The Cellar Door Tapas Room by Le Bistro is about more than the food, the drinks and even the décor. It is all about the shared experiences.
By Katherine Pyles
HQ 89 | SPRING 2015
When guests enter the lower level of Le Bistro on Third Avenue, they are transported into Pam Abraham’s secret garden. One guest feels like she’s in the hills of Tuscany, while another is reminded of his favorite spot in New York City. And that is exactly what Abraham envisioned when she opened The Cellar Door Tapas Room by Le Bistro in January. Abraham wanted to create an escape from reality in the heart of downtown – and it all started with an antique door.
“I began to study ancient doors,” says Abraham, pointing to several antique doors that hang on the walls of the restaurant. “I wondered where they used to stand and who once walked through them, and what kinds of secret gardens they might have led to. The doors take us on a journey of the past and yet a journey of fantasy. That is what we want our guests to experience.”
Abraham commissioned artist Beverly St. Lawrence to paint murals of gardens in the entrance hall and inside the restaurant.
“When Pam called and asked me to create a secret garden for her, I was very excited,” St. Lawrence says. “I love to paint, but it’s truly wonderful when you feel a compatibility with the person you are painting for. We both wanted to create a fantasy and to create as much fun with this project as we could.”
St. Lawrence is one of many creative minds Abraham brought into her grand vision for The Cellar Door. From her contractor Jay Bailey with Bailey Construction Co. to her friend and design partner Jackie Clevenger of Architectural Planning & Design to her marketing, planning and technical solutions team at the Rahall Transportation Institute, including marketing manager Cassey Bowden, Abraham has been surrounded by people with a love for creativity and art.
Among those inspired by the creative energy of The Cellar Door is Brittany Barker, executive chef at Le Bistro and The Cellar Door. The Cellar Door menu includes tapas – Spanish for “small bites” – and desserts, as well as craft beers, cocktails and an extensive wine list. Popular dishes include Picasso’s Nachos, Flying Pigs and a stacked fudge cake called Goya’s Dark Secret. Barker says the “small plate” concept of Le Bistro’s Cellar Door menu has given her an outlet for creative expression.
“The options for small plates are unlimited,” says Barker, who helped develop Le Bistro’s Cellar Door menu with Abraham. “The food is casual and shareable and pretty – and who doesn’t enjoy eating food like that?”
Le Bistro and The Cellar Door are linked by more than an elevator, a staircase and Barker’s talented kitchen staff. Abraham’s son Robert owns Le Bistro, and the mother-son team shares a management staff – including Rob Crickard, general manager, and Matt Stickler, senior business manager.
“Of course ‘the Abrahams’ are family, but we feel like this entire group is our family also,” Abraham says. “We have a very strong team and a fantastic staff, and that’s why this works so well. It is a shared adventure.”
“We share the same vision for quality, style and creating an escape for our guests,” Robert Abraham says. “The two restaurants complement each other.”
What sets Le Bistro’s Cellar Door apart are its “conversation areas,” large seating areas of
oversized chairs that share a table – and sometimes much more.
“Two separate groups visited us recently and shared a table,” Abraham says. “By the end of the night, they had gotten to know each other so well that one group invited the other to dinner in their home the following evening.”
Abraham calls the conversation areas a place where people can share “tasty tidbits of food and conversation.” Helping to create that cozy experience are dozens of custom vintage chairs, designed by Abraham and her partner Darren Diamond.
Detailed throw pillows, designed by Bridget Sheils using luxurious silks and velvets, are strewn throughout the restaurant as well.
“I consider each chair to be a standing sculpture,” says Abraham, an artist with a decades-long relationship with the Marshall University College of Fine Arts. “I’ve always loved color and fabric, and designing the chairs has given me a way to continue exploring my passion for art. We take each chair down to its basic frame and then rebuild it, giving it new life. In a sense each chair is reborn.”
The overwhelming popularity of the chairs has led Abraham and Diamond to establish a small furniture company, named Chairy Couture.
“I’ve become addicted, and I can’t quit,” Abraham says. “I have a house full of fabric and fringe. We are going to carry on with this and create more chairs and continue to build on the excitement.”
Abraham says her husband, dermatologist Dr. Naz Abraham, has always been supportive of her many creative endeavors.
“My husband’s favorite thing to say is, ‘I told Pam I wanted a tapas room – and look what I ended up with,’” Abraham laughs.
“I have been so lucky that he was brave enough to let me loose on this. He trusted me and gave me the freedom to build this dream. It has been fun sharing this with him.”
Bowden says Le Bistro’s Cellar Door has emerged as a prime venue for business functions, community groups and private parties. With state-of-the-art surround sound and high-quality presentation capabilities, it is a versatile space that instantly puts guests at ease. And as members of Le Bistro’s Cellar Door family can attest, it is only the beginning.
“What I love most about Pam is that whenever someone says, ‘This is so great,’ her response is always, ‘We’ve only just begun,’” Barker says. “She is never finished.”
For more information about Le Bistro’s Cellar Door, which opens at 4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, visit www.cellardoorwv.com or call 304-523-2014. Le Bistro’s Cellar Door is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
