Cello brings Italian cuisine to downtown Royal Oak after Andiamo closure
When one restaurant closes, another one opens.
At least that’s what you can say about downtown Royal Oak, where a number of longtime restaurants began to turn over this summer.
July saw the high-profile closure of the two-decade-old Andiamo Trattoria; barely two months later a new Italian restaurant is angling to fill the void.
Howell restaurateur Adam Merkel is introducing his Cello Italian Restaurant menu featuring house-made pasta and limoncello and a 100-percent Italian wine list.
From Sept. 20 through Dec. 31, that menu — practically identical to Merkel’s Cello in Howell — will be featured at the Red Fox, located on the floor above the old Cantina Diablos at 11 Mile and Main Street, just a stone’s throw from the empty Andiamo building.
Merkel is currently transforming the spacious ground-floor restaurant below into a Royal Oak version of his longtime Howell steakhouse, Diamonds. In 2019, the Red Fox space is set to become a garden-themed small plates restaurant and bar called Pinky’s, but Merkel is using the time between now and the beginning of construction to test his Italian concept in the market.
“We are actually looking at the option of putting a Cello in Royal Oak as well for next year,” Merkel said.
Merkel said his restaurant group is looking at another spot on Main Street for a permanent Cello location, which would help fill the Italian food void left in Andiamo’s wake.
“That was the other thing, too,” Merkel said. “It seems to be a fit for what they need here. We think Cello will work really well in Royal Oak, but we’re about to find out.”
When Andiamo closed in July, Andiamo Group president and CEO Joe Vicari described a lack of parking caused by an adjacent city development as the final nail in his 19-year-old restaurant’s coffin. Ironically, Merkel also cited parking issues as one of the reasons he wasn’t opening more restaurants in Howell and opting to do business in Royal Oak instead.
“There’s only 7,000 people in Howell and we serve 3,000 to 4,000 ourselves between the three concepts,” Merkel said. “We are maxed out (in Howell) now.”
Cello restaurant debuted in Howell in March 2017 featuring recipes drawn from Merkel’s Italian father’s side of the family.
“As far as Royal Oak goes, to be clear, there’s plenty of parking,” Merkel said. “I park in the parking garage every day a block behind us and I’ve never seen it to full capacity. It may have been an issue before that opened.”
Merkel’s other Howell export, Diamonds Steak and Seafood, is gearing up for a mid-October debut in the space below Red Fox.
Red Fox (featuring Cello Italian Restaurant menu), 100 South Main, Royal Oak; dinner daily; reservations: 248-291-5647 and redfoxrooftop.com.
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