City Federal building renovation nears completion
The historic property in downtown Montgomery will become a fine dining restaurant
After considerable pandemic-related delays, Montgomery’s newest fine dining restaurant is getting close to completion. Ravello is one of the most-anticipated new projects downtown. It’s the impetus behind a multi-million dollar renovation of a historic property. It will be housed in the old City Federal Savings and Loan building -- City Fed for short.
“We know downtown needed a new fine dining establishment and we’re really passionate about growing the downtown area,” he said.
Rivera says he chose the name Ravello after visiting the Italian town along the Amalfi coast. His menu will feature a modern take on a traditional Italian favorites.
“We will have a lot of fresh pasta. It will be made here in house.”
The restaurant will also feature a rooftop bar and chef’s table, along with an adjacent ballroom and meeting space.
But getting to this point was no easy feat. Historic preservation projects present plenty of challenges. And when you add in pandemic-related shortages of labor and supplies, the project has been delayed by more than six months.
“For example, you might not have access to a specific type of nail that you need, or mortar, or cement, or wood,” Rivera explained. “You just kind of have to wait and get what you can when you can. And that has hindered us a lot.”
Vintage Hospitality Group is behind the development. This will be its third restaurant in Montgomery. (It also owns Vintage Year and Vintage Café, both located in Old Cloverdale.) And soon, it will open a fourth venue as well.
Developers purchased the Sand Bar along Montgomery’s riverfront. The plan is to draw visitors to the area, not just with food and drinks, but live entertainment as well.
“We’ll bring that whole bar back to life, have some small bites, nice pub food. And hopefully we’ll bring a lot more music to the riverfront,” Rivera said.
The hope is to open both the Sand Bar and Ravello in about a month.
https://www.wsfa.com/2022/03/22/old-...rs-completion/