New Revival Room restaurant owners have fun with historical aspect of Hudson building

The new Revival Room restaurant and bar, which opened in Hudson last month in a 189-year-old, is having some fun with history.

The architectural style of the building is French revival, which inspired the Revival Room name. The 1834 building was originally a general store downstairs, with the owners living upstairs.

The restaurant at 200 N. Main St. is housed where Peachtree Southern Kitchen & Cocktails used to be, and before that, Old Whedon Grille. Revival co-owner Gretchen Erb and her partners, brother- and sister-in-law Chris McCauley and Gina Garofoli, bought the property in 2018, when they were working on opening another restaurant, Oak and Embers Tavern, at Pinecrest in Orange.

The Pinecrest Oak and Embers has since closed, a casualty to COVID-19. But the partners still operate Oak and Embers locations, known for barbecue and bourbon, up the street in Hudson and in Chesterland.

At the Revival Room, they've kept the old New England charm of the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The owners repainted the exterior a buttery beige and also painted inside, including repainting the white pressed tin ceilings and a mantel upstairs black, painting the walls a golden color and sprucing up the bar by painting its wood base black and adding a quartz bar top.

They pulled up carpet upstairs to expose the hardwood floor and kept the former restaurant's wood tables and black upholstered chairs.

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The main floor seats 70, while the upstairs, which is reached by a circular staircase, is for overflow dining. Eventually, Erb would like to do tastings and pairings upstairs with Executive Chef Michael Suriano. The basement level will later become a cocktail lounge with soft seating.

"It's an old building and we're kind of reviving it, bringing it new life, kind of almost like a phoenix," Erb said. "And then I wanted to take a lot of classic cocktails and classic dishes and kind of just give them a new twist."

Rascally Reynard mascot inspires Old Fashioned cocktail names

The mascot of the restaurant is Reynard the Fox, a trickster character from medieval literature whose original stories were written in old French.

All of Revival's seven Old Fashioned cocktails, which feature different spirits, are named after Reynard, from the smoked Reynard's Revival to Reynard's Rage.

"He's mischievous. He's a crafty little guy," Erb said of the fox, who's pictured throughout the restaurant's menu.

Revival Room has a wine and beer list but its focus is on cocktails with a twist. The fig mule cocktail adds a twist on the Moscow Mule with fig syrup, while the Milan is like a Manhattan, with Cynar Italian liqueur instead of vermouth.

The Pearfect Pour cocktail is a showstopper, made as a pour-over with pear Grey Goose, Tanqueray, Aperol and Amaro Nonino liqueur poured over hibiscus leaves in a pretty crystal filter, much like a pour-over coffee.

Even the two "Ellsworthy" mocktails have a name rooted in Hudson history. It comes from a wealthy industrialist and Hudson native James W. Ellsworth who funded the reopening of Western Reserve Academy in 1916. Back in 1907, he provided funding to pave Hudson's streets, plant trees, renovate owners' properties and create power and water plants ― in return for local prohibition of alcohol.

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Main dishes and snacks at Revival Room

Erb said it's important for her to serve food that she likes at her restaurant. Chef Suriano, who used to work for her at Oak and Embers, has come up with interesting main dishes that are on the smaller side and meant to be shared. They're also meant to complement the establishment's signature cocktails.

"Our chef is very, very talented," Erb said.

Suriano comes from Twinsburg and now lives in Stow. Erb, who's been in the restaurant business for 25 years, grew up in New Philadelphia and has been a longtime Cleveland-area resident.

Dishes include duck confit pot pie and a 2¼-pound naan smash burger served on naan with paneer Indian cheese and spicy tandoori aioli. Snacks (appetizers) range from fava bean hummus with green chickpeas to pickled scotch eggs, which are beet-brined, pickled eggs deep fried in panko and chorizo, served with roasted Romesco (roasted tomato base and walnuts).

Brunch at Revival

Revival Room also offers Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Offerings include four specialty brunch cocktails, with one being a Mai "Tea" English tea serving for four, which costs $45. It's made with rum, dark rum, Cointreau, orgeat syrup, lime and Earl Grey tea, served in tea cups. Five style of mimosas also are offered.

Brunch entrees number 14, including a full English breakfast, smoked salmon avocado naan benedict, hangover ramen and filet and eggs. For more information, call 234-269-6600 or see revivalroomhudson.com.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New Revival Room in Hudson goes for twists on classic cocktails, dishes