It’s an unlikely culinary partnership.
One has tattoos — eight, in fact. The other has none.
One is a nonstop talker. The other is more contemplative. One relishes the adrenaline rush of kitchen life. The other is equally drawn to operational issues.
But one thing the co-executive chefs of the new Twist Restaurant and Lounge agree on is philosophy, particularly when it comes to food.
“We want to be the largest locally supplied restaurant in Cincinnati,” says Mark Bodenstein, best known to local dining aficionados as one of the founders of NuVo. His fellow chef is Chris Burns, most recently the chef de cuisine at JeanRo Bistro.
“Contemporary Farmstead Cuisine” as they call it, will be the centerpiece of the new restaurant, which opens June 5 in the space formerly occupied by Jean-Robert at Pigall’s.
Then, like the other half of a couple that’s been together for years, Burns steps in.
Bodenstein leaps right back in.
Perhaps this partnership will work, after all.
Mirroring the atmosphere of the Twist Lounge next door, they envision a place with a slightly edgier and younger feel than Pigall’s. More important, they hope their more modest prices will keep them from becoming a special-occasion restaurant, a fate that some think precipitated the downfall of Pigall’s and The Maisonette.