Things tend to come together all at once just before a restaurant debuts.
After more than 30 years in the restaurant business, chef Alberto Gazzola knows this truth about timelines, so the other afternoon, he remained optimistic about the latest goal: to open his new Centro South by the holidays.
The sister restaurant to Centro Midtown is coming together in a prime patch of the Village at Rancharrah, at the eastern end of the square across from Perenn Bakery.
Supply chain disruptions could affect the timeline — there are chairs, to give one example, still to arrive from Italy — but much else is proceeding nicely (event if it might not look so to the civilian eye).
A sinuous ceiling, an elevated menu
The hood is in, and most of the remaining equipment for the open kitchen is ready for installation. Areas for food preparation, dry storage and the restaurant office have been constructed. The pick-up counter and bar have been built and await finishes.
Most notably, a serpentine decorative ceiling composed of wooden slats already is in place. The ceiling will anchor dramatic lighting fixtures that also await installation.
Centro South, the chef told me during my exclusive sneak peek, will have 60 to 70 seats, a chef’s table just beyond the kitchen and will offer a “higher-end” menu than its Midtown sibling. (Can you say more about the menu? Smile: “Not right now.”)
Look for my update soon on one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings in years in Reno.
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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor for Reno News & Review. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsJLW or on Facebook personally or at @FoodNevada. Sign up here for the Reno News & Review free weekly newsletter highlighting our most recent stories.