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June 11, 2005

Ruined!

I went out last night for a celebratory, graduation dinner at "The Ruins" with Richard, my Dad, and my stepmom.

If you've never heard of this restaurant, that's OK - I'd never heard of it, either. We won "dinner for four" at the Challenge For Charity Auction this year, and it seemed like a great place to get dressed up, drink wine, and chat about the last two years (as well as the future).

The experience was very speakeasy-esque. The restaurant is located at 570 Roy street, but you would never, ever know from the street that it's anything other than a shabby-looking, peach-colored industrial building. It's literally across the street from a parking lot, and next to an auto body shop.

As it turns out, the building was originally a ceramics factory, and they just made the decision to leave the exterior alone. But still - bizarre.

After figuring out that, yes, this really was the right address, we walked up to the single door that faces Roy street. It's blank and featureless, with a round faceplate that says "570" and a note that asks non-members to "please use the door in the alley."

So we walk along the front of the building and find said alley, which is the dividing line between the auto body place and the restaurant. The door is a heavy, metal, black number with a grate on it (e.g., not inviting). We swing this door open, and find a smaller, wooden door behind it. We open this door ...

And we're in the restaurant.

The decor is varied from room to room. We sat in a room decorated with elephants - ceramic, plastic, large, small, you name it. The menu changes monthly. The wine list is well-done. The service is superb.

So so so great. Fabulous food, and a fabulous time. (But you'd never know it from the outside.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 11, 2005 8:45 AM. Posted to Cool.

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