where people can come in to have cocktails and we’ll be open later there,” said Vessels.
Insetta said he hopes to keep total renovation costs under $250,000.
“It’s going to be your typical New York French restaurant,” he said. “You can get a meal and a glass of wine for $20 but also an elegant, fine dining experience. It’s going to be a pretty broad spectrum.”