Huge vault doors, harsh florescent lighting and rows of plexiglass-shielded counters — not exactly the kind of environment you'd expect to stimulate taste buds. But for the three restaurants that have recently nabbed former bank spaces (two now open and one reopening this summer), renovations have turned repositories into eateries that are so money.
| Dante | Opened January 2010
Chef and owner Dante Boccuzzi invested more than $1 million to transform this turn-of-the-century Third Federal Savings & Loan into a trendy dining destination. An exclusive table for four, which books out weeks in advance, now resides in the bank's vault. "It was 1.5-inch steel all the way around then 18 inches of concrete on the sides and top," Boccuzzi says. "It took over a week of jack hammering to put in ventilation." Boccuzzi retained ornate 18-foot ceilings and added carpeting, leather seating, and a warm palette of oranges and yellows. Stark lighting gave way to a hand-blown glass chandelier by the Glass Bubble Project in Ohio City. The basement will open this spring as Ginko — Japanese for "bank" — a Dante-owned sushi bar.
2247 Professor Ave., Cleveland, 216-274-1200, restaurantdante.us
| Rockefeller's | Opened February 2011
Built in 1930 to house the Cleveland Trust Co., this sprawling space features stunning architecture: high stone arches, a wood-inlaid ceiling, stained-glass windows and parquet-and-stone flooring. "I didn't really do anything," says owner Michael Adams. "The beauty of the space went untouched," save a fresh coat of paint. He brought in upholstered furniture in warm reds and golds, lacquered wood tables and foliage. The engraved wood counter where bank customers once signed deposit slips is now Rockefeller's hostess station, and its 4,000-pound vault is a kitchen and prep area.
3099 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-321-0477, rockefellers-restaurant.com
| Crop Bistro | Reopening late summer 2011
Crop king Steve Schimoler will unite his restaurant, product development operation and a retail food marketplace in the 16,000-square-foot former United Trust Bank building. The bank's flagship in the 1920s, the space boasts 32-foot ceilings, stone arches and a 1920s-era Glenn Shaw wall mural. "We brought the room back to its original grandeur," Schimoler says of his $1.5 million renovation. His design changes were simple, adding a bar and kitchen that replicate the look of teller booths, dramatic lighting and a color palette that complements the space's green marble as well as indigo and gold detail work. The bank's massive vault is now a 100-seat private dining room.
2537 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-696-2767, cropbistro.com
